TiM Readers' Forum - April 2002

Truth in Media Global Watch Bulletins

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TiM GW Bulletin 2002/4-1

Apr. 22, 2002

April 2002 - Part 2

TiM Readers' Forum

Your Turn... (click here to go to Part 1)

PHOENIX, Apr. 9 - Brainwashed by the pro-Israeli media, most Americans are evidently still unaware about who is yanking their chain. Here’s a comment, for example, we received on Apr. 9 from a TiM reader in reaction to our comments about Bush/Sharon (in Item 6 of the above TiM Bulletin):

“In your latest message concerning the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank, you take President Bush to task because Sharon has not pulled his troops back. Mr. Sharon does not report to Mr. Bush so does not have to follow his orders. President Bush is the Commander-in-Chief of the US forces, not Israeli forces.

I suggest that you think before you write such items since your forte is "Truth In Media". It sounds like you are parroting the 'liberal media'.”

“What you said is technically correct (that "Bush is the Commander-in-Chief of the US forces, not Israeli forces"). But all Bush needs to do is pull the plug on military aid to and U.S. financing of Israel.

Plus, if he were to act as his Dad did when Serbia was similarly "disobedient" in 1992, he can add the U.N. sanctions against Israel to boot. And if Sharon/Israel persist in their belligerence, then he can bring NATO to bear against Israel, as the U.S. did against Serbia.

Fat chance of that, I realize, and have said as much in our reports. But that would be the right thing to do if a U.S. president is to have a fair and consistent foreign policy.

None of the above steps would require Bush to be "commander-in-chief of the Israeli forces," would it? Nor does it sound like anything you've ever heard from the American "liberal media," does it? (Except in reference to Serbia, of course).

But the above would require a president with a backbone, rather than an American Poodle running our country - on Israel’s behalf and at Sharon’s beck and call.

TEXAS - “Jews Owe the Serbs a Debt We Will Never Be Able to Repay: The Gift of Life”

HOUSTON, Apr. 14 - We received the following comment from Ron Ames, a TiM reader from Texas:

Bob, I remember when American missiles were falling on Serbia and the world applauded. One distinct memory was that of the oil complex at Novi Sad being hit and oil/chemicals pouring into the river (the Danube).

It was very unfortunate that the Serb government over the years did not provide for an adequate Air Force capability to defend the country. But who could have predicted that NATO would attack and rain down terror on Belgrade?

Just as your country faced the world alone, so are my people facing the world alone and are being condemned for defending themselves. As I wrote three years ago, the Serbs and the Jews need to come together and stand together because we both are the two most hated peoples on the face of the earth today.

The serb record during WW II is quite clear relative to the Jews, if you disregard the Nedic puppet regime. The most organized and largest Jewish partisan force was in the Balkans, and the Serbs historically, from what research I have done, have for the most part welcomed the Jews to live among them in peace and prosperity. While most of Europe sent us to the death camps, the Serbs welcomed us to fight along side them against the onslaught. The Serbs paid a tremendous price for not turning us over at Jasenovac, Novi Sad and I’m sure many other places.

[TiM Ed.: In just one death camp - Jasenovac - on the river Sava, southeast of Zagreb, Croatia, about 700,000 Serbs were slaughtered, 30,000 to 35,000 Jews, and about 25,000 Gypsies, according to a Jewish-American whose parents were survivors, and who had also talked to other survivors in Yugoslavia and Israel - see TiM Bulletin 97-07, July 1997].

This just my opinion, Bob, but the Jews owe the Serbs a debt that we will never be able to repay... (the gift of life).

A little factual nugget that escaped the mass media during the (NATO) bombing was the rescue of Madeline Albright and her family (during WW II) by a Serb farmer by the name of Popic. How easy it would have been for Mr. Popic to just turn over the scared Jewish family to the Nazi's!

The Jews had the money and the smarts to buy the American politicians; the Serbs didn't

Ron, of course I agree with everything you said below about the need for the Serbs and the Jews to come together. I thought that 13 years ago when I started the TiM work, and I think that now.

Which is why the most surprising to me personally was that so many Jews in America were openly anti-Serb. Some (like Madeleine Albright) were even leading the demonization of the Serbs, through their control of the media and government policies (the list of names is too long for an e-mail).

In fact, in my first two years or so (1989-1991) of trying to educate the American public about the Balkan history, I had placed a special emphasis on various Jewish organizations in North America, drawing the parallels similar to the ones you made in your letter.

I thought it was a matter of ignorance. It was not. It was a matter of malice. And money. My efforts fell on deaf ears, in these Jewish organizations. It was like talking to a wall. They weren't interested in the truth. They weren't interested in old friendships. They were only interested in money and power. Now. And if that meant casting old friends down the river, so be it.

Of course, there were honorable exceptions to that among the Jews - both in America and in Israel. If you run a search at our web site, you will see examples of those kinds of stories and comments as well. But they were exceptions, not the rule.

As you know, the Serbs risked their lives in WW II to save many Jews from the Nazi and Croat pogroms, not to mention saving over 500 American airmen downed over Serbia at the time (there are stories at the TiM web site about that). I have several personal friends whose families hid the Jews in their apartments during the Nazi occupation of Belgrade. Had they been found out, they would have been shot by Gestapo.

My aunt (my mother's sister), a member of the resistance movement, was arrested in 1944, tortured by the Gestapo, and sent to a concentration camp in Germany (by mistake... she was supposed to have been executed, but a German officer made an "administrative mistake," and she was put on a train to Germany instead). She survived. My uncle didn’t. He was executed by the Nazis in 1944. After WW II, a street in Belgrade was named after him as war hero.

My father was also a member of the resistance movement who worked in the Belgrade underground during WW II. Several of his brothers were Serb volunteer freedom fighters who fought the Nazis. They all also survived, though some were badly wounded.

That is why I could not understand the general antipathy of the Jews in America toward the Serbs in the last decade or so. Especially as there are other, historical similarities between the Jews and the Serbs. Kosovo is our holy land. Kosovo is our Jerusalem.

Having said that, Ron, if one day, God willing, the Serbs were to retake Kosovo, and if the Serbs were to use the same kind of brutality against the Albanian population as Israel is doing to Palestinians, I would condemn it with the same kind of fervor, as the world is now condemning Israel.

Either way, the duplicity of the American policy is obvious. In Kosovo, Washington supported the KLA terrorists - the mostly Muslim Albanians, as it did in Bosnia a few years earlier. Both sets of Islamic organizations were directly linked to Osama bin Laden, as you saw from our reports on the subject. In the Middle East, however, Washington is supporting Israel - financially, militarily and diplomatically.

The reason? The Jews had the money and the smarts to buy the American politicians; the Serbs didn't. It's as simple as that.

As you know, many of the "atrocities" ascribed to the Serbs were actually "virtual reality," invented by the New World Order governments and media in the style of the "Wag the Dog" movie so as to justify their bombing and enslavements of Serbia and the Serb territories in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. You and I have corresponded about Srebrenica. There were many others, including the Sarajevo "market bombings," which were committed by the Muslims killing their own people in order to win the sympathy of the world and turn it against the Serbs, whom the western media blamed.

This is not speculation. I traveled through Bosnia frequently during the war, and have met not just with Karadzic and Gen. Mladic many times, but also with many foot soldiers and civilians who were there at the time (some of the stories are available at our web site, too).

Ditto re. the "Serb atrocities" in Kosovo which we used as pretext for NATO to wage war against Serbia.

Unlike the Serb "virtual atrocities," the atrocities that Israel is committing in Palestine right now are real and horrible. No decent human being can condone that. Yet Washington has and is.

When I met with Slobodan Milosevic in 1992, I warned him that he may end up being charged with war crimes one day unless he spoke up against them, and acted to punish any Serb culprits (see my Washington Times column about that at our web site - “An Ugly Double Standard in Kosovo,” Oct. 1998 and “Milosevic: A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma", June 1998). Milosevic is now at the Hague (although he ought to be tried at home), while Sharon's troops are reportedly committing far worse atrocities than the Serbs ever did - in "virtual reality" or in real life.

And what's the U.S. President doing about it? Wagging his tail, like a good poodle.

I have a problem with that, Ron. That's as if we were seeing innocent Jews being massacred during WW II, only to turn our heads away, or worse, help the Nazis financially and diplomatically. I could not do that in good conscience. That's why I spoke out to Milosevic in 1992. That's why I am speaking out now.”

Bob, here is something I wrote in 1999 (see below). I must say that I have to agree with you about the overwhelming support of the American Jewish community and leadership for the NATO bombing of Serbia. It just goes to show how lack of historical facts combined with years of propaganda can mislead people.

The Jews are supposed to be smart people. Well, they weren't too damn smart on this issue for the most part. Yugoslav Jews were absolutely appalled and shocked that the Jews (in America) sided with the Albanian KLA!!!

Here’s now an excerpt from Mr. Ames’s 1999 letter about that. For the sake of authenticity, we’ve left is as it was written - in caps:

APPROX. 100 PEOPLE MARCHED TO HERMANN PARK TODAY IN ORDER TO PROTEST AND VOICE OPPOSITION TO THE UNLAWFUL N.A.T.O. TERROR BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA AND THE SERBIAN PEOPLE. MANY PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN THIS DEMONSTRATION. SERBIANS, CHINESE, GREEKS, HISPANICS, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, CHRISTIANS OF VARIOUS DENOMINATIONS, AND, AS FAR AS I COULD TELL - ONE JEW! (ME). […]

I CALL UPON MY JEWISH FRIENDS THAT RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE TO TALK TO JEWS IN YOUR RESPECTIVE COMMUNITIES AND EDUCATE/IN FORM THEM ABOUT THE VERY CLOSE HISTORICAL TIES BETWEEN THE SERBIAN/JEWISH PEOPLES. […]

ONE INDISPUTABLE FACT AMONG MANY IS THAT 3 GENERATIONS OF JEWS ARE ALIVE TODAY BECAUSE OUR SERBIAN FRIENDS DEFENDED/PROTECTED US FROM THE NAZI ONSLAUGHT. AS JEWS, WE MUST NEVER FORGET THIS!

WHEN THIS TERROR BOMBING BEGAN I KNEW VERY LITTLE ABOUT THE SERBS. I KNOW ENOUGH NOW TO SAY THAT I WILL ALWAYS STAND WITH THE PEOPLE OF SERBIA. THE JEWISH PEOPLE OWE THEM A DEBT THAT WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO REPAY. THE GIFT OF LIFE.

BRUSSELS, Apr. 10 - We received the following comment from Irene Goossems, a TiM reader from Belgium:

The Serbs were bombed for less than this. Iraq is going to be bombed again (for what?). And no one condemns energetically Israel. Why not? Are some crimes authorized just because they are committed by untouchable people?

Sharon should be brought to court as Milosevic was. Why is he not? Rulers of this world are behaving disgracefully.”

PHOENIX, Apr. 21 - Chuck Carlson, a TiM reader from Arizona (check out www.whtt.org), forwarded to us the following letter, written to Gen. Colin Powell by a fellow (Ret.) Gen. James David on Jan. 12 of this year. The letter has even more validity today because it was not written in the heat of battle, following Israel’s Good Friday attack on PA in West Bank and the ensuing accusations of atrocities. And because it shows that, had Powell heeded Gen. David’s advice, the bloodshed could have been avoided, and Gen. Powell would not be suffering the image of a poodle today.

MARIETTA, GA, Jan. 12 - It seems that the latest capture by the Israeli government of an arms shipment supposedly intended for the Palestinian Authority has caused all kinds of concern by both the Israeli government and the United States.

It seems that the Israelis have been pounding Palestinian villages on a weekly basis, killing hundreds of innocent Palestinians, including a majority of children, with M1A1 Abram tanks supplied by the United States. In addition, the Israelis have used F-16 fighter jets, Apache and Cobra attack helicopters, 155mm howitzers, M-16 automatic rifles, M50 machine guns and many other weapons and ammunition supplied by the U.S. government.

Moreover, the Israelis have used American-supplied bulldozers to demolish thousands of Palestinian homes. Just yesterday, the Israelis demolished 70 Palestinian homes. These home demolitions have caused thousands of Palestinian men, women, and especially children to remain without food or shelter.

This is a sin against mankind and yet we see no action from you or the State Department, especially since these weapons and ammunition are being used in offensive operations. These crimes would never be tolerated if they were similarly conducted by any other nation. How can you call this a balanced Middle East policy when you deny the Palestinians weapons and ammunition to defend themselves from a brutal occupation? Stones are not much protection against an M1A1 Abram tank.

If the United States is concerned about the violence in the Middle East, then your priorities are aimed in the wrong direction. If you're going to deny the Palestinians weapons to defend themselves, then you must stop all military and economic aid to Israel. I make this request, not only because of budgetary constraints, but because Israel continues to disregard U.S. foreign aid policy.

There are two important conditions for receiving U.S. military aid that Israel has violated repeatedly. Under the Arms Export Control Act, military hardware provided by FNS funds can be used only for defensive purposes or to maintain internal security. Israel violates both conditions and therefore should be withdrawn from receiving further aid. Just last week Israeli soldiers killed 3 Palestinian teenagers with a tank shell for no reason whatsoever, other than their assumption that the teens looked suspicious. No spin of the tongue can describe this crime as a defensive measure or to maintain internal security.

I make this request and recommendation, not only because of Israel's repeated violations of the Foreign Aid Arms Export Control Act, but as a means of bringing peace to the Middle East. The United States' generous handouts to the Jewish State has done nothing but bring more turmoil and violence to the Middle East and to the soils of the United States. If America wants peace in the Middle East, and is serious about fighting world terrorism, then it's time to get tough with Israel, and end all military and economic aid to the Jewish State.

James J. David, Brigadier General, retired, Georgia Army National Guard, Marietta, GA

PHOENIX, Apr. 21 - We received the following “biblical” comment from John Collins of New York (this is a pen name; the real identity of the writer is known to TiM):

And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? Are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?

Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.

John Collins, New York - The Official Unauthorised RPPS Bible Verse of the Day archive

Well said! Except that the "brave general" and his boss are looking more like poodles to me.

BOLOGNA, Apr. 14 - We received the following comment from Dr. Alexis Menander of Italy, who put the two Serb suicides in a historical context:

I just want to share with you, dear Bob, in my very own, personal grief about the global deterioration of mankind some words, that a soul wrote about 2000 years ago, still alive (as a contrast to most current hearts), marked by the unspeakable terrors of human being - Marcus Tullius Cicero:

"Nos si alienam vicem pro nostra iniuria doleremus, vestigium istius in foro nullum esset relictum."

[Orationes in C. Verrem: M. Tulli Ciceroni Actionis in C. Verrem Secundae Liber Primus: De Praetura Urbana XLIV., 113]

How true this is, regarding not "only" the suicide of these men, the "collateral" Nato bombing of this civilian train, not "just" what Israeli soldiers commit in Palestine, but all our life and living. Truthfully yours,

TiM Ed.: And now, thanks to Prof. J.P. Maher of Chicago, a linguistic expert, here’s a translation of that Latin line:

"Nos si alienam vicem pro nostra iniuria doleremus, vestigium istius in foro nullum esset relictum." whole context: My translation:

“If we resented another's fate as we resent an injustice to ourselves, there wouldn't be a trace left of that man [Verres] left in the Forum.”

LAZAREVAC, Apr. 14 - By contrast to Dr. Menander’s empathy, we received the following comment from Vladan Kecman of Serbia:

Dear Bob, how touchy is to read accusations in the letter left by the person who committed suicide, blaming everyone else for the tragedy, but himself. This is typical of communists, atheists, who claim that one must be vain to such an extent, that even a suicide is considered a contribution to the "better and brighter" future!

It looks to me as TiM is encouraging such acts, such sin and vanity in justifying it?

Patriotism, the way communists look at it, is another political ploy used to justify their incompetence and inability to deal with reality of freedom that God granted to each person. Poor Vlajko (Stojiljkovic - the suicide victim - TiM Ed.) was just one among many politicians who wanted to put a hardlock on Serbia and Serbs, on their liberty, freedom of speech and thoughts, and especially on any individual perspective of living that differs from their, communist philosophy of living.

Come on, we all know their "patriotism" when anything is allowed for those in power, for those in the Party, for the "loyal" ones, while the rest of people are allowed just to die for Patria, as long as it will keep rulers in power.

You are constantly accusing current Serbian government to be "quislings" who are selling the nation to the western powers, and yet you always slip to mention that majority of Serbs are freely and excitingly welcoming the western lifestyle, western standards, western culture and spirit, and that it has its COST!

To me, the story is simple: You want plenty of Coke and chewing gum - you have to pay for them. Either you migrate abroad to find this culture and opportunities, or you import the lifestyle in your own neighborhood.

In any event, you have to pay the price, and once you decide that the grass is greener on the other field, patriotism discontinues to be your priority, right?

TiM Ed.: Right? Yes, if Coke, gum and McDonald’s is your idea of “culture.” But not necessarily always and everywhere. Western quislings don’t always prevails… Read on the next TiM discourse on Venezuela. Maybe the Coke-guzzling Serbs should learn the meaning of the word “cojones?”

BELGRADE, Apr. 16 - Vera Vratusa-Zunjic, a TiM reader from Serbia and a Belgrade University professor, sent us her reaction and some questions in Serbian. Here’s our abbreviated translation:

At a time totalitarianism is sweeping the globe, it was emboldening to read your reminder:

"Actually, the process isn't necessarily "inevitable," as this weekend's reversal of the Washington-sponsored coup in Venezuela has shown. All it takes is an alternative vision, and the courage and skills to mobilize the masses in support of it."

But do you think that Chavez’s “reversal” can be explained by the realization of the financial oligarchy that it is safer to trust a charismatic figure to carry out their programs, than to impose and open dictatorship?

Also, aren’t the One World government and capitalism mutually exclusive? Namely, will we return to pre-capitalist social relations, or enter some form of post-capitalist ones?

Hugo Chavez was swept back into power by Venezuelan masses brought out into streets by his grassroots party organization. What he may have done or intended to do back in February had no relevance to what happened in the last three days, as far as I can see. But now that he is back in power, of course, he is going to offer graciously a conciliatory olive branch to the Venezuelan business leaders, the IMF and the U.S. - the losers in the failed coup. That's what I would do if I were in his shoes. Now he is in a much stronger bargaining position with them than before.

As to your other questions, you are asking me to use old labels and definitions that do not fit the new entities. Whatever you call it, the new NWO society will be centrally run, like the former communist states, and for the benefit of a small oligarchy, again like the former communist states. It's just that it is still called "capitalism" (or better "state capitalism") because communism has been totally discredited and has a stigma attached to its name. And because the majority of that new NWO oligarchy are capitalists, meaning big business owners and managers.

So, the same old wolf in a new sheep's clothing. Ordinary people get screwed either way.

For what it's worth, I have been calling this NWO society for 7-8 years now as plutocracy. As a matter of fact, I remember discussing that with Gen. Mladic in Bosnia in 1994, when he asked me the same question. He agreed with it, by the way.

ATHENS, Apr. 14 - We received the following comment from AMPHIKTYON, this Greek correspondent’s pen name, whose real identity is known to TiM:

The NWO is not only responsible for genocide, the gap between rich and poor, for crisis, misery and wars, but has also broken “the psycho-spiritual nature of the human beings,” the world community into pieces, the dreams and the hopes of the young generation, and has traumatized the collective psyche of whole people.

It is urgent to the people’s unity, solidarity, self-determination and resistance against their vicious plans for the global domination.

They are not so sensitive to understand neither the suicide bombs of Palestinians who have lost even the last drop of hope, nor the present suicides of the two Serb patriot ex- ministers.

We have a proverb in Greece that says, "even the saints will be threatening them."

TiM Ed.: Of course, there are always people like our Serb correspondent who think everything is just honkey-dorrey as long as people get their daily fixes of Coke, gum and McDonald’s. Anyone still remember the meaning and historical context of “panem et circenses?”