Oct. 14, 1999 - KFOR "Peacefarce" 45 HEADLINES Belgrade 1. "We've Shortened the War by Three Days;" How Washington, Bonn Used Multiple Channels to Get to Milosevic Rome 2. Clark Ridicules Milosevic for Failures in Kosovo Gets Pentagon Citation for Prosecution of War W. Australia 3. News of U.S. Helicopter Crash in Bosnia during NATO's War on Serbia Was Suppressed: Why? Belgrade 4. A BEOGRAD.COM Poll: Serb Diaspora Favor Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia W. Australia 5. First of Djurdjevic's "New World Order and the Serbs" Columns Now Available at BEOGRAD.COM: What Is the New World Order? ---------------------- 1. "We've Shortened the War by Three Days;" How Washington, Bonn Used Multiple Channels to Get to Milosevic BELGRADE, Sept. 16 - "We've shortened the war by three days," a staff member of a Belgrade academic institution (let's call him Dragan) proudly told the TiM editor in a July telephone conversation. At the time, this mysterious boast did not mean much to us. But Dragan promised to elaborate on it when we next got together face-to-face in Belgrade. Which we did during TiM editor's "Tour de Serbia." It was late May, and both sides in NATO's war with Serbia were getting tired and exasperated. It was a classic case of "I'd let go of him, but he won't let go of me"-battle fatigue syndrome. Yet without a face-saving solution in sight, NATO's bombing of civilian targets in Serbia continued relentlessly. The Memorial Day weekend, for example, produced what was probably the greatest carnage of the war (see "Memorial Day Weekend Slaughter" - S99-95, Day 69, Item 1, May 31). At the same time, both Washington and Bonn were desperately trying to find a way to end the bombing while saving face for NATO and themselves. This meant engaging in backdoor diplomacy through third parties who operated outside of any governments, and whose role in negotiations, especially in case of a failure, could be easily and plausibly denied. You saw in "How Milosevic Sold Out Kosovo" (S99-144, "Peacefarce" 38, Item 1, Sept. 1), for example, how a mysterious Swedish businessman, Peter Castenfelt, a pal of Viktor Chernomyrdin and a "trustworthy contact of the German government," according to "Welt am Sonntag" (World on Sunday), was dispatched to Belgrade via Sofia on May 29. Castenfelt, who once worked for the Dillon Reed investment banking firm, and now owns a London financial company, Archipelago Enterprise, stayed in Belgrade stayed through June 4, negotiating the terms of Kosovo surrender with the Yugoslav president. But Washington and Bonn were too eager to end the war quickly, and too experienced in matters of coercion to put all their eggs in one basket, even the basket of Castenfelt's considerable size. So they started working on another track at the same time. On Friday night, May 28, our Belgrade source to whom we shall refer as Professor Kolya, received a mysterious call from a State Department diplomat (whose name is known to TiM). Prof. Kolya wasn't available at the time, so the caller left his name and home telephone number (a Virginia area code), and asked that the professor return his call urgently even if it is over the weekend. After some consultations with his friends and associates about whether or not calling back a person who is a member of the government which was bombing Serbia at the time would be a wise move, Prof. Kolya made the call. "It was clear that they (Washington) were starting to panic, and were trying desperately to find a way out of the quagmire," Prof. Kolya told the TiM editor. But why a call to Prof. Kolya, of all people? Because the professor apparently met Joschka Fischer, now Germany's foreign minister, at a conference in 1984. And the two have maintained a cordial relationship ever since. In other words, Prof. Kolya was well suited for the role of éminence grise (gray eminence), just as was Peter Castenfelt. To carry out such secret assignments, it takes someone the Washington or Bonn officials are close to, but not too close; someone they can praise if he succeeds in his go-between mission; and someone of whom Washington and Bonn can easily wash their hands if he did not. After a few more phone calls, Prof. Kolya and another Serb, similarly not a member of the Yugoslav government, yet a prominent and influential person (whose identity is known to TiM), were off to Bonn. They were greeted warmly by Joschka Fischer as they entered the German foreign minister's cabinet (also see "German Greens Paint Leader Red" - S99-77, Day 51, Update 2, Item 1, May 13). The first meeting, which was scheduled for half an hour, ended up lasting 90 minutes. Fischer wanted Belgrade to make a gesture, any gesture however symbolic that its troops may withdraw from Kosovo. "You've got to give me something to work with," said an excited and animated Fischer. "We do want you to join Europe. But we don't want a Serbia turned into ashes. Which is what the Big Brother in Washington is prepared to do." In fact, throughout the conversation, Fischer kept fearfully referring to Washington as the Big Brother, Prof. Kolya said. So much for the most powerful nation in Europe! The three agreed to meet again, after the two Serbs had a chance to consult with Belgrade. And did. In between the two Bonn meetings, the two man-Serb private delegation was treated with suspicion and distrust by the official Belgrade. But since they were basically delivering the same message as Castenfelt (though apparently unbeknownst to the two Serbs, not only at the time, but all the way up until TiM editor's September visit to Belgrade), Milosevic eventually relented. And the rest is history, as they say. As for Dragan's "we've shortened the war by three days"-comment, "we've received a message of appreciation from Washington," Prof. Kolya said with a sardonic smile. "But nothing from our government here." Later the same afternoon, this writer asked his driver to take him past the bombed out Chinese Embassy. The blackened hull of the once handsome marble-lined building stood gloomily as yet another monument to NATO's arrogance or stupidity, take your pick. There were no signs of any renovation work, either. "Shortening the war by three days may have saved some lives, somewhere... But the war's end came about a month too late for those who died here," the TiM editor thought, as he gazed silently at another NATO crime scene, now an unofficial Chinese shrine. --- TiM Ed.: By the way, Joschka Fischer is NOT a Jew from Novi Sad, as some TiM sources had alleged during the war. The German foreign minister hails from Sudatenland, Prof. Kolya told us, when we asked him to clarify that point. ------------- 2. Clark Ridicules Milosevic for Failures in Kosovo Gets Pentagon Citation for Prosecution of War ROME, Oct. 7 - NATO's supreme commander in Europe, while on a visit to Italy last week, ridiculed Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic over his failures in Kosovo. General Wesley Kanne Clark, told the media at the launch of, what Reuters termed, "a book-length interview with Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema on Italy's role in the conflict," that, "in January this year, Milosevic told me that Kosovo was more important to him than his own head." Clark recalled D'Alema and United Nations civilian administrator for Kosovo Bernard Kouchner were also present at the interview, which was clearly staged in order to puff up Gen. Clark's and NATO's dismal performance in the air war, despite the alliance's overwhelming technological and numerical superiority (see "How Serb 'Dummies' Fooled NATO Dummies" - S99-114, "Peacefarce" 8, Item 1, June 24). "(Milosevic) failed to shoot down NATO aircraft in any significant numbers, he failed to destabilize neighboring countries and he failed to intimidate and fracture the alliance," Clark said. --- TiM Ed.: A slip of the tongue? A morsel of truth out of the "Clinton General's" mouth? Until now, the only aircraft loss the Pentagon and NATO brass has admitted was that of the F-117A "stealth" plane which the Serbs shot down on Mar. 27 (see S99-08, Day 4, Update 2, Item 1, Mar. 27). Yet here we now have Clark referring to shot down NATO aircraft in plural! ("any significant numbers"). Thank you, Gen. Clark, for this contribution to spreading the truth about NATO's war on Serbia, however involuntary it may have been. --- "He failed to defeat the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army), and he failed to enlist Russian materiel support to achieve his aims. He had to give up either Kosovo or his head, and he gave up Kosovo. Now he is fighting to save his own head," he added. --- TiM Ed.: Maybe. But Gen. Clark has already lost his (headship of NATO). This lame duck general been told he has to step down as the military head of NATO in April (see "The 'Clinton General,' Our 'Victorious' NATO Commander, Gets the Boot" - S99-130, "Peacefarce" 24, Item 1, July 29). And based on Gen. Clark's ensuing comments, he seems to be losing his marbles, too. --- Clark also said Italy's Adriatic air bases were vital to the alliance's 36,000 sorties, which dumped 23,000 bombs and missiles on Yugoslavia during the three-month battle. "Italy did a magnificent job during the war, starting with the use of its air base at Aviano right through to the outstanding participation of Italian airmen," he said. "It was Italy's leadership that allowed NATO's strategic theory to be transformed into strategic practice." --- TiM Ed.: Hm... Is Clark now trying to rewrite history? Maybe the long days and nights at the NATO command bunker where Clark spent most of the war have clouded the general's memory? So let us try to refresh it. Italy's leaders were on the forefront among the alliance members with their frequent calls for NATO to halt the bombing of Serbia. And Italy's parliament was openly against the war, practically from the get-go. Here are some examples from our wartime reports:
--- TiM Ed.: Yet now, D'Alema, now a book peddler (his book "Kosovo - The Italians and the War" is based on an interview with the prime minister by an Italian journalist), declared in that press conference with Clark last week that the Kosovo conflict had been an important test which Italy had passed. --- Meanwhile, back in Washington, the defense secretary, William Cohen, apparently tried to soothe Clark's ruffled feathers to soften some of the humiliation which the "Clinton General" suffered when he was told he'd be relieved of duty next April, three months early. In a private ceremony, Cohen awarded Clark a "surprise citation," according to the Pentagon spokesman - a Defense Distinguished Service Medal. The medal is the Pentagon's highest non-combat award. Norman Schwarzkopf, the retired Army general, received one for commanding allied forces in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, as did Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Henry H. Shelton for leading American troops in the near-invasion of Haiti in 1994. --- TiM Ed.: So if this Distinguished Service Medal is really so "distinguished," why then present it in a private ceremony? Because attracting public attention to the "Clinton General" who distinguished himself by shooting Serb wooden MiG-29 "dummies;" by bombing the Chinese embassy; and by murdering four times as many civilians, women and children included, as he killed the Serb soldiers - might prove embarrassing even to America's Draftdodger-in-Chief? ------------ 3. News of U.S. Helicopter Crash in Bosnia during NATO's War on Serbia Was Suppressed: Why? WESTERN AUSTRALIA, Oct. 15 - The pseudonym "Venik" ought to be familiar to the regular TiM readers. We first published Venik's data on NATO losses during our visit to wartime Serbia (see S99-48, Day 29, Update 1, Item 5, Apr. 21). And we updated his findings in some of our "peace farce" TiM GW Bulletins (see S99-112, "Peacefarce" 6, Item 1, June 21, for example, or S99-139, KFOR "Peacefarce" 33, Item 2, Aug. 24). Although "Venik" is this TiM source's chosen pseudonym, his real identity is known to TiM. For those who may try to discredit Venik's views on account of his proximity to the Serbs, let us point out that this person is neither a Serb, nor is even based in Europe. Guess you can (accurately) surmise that he is a man. Which ought to suffice by way of introduction to his latest contribution, sent to TiM in late September:
Venik, September, 1999 ------------- 4. A BEOGRAD.COM Poll: Serb Diaspora Favor Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia BELGRADE, Sept. 30 - In late September, a popular Serb Web site, BEOGRAD.COM, conducted an Internet survey of political opinions by the Serbs in the Diaspora. And a vast majority of the Serb emigrants favored the two Serb Democratic Parties (which once were united).
Over 23% of the 1,044 respondents from 54 countries said that they would vote for Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia. About 21% said they would support Zoran Djindjic's Democratic Party. All other parties scored in the single digit percentage figures, with Slobodan Milosevic's ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) garnering less than 2% of the popular vote. Among other major Serb parties by the domestic standards, the Serbian Renewal Movement (Vuk Draskovic) got only 7% of the votes, while the Serbian Radical Party (Vojislav Seselj), Milosevic's partner in coalition government, got only 4%. Interestingly, the Movement for Democratic Serbia (Gen. Momcilo Perisic), a new party formed by the head of the Yugoslav Army whom Milosevic fired last December (see "Seven Senators Call for Ouster of Milosevic"), collected about 9% of the vote - more than any other Serbian "establishment" parties, except for the top two (democratic) opposition parties. --- TiM Ed.: No wonder no one in the present Belgrade political "establishment" is rushing to push through a legislation through the Yugoslav Parliament which would actually give the Serb Diaspora the right to vote in the country's elections (a proposal which has been on the table for some years now). For, most of those who hold the keys to political power today would likely be turfed out of office, if the Serb emigrants around the world had their say. --- Here is a summary of the Serb Diaspora vote, cast in September 1999:
------------- 5. First of Djurdjevic's "New World Order and the Serbs" Columns Now Available at BEOGRAD.COM: What Is the New World Order? BELGRADE, Oct. 14 - We are pleased to announce, that starting today, you can also follow the TiM editor's weekly columns on the subject of the "New World Order" at the BEOGRAD.COM Web site. In English: http://news.beograd.com/english/articles_and_opinion/djurdjevic/index.html In Serbian: http://news.beograd.com/srpski/clanci_i_misljenja/djurdjevic/index.html ------------- Also, check out... Truth in Media Statement on the Kosovo War, "Wither Dayton, Sprout New War?", "On the Brink of Madness", "Tragic Deja Vu's," "Seven U.S. Senators Suggest Ouster of Milosevic", "Biting the Hand That Feeds You", "A Balkan Affairs Potpourri", "Put the U.N. Justice on Trial", "International Justice 'Progresses' from Kidnapping to Murder", "Milosevic: 'A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery'...", "Kosovo Lie Allowed to Stand", "New World Order's Inquisition in Bosnia", "Kosovo Heating Up", "Decani Monastery Under Siege?", "Murder on Wall Street", "Kosovo: 'Bosnia II', Serbia's Aztlan", "What If the Shoe Were on the Other Foot?", "Serb WW II General Exhonerated by British Archives," "Green Interstate - Not Worth American Lives", "An American Hero or Actor of the Year?" (A June '95 TiM story) and/or "Clinton arme secrètement les musulmans bosniaques", "Kocevje: Tito's Greatest Crime?", "Perfidious Albion Strikes Again, Aided by Uncle Sam", "Lift the Sanctions, Now!" (1993) Or Djurdjevic's WASHINGTON TIMES columns: "Chinese Dragon Wagging Macedonian Tail," "An Ugly Double Standard in Kosovo Conflict?", "NATO's Bullyboys", "Kosovo: Why Are We Involved?", and "Ginning Up Another Crisis" Or Djurdjevic's NEW DAWN magazine columns: "Washington's Crisis Factory," and "A New Iron Curtain Over Europe" |
and "Peace"
Topic: BALKAN AFFAIRS
