http://www.antiwar.com/malic/pf/p-m041802.html
ANTIWAR, Thursday, April 18, 2002
Balkan Express
by Nebojsa Malic
Antiwar.com
Shadows of the Past
Dreadful Fallout of Empire's Balkans Policies
For over a decade, the Empire and its vassals have gradually imposed
themselves into the lives and lands of people in the Balkans, almost
always
to those peoples' detriment. In the process, they have torn down many
pillars of civilization, law and common decency, all in the name of
help,
human rights and humanitarianism. Whether they did so as actual masters
of
malice, or mere fools who thought they could use the power of Tolkien's
metaphorical Ring for good, now hardly seems to matter. For all power
exacts
a price, and absolute power most of all.
Resignations
The Dutch government collapsed this Tuesday, following the publication
of a
report that analyzed the role of Dutch troops in one of the most
controversial episodes of the Bosnian War. A government-established
commission concluded, after a five-year investigation, that the tragedy
of
Srebrenica was not so cut-and-dry as is still widely believed in the
West.
The resulting outrage compelled the government to resign, and on
Wednesday,
the Army Chief of Staff resigned as well.
There are many interesting things about the 7000-page report.
Apparently, it
says that there has been no evidence of Slobodan Milosevic's involvement
with Srebrenica, corroborating what Milosevic has said to the Hague
Inquisition. Nor does it blame Radovan Karadzic, wartime leader of the
Bosnian Serb Republic. Another largely under-reported point was the
activity
of Bosnian Muslim troops in the supposedly demilitarized enclave.
Judging by
the outrage of defenders of Official Truth, the report could even be
casting
some unwelcome light on the accepted assertion that some 8000 Muslim
civilians were killed in cold blood, which the Hague Inquisition has
already
declared a genocide.
It so happens that the Dutch have been one of Empire's most eager
vassals in
the Balkans interventions, especially the NATO attack on Serbia. As
General
Michael Short told the US Congress in October 1999, they were "small
dogs
[who wanted to] have a seat at the table." Unfortunately, the bitter
experience of Bosnia is unlikely to urge Empire's lapdogs to re-think
the
policy of blind obedience.
The Bosnia Blowback
Dutch actions (or lack thereof) in Srebrenica are just the tip of the
Bosnia
iceberg, though. For years, the Serbs clamored about the substantial
presence of Muslim radicals in Bosnia. Since they were considered
demons,
though, hardly anyone was inclined to listen - even when the said
radicals
tried to blow up the Pope (see April 11-12) in 1997. Now, however,
Bosnia's
NATO occupiers are "finding" Islamic terrorists everywhere. Three former
Muslim intelligence officials were even indicted by the new government
over
their involvement with Iranian terrorist operations in Bosnia during
1995/96.
Now even the official newspaper of the US military writes about Osama
Bin
Laden's ties with the Bosnian mujahedin, and the threat which this
represents to the US military. The same article says the US turned a
blind
eye (and nothing more?) when Iran sent weapons, money and men to Bosnian
Muslims and Croats during the war, while possible violations of the arms
embargo to the region were discussed by none other than the infamous
General
Wesley K. Clark, the "hero" of Kosovo.
To think the Imperial air force bombed Serbian TV for saying much less!
Law of Submission
Nor is Bosnia the only Imperial intervention causing major tremors in
the
fabric of world sanity. Claiming to be under heavy US pressure, Serbia's
ruling hydra approved a bill last week regulating the extradition of
Serbian
and Yugoslav (while it still exists) citizens to the Hague Inquisition,
based on its indictments for "war crimes" in Kosovo. The full text of
the
bill was published in Belgrade daily Glas Javnosti (in Serbian), just
before
it was voted into law.
There are many problems with the ICTY Cooperation Act. It is
unconstitutional, it gives undeserved legitimacy to the Hague
Inquisition,
and it is just plain atrocious as to the degree of power it gives to the
Inquisitors inside Serbia. Such powers most closely resemble those
demanded
by Austria-Hungary in 1914, in one of the classical examples of Imperial
blowback*. Yet according to this Empire's eager servants, even that is
not
submissive enough.
In response, the former minister of Internal Affairs shocked the nation
by
committing public suicide in front of the Parliament. Former Army Chief
of
Staff, however, said surrender was his "duty" and "legal obligation."
The
Djindjic regime wholeheartedly agreed, and promised to extradite all
those
currently wanted by the Inquisition before May 1.
Such groveling of a nominally sovereign country before an emphatically
illegal and illegitimate institution set up by the Empire should be
deplorable at any time. However, too many took comfort in the fact that
the
Inquisition was mostly after Serbs, and that its scope was limited to
the
territory of former Yugoslavia. This past week, all of that changed�
Inquisition Goes Global
On April 10, the International Criminal Court came into being - a global
version of the Hague Inquisition set to demolish sovereignty and
nationhood
on behalf of prosecuting war crimes, genocide, war and other "human
rights"
violations. Though the Empire has not ratified the Rome Treaty that
established the court, and there is no way the ICC can force the Empire
to
submit as its Hague progenitor (with NATO's and Empire's help) did to
the
Serbs, the ICC nonetheless claims the right to put anyone, anywhere, on
an
Inquisition-style trial.
While the Hague "tribunal" has been a tool firmly under Empire's
control,
its heir claims to be more independent-minded, and that is seen as
alarming.
Yet few have actually grasped the connection between the ICC and the
ICTY.
If the ICC is a world conspiracy against a na�ve US government, what
about
its model? The only "axis of evil" involved in its creation was between
Madeleine Albright and Bill Clinton, and his successor George II isn't
exactly keen to abolish this abomination.
More likely, the Empire will seek to co-opt the ICC and use it for
further
conquests, smearing enemies with "indictments" for genocide, war crimes
and
crimes against humanity while passing its own as "collateral damage".
The
ICC needs to get money from somewhere, and it's well-known who has most
of
it. And whoever has the gold, makes the rules.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Some well-intentioned people will no doubt applaud the establishment of
the
ICC, hoping perhaps to see Imperial leaders in the dock at some time in
the
future. Among them would probably be those who still believe that the
ICTY
could become a fair court by indicting leaders of other Balkan
statelets, or
even NATO. None of them really understand that neither of those options
is
possible, not in today's world. ICC's mandate sounds much like the
mission
of Sauron's Ring (with apologies to Tolkien): one court to rule them
all,
one court to find them, one court to bring them all, and in the darkness
bind them.
For the ICC runs completely counter to the basic principle of
international
affairs, one that has been around for over 350 years: sovereignty of
nation-states. Though hardly perfect, it is the only system around, with
no
clear-cut alternatives save worldwide libertarian anarchy. What the
Empire
did to that system in the Balkans through NATO and the ICTY, the ICC is
poised to do on the world scale. In the ensuing vacuum, the only
alternatives would be Imperial hegemony. Perhaps that is why Washington
has
said very little about the ICC over the past week.
What began as a weapon of political warfare in the Balkans has morphed
into
a worldwide leviathan with unprecedented power to destroy: the
proverbial
"rough beast" of Yeats' poem, "its hour come at last."
The Final Twist
Right now, only one man stands fighting against the Inquisition and all
that
it represents. He may have very personal and selfish reasons for doing
so,
or he may not. It hardly matters. Though faced with prosecution
"witnesses"
who regularly commit perjury, have no idea what they are talking about,
and
even ridicule the very existence of Empire as nonsensical, Slobodan
Milosevic is still refusing to surrender to the Inquisition. In doing
so,
whether he wants it or not, he is actually defending liberty - a
declared
American value that the American Empire has done its best to obliterate.
Ironic? Oh yes. Then again, irony seems to be what the Balkans is all
about.
* NOTE: Austria-Hungary thought to use the assassination of Archduke
Franz
Ferdinand at the hands of a disgruntled Bosnian Serb as a pretext for
invading Serbia. The invasion, however, prompted a chain of events that
led
to World War One and the eventual destruction of the Austro-Hungarian
empire. It also ended Europe's golden age, ruined the German and Russian
Empires, caused the rise of the American Empire, brought to power
Communism
in Russia, and spawned Nazism and Fascism.
Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
