>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "International" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 16:59:39 -0400 > >INTERNATIONAL CALL MADE FOR >DEMONSTRATIONS TO ‘ABOLISH NATO’ >October 20 - 28, 2000 > >The International Action Center on Sept. 22 denounced U.S. and West >European interference in the Sept. 24 Yugoslav elections and >announced it was calling for actions across the United States for the >week >of October 20 to 28 to demand an end to U.S. intervention and to >demand >that the NATO military alliance be abolished. > >The IAC, founded by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark in >1992, was a leading organizer of anti-war protests during the 78-day >NATO >war against Yugoslavia. It has also organized to stop sanctions against >Yugoslavia, Iraq, Cuba and other targets of Washington. > >THE U.S. IS TRYING TO STEAL THE YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS > >Sara Flounders, an IAC national coordinator, explained why her >organization was protesting what she called “blatant interference in the >Yugoslav elections. The U.S. is, in effect, trying to steal the Yugoslav >elections.” > >“The destabilization campaign has been in full swing through the >election period,” she said. “It’s a no-holds-barred full court press that >includes everything from covert operations involving assassinations; open >funding for opposition parties; economic strangulation; media >manipulation; and psychological warfare, including the threat of another >NATO war should Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic be returned to >office.” > >“While the U.S. Navy schedules maneuvers in the Adriatic Sea off the >Yugoslav coast during the election,” she continued, “the European Union >tries to bribe Yugoslav voters by promising to lift the murderous >sanctions – but only if Milosevic loses the vote. It’s an open attempt to >manipulate the Yugoslav electorate and steal the election.” > >“The New York Times (Sept. 20, 2000) ran an article saying that >Milosevic was running his election campaign against NATO,” the anti- >war leader said. “This makes perfect sense since the U.S. and its NATO >allies are the real power behind his opponent organizations and the ones >who want to turn all of Yugoslavia back into a colony of the West. Both >the New York Times (Sept. 20, 2000) and the Washington Post (Sept. 19, >2000) describe how Washington has been pumping millions of dollars into >Milosevic’s opposition.” (see quotes from article below) > >Washington is using the same tactics against Yugoslavia that they have >used countless times in the past to overthrow elected governments and >establish dependent semi colonial regimes. Secret funding and military >pressure were used in Nicaragua, Panama, Iran, Philippines and throughout >Eastern Europe. > >Flounders said her group had called for coordinated international >actions against NATO for next month. > >“The U.S.-led NATO alliance carried out a war of aggression against >Yugoslavia in the spring of 1999. At hearings in 14 countries the IAC and >many others showed that U.S. and NATO leaders were guilty of war crimes. >Last June here in New York the people’s tribunal we held concluded that >NATO must be abolished, a demand raised by Ramsey Clark.” > >“Now we are calling for demonstrations, meetings, rallies and other >suitable actions in as many cities and countries as possible, especially >in NATO countries, in the week from October 20—the anniversary of >Belgrade’s liberation from Nazi occupation—to October 28, when the OSCE is >running municipal elections in Kosovo unauthorized by Serbia. The OSCE and >NATO totally dominate every aspect of life in Kosovo. These October >elections are an effort to put a fig leaf of democracy on complete >colonial occupation. We will demand that NATO be abolished, that the >sanctions be lifted against Yugoslavia, and that the U.S. and its allies >leave the Balkans,” she said. > >The IAC spokesperson said that anti-war groups in Italy, Austria, >Germany had already called local or regional protests for that time, and >that the Italian organizations were also organizing a solidarity shipment >of medicine and other vital goods to Yugoslavia for the end of December. > >“Since the U.S. military is also threatening war against Iraq and >intervention in Colombia, and U.S troops occupy Puerto Rico, the island of >Vieques and South Korea, we expect to also raise these issues at the >protests we organize in the United States,” she concluded. > >(Quotes from article referred to in the above release) > >THE NEW YORK TIMES SEPTEMBER 20, 2000 >Milosevic, Trailing in Polls, Rails Against NATO >By Steven Erlanger > >BELGRADE, Serbia, Sept. 19 - In his race for re-election, President >Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia is running against NATO and the >United States, not against his democratic opposition. > >He is not entirely mistaken to do so. The United States and its >European allies have made it clear that they want Mr. Milosevic ousted, >and they have spent tens of millions of dollars trying to get it done. > >Portraying himself as the defender of Yugoslavia's sovereignty against a >hostile, hegemonic West led by Washington, Mr. Milosevic and his >government argue that opposition leaders are merely the paid, traitorous >tools of enemies who are continuing their war against him by other means. >In March 1999, NATO began a 78-day bombing campaign to drive Serbian >forces out of Kosovo. > >The Yugoslav elections are on Sunday, but there has hardly been a day >since the bombing began that state television news has not railed against >"NATO aggressors."… > > The money from the West is going to most of the institutions that the >government attacks for receiving it - sometimes in direct aid, sometimes >in indirect aid like computers and broadcasting equipment, and sometimes >in suitcases of cash carried across the border between Yugoslavia and >Hungary or Serbia and Montenegro…. > >Even before the Kosovo war, the United States was spending up to $10 >million a year to back opposition parties, independent news media and >other institutions opposed to Mr. Milosevic. The war itself cost billions >of dollars. This fiscal year, through September, the administration is >spending $25 million to support Serbian "democratization," with an unknown >amount of money spent covertly to help the failed rallies of last year, >which did not bring down Mr. Milosevic, or to influence the current >election. For next year, the administration is requesting $41.5 million in >open aid to Serbian democratization, though Congress is likely to cut that >request. > >Independent journalists and broadcasters here have been told by >American aid officials "not to worry about how much they're spending now," >that plenty more is in the pipeline, said one knowledgeable aid worker. >Others in the opposition complain that the Americans are clumsy, sending >e-mails from "state.gov" - the State Department's address - summoning >people to impolitic meetings with American officials in Budapest, >Montenegro or Dubrovnik, Croatia. > >But there is little effort to disguise the fact that Western money pays >for much of the polling, advertising, printing and other costs of the >opposition political campaign … > >THE WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 19, 2000 (Final Edition) >U.S. Funds Help Milosevic's Foes in Election Fight >By John Lancaster, Washington Post Staff Writer > >Charges of Chinese influence-buying in the 1996 U.S. presidential >campaign caused a political storm in Washington that has yet to fully >abate. By some measures, however, that episode pales by comparison to >American political interference in Serbia, locus of a $ 77 million U.S. >effort to do with ballots what NATO bombs could not--get rid of Yugoslav >President Slobodan Milosevic. > >In the run-up to national elections on Sept. 24, U.S. aid officials and >contractors are working to strengthen Serbia's famously fractured >democratic opposition. They have helped train its organizers, equipped >their offices with computers and fax machines and provided opposition >parties with sophisticated voter surveys compiled by the same New York >firm that conducts polls for President Clinton. > >More generally, they have sought to foster what one aid consultant >calls "democracy with a small 'd'," funneling support to student groups, >labor unions, independent media outlets, even Serbian heavy metal bands >that stage street concerts as part of a voter registration drive called >"Rock the Vote."… > >Underscoring worries about Serbia and Montenegro, the Pentagon >yesterday began a global shift of forces to bolster the U.S. military >presence in the Balkans. A carrier battle group led by the USS Abraham >Lincoln left Thai waters ahead of schedule and headed toward the Persian >Gulf, which will free up another carrier group, led by the USS George >Washington, for movement to the Adriatic Sea, Defense Department officials >said. > >THE NEW YORK TIMES, MARCH 31, 1997 (Late Edition - Final) >Political Meddling by Outsiders: Not New for U.S. >By JOHN M. BRODER > >Members of both political parties express horror at accusations that the >Chinese may have tried to use covert campaign donations to influence >American policy, but the United States has long meddled in other nations' >internal affairs. > >Congress routinely appropriates tens of millions of dollars in covert and >overt money to use in influencing domestic politics abroad. > >The National Endowment for Democracy, created 15 years ago to do in >the open what the Central Intelligence Agency has done surreptitiously for >decades, spends $30 million a year to support things like political >parties, labor unions, dissident movements and the news media in dozens of >countries, including China. > >The endowment has financed unions in France, Paraguay, the >Philippines and Panama. In the mid-1980's, it provided $5 million to >Polish emigres to keep the Solidarity movement alive. It has underwritten >moderate political parties in Portugal, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Northern >Ireland. It provided a $400,000 grant for political groups in >Czechoslovakia that backed the election of Vaclav Havel as president in >1990. For the Nicaraguan election of 1990, it provided more than $3 >million in "technical" assistance, some of which was used to bolster >Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, the presidential candidate favored by the >United States. > >International Action Center >39 West 14th Street, Room 206 >New York, NY 10011 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >web: www.iacenter.org >CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org >phone: 212 633-6646 >fax: 212 633-2889 > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. 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