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Truth in Media Global
Watch Bulletins |
TiM Bulletin 2011-03b
June 6, 2011 |
Catching flak from "hot heads" while
shattering some popular Serb myths
Sometimes Truth Hurts, But It
Always Sets You Free
Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is look
in the mirror with eyes wide open and keep an open mind about what
you're seeing;
Words to the Wise from the Wise |
HAIKU
(MAUI), HAWAII 
GLOBAL AFFAIRS
AN ESSAY ON WAR AND PEACE... and TRUTH
"Then you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall set you free"
[click
here re.
John
8:32]
Catching flak from "hot heads" while
shattering some popular Serb myths
Sometimes Truth Hurts, But It
Always Sets You Free
Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is look
in the mirror with eyes wide open and keep an open mind about what
you seeing
|
When this writer published the essay on war and peace "Beat
Swords into Plowshares" last week, he figured he would
catch some flak from hot-headed Serb chauvinists who are still
trying to fight the Balkan wars from their living room couches
or computer desktops. And he did. Some Serb readers
reacted on cue, attacking the messenger of the truth they did
not like.
Well, now they also know that the Truth in Media
really is a quest for the truth. Sometimes the truth
hurts. Just as this writer kept unveiling unpopular truths
relentlessly in the 1990s, defending the likes of Mladic and
Karadzic during the early years of the war in the face of the
western media lies and deceptions, now this essay is seen as
shattering popular myths about the former Serb leaders.
Why did I write it? Because "the truth shall set
you free." I no more want to live in bondage of the Serb
mendacity than I did as a slave of the New World Order's
deceptions. So I invite all open-minded people in Serbia
and elsewhere around the world to look in the mirror and
liberate themselves by purging hate and intolerance from their
hearts and minds (also see
Words to the Wise from the Wise).
And then let the courts do what they are
supposed to - determine the truth and administer justice.
In the end, we will all be judged fairly and accurately - by the
Creator, as the late Serb Patriarch Pavle told this writer:
| "It is not for us
to judge (other people)," Patriarch Pavle told me
during our first meeting (in 1991). "That's
something God will do. All we can do is try to do
our best. (And trust that) He will weigh everything
precisely and fairly."
(see this writer's
Washington Times column, Feb 1997) |
Ever since the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the
Serbs have excelled at victimhood and war hero worship. The time
has come now to try for a much harder role - being peacetime
heroes. That takes humility and compassion. It also
takes a lot of guts. For, the enemy is that face in the
mirror. Vuk Jeremic is one of the Serbs willing to look in
the mirror and face the truth. See what the Serbian
Foreign Minister has to say about war and peace...
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HAIKU, Maui, June 6 -
It was heartening for this writer to learn that there are some (young) Serbs
who are already on the p ath
of potential peacetime heroes. One of them is Vuk Jeremic (pronounced
Yeremich - click here for
a bio - the
 name
Vuk means Wolf). At 35, Jeremic (left) is one of the youngest foreign
ministers in the world. He is also one of the longest-serving ones,
having held this post for almost four years now. A graduate in
theoretical physics from Queen's College at the Cambridge University in
England, he also earned a master's degree in public administration from
Harvard. Jeremic is the epitome of victory of love over intolerance.
His father is Serbian, his mother Bosnian Muslim. The Serb foreign minister
is married to Natasa, a news anchor on Serbian national TV (right).
Jeremic happened to be in
the U.S. at the time of Gen. Ratko Mladic's extradition to the Hague.
On June 2, the day this writer penned the
"Beat
Swords into Plowshares"
essay, Jeremic gave an interview to
Charlie Rose, a popular TV news talk show host. If most Serbs reasoned
as he does, they'd be much happier people, and the nation would be much
better off. So there is nothing that this writer wishes to add or
subtract from what this young man has said.
If you want to
fast-forward to this segment of the show, the Jeremic interview starts at
about 12:00 minutes. The clip below begins at about 23:30 mins, just
as the two begin to talk about Mladic's extradition to the Hague. If
you back up the video, you can also watch the earlier segment (between 12:00
and 23:30 mins).
Vuk Jeremic, Serbia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Charlie Rose interview
(June 2, 2011)
As for those Serbs whose minds are open, and
who would like to learn more about the evidence presented at the Hague War
Crimes Tribunal, here's its web site:
www.icty.com
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Words to the Wise from the Wise...
"Minds are like parachutes, they work best
when open." (Lord Thomas Dewar)
"At a time of
universal deceit - telling the truth is a
revolutionary act." (George
Orwell)
"All truth
passes through three stages. First, it is
ridiculed, second it is violently opposed,
and third, it is accepted as self-evident."
(Arthur Schopenhauer)
"Great spirits have
always encountered violent opposition from
mediocre minds." (Albert
Einstein)
"The welfare of
humanity is always the alibi of tyrants."
(Albert Camus)
"Journalists
say a thing they know isn't true in the hope
that, if they keep saying it long enough, it
will become true." (Arnold
Bennett)
"Where ignorance is
bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."
(Thomas Gray) |
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Matthew Henry's Concise
Commentary re. John 8:30-36:
Christ spoke of spiritual liberty;
but carnal hearts feel no other grievances than those
that molest the body, and distress their worldly
affairs. Talk to them of their liberty and property,
tell them of waste committed upon their lands, or damage
done to their houses, and they understand you very well;
but speak of the bondage of sin, captivity to Satan, and
liberty by Christ; tell of wrong done to their precious
souls, and the hazard of their eternal welfare, then you
bring strange things to their ears. Jesus plainly
reminded them, that the man who practiced any sin, was,
in fact, a slave to that sin, which was the case with
most of them. Christ in the gospel offers us freedom, he
has power to do this, and those whom Christ makes free
are really so. But often we see persons disputing about
liberty of every kind, while they are slaves to some
sinful lust.
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---
Bob Djurdjevic
is a former war correspondent from Bosnia and Serbia. He is also a
thrice-ordained Inca-trained shaman, writer, musician and consultant based in Maui, Hawaii.
You can find more of his stories at
www.altzar.org (arts & spirituality),
www.truthinmedia.org (geopolitical) and
www.djurdjevic.com
(business).
---
Also check out...
Milosevic: Who Says There's No Death
Penalty at the Hague?
(Mar 2006);
Rise and Fall of General Perisic: From
Hero to Snitch
(Mar 2005);
The End Game Is Near: Kosovo, Montenegro
Next Serb Dominos to Fall?
(May 1996);
"The Woman Who Broke Gen. Mladic's Heart"
(Mar 1996);
Bosnia: What’s the Full Truth?
(Letter to Wall Street Journal, Feb 1996);
Bosnia War Diary (July 1994);
All in a Day's Work
(Karadzic) (July 1995);
Wartime Diary Notes about Karadzic, Krajisnik (May 1994);
"Collateral Damage" Hits Home
(9/11/11)
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