It is said that the 1991 "Desert Storm" was the first war waged live on cable TV. Eight years later, NATO attacked Serbia (Operation "Allied Force") and the attendant media adhered to the same matrix of behavior. Only this time, there was the internet. However clunky and amateurish citizen-reporting was back then, in its infancy, it nonetheless provided an alternative to the relentless propaganda churned out by compliant reporters regurgitating Alliance spokesman Jamie Shea's infamous briefings. Bit by bit, the truth of NATO's atrocities came out, while the rumors of Serbian atrocities were shown to be greatly exaggerated.
Many of the news sites and proto-blogs that helped expose the truth about NATO's "humanitarian war" are no longer around. One, however, has persevered - and continued the struggle for truth ever since, through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And as George Orwell so aptly put, "speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act."
All too many people in the United States today still see things through the darkened lens of partisan politics. Democrats this, Republicans that, liberals this, conservatives that. Yet what Antiwar.com has demonstrated over and over is that both parties march in lockstep when it comes to waging wars, empowering the state and repressing the citizenry. It doesn't matter whether the Emperor is Slick Willie, Bush the Lesser, or Saint Barack of Hopechange: the policy of killing people and breaking things always remains the same.
I've had a small part in this endeavor since October 19, 2000, when Antiwar.com published my first column. "Balkan Express" ran weekly for many years, eventually becoming the biweekly "Moments of Transition." I would like to think that I've helped prove the point about the Empire in my coverage of the troubles in the Balkans and Europe in general. Both the fan mail and hate mail accumulated over the years suggest that I have, as do some figures of speech - "Empire" itself being a case in point - that have since made their way into foreign policy discourse in the Balkans itself.
The Imperial government has created this fantasy world in which it can move nations around the Grand Chessboard by sheer strength of willpower - and a few smart bombs here and there. It need not concern itself with the "reality-based community," or such mundane things as money and facts. If needed, facts are invented, and money is simply printed (oh, is it ever!). But the rest of us, we live in the real world, and deal with real facts. And when bills come in, we need to pay them with real money.
Now, you'll notice this blog doesn't have a donation box or anything like that. I work for a living, and what I do here and at Antiwar.com is something I can afford to do on my own time. But I am well aware that running a major news website, collating news, editing and posting articles - all that costs money. Thanks to the government and the likes of the giant vampire squid, none of us have much. But what we have ought to be put to good use.
So, if you want to hear what the mainstream media refuse to tell you - for example, understand why the TSA gets to grope you, or what is really happening in the Balkans (and why that is relevant) - consider making a donation to keep Antiwar.com going. Unlike with the Empire and its attendant media, you actually have a choice in the matter.
Hi Nebojsa,
ReplyDeleteCould you comment on the episodes surrounding the former Bishop Artemije of Kosovo? I don't know much about it, and I'd be curious to hear your views.
Thanks,
Branko
PS: Everyone, please support Antiwar.com, as Nebojsa says! (I do and did.)
Nebojsa where you interviewed for Boris Malagurski’s Weight of Chains documentary?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qi50Mun4RA
From the trailer it looks like he takes the position that Yugoslavia was target simply because it was a socialist economic model different to that of the US and the former Soviet Union which for a number of reasons I think is BS.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=4FphyTO0i0cC&pg=PA280&lpg=PA280&dq=russian+reaction+to+bombing+of+yugoslavia&source=bl&ots=ZMUw3xh3_Z&sig=xAEz_HGxDhxU43GRXJoaHcriNEk&hl=en&ei=xznyTLqQCoyycYuFwLgK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg
ReplyDeleterasputin77, I'm preparing an article about the Church controversy, but it's not something I feel comfortable commenting off the cuff. If you want to know some background, I suggest this piece by Julia Gorin.
ReplyDeleteJack, I was never interviewed for Malagurski's film. He was in town for an afternoon, and nothing could be arranged on such short notice.
The notion that Yugoslavia was attacked because it was a functional socialist economy is dear to many socialists in the West, but the facts simply don't hold it up. Yugoslavia's assisted suicide was about power, not money.
Baya, I normally delete links formatted like that (there's a way to make them show, just like I did above), but this intrigued me somewhat. So for the author, the problem was "Russian nationalism" and not NATO aggression? Par for the course when it comes to Western "historians," really.
@Nebojsa
ReplyDelete“Yugoslavia's assisted suicide was about power, not money.”
For what means?
Wither still as a fractured unified state or separate states Yugoslavia would still be dependent on IMF/World Bank assistance and no threat to anyone.
I have yet to hear a good plausible theory as to why the NOW put so much effort and base for Islamic terrorism and organised crime just to simply subdue the Serbs as a force in the Balkans perhaps because it was not really about Serbia or any other group in the region but targeted towards a third country.
This becomes more apparent when you see the connections to groups, individuals and organizations to another region of interest even the same narrative and “facts” are the same just slightly modified.
Noticed the mistake NOW is supposed to be NWO.
ReplyDeleteI type my comments in Word to check for spelling errors first before copying and pasting them into the comment section but when you type NWO it automatically corrects it to NOW by itself.
Actually on his website it does list the people he interviewed surprisingly he did not interview Andy Wilcox who covered the Milosevic trial or Alexander Dorin and his work on Srebrenica.
http://www.weightofchains.com/Weight_of_Chains_Key_Persons_Biographies.pdf
Jack, I figured you meant the "NWO" originally.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think was at work was a combination of multiple (sometimes conflicting) plans and creative improvisation in crafting the Balkans policy - but the Balkans itself was means to an end, not the actual end. From words and deeds observed so far, I am betting the real prize has been Russia all along.
@Gray Falcon
ReplyDelete"I am betting the real prize has been Russia all along."
You are just coming to that realisation now.
If you put your investigative cap on you will quickly come to the realisation that the same network operating in the North Caucasus and Bosnia are one in the same with western intelligence connections especially UK given that there was a jihad presence in Chechnya before the conflict in Bosnia despite mass media propaganda which according to WSJ most foreigners originally came from Chechnya so it is part of a well organised pre-planned network.
This is most evident with 9/11 and especially the Madrid train bombing.
I knew about this before I fully understand what we were doing in the Balkans and when you read Brzezinski’s book The Grand Chessboard it all makes sense given his connections and others especially in energy policy given that Europe’s future energy dependency is dependent on Caspian oil distinctly restricted by the current BTC pipeline route that can bypass Russia unless they are able to use an independent Dagestan, Abkhazia and Iran, the latter being the slimmest chance.
Unless this is a topic were we dare to tread which no one seems to talk about.
Jack, I've been convinced of it for quite some time. Brzezinski's book just confirmed my suspicions.
ReplyDelete