Shortly after the peace agreement made between Serbia’s verifiable ethnic cleanser Slobodan Milosevic and NATO the Washington Post buried on page A30 an opinion that many near the conflict share. Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) was quoted as saying, “...we have a settlement we could have probably have had at the start (6/11/99).” This opinion is shared by CounterPunch, which declares “The deal...was identical to that offered by Milosevic before the bombing started (CP, 6/1-15/99).”
This opinion was difficult to find expressed in the mainstream media.
Locally, every mainstream publication this writer saw broadcast variations of the message that “Serbs Yield to NATO’s Terms.”
In the deal the Serbs were given sovereignty over Kosovo and NATO would stop bombing defenseless targets. The war began when the Clinton administration offered Milosevic a loaded treaty at Rambouillet, France with the provision that if he did not sign, the bombing would commence.
After months of bombing, with at least 2,000 civilians dead, the near destruction of Serbia’s infrastructure, and flight of about a million Kosovars the Clinton administration has decided that Milosevic’s original offer at Rambouillet might be a good one.
By employing extreme violence before diplomacy, Bombing Bill--and all of us--sent many children, some pregnant women, and many elderly civilians to early graves. Many more will die in the coming months from malnutrition and disease.
If the aftermath of the Gulf War is used as a guide in a few years from now that region will also see a steep rise in cancers caused by the warheads launched by NATO which contained depleted uranium.
Clinton is now the subject of fawning tributes such as the one in the Sun where he is described as possessing “real star power” (Sun, 6/13/99). The lack of any casualties on the NATO side during the conflict is a sign of how cowardly it is to drop bombs on people who cannot defend themselves.
While The Sun and Washington Post each act as cheerleaders on the side of militarism, the City Paper continues to say nothing on the subject while calling themselves “Baltimore’s Free Alternative Weekly.”
This writer can’t help but wonder how their commentary would read if the mainstream reporters and editors local to this city who never offer us any dissent during our “wars” were airlifted to the civilian areas being bombed during the Pentagon’s next massacre.
Scott Loughrey
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