A Litany of Falsehoods about Yugoslavia/Granma Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source - jclancy@peg.apc.org=20 From the foreign press: A Litany of falsehoods BY JAMES PETRAS THE war in Yugoslavia has been accompanied by a litany of falsehoods and distortions that have been echoed throughout the media. The following list covers some of the falsehoods propagated by NATO, as well as their refutation. Myth 1: President Milosevic is a dictator, another Hitler. Reality: Milosevic was freely chosen in elections in which at least 14 political parties supported his candidacy. His government is made up of diverse constituents, including nationalists, Social Democrats and until recently monarchists. Before NATO's air strikes, Milosevic's opposition had as much access to the media as any opposition group in Western Europe. Before the war, dissidents exercised their rights in the streets and the press. After the air strikes began, some freedoms were restricted. However, dissidence has persisted. A member of the cabinet, Vuk Draskovic, criticized the government and was fired. Few European governments tolerate public dissension on the part of cabinet members, and much less during times of war. Myth 2: Milosevic refuses to negotiate, accept a compromise or allow international peace forces. Reality: Milosevic is negotiating with Rugova, an Albanian Kosovar leader. He has publicly declared that he is ready to cede his country's autonomy and has accepted the idea of an international civilian peace force without NATO forces. Milosevic is also ready to accept the supervised return of the refugees once NATO's bombings are halted. His demands are reasonable. Clinton's demand for a hostile military occupation would be refused by any country in the world, not only Yugoslavia. =46urthermore, no country would allow the return of refugees while bombs fall on its territory. The dogmatic and fanatical insistence by the United States and NATO on a military presence by the Alliance would convert Kosovo into a colony. Myth 3: Albania and Europe are helping the Kosovar refugees. Reality: The refugees are being exploited by Albanian businesses that charge exorbitant fees for the renting of shelters and basic foodstuffs. The Albanian businesses have inflated the prices. Up until May 2, the European and U.S. governments had accepted less than 15,000 refugees. =46ickle Tony Blair had accepted 300, and "humanitarian" Bill Clinton had allowed a few hundred of the 750,000 living in tents to enter the United States. Poverty-stricken, the refugees are a propaganda tool for NATO. The photographs in the camps serve NATO's bellicose interests, rather than any honest interest in helping the refugees.=20 Reports from independent journalists describe generalized assaults by Albanian officials in charge of humanitarian assistance, as well as U.S. multinationals specialized in humanitarian assistance and reaping enormous benefits from it. Myth 4: Milosevic has committed genocide. Reality: Until the beginning of the air strikes, the number of Kosovars dead was less than 900. After the attack by the Kosovar Liberation Army (KLA) on the human rights office, the number jumped to 2000. However, this number included casualties of Serbs, of soldiers from the Liberation Army, and civilians on both sides. Casualties in civil wars are a tragedy, but in no way does this resemble genocide. The New York Times reports that many Albanians from Pristina fled as much from NATO bombings as from the Serbs. Most of the Serbian terrorism was done by paramilitary groups. The Serbian military has arrested 350 paramilitary soldiers, police officers and soldiers for crimes against Kosovars. The arrest of human rights violators could hardly be considered the conduct of a genocidal dictator. Myth 5: The KLA is Kosovo's greatest hope in its struggle for democracy and human rights. Reality: The KLA leadership is a mix of right-wing nationalists, drug traffickers, mafiosos, procurers, and followers of Enver Hoxha, the late Stalinist dictator of Albania. Before the bombings, the United States and Europe called the KLA a terrorist group. For the most part, the KLA's finances have depended on arms and recruits from fundamentalist regimes, and before the bombings, it had little support inside Kosovo. This group has threatened, and in some cases has assassinated Albanian Kosovar leaders who tried to negotiate greater autonomy within the Yugoslavian Federation. According to The Wall Street Journal, the KLA's greatest benefactor is the most successful owner of brothels in Macedonia. Myth 6: The U.S. strategy consists of saving Kosovars from Serbian oppression. Reality: The U.S. bombings have forced hundreds of thousands of Albanian Kosovars and Serbs to seek refuge. The NATO attacks on Kosovo have destroyed Albanian Kosovar towns, stores, houses and factories, not to mention the scores of civilians dead and the hundreds of civilians wounded. More than 90% of the refugees fled after the bombings began. The destruction of Kosovo's economy has rendered it incapable of maintaining the people who return. The false peace proposal offered by Washington, based on the occupation of Kosovo by NATO, is not in any way a humanitarian mission, but rather is designed to prove U.S. military might and impose U.S. peace in Europe." The tragedy is such that Social Democrats and self-proclaimed progressives have swallowed the humanitarian rhetoric and have supported Washington in the savage air strikes. The falsehoods and distortions spread by the Social Democrats in defense of Washington's war has a profoundly corrosive effect on social welfare and democracy. The war is being fueled by social funds. The United States has taken more than $10 billion USD from Social Security funds to finance the war. The same has happened in Europe, devastating the Balkan and Central European economy. The failure of the NATO bombings to intimidate the Serbian people has led Washington to attempt to extend the war. General Wesley Clark has called for bombing the oil industries of other nations. Tony Blair, Clinton's clone, is calling for ground troops. The escalation to a naval and ground war will destabilize Europe and benefit the United States. In fact, the main U.S. multinationals are already obtaining lucrative reconstruction contracts and military orders. The result of the war will be a Europe which is economically poorer, more politically beholden to the United States. [James Petras, renowned U.S. analyst, is a professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Binghamton.] (c) Copyright GRANMA INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL EDITION. La Havana. Cuba ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nyteeu-06.19.99-17:04:53-12069