APRIL 2007
NATO and the EU and usa in YUGOSLAVIA
Copyright ©
1996-99 Serbian Unity Congress. All Rights Reserved.
Suffering
and deaths must not be forgotten
Glas Javnosti daily, Belgrade
Saturday, March 24, 2007
During 78 days of air strikes approximately 2,500 people died, including 557 civilians, while some 12,500 were wounded. The administration at that time estimated that material damage of 100 billion dollars was done On today's date eight years ago NATO began the bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia because, as then NATO secretary-general Javier Solana explained, "all efforts to achieve a political solution through negotiations of the Kosovo crisis have failed".
After unsuccessful negotiations regarding a proposed peace agreement in Rambouillet near Paris conducted from February 6 to March 19 by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Albanians, and the collapse of negotiations between the FRY president Slobodan Milosevic with U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 23 made the decision to bomb .
Then NATO secretary-general Javier Solana who after the meeting of the NATO Council issued an order for the initiation of the campaign Merciful Angel accused the government in Belgrade for the collapse of negotiations and emphasized that actions would be directed toward "interruption of violent attacks being carried out by the Serbian Army and special police forces and the reduction of their capabilities".
Attacks began on March 24, 1999 just before 8:00 p.m. The Yugoslav government soon proclaimed a state of war, and on the first night more than 50 buildings in various parts of the country were targeted, including in Pristina, Kursumlija, Uzice, Danilovgrad, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Podgorica, Kraljevo, Kragujevac...
According to communiqué by the Yugoslav Army General Staff, during the first night 10 soldiers were killed and 38 were wounded. As the bombing continued, attacks increased in frequency and became more fierce, and the targets of the bombers were no longer just military but also civilian ones.
In addition to air combat in Kosovo and Metohija all 78 days there were ongoing battles between the Yugoslav Army and the Kosovo Liberation Army, which received logistical and military support from NATO. The Alliance carried out attacks from ships in the Adriatic, from four air force bases in Italy, and some operations involved strategic bombers who took off from bases in western Europe and even the U.S.A.
By April 1 one of the symbols of Novi Sad, the Varadin Bridge, had been destroyed; two days later the Liberty Bridge was also destroyed, while the most resilient, the Zezelj Bridge, long resisted the bombs but also ended up in the Danube at the end of April. In Kursumlija on April 2 13 civilians died and 25 were wounded, and in the bombing of Aleksinac on April 5 13 died and more than 50 people were wounded.
Cuprija was bombed on April 8 and on that occasion a settlement of about 800 buildings was destroyed. The next day in an attack on the Kragujevac factory "Zastava" 124 workers were injured. The Grdelica Bridge was bombed on April, 12 at the very moment a train was crossing the bridge: 14 passengers were killed and more than 20 sustained serious injuries. On April 14 NATO planes bombed two columns of Albanian refugees on the road from Djakovica to Prizren, killing 75 and wounding more than 100 civilians.
During the bombing of Batajnica on April 17, a single projectile killed three-year old Milica Rakic in her home. In an attack on Nis on April 19 one civilian was killed and 11 were seriously wounded. A settlement of refugees from Krajina located near Djakovica was also hit: five people were killed and 19 wounded, and the settlement burned to the ground.
On the thirtieth day of the bombing, April 22, two missiles hit the residence of FRY president Slobodan Milosevic in Uzicka Street number 15.
The next day at 2:00 a.m. the Radio Television Serbia building in Aberdarev Street in Belgrade was hit. On that occasion 16 workers died and four were seriously wounded. After this tragedy then RTS director Dragoljub Milanovic was later sentenced to a 10 year prison term for refusing the carry out orders to remove personnel and technology from the television building.
In the attack on Surdulica on April 27 20 civilians died, including 11 children, and 200 people were wounded. Belgrade survived the fiercest attack on April 30 when the building of the Yugoslav Army General Staff and the old building of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs were hit, the television tower on Mt. Avala was toppled and several private buildings in the Vracar quarter destroyed. Three people died and 38 were wounded. In the village of Murino na Limu five people were killed, and another person later died from sustained injuries.
In the village of Luzane near Pristina on May 1 40 died and 16 passengers of a bus bombed by NATO aviation were wounded. Two days later another bus was targeted with a missile on the Pec - Kula - Rozaje road. Twenty passengers died, many of them children, and 43 people sustained some degree of injury.
On May 7 NATO bombed the embassy of the People's Republic of china in New Belgrade "by mistake", it later explained. Three Chinese citizens were killed and seven seriously wounded. The same night the Hotel Yugoslavia was targeted with missiles.
The bombing of Yugoslavia ended on June 10 with the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. The previous day representatives of the Yugoslav Army and NATO signed the Military-Technical Agreement in Kosovo detailing the withdrawal of Yugoslav Army forces from Kosovo and Metohija and the deployment of international military troops in the province. (Sinisa Dedeic)
FOLLOWS: some material on this
page from I.Shamir.
[shamireaders]
Spanish pilot
admits NATO attacked civilians
From the Spanish weekly "Articulo
20"
No. 30, June 14, 1999
(NB: 'Article 20' is the Spanish constitutional provision
on the freedom of speech)
Jose Luis Morales
The pilots of Spanish planes who participated in bombing raids against Yugoslavia do not feel like "supermen" nor as masters of air space. Quite the contrary, they say that our forces play to the tune of music played by the North Americans, and accuse NATO of having honoured with medals the bombing of civilian targets, what they otherwise name "collateral damages".
Captain Adolfo Luis Martin de la Hoz, who returned to Spain at the end of May after having participated in the bombings since the beginning, is an "authentic expert on the dreadful F-18", the war plane commonly used in the strategy of "scortched land" in the Balkans. He is quite categoric: "The majority, even if not all, of my colleagues are against the war in general, and against this war of barbarity in particular."
Martin de la Hoz says that he and his colleagues "are burnt out". "A few days ago there appeared in the papers certain statements by Commander Maches Michavilla, who is now in the air base at Aviano with the pilots who had replaced us, in which he said that that our main helper in the air was our mental and physical health.
"But let me tell you that our worst enemies are our own authorities, the Defence Minister and his team, and our Government, who know nothing about the war, and go along with it without informing themselves about anything. What is gravest, they are guilty of lying to the Spanish people through the papers, radio and television, foreign correspondents and press agencies."
The suspicions that NATO's repeated bombings of civilian victims and non-military targets are not the result of "errors", are confirmed by Captain Martin de la Hoz: "Several times our Colonel protested to NATO chiefs that they selected targets which are NOT military targets. They threw him out, with curses, threatening that the North Americans would lodge a complaint with the Spanish Army, once through Brussels and then to the Defence Minister.
"But there is more, and I want to tell it to the whole world: once there was a coded order from the North American military that we should drop anti-personnel bombs over the localities of Prishtina and Nish. The colonel refused it altogether and, a couple of days later, the transfer order came, removing him from our unit. But what I say now is nothing compared to what I shall have to say when the time comes."
The Spanish military denounces that "the Spanish Government not only do not try to inform themselves; they also accept the false reports that are edited for them in Aviano, where there is a sort of military press cabinet in the hands of North American generals and functionaries."
Ever since we arrived in Italy - the Captain goes on - there was no end to humiliations and insults. "The order-givers are the North American generals, and no one else. We were zeroes, just as our replacements were going to be. But there is still more to that. Here they say that several operations were directed by Spanish commanders and pilots. Lies over lies. All the missions that we flew, all and each one, were planned by US high military authorities. Even more, they were all planned in detail, including attacking planes, targets and type of ammunition that we have to throw. We never directed anything, and our missions were limited to flying over the borders of Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia."
None of the pilots presently stationed at Aviano, who replaced those who went to the Italian base a little before the start of war on March 23, were there with clean conscience, says the Spanish military. "It is being written to saturation that the disciplined and patriotic Spanish pilots - according to Minister Eduardo Serra - 'are concentrating on the complexity of their war missions'. But we read so many discrepancies, so many lies that we agreed to not read a single newspaper until we return. Our anger is enormous. The Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Defence Minister are lying brazenly each time they talk about the war.
"The North Americans - the White House, the Pentagon, the CIA, the U.S. Embassy, the military intelligence, whoever - do not inform them about anything. How should they inform themselves if our own Javier Solana remains ignorant? Solana is a puppet who has been put there by the Yankees to do what they tell him he has to do. And so he does, standing 'attention' before General Clark when he talks to him, or, more precisely, when he issues him the orders that Solana has to implement without delay."
On the subject of manipulation of information about the war, Captain de la Hoz says that "no one has said anything about the incidents that took place in Aviano, about the disastrous maintenance of Spanish machines, and about the constant humiliations to which we were subjected from the beginning. Not that we were even 'cannon fodder' - no! We were nothing! About the fatal accidents, the losses suffered without connection to combats, the contempt and sanctions, not a word. From no one!"
For the wrong selection of targets and humiliations the Spanish military are ever more certain that there is no alibi. "We know perfectly well that we are intervening in a conflict - says Martin de la Hoz - which is rejected by the majority of the Spanish people, and this is acutely important for us. But what they do not say in any information, commentary or speech, is that the Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese ... that we are there to cover up for the North American generals who are dealing and wheeling in the war. There is no journalist who has any slightest idea what is happening in Yugoslavia.
"They are destroying the country, bombing it with novel weapons, toxic nervous gases, surface mines dropped with parachute, bombs containing uranium, black napalm, sterilization chemicals, sprayings to poison the crops and weapons of which even we still do not know anything. The North Americans are committing there one of the biggest barbarities that can be committed against the humanity. Much and very bad things will be told in the future about what was happening there, because, by the way, judging by what we talked about with the British and German officers, it was designed in order to divide the Europeans and keep us subjected for many decades."
Therefore, Captain Martin de la Hoz is enraged when there are talks about the costs of the war. There should be no doubts, he confirms that the militaries detached in Aviano are receiving bonuses which "multiply by five our salary, without considering the daily expenses and other perquisites.
We could say that we should be satisfied with what this war means economically for each one of us, but it is not true, what they give us is the chocolate for the parrots. This war is going to cost the Spaniards more than all the money allocated for the culture in the last five years. And how, even if now no one says anything because of the elections, but it will come in a few months and will be felt in our pockets. Because this brutal solely Yankees' war, no one's but Yankees', is going to be paid by all of us. Be sure that what I say is not to exculpate myself and to intone 'mea culpa' for having participated in it, because I will never be able to forget that what was being committed there was one the biggest savageries of history."
A WORD ON CROATIA
The Croatian Information Centre (CIC) is a publicity organisation which was formed out of the former Croatian Ministry of Information with exile Croatian funds. The main role of the centre is to provide Western journalists, governments, academics and intellectuals with pro-Croatian information. Its publications are on display in many Croatian book shops, despite the fact that war and economic crisis have severely constrained most other publishing activity. One of the centre's most recent publications, "Genocide - Ethnic Cleansing in North-Western Bosnia" edited by CIC director Ante Beljo appeared in English, German and French. Apart from eyewitness reports of Serb atrocities in the current conflict it also contains reports of Croatian suffering during World War II. The centre's objective evidently is not just to portray present-day Serbs as cruel beasts, but to rewrite Croatian history, which was intimately associated with German fascism, as well.
The CIC is located in the former History Department of Zagreb University in Opaticka 10, in the immediate vicinity of the Croatian government building "Sabor" and other state institutions. Opaticka 8, which used to house the former Croatian Ministry of Information under Branco Salaj, now is the seat of the press office of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Few Western journalists are aware of the fact that all the "Foreign Press Centres" in Croatia - the main ones being located in Zagreb and Split - are also run by the supposedly non-governmental CIC, the successor of the Ministry of Information. This whole publicity machine is a highly professional operation. A large staff is available to deal with the enquiries of visiting Western journalists and to assist them by providing interview contacts. Almost all the staff speak fluent English, since most came from Canada and the USA, where exile information centres bearing the same name are in operation. In addition to the press accreditations of UNPROFOR, the CIC still issues its own press cards bearing the name and photo of visiting journalists.
SLAUGHTER OF SERB CIVILIANS FLEEING CROATIAN ATTACKS CONFIRMED BY REFUGEES
"Bosko Drakulic 40, another refugee claimed at least 500 people and 40 Serb soldiers guarding the convoy were killed "Corpses and wounded were all over the place, with blood flowing in rivers."" Associated Press, May 3, 1995 "...it is clear that a good deal of killing took place. The whiff of death lingers in the early-summer air, mixed with the sweet smell of detergent used by the Croatian outhorities to clean the road" New York Times, May 8, 1995 Attempts to play down the dimensions of the slaughter* against fleeing Serbian refugees on the road from Okucani will not wash.
Croatian government assertions that Sorb refugees were "caught in a crossfire" are rejected by the refugees who say that they were ambushed on the road by Croatians who machin-gunned their convoy from a wooded area adjacent to the road. Death totals are always difficult to determine under wartime conditions, but the reports from an Associated Press reporter, from the Patriarchate of the Serbian Orthodox Church and local officials of he Republic of Serbian Krajina clearly indicate mass killings took place.
IMPERIALIST INTERVENTION AND WAR IN BOSNIA
Via Workers World Service
Reprinted from the June 8, 1995, issue of Workers World newspaper
Gary Wilson
- The U.S. military has
openly and brazenly escalated the war in the
Balkans. It is a dangerous acceleration that also
poses a challenge to the progressive anti-war
movement in the U.S.
Eleven U.S. planes led the May 25 NATO air attack on Bosnian Serbs, according to the New York Times. Two Spanish, one Dutch and one French plane were also present.
The bombing was carried out by six of the planes, probably all from the U.S. A similar attack was carried out the next day.
This came as a result of a decision in Washington to expand the war. Some speculate that the U.S. escalation was prompted, in part, by a shift by the French government.
The French have been the main force vying with the U.S. for domination in Bosnia. But elections recently changed the governing party. The New York Times noted May 25 that the Clinton administration's decision to escalate the war "coincided with changes in the French government."
An article in the May 26 New York Times gives some details of the Clinton administration's behind-the-scenes maneuvering preparing for bombing Bosnia.
U.S. WARLORDS AT WORK
The attack was taken under the authority of the NATO military alliance--an imperialist organization that includes Britain, France, Germany and Italy among others. But the Times makes it clear that this was a U.S.-engineered attack.
According to the Times, national security adviser Anthony Lake, Joint Chiefs of Staff head Gen. John Shalikashvili, Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Defense Secretary William Perry and other top officials of the Clinton administration have been working feverishly to prepare this attack since the beginning of May.
The Pentagon's Shalikashvili called "senior European military leaders" to tell them of the U.S. plan. Defense Secretary Perry "delivered [the] message" to the head of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
And, the Times reported, "over the past week, Secretary of State Warren Christopher told the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Russia."
When the bombing was over, Clinton held what might be called a victory news conference. He said, "I hope that today's air strike will convince the Bosnian Serb leadership to end their violations of the exclusion zone."
EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSION ZONE
The exclusion zone is an area designated by the UN that is supposed to exclude all military activity. As another New York Times article three days later noted, the U.S.-supported Bosnian forces--referred to in the U.S. press as the Muslim government--have carried out "clandestine nocturnal helicopter flights [through the exclusion zone] for many months. Technically, the flights are in breach of the NATO-enforced no-flight zone over Bosnia, but NATO has tended to turn a blind eye to them."
A Serbian official interviewed on the BBC World Service Radio May 25 noted: "There is all this song and dance about the failure of the Serbs to return four cannons. At the same time, there doesn't seem to be much excitement about the fact that the [pro-U.S. Bosnian] government has introduced heavy weaponry inside not only the twelve-and-a-half mile exclusion zone, but also inside the densely populated areas of Sarajevo."
In other words, the official reason for the bombing was not the real reason. The Bosnian Serbs were not flagrantly violating an exclusion zone that everyone else was peacefully observing. But they were the target of the U.S.-led air strikes.
The reason for the bombing can be divined from the negotiations that followed it. The negotiations are not in Bosnia. They have nothing to do with the almost 400 French and British troops seized by the Bosnian Serbs after the U.S. bombing.
The negotiations are being held by NATO in the Hague, Netherlands. No one from the Balkans is invited to sit at this table. The foreign ministers of the big imperialist powers of Europe and the U.S. will discuss the fate of Bosnia. No one has yet explained who elected them to dictate the future of the Balkans.
LINKS RELATED TO THE
NATO BOMBING
CAMPAIGN OF SERBIA
24 March - 10 June, 1999
NEW HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
REPORT
Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air
Campaign
NEW FIGURES
ON CIVILIAN DEATHS IN KOSOVO WAR
DESTRUCTION OF YUGOSLAVIA -
PHOTO EXIBITION
http://www.balkan-
WHITE BOOK - NATO BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA - PART 1 (March
24- April 24)
http://www.balkan-
WHITE BOOK - NATO BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA - PART 2 (April
25 - June 10)
http://www.balkan-
(detailed evidence of crimes against civilians and
civilian facilities)
Bombing of Residental Houses in Towns and Villages
http://www.balkan-
Human Rights Watch Report - CIVILIAN DEATHS IN THE NATO
AIR CAMPAIGN
http://www.hrw.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - NATO violations of the laws of
war during Operation Allied Force must be investigated
http://www.web.
CNN (New York Times) Rights Group says NATO killed 500
civilians in Yugoslavia
http://www.cnn.
Destruction and "Collateral damage"
http://www.balkan-
NATO BOMBING IN THE EYES OF SERBIAN CHILDREN
http://www.balkan-
Reaction of Artists, Children and Church to the Bombing
http://www.balkan-
DESTRUCTION OF KOSOVO'S PEOPLE AND HERITAGE
http://news.
***
Tears for victims of -
regrettable mistake - Scott Taylor, THE TORONTO SUN,
Thursday, June 3, 1999
http://www.balkan-
Spanish pilot admits NATO attacked civilians, Jose Luis
Morales, Articulo 20, June 14, 1999
http://www.balkan-
ALSO SEE BOOK REVIEWS: "TRAVESTY" BY
J.LAUGHLAND this issue.
