April 6, 2006

Readers respond to Yugoslavia series

The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca

From the bottom of my heart, I wish to thank Dru Oja Jay for his courage to write a compelling and truthful attempt to set the record straight on what really happened (and is happening) to Yugoslavia (five part series). It will take literally decades for honest and serious historians and other true scholars to unravel the massive web of lies and deceptions that were the modus operandi of Western media coverage of the civil wars in the former Yugoslavia. The massive level of highly sophisticated propaganda indicates that the Western-supported destruction of the former Yugoslavia, once a peaceful, beautiful, and multiethnic nation, was supported at the highest levels of Western governments. A natural question for the open-minded public might be "why destroy Yugoslavia?" I would like to complement Dru's excellent pieces by answering this question:

1. Have an excuse to continue NATO's continued senseless existence (since the fall of the Soviet Union) by illegally occupying and fighting a country which never attacked the West, thereby violating NATO's Charter.

2. Divide and conquer the region for Western economic exploitation. Before NATO's illegal and vicious destruction of Yugoslavia in 1999, George Soros met with various American officials and demanded the Trepca Mining Complex in Kosovo. One of the first targets of NATO during the bombing was the "Div" cigarette factory in Vranje, one of the largest in Europe which competed with Western cigarette companies. Phillip Morris has since constructed a new factory in Serbia. In every former Yugoslav republic, the vast majority of people are much worse off than they were when they lived in the former Yugoslavia.

3. Germany and the Vatican were the first national entities to illegally and prematurely recognize the Slovenia and Croatia before any issues of their treatment of minorities could be addressed. Both Germany and Vatican were responsible for much of the genocide of Serbian Orthodox Christians during WWII which has yet to be acknowledged and compensated for by either entity. Thus, historical anti-Serbian attitudes from both Germany and the Vatican have been largely responsible for the West's anti-Serbian perspectives. Remember that Germany's illegal recognition of Slovenia and Croatia was the first major foreign policy action by a newly-unified Germany.

4. Bases for US troops. As Germany has not renewed leases on US bases in Germany, the US needed a place to station troops. Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo is the largest base for US troops outside of the US.

5. Divide and conquer the entire region to have an excuse for open-ended troops that will protect a massive trans-Balkan oil-pipeline from Burgas, Bulgaria down to Vlore, Albania. The pipeline will carry oil from the Caspian Sea region to the Adriatic Sea which will then supply Europe with oil.

I could give many more reasons, but these are the most relevant. It is important to bear in mind that with the massive "success" that the corporate-controlled, Western mainstream media had in brainwashing citizens of the West, the precedent has now been established and as we predictably see, Iraq was similarly illegally and viciously attacked and the media drumbeats of imperialist intervention are now beginning their Goebbel-esque efforts to further bankrupt and bleed America dry by fighting Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela.

In a true democracy, debate is free and open-ended. Western citizens never had the chance to properly debate the merits of intervention in Yugoslavia's civil wars because the media mostly censored any Serbian points of view. The media has forever shamed itself over the distorted reporting of Yugoslavia's civil wars and the ever-declining readership of corporate-controlled mainstream media is I think a symptom not of the internet by itself but that open-minded people are realizing (with the help of the internet and other "renegade" media) just how much propaganda is created and spewed forth by these self-serving institutions.

Best regards and best of luck in your very noble endeavours to challenge the omnipotent corporate media!

Michael Pravica, Ph.D.
Henderson, Nevada

Thank you for the five-part series on the former Yugoslavia.

I have family on nearly all sides of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia --
both civilian and military. This position has forced me and others like me to
recognize the complexities of the situation which you so eloquently articulated
in your writing.

I still have much to learn and will be checking your sources for more
understanding. I appreciated your thorough research and consequent honesty
which has been so lacking in most Western media.

Also, the systematic parallels that can be drawn to media coverage in places
like Haiti, Venezuela, Iraq and Afghanistan make your articles all the more
relevant in even the most broad of contexts.

Simon A. Dougherty
Scarborough, Ontario

Dru Oja Jay is one, of only a handful of world journalists, that is printing the TRUTH about former Yugoslavia, and the malicious, and wrongful demonization of Serbia, and Serbs in particular. It should serve as a testimonial, and a course of study for journalism schools around the world, with the title: "How to fabricate a war and malign a sovereign nation, fighting future terrorism in the Balkans and Europe". Mr. Jay should get a "Journalistic Oscar" for his great series on former Yugoslavia. Just wonderful. Thank you.

Vojislav Spasic
Cleveland, Ohio

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