"The Cold War's over" [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Bill Howard]

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"The Cold War's over",
"'s over",
"'s over",
"The Cold War's over",
"over and over again".

I ve learned the chorus off by heart -
does anybody know the verses?

Lyrically,

Bill.

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CP of Bohemia and Moravia,To the problems of the so called political extremism [

[Bill Howard]

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[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ]
- Original Message -
From: SolidNet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 8:35 PM
Subject: CP of Bohemia and Moravia,To the problems of the so called political
extremism


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  CP of Bohemia and Moravia,To the problems of the so called political
   extremism
 --
  From: Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
  http://www.kscm.cz , mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
==


  To the problems of the so called political extremism

This document has been worked out by the expert group for security
policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Bohemia and
Moravia (CPBM). Official documents have been used for its elaboration,
especially: Report on the problems of extremism on the territory of the
Czech Republic in 1998 and 1999 submitted by the Government to the House
of Deputies of the Parliament of the CR, Report on the situation in the
area of public order on the territory of the CR in 1998 and 1999, Report
on the activity of the Security and Information Service (SIS) in the
period since January 1, 1996, to December 31, 1997, and since January 1,
1998, to December 31, 1999, and the medium-term conception of the
Ministry of Interior for the years 2000 - 2003.

The purpose of this document is to offer a critical view on the problems
of "extremism" presented by the Government, namely and especially in the
sphere of the security police practice and partially criminal-legal one.
Thus the document does not analyse the issues connected with this term
from the political and sociological views, etc.

I. About "extremism" generally

The term "extremism", as it is understood by the Government of the CR,
Ministry of Interior of the CR and other state authorities of the CR and
interpreted in the Report on the problems of extremism on the territory
of the CR in 1999, is an incorrect, dubious, entirely and purposely
political and ideological term. It does not appear in the legal system
of the CR. It cannot be found in international agreements on human
rights, especially in the International Pact of the United Nations on
human rights and fundamental liberties but it does not appear either in
the European Convention on human rights and liberties. This term is
missing also in solid political and sociological works and publications.

In the political literature in Western Europe and USA a considerable
attention is paid to the existence, spreading and especially to an
after-several-decades since the 2nd World War unexpectedly fast growth
of different movements, called in aggregate - rightist extremism.

Some political scientists question the term "extremism" and point to the
fact that it can lead to excessive simplifications. Besides political
sciences, a range of other social-scientific subjects is engaged in
studies of political and social roots from which "extremism" rises, and
possibilities how to confront it. Also a majority of political parties
take more or less an unambiguous stand to these problems and activities
of "extremists".

Some authors point with growing worries to the fact that especially in
the Federal Republic of Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy but
also with a comparable intensity in Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and
other places in Europe, but also in the USA, stimulation and spreading
of fascist, neo-nazi and racist ideologies take place. Primarily then it
is the case of a formation of fascist organisations and groups that
propagate and apply in their activities racism, anti-Semitism or
nationalism. With a growing migration of the population also xenophobia
that lets off steam by a hostility and hatred towards foreigners,
especially towards foreign manpower, gets through more and more
expressively in the life of a number of European states.

It would be however erroneous to believe that similar "moods" are spread
only by extremist rightist groups. Nationalism, nationally motivated
intolerance and tensions, opposition against immigration, a requirement
to control and put limits to immigration, etc., are also a part of the
political agenda and activity of European right-wing political parties.
Their policy practically blends with the activities of rightist
extremists, inspires and encourages their militant practice.

The main res

CP of Vietnam, 34th Asean Ministerial Meeting Issues Joint Communique [WWW.STOPN

[Bill Howard]

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[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ]
- Original Message -
From: SolidNet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 8:35 PM
Subject: CP of Vietnam, 34th Asean Ministerial Meeting Issues Joint Communique


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 CP of Vietnam, 34th Asean Ministerial Meeting Issues Joint Communique
   -
  From: Communist Party of Vietnam, 24.07.2001
   http://www.cpv.org.vn , mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
==
===

 34TH ASEAN MINISTERIAL MEETING ISSUES JOINT COMMUNIQUE

The 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-34) adopted its Joint Communique
at the closing session on July 24, 2001. The Communique summed up the
main contents of AMM-34 , informing that the meeting had focused
discussions on the developments of the regional and international
situation, in political, security and economic fields; reviewed ASEAN's
activities over the past one year; reaffirmed its continued efforts to
build ASEAN stable, united, integrated and outward looking; and
discussed ways and means to further enhance ASEAN's role and posture.
Hereunder are excerpts of the main contents of the Joint Communique
adopted by AMM-34:
- The Joint Communique reaffirmed the fundamental principles of ASEAN
and the importance of working together to meet the challenges and
further enhance mutual trust and confidence; continued efforts to build
ASEAN stable, united, integrated and outward looking; and commitment to
accelerate the implementation of the Ha Noi Plan of Action (HPA) aimed
at realising the ASEAN Vision 2020.
- Noting the vigorous progress achieved in the implementation of the
Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), the Joint Communique emphasized
the importance of the Ha Noi Declaration on Narrowing Development Gap
for Closer ASEAN Integration adopted by this AMM-34, which reaffirmed
the common commitment in ASEAN to assist in the regional integration of
the new members of ASEAN (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam) and
elaborated specific measures on the four areas of priority:
infrastructure, human resource development, information and
communication technology, and regional economic integration. The Joint
Communique called upon ASEAN's friends and partners to contribute to and
support this initiative. The Joint Communique also renewed support for
development projects in the Mekong River Basin, especially the East-West
Corridor development project, and welcomed initial progress made in the
Mekong-Ganga cooperation.
- In assessing the overall international situation, the Joint Communique
viewed that the positive trend for peace, stability and cooperation
continued to prevail, but noted certain new developments including those
which might affect East Asia and Southeast Asia in political, security
and economic fields; expressed concern over the global economic outlook,
especially the economic downturn in the U.S., Japan and Europe, and the
negative impacts of globalisation; called upon the major powers to
further contribute to strengthening peace, security, cooperation and
development in the region and in the world.
- In reviewing the region's situation, the Ministers and Heads of
Delegation paid special attention to new developments in Indonesia. In
this spirit, the Joint Communique informed that: The Ministers and Heads
of Delegation welcomed the political transition and election of
President Megawati Soekarnoputri in Indonesia. They expressed their hope
that this orderly and peaceful transition would lead to political
stability and speedy economic recovery in Indonesia. They reiterated
their support for the territorial integrity and national unity of
Indonesia. They believed that the stability and prosperity of Indonesia
would contribute positively to peace, stability and prosperity of the
region.
- On political and security cooperation, the Joint Communique emphasized
the importance of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia
(TAC) and the Rules of Procedure of the High Council of the TAC adopted
by AMM-34 and renewed the call for extra-regional states, particularly
the major powers, to accede to the TAC; expressed high appreciation for
the progress made in implementing the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free
Zone (SEANWFZ) Treaty, and welcomed the first direct consultation
between ASEAN and the Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) in Ha Noi in May 2001,
considerin

U.S. chiefly responsible for nuclear threat [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Bill Howard]

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Pyongyang, August 26 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today in a signed
commentary accuses the U.S. council, on foreign relations, an institute for
the study of diplomatic policy, of recently making much fuss about the
DPRK's "access to nuclear weapons." Those with a blacked-hearted intention
are apt to pull up others, it says, and goes on: The U.S. rakes its brain to
make the DPRK's "access to nuclear weapons" a fait accompli in a bid to
justify its "proposal for the resumption of conditional negotiations" and
shift the responsibility for the deadlocked and delayed DPRK-U.S. talks on
to it. 
By doing so, the U.S. seeks to divert other countries' attention to the
DPRK and avert the world's watchful eyes that focused on the U.S.
The U.S has stockpiled hundreds of tons of plutonium for producing
nuclear weapons. There are over 20,000 nuclear warheads in the U.S.
Not content with this, the U.S intends to modernize the facilities for
producing nuclear weapons and produce and deploy more nukes with a budget of
5 billion dollars spread over 10 years to come.
It is the U.S. which is threating other countries with nukes.
The U.S. is browbeating the DPRK with nuclear weapons massively deployed
in and around South Korea.
The Korean people are exposed to nuclear threat no matter where U.S.
nukes are deployed. The U.S. is technically at war with the DPRK.
That is why the DPRK is facing a constant U.S. nuclear threat.
The commentary warns: If the U.S. persistently goes in for nuclear
confrontation, the DPRK will be left with no option but to take a
countermeasure. 


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War maneuvers in S. Korea [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Bill Howard]

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Pyongyang, August 26 (KCNA) -- The U.S. imperialists and the South
Korean military authorities staged a chemical, biological and radioactive
exercise as part of the "Ulji Focus Lens" joint military exercises in South
Korea, according to radio no. 1 from Seoul. Involved there were the eighth
combat flying corps and fire brigade of the U.S. forces, the 23rd chemical
battalion and the 267th company of the U.S. army, the 38th combat flying
corps of the South Korean air force, the fire station and organs in Kunsan
city, North Jolla Province.
The first fleet of the South Korean navy staged a "joint exercise for
defending harbors and bays" in the East Sea of Korea involving the main
force of the navy including the high-speed ship formation of the fleet and
maritime police and organs.
Meanwhile, the second south Korean army corps command on august 22
staged a civilian-government-army joint exercise at Taegu prison under the
pretext of coping with someone's "infiltration" with more than 500 persons
of a chemical company and a mobile strike battalion of the 50th division
under the command, and those concerned of regional organs, police stations
and fire stations 




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Man Gets Ten Years for Using Search Engine, Fax Machine [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Bill Howard]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
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[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ]
- Original Message - 
From: Edward Britton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 4:08 AM
Subject: [mobilize-globally] Man Gets Ten Years for Using Search Engine, Fax Machine


Source: http://www.sierratimes.com/archive/files/aug/26/arex082601.htm


Jim Bell Sentenced To Ten Years In Prison and Lifelong Poverty
SierraTimes Exclusive 08.26.01


Hi. We're from the Government.
We're here to help.

Photo from LewisNews.com
On Friday August 24 Jim Bell, author of Assassination Politics was 
sentenced to 10 years in prison on one count of interstate stalking of a 
federal agent and one count of "using facilities of interstate commerce 
(i.e., a fax machine) for interstate stalking" by Federal Ninth District 
Judge Jack E. Tanner.

During his trial, Bell had argued that he was using widely available means 
to investigate the backgrounds of IRS and ATF agents. Judge Tanner was not 
persuaded; he sentenced Bell to the maximum possible time allowable under 
US Code 18:2261.

After a flurry of motions to dismiss the case for reasons varying from 
judicial prejudice to fraud by the court were denied, Bell's attorney 
Robert Leen addressed the pre-sentencing report. A normal practice in 
federal trials and many state criminal trials, the pre-sentencing report 
recommends a sentence depending on a number of factors. A defendant is 
assigned a "level" based on the crime and this level is adjusted upward if 
other factors are present. Leen argued that the factors that were applied 
were inappropriate or not present.

Two of the factors might be of specific interest to Sierra Times readers. 
Using internet search engines to find the addresses of federal agents was 
considered a "special skill" which the majority of people don't reasonably 
possess. Although Leen pointed out that even his five-year-old could access 
a search engine and this was hardly demonstrative of a special skill, this 
argument was lost on the judge who had previously demonstrated an almost 
total lack of knowledge in the area during the trial.

The other factor was that Bell showed no remorse over authoring 
Assassination Politics. Several times both the prosecutor and judge 
mentioned, in a style redolent of Soviet courts, that Bell hadn't" 
recanted" his essay, and therefore needed to be imprisoned "for the safety 
of the public."

Leen argued that Bell's actions were far from the equivalent of the type of 
crimes that merit sentences of five years, such as "selling five kilos of 
cocaine." Tanner didn't buy that. He said that he did not see Assassination 
Politics as protected speech, and that it was equivalent to "yelling fire 
in a crowded theater."

Leen pointed out that the stalking went both ways; and that the statute 
under which Bell had been tried was not designed for someone trying to 
expose government conspiracy. Leen added that Bell had committed no 
terrible act, and that the prosecution was clearly practicing prior 
constraint. (The judge would essentially confirm this during his statement 
immediately before sentencing.) Leen insisted that his client was "just 
mouthing off," but that this was not cause for imposing 120 months of 
imprisonment.

Leen also pointed out that agents are paid to tolerate some level of abuse 
because of their jobs, but Tanner countered with questions about whether 
they had to put up with abuse outside of their official duties, and whether 
they should be exposing their families to more risk simply because they 
choose to work for the government. (This goes against Tanner's stand in the 
trial that agents deserved special protection over and above what ordinary 
citizens should be accorded.)

Jim Bell was given an opportunity to address the court. In a wavering voice 
that became more firm as he spoke, Bell claimed that he was merely 
researching the stalking against himself, which he believed to be illegal 
and improper surveillance. He said that he was doing "what a private 
investigator or a police officer is hired to do" and that "our society has 
forgotten that we have a right to do this."

Bell highlighted the mutual dislike that so palpably exists between him and 
the judge, stating that the judge was retaliating because of a competency 
complaint that Bell filed against Tanner with the state bar. (Bell has kept 
up a barrage of filings since his April trial; in July he filed suit 
against Tanner and a number of other people, charging that they conspired 
to deny him a fair trial in April.)

Bell argued that the sentencing level should be reduced because he did 
"accept responsibility" for the crime of stalking, an argument that 
prosecutor London later claimed was false because Bell hadn't recanted his 
e

NIN:" YUGOSLAVIA LIKELY TO JOIN NATO'S "PARTNERSHIP FOR =?u

[Miroslav Antic]

Title: Message



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NIN:” YUGOSLAVIA LIKELY TO 
JOIN NATO’S “PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE”. BUT NATIONAL INTERESTS SHOULD BE 
CLEARLY DEFINED FIRST
A special supplement has come out to 
the Yugoslav weekly “NIN” devoted to a possible participation of Yugoslavia in 
NATO’s “Partnership for Peace” programme. One can find there views expressed by 
various Yugoslav experts, politicians, economists, and military officers. 
According to the weekly’s authors, Yugoslavia’s negative attitude towards the 
North-Atlantic Alliance was formed from the very moment it was founded. Then, in 
1949, NATO’s military machinery was aimed to protect the interests of capitalist 
countries, which, in turn, were trying to do their best to destroy socialism, 
including that in Yugoslavia. A country which is intending to enter the 
programme is supposed to prove its commitment to democratic reform, to observing 
international law, first of all, the UN Charter, and the international Humans 
Rights Declaration. It is exactly what Yugoslavia is also required to do by the 
international community. At the same time, according to “NIN,” while trying to 
seriously discuss the issue, the West carefully circumvents one of the principal 
points, notably: what is going to be the cost of the procedure, or how much 
money will it take for Yugoslavia to be finally recognized as “fit?” Here, 
according to NIN, it is necessary to properly weigh and figure out how much 
money will Yugoslavia need to keep on defending itself independently and how 
much if it joins the NATO programme. Under the “Partnership for Peace” 
programme’s terms, a newcomer country will be required to fully restructure its 
armed forces in compliance with the standards accepted with the alliance. In 
particular, political analyst Ranko Petkovic is cited by NIN as writing in this 
connection in his book “Yugoslavia and the post-bipolar world:” You can clearly 
see it from Poland’s experience that maintaining independent defences for a 
small country would be much more costly than same within the NATO framework.” 
Assessing such poor countries as Albania, Macedonia, Kyrghyzstan, and Moldova, 
the Yugoslav analyst concludes that incorporating those countries in the 
“Partnership for Peace” programme would be much cheaper for them than their 
non-alliance. So, Yugoslavia, in Mr. Petkovic’s view, would also benefit in 
doing so both militarily and economically. After the demise of Mr. 
Milosevic’s regime, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has abruptly changed its 
foreign policy vector, NIN writes. Now, Yugoslavia tends to get closer to the 
countries of the “developed West” and to join “all major economic and military 
institutions of the international community.” At the same time, the country’s 
national interests have not yet been determined clearly enough, and this fact 
hampers the constructive continuation of the debates as to joining the 
partnership, and makes Yugoslavia’s position rather shaky. The NIN weekly 
supplement also publishes arguments voiced by Prvoslav Davinic, one of FRYu’s 
representatives in rthe organization “The Pact on the Stability of South-Eastern 
Europe.” He, in particular, says the following. “Changes have taken place 
here in our country since it went through the NATO intervention. The prevalent 
view that seems to have formed by now is that if you cannot protect yourself 
independently (which is really very difficult at the present time), then you 
will have to acquire allies, partners who are able to render you assistance and 
support. In my view, the “Partnership for Peace” programme is a positive 
programme , and it is, what is very important, very flexible. Certainly, 
Yugoslavia does not have to join the programme. If it does, it will have to 
cooperate very carefully and be aware of possible dangers. Decision on each 
particular issue should be taken on the basis of a comprehensive and specific 
analysis and in accordance with national interests. Generally sopeaking, when 
our politicians and diplomats, and all of us, are clearly determined as for our 
national interests, then we will know it for sure whom we are to enter allied 
relationships with. As the joining the Partnership for Peace programme is 
concerned, the main thing for us is not to be in a hurry.” 
SERGEI STEPHANOV PRAVDA.Ru 
 
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SERGEI BORISSOV: KOSTUNICA DECLARED TO BE COMMUNISM DEFENDER [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.U

[Miroslav Antic]

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SERGEI BORISSOV: KOSTUNICA DECLARED TO BE COMMUNISM 
DEFENDERYugoslavia is changing its ambassador to the USA. 
Milan Protic who has been occupying this post announced he is discharged for 
criticism of Yugoslavian government and of president Vojislav Kostunica. “It is 
completely obvious, that I am being dismissed not because of my bad work, but 
because I openly spoke about all I did not agree with”, the ambassador said 
after returning to Belgrad at the beginning of this month. According to 
‘Washington Times’, Protic accused Kastunica of organizing this discharge and 
called the Yugoslavian president “last defender of communism” in the country. 
According to Protic, too many representatives of former regime have remained in 
power. Protic himself hates communism. He took part in the movement for 
overthrow president Slobodan Milosevic. Foreign ministry Goran Sviljanovic said 
Protic was being discharged because he was not performing now his important 
diplomatic work. The Minister supposes the ambassador has already fallen outside 
limits of diplomatic behaviour criticizing the government. Protic was 
criticizing the government, because it could not co-ordinate its policy with 
Yugoslavian diplomats abroad. Many people in Yugoslavia were astonished at 
Protic’s step, when he invited the head of Serbian Orthodox church to sanctify 
Yugoslavian Embassy in Washington. Protic regarded this sanctifying as a 
symbolic one “after 60 years of communism”. And in some time the anti-Communist 
ambassador was recalled from US capital. In his interview for Yugoslavian 
journalists Milan Protic said that if the country was governed by people who are 
loyal towards communists, he would not be able to find a place not only among 
ambassadors, but on the whole political stage. The name of new Yugoslavian 
ambassador to Washington has not been declared yet. Sergei 
Borissov PRAVDA.Ru 
 
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Macedonians Suspicious of Peace Plan [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Miroslav Antic]

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Macedonians Suspicious of Peace Plan 
NATO to Collect Arms As Disputes 
Continue 


  
  


  


  

  
  

  _ Update 
  _Killing 
  Overshadows Launch of Macedonia Mission 
  From Reuters at 9:09 AM 
  
  SKOPJE, Macedonia—NATO troops began gathering guns from 
  guerrillas in Macedonia Monday, pushing ahead with a peace 
  mission overshadowed by the killing of a British soldier in an 
  attack on his NATO vehicle.
  The NATO alliance, charged with collecting the weapons of 
  ethnic Albanian guerrillas, said angry youths were apparently 
  responsible for throwing the lump of concrete that killed the 
  20-year-old serviceman as he drove toward the capital Skopje 
  Sunday night.
  British and Macedonian officials both described the 
  soldier's death as tragic. The Skopje government, which 
  invited NATO to deploy its disarmament force but then warned 
  the mission would fail unless it did more than just gather 
  weapons, offered its condolences.
  The dead man was identified as Sapper Ian Collins, 20, of 
  the 9th Parachute Squadron, Royal 
  Engineers.

  By Peter 
FinnWashington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, August 27, 2001; Page A12 

SKOPJE, Macedonia, Aug. 26 -- NATO plans to collect the first of 3,300 
weapons, including two tanks, from ethnic Albanian rebels Monday, in an 
operation that Macedonian authorities dismissed as an exercise in empty 
symbolism even before it has begun.
Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski today labeled "humiliating" the number of 
weapons the rebels have agreed to turn over to NATO, which insisted the 
surrender is in line with its estimates of the insurgents' firepower. Government 
officials have put the number of rebel weapons at between 8,000 and 85,000.
And following an explosion that destroyed a motel and killed two Macedonian 
Slavs who worked there early today, Georgievski threatened military retaliation 
against the rebels he held responsible, raising the specter of further violence 
as NATO troops assemble between the insurgents and government forces. 
The explosion ripped through a motel owned by Macedonian Slavs in Celopek, 
six miles south of the country's second-largest city, Tetovo, and just across a 
river from rebel-held territory. A bartender and a waiter were killed in the 
explosion, which occurred in the home town of Macedonia's hard-line interior 
minister, Ljuben Boskoski.
Macedonian police said the two workers appeared to have been tied down inside 
the motel before the blast.
Both the explosion and the dispute over the number of weapons held by the 
rebels threatened to derail a fragile and twinned process in which the rebels 
are supposed to turn over all their weapons in three stages while parliament 
introduces and then ratifies constitutional changes that expand the rights of 
the ethnic Albanian minority.
NATO expects to withdraw from Macedonia 30 days after it picks up the first 
weapon, but the symbiotic process -- disarmament tied directly to parliamentary 
action -- could easily falter, forcing the alliance to rethink its role. There 
are already reports in the media in Britain, which provided most of the 3,500 
troops here, that the alliance is making contingency plans for a much longer 
operation and could get sucked into the kind of peacekeeping operation it has 
strenuously said it would avoid.
On a more hopeful note, ethnic Albanian rebels released seven Macedonians and 
a U.S citizen of Macedonian descent whom they had held for weeks. Four of the 
hostages, two of whom were members of the Macedonian security forces, waved as 
they left a building in Lipkovo, a village deep behind rebel lines in northern 
Macedonian, and climbed into a Red Cross vehicle, a Reuters cameraman at the 
scene said.
U.S. officials had attempted and failed to secure the release of the 
American, sources said. Tonight an embassy spokesman here said officials were 
happy that he was out. 
Vojislav Mihailovic, a retiree, was seized by rebels in June. He was being 
examined tonight in a hospital in Skopje, the capital, and Red Cross officials 
said he was in "reasonably good health."
Red Cross officials who met with the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army 
gave the rebels a list of 26 Macedonian Slavs reported missing. But the rebel 
group has acknowledged holding only half that number, according to NATO 
officials.
Red Cross spokeswoman Amanda Williamson said officials had met NLA leader Al

Lili Marlene waits again in Balkans [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Miroslav Antic]

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Lili Marlene waits again in Balkans
  

  
FROM ROGER BOYES IN BERLIN
  

  
LILI MARLENE, the fictional temptress whose sultry 
  presence stirred British and German wartime troops, may be revived by 
  German commanders looking for ways to lift the morale of soldiers heading 
  to Macedonia. 
  The barrack-room song was originally broadcast exactly 60 years ago 
  from a German military radio station in Belgrade and it would be a curious 
  historical irony if it was again used to prop up the spirits of foreign 
  troops in the Balkans. 
  “We are open to all suggestions to make off-duty life more bearable for 
  our soldiers abroad,” a senior officer said. 
  If the German parliament approves the Macedonian operation, its 
  soldiers will be taking part in a peace mission rather than a war of 
  occupation. But the song is uniquely adaptable to military moods, perhaps 
  because the lyrics are so ambiguous or because it was invariably sung by 
  smoky-voiced women from Lale Andersen to Marlene Dietrich and Edith Piaf. 
  It was originally a poem written by Hans Leip, a homesick German 
  soldier in the First World War, who tried to evoke the memory of two 
  girlfriends, Lili and Marleen. The poem was set to music, but was not 
  recorded until 1939 by Lale Andersen. The song was a flop, selling barely 
  700 discs. 
  Only when it was played in the Balkans did it become the first and last 
  song to appeal to wartime friends and enemies. 
  The English lyrics — “Underneath the lantern by the barrack gate, 
  darling I remember the way you used to wait” — are a faithful translation 
  from the German and explain the military success of the song: it was 
  wrongly assumed to be about a prostitute, the transitory nature of love 
  and the loneliness of war. Leip had intended merely a hymn to lost love 
  but, no matter, it became the best-known poem in the German language. 
  Lale Andersen was on a singing tour of the Western Front when the song 
  first made its impact. It probably saved her life. She was critical of the 
  Nazis and had written to a friend in Switzerland indicating her intention 
  to defect. The Gestapo intercepted the letter and threatened to put her in 
  a labour camp. Joseph Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister, hated the song. 
  He had it set to martial music, believing that the original version would 
  sap fighting morale. 
  Lale Andersen took an overdose of sleeping pills and news leaked out to 
  the BBC that she had been killed in a concentration camp. By this time the 
  British had adopted the song as their own. It had been rewritten by Tommie 
  Connor and British radio stations played it to the troops several times a 
  day. 
  To demonstrate the perfidy of the BBC, Goebbels allowed Andersen to 
  live. 
  




  
  

  

  Copyright 
  2001 Times Newspapers 
  Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms 
  and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material 
  from The Times, visit the Syndication 
  website. 
   
  http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-2001295386,00.html
 
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Roma in the Macedonian Conflict [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Francisco Javier Bernal]

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To:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  
Subject:
ERRC: Roma in the Macedonian Conflict
  
From:
European Roma Rights Center 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
  
Date:
Fri, 
  Jul 13 2001 12:22:48 PM +0200

  
  
European Roma Rights CenterPress Statement: Roma 
  in the Macedonian ConflictJuly 13, 2001The European Roma 
  Rights Center (ERRC), an international public interest law 
  organisation which monitors the situation of Roma in Europe and 
  provides legal defence in cases of serious human rights abuse, is 
  concerned about the situation of Roma in Macedonia, as ethnic 
  relations in the country deteriorate and violence escalates to the 
  point of war. The ERRC is concerned that:·     
    The serious human rights issues facing Roma in Macedonia even prior 
  to the conflict have never been addressed adequately by Macedonian 
  authorities.·       There are currently more than 
  5000 Romani refugees from Kosovo in Macedonia -- persons unable to 
  return to Kosovo since they were ethnically cleansed from the province 
  following the cessation of NATO bombing and the return of ethnic 
  Albanian refugees to Kosovo after June 1999. These persons are in a 
  unique state of exposure and should be brought without delay to 
  countries where conditions exist such that refugees can be provided 
  with adequate protection and support.·       In 
  the present conflict, there are early reports of attacks on Roma by 
  ethnic Macedonians, indicating that the widely held view in Macedonia 
  that Roma who are loyal to the Macedonian state will not suffer attack 
  by ethnic Macedonians on grounds of their ethnic origin is 
  unfortunately not true. In light of events in Kosovo since 1999, the 
  possibility of attacks on Roma by ethnic Albanians must unfortunately 
  be taken very seriously.·       In the context of 
  negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in Macedonia, there is a 
  distinct danger that (i) Roma will continue to be excluded from 
  official discussions (as they have been to date) and (ii) in the face 
  of pressure by both ethnic Albanians and ethnic Macedonians, the 
  concerns of other ethnic groups in Macedonia will be forgotten. 
  Present and future arrangements in Macedonia must begin from the 
  premise that Macedonia is a multi-ethnic society.ERRC concerns 
  in detail follow:1. The Human Rights Situation of Roma in 
  Macedonia Prior to the Present ConflictPrior to the present 
  conflict, Macedonian authorities systematically denied that Roma 
  suffer human rights abuse in Macedonia. On the basis of field research 
  conducted in Macedonia, in 1998 the ERRC published the Country Report 
  A Pleasant Fiction: The Human Rights Situation of Roma in Macedonia, 
  concluding that the serious human rights issues that have given rise 
  to concern elsewhere in the region, such as rampant police abuse and 
  violence against Roma, as well as discrimination in many areas of 
  life, exist in Macedonia. The prevailing view that Macedonia is 
  somehow “exceptional” with respect to Roma has contributed to a 
  consistently inadequate state response to human rights violations of 
  Roma.ERRC concerns in Macedonia, as detailed in its 1998 report 
  and subsequent publications, have included especially:·   
      A high number of Romani persons rendered de facto stateless 
  following Macedonian independence in 1992. Authorities have, to date, 
  not engaged effectively to end Romani statelessness in 
  Macedonia;·       Forced homelessness and other 
  abuses of Roma by municipal authorities;·       
  Exclusion of and discrimination against Roma in access to social 
  protection, health care and housing;·       
  Numerous reported instances of police brutality, including cases in 
  which violence by state officials have led to the death of the victim. 
  Officers who physically abuse Roma are rarely if ever punished for 
  their actions.In connection with the latter concern, earlier 
  this year, the European Roma Rights Center filed an application to the 
  European Court of Human Rights in connection with the 1998 police 
  abuse of Mr Pejrusan Jasar, and the subsequent failure of Macedonian 
  authorities to take adequate measures to punish the officers 
  concerned. The full text of the ERRC report, as well as other ERRC 
  publications on the situation of Roma in Macedonia, is available on 
  the Internet at: http://errc.org/publications/indices/macedonia.shtml.2. 
  Romani Refugees from Kosovo in MacedoniaFollowing the return of 
  the ethnic Albanians to Kosovo in June 1999 and the entry of NATO 

Bottoms Up for Visiting U.S. General [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Miroslav Antic]

Title: Message



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Monday, Aug. 27, 2001. Page 1 
Bottoms Up for Visiting U.S. GeneralBy Lyuba Pronina Staff 
Writer 

  
  

  


   
  U.S. Lieutenant General Thomas Keck 
enjoying a shot of vodka Wednesday after flying a Tu-22M3 strategic 
bomber. 

   
  
  Russian pilots swinging a senior U.S. Air Force 
  official by the arms and legs might seem to be breaching international 
  military etiquette, but Lieutenant General Thomas Keck took all this and 
  more with good humor on his visits to Russian air force bases last 
  week.
  
  On Wednesday, Keck became the first NATO 
  serviceman to fly a Tu-22M3 "Backfire" strategic bomber, and dropped bombs 
  on a test field, after which Russian pilots in Ryazan gave him a shot of 
  vodka, then grabbed his arms and legs and swung him against the craft's 
  landing gear in an initiation ritual they said is often inflicted on 
  newcomers. 
  
  "I was very impressed with everything from the 
  beginning, from the ground crew preparing the aircraft to the aviators in 
  the sky, the ones who make it all happen," the U.S. 8th Air Force 
  commander told reporters after meeting Russian air force commander Anatoly 
  Kornukov in Moscow last Friday.
  
  "When I landed I was also introduced to your 
  tradition of drinking vodka and the opportunity to touch my backside to 
  the front tire of the nose gear of the bomber. It's a wonderful 
  tradition," Keck said.
  
  Keck arrived last Monday with five other air 
  force officials, on a six-day visit to promote military-to-military 
  contacts. The visit was to reciprocate a trip by Russian air force 
  officials to a U.S. air base in Texas last year, during which the 
  commander of Russia's strategic air force, Lieutenant General Mikhail 
  Oparin — who accompanied Keck during his visit — flew in B-1B 
  bomber.
  
  The U.S. delegation visited the Ryazan air 
  force training base and air garrisons in the Saratov region city of Engels 
  and Soltsy in the Novgorod region. They were also flown in an Il-78 
  refueller, just as their counterparts last year were given a ride in 
  KS-135 refueller. Keck also took the opportunity to try his hand in the 
  simulator of a Tu-160 supersonic strategic bomber. 
  
  "It has been a very jam-packed five days but 
  every minute has been worth it," Keck said. 
  
  "The opportunity to see your units firsthand 
  and fly your aircraft has been incredible … something I will never forget 
  for the rest of my life," Keck said.
  
  Commenting on his unusual initiation as a 
  Russian strategic air force pilot, Keck said there was a similar tradition 
  back home.
  
  "Sometimes you get very wet being dumped in 
  water, sometimes your neck tie is cut off, sometimes even a tail of your 
  shirt is cut off," he said.
  
  Kornukov said that apart from the official side 
  of the visit, the unofficial meetings with pilots and air force officers 
  were also important, and pledged friendship between military aviation 
  professionals of both nations.
  
  "Our meetings are a guarantee against us 
  looking at each other through the grids of the gun aim, but rather facing 
  each other like we do now," he said.
  http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/08/27/003.html
 
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MACEDONIA-ESSENTIAL HARVEST-WEAPONS [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Miroslav Antic]

Title: Message



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  View photo 
OTLJA, MACEDONIA: A British soldier collects a 
  weapon handed in by ethnic Albanian rebels in the village of Otlja on 
  Monday 27 August 2001, as part of its operation Essential Harvest under a 
  peace plan for the Balkan country. NATO aims to collect 3,300 rebel 
  weapons, excluding small arms and ammunition, in 30 days and has promised 
  Skopje it will gather one-third of that tally by Friday. 

 
MACEDONIA-ESSENTIAL 
HARVEST-WEAPONS
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FIRST CASUALTY IN MACEDONIA INTERVENTION [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Miroslav Antic]

Title: Message



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FIRST CASUALTY IN MACEDONIA INTERVENTION
NATO helicopters swooped into a clearing in northern Macedonia today as the 
alliance began the risky mission of collecting weapons from ethnic Albanian 
rebels, just hours after suffering its first casualty - a British soldier, the 
Associated Press reports. ( http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010827/wl/macedonia_535.html 
)
Marauding youths threw a block of concrete that hit and killed Ian Collins, 
20, of the 9 Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers. He was driving an armored 
vehicle under an overpass on a main road outside Skopje, the capital, when the 
attack occurred, British military officials said. They said he suffered head 
injuries.
In "Waist Deep in the Balkans and Sinking: Washington Confronts the Crisis in 
Macedonia," ( http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-397es.html ) Cato's 
Ted Galen Carpenter writes that the continued fighting in Macedonia shows the 
bankruptcy of Washington's Balkan policy. He recommends that the United States 
disengage and let the European countries grapple with the situation.
"For Washington's deepening diplomatic and military involvement in Macedonia 
is not driven by any meaningful concern about the fate of that small country," 
writes foreign policy analyst Gary Dempsey in "Intervention Protection." ( http://www.cato.org/dailys/08-02-01.html ) "It is 
instead driven by a desire to keep NATO's flawed Kosovo intervention from 
unraveling and becoming a colossal embarrassment."
 
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Fridays at noon in Berkeley: "Women in Black" against Israel's occupation [WWW.

[MsDarkstarOne]

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Date:  Fri, 24 Aug 2001 17:35:15 EDT 
From: katharlow@. aol.com 
Subject:  Fridays at noon in Berkeley: "Women in Black" against Israel's 
occupation  
To:  [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Reply To:  [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
  
 

forwardedPass it on! 

ON-GOING FRIDAY NOON PROTESTS in BERKELEY! 

Join us!  We're "Women in Black" against Israel's brutal 
military occupation of the Palestinian people. 

Every FRIDAY 12-1.  UC Berkeley 

Wear black!  Bring signs! ("End the 
Occupation", "International Observers Now!", "Stop Targeted 
Executions" etc) 

We'll be at Bancroft & Telegraph (south entrance to 
campus) when school is in 
session.  Or we'll stand outside Cody's Books (Telegraph 
& Haste) when 
school's not in session. 

Contact: wibberkeley@. yahoo.com.  510 548-6310 or 510 
845-1143 

To POST A MESSAGE to the list, send your message to:
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BOSNIA, THE GLOBAL TAMMANY HALL [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Miroslav Antic]

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http://www.rockfordinstitute.org/News/Trifkovic/NewsST082401.htm
http://www.rockfordinstitute.org/News/Trifkovic/News&Views.htm

Friday, August 24, 2001

BOSNIA, THE GLOBAL TAMMANY HALL
by Srdja Trifkovic

Bosnia is the Imperium’s first major experiment in nation-building. It
is the harbinger of great and glorious things to come in the new
millennium, and the experiences of this multiethnic, multiconfessional,
multicultural polity based on democracy and human rights will be closely

watched by other aspiring clients of the international community. It is
therefore disheartening that in Bosnia we encounter evidence that the
officials of the “international community” are perhaps no more virtuous
or high-minded than the old rogues who governed the nation-states of
yore.

Take the case of Thomas Miller, the United States ambassador in
Sarajevo, who is rumored to have conspired a year ago with Milorad
Dodik, then prime minister of the Bosnian-Serb Republic, to divert
$500,000 of an American aid package to the Gore/Lieberman campaign. This

claim, made privately by a former minister in Dodik’s government, has
been confirmed by another highly placed source in Banja Luka, the
capital of the Republika Srpska (RS).

The alleged deal was simple: Last July, Ambassador Miller is said to
have arranged a multimillion-dollar USAID grant for the RS budget. Once
the money arrived in Banja Luka, half a million was allocated to the
prime minister’s “discretionary fund”—over which he had exclusive
control—and promptly sent back to the United States as his contribution
to the Gore/Lieberman campaign. This was not the only payment to a
Western political figure from the fund (the existence of which Dodik
admitted in a television interview last November), but it was the
largest single disbursement ever made from it.

Our source insists that Miller was behind the scheme but does not know
whether the administration or “Gore’s people in Washington” were aware
of what was going on:

"It is possible that Ambassador Miller arranged it all on his own
initiative, because he is a committed Democrat--just like all other key
U.S. officials in Bosnia: Jacques Klein, U.N. mission chief in Sarajevo,

Ralph Johnson, first deputy high representative, and Robert Berry, OSCE
mission chief. They all rooted for Gore, and Miller is known to have
expressed his concern for ‘the future of Bosnia’ if Bush won.  And he
could not conceal his fury at the outcome of the election dispute in
Florida."

When some revelations of Dodik’s corrupt practices--including the first
partial disclosure of the Gore deal--were published by the Banja Luka
magazine Extra last February, it looked like the cat was out of the bag.

Interestingly, however, there has been no follow-up. It was widely
expected that the new government of Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic,
publicly committed to fighting corruption, would make public the results

of an investigation into his predecessor’s practices. This has not
happened so far, and our sources indicate that Dr. Ivanic is under heavy

pressure from Ambassador Miller and other American political
heavyweights in Bosnia not to rock the boat. He has agreed to comply,
thus betraying his own electoral promise to eradicate corruption and
hold former officials responsible.

Their motives are easy to understand. Dodik was persona gratissima in
Bill Clinton’s Washington—Madeleine Albright once described him as “a
breath of fresh air”—and the proponents of “continuity” of the U.S.
policy in Bosnia want to keep him in reserve as a tried and true
quisling. He could come in handy if they are allowed to play the next
act in their arcane Balkan game: the scrapping of the Dayton Accord in
favor of a centralized Bosnian state.

Even after Dodik’s crushing defeat at last fall’s RS general election,
Ambassador Miller was promoting him for a ministerial position at the
federal level in Sarajevo.  Because Dodik’s reputation for greed and
graft has made him odious even to the Muslim politicians who had found
him useful in the past, he was unsuccessful in his bid. In addition, Mr.

Miller, a protégé of Richard Holbrooke, may have strong personal reasons

for wanting the new RS government to keep quiet about some of Dodik’s
shenanigans. If the allegations are corroborated, it could mark not only

the end of his diplomatic career but the beginning of a criminal
investigation back in Washington. “I am honored to appear before you
today as President Clinton’s nominee to receive the rank of ambassador…
I am grateful to the President and to Secretary Albright for the
confidence they have shown in appointing me to this position,” Thomas
Miller declared at his Senate confirmation hearing in October 1997. His
gratitude to the Democratic White House seems to have acquired a
tangible form three years later.

In the meantime Miller had stepped on many Bosnian toes. During his
tenur

Truth in Media Global Watch Bulletins [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Miroslav Antic]

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Truth in Media Global Watch Bulletins



TiM GW Bulletin
  2001/8-2

August 15, 2001
An Essay by a Canadian Documentary Filmmaker

Truth Buried in Balkan Hell Holes

Also, "What Were We Bombed For?" - Belgrade reader says
lack of
evidence cited by the Hague over Milosevic's alleged
Kosovo crimes,
yet NATO went to war with Serbia because of them!?


   FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONABALKAN AFFAIRS



 HEADLINES

  Calgary 1. Truth Buried in Balkan Hell Holes (by
Garth Pritchard)

  Belgrade   2. "What Were We Bombed For?" - an Update
to

  TiM Readers Forum - TiM
Bulletin 2001/8-1

  Phoenix FOREWORD: Albanian Terrorists' ProxiesAug.
17, 2001

  Skopje  3. PR Spinning of Terrorists into
"Statesmen"Aug. 17, 2001

  Washington  4. U.S. to Fund Macedonia Media BlitzAug. 17,
2001

  Ottawa  5. "Canadian Trinity:" Ottawa to Send Only
Three Soldiers to MacedoniaAug.
  17, 2001

  Rio de Janeiro  6. Brazilian Judge Says Hague Tribunal Is
"Partial"Aug. 21, 2001

 -

  1. Truth Buried in Balkan Hell Holes

 By Garth Pritchard

  PHOENIX, Aug. 15 - Garth Pritchard is an award-winning independent
Canadian
  documentary filmmaker.  He has followed Canadian troops, his camera
and reporter's
  pad in hand, through all their Balkan peacekeeping missions during the
last nine years.
  Since 1992, he has been to Bosnia, the Krajina, Croatia, Serbia,
Kosovo,
  Macedonia. to mention only some of the NWO crime scenes.

  "I've crisscrossed every nook and cranny of that country," Pritchard
told the TiM
  editor today, as he described some of the scenes he has seen during
his seven trips to
  what is now known as "former Yugoslavia."

  As a result, Pritchard has seen what the New World Order hell holes
look like - from
  the inside - the way a soldier or a victim would see them.  Unlike the
American public,
  which is being led down the garden path blindfolded by CNN's and other
NWO establishment media's lies and
  distortions, at least some Canadians have had a chance to see the
other side of the coin, through the stories that
  Pritchard's cameras recorded and presented.  His latest documentary,
"Shadows of War," for example, has received
  several awards, he says.

  Yet even in Canada, the public at large is largely unaware of the
truth.  Because Pritchard's films have been ignored by
  the mass media, including this country's National Film Board, which
sent Pritchard to the Balkans.  The truth has been
  muffled.  The cries of the innocent victims have been gagged.  Just as
in the U.S. and elsewhere in the New World
  Order lapdog media.

  In this TiM Bulletin, however, we bring you with the author's
permission his narrative, "Truth buried in Balkan hell
  holes."  The article was also published in the print edition only (!)
of the Toronto Sun on Aug. 12.  Here's what
  Pritchard said about some of the atrocities committed by the Croat
army against the Serb civilians in the Krajina in
  1993 and in 1995:

  Truth lies buried in Balkan hell holes

It was the classic case of the 100-foot stare in a 10-foot room.

The dialogue was flat, almost disembodied. But the young
soldiers were trying to speak to the camera. They
had been asked what happened in the Medac pocket in 1993 when
Croat forces attacked the Krajina, then
held by Serbs.

The horrors they witnessed were close to unspeakable. The young
soldier looked at the camera lens, and
beyond. He remembered what he had seen: "They (the Croats) were
using people from the villages to carry
the belongings they had stolen. We trailed them towards the
mountains, and as we got close, they started to
kill people - a warning for us to stop the chase."

  'We tried our best'

"We radioed what was happening and were told not to go any
further. I'm sorry, sir. We really didn't know
whether or not we got the right body parts in the right body
bags. We tried our best, sir."

The horrors of the Medac pocket were obvious the day I arrived
in the battle zone. Maybe it was the child's
bicycle lying in the mud at the crossroads - run over by tanks.
Or the gutted buildings. But for sure there'd
been horror there. Everything was destroyed. Everything gone.
All animals, even chickens, had been
slaughtered. And, of course, the smell.

A Balkan hell hole. Unreported. It would be two years before the
Canadian media picked up the story and
explained that this was the

Re: NP: Rwanda, the US, Arbour [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Petokraka78]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

Hey all,

I'm in Quito now and learning alot about popular struggles here.  You'll all be glad 
to know that most of the popular movements here are led by leaders who are members of 
the semi-clandestine communist party known as the PCMLE.  There's alot of CIA presence 
her too, and many movements are struggling with plants, which makes things difficult 
and not everyone is open with info with "gringos" so research has been difficult, 
althouh fortunately I have the trust of some key leaders in the country.

As for Rwanda, just wanted to say that there is no doubt in my mind that the US was 
behind Habryamana's assassination and that the RPF were directly implicated.  Lets 
just say that I have it on very good academic authority that Uganda was "crawling with 
English speaking black RPF soldiers and Western arms merchants" prior to the invasion 
of Rwanda (where French is spoken, meaning that these RPF troops weren't necessarily 
native Rwandans but could have also been Ugandans or even members of US or British 
special forces).  The initial RPF attack displaced nearly 1,000,000 Hutu's who would 
later form the core of the Interhamway militias that butchered thousands of Tutsis.  
Habryamana was informed of the RPF invasion of his country by Yoweri Museveni (the 
Ugandan president)early the morning of the invasion in New York (the two were in the 
same Hotel at the time).  The fact that Museveni knew about the invasion prior to 
Habryamana immediately caused suspicion in the Rwandan leadersh!
ip of the era that Uganda was ac
tively backing this invasion with US and British support.  The French, Belgians, and 
Canadians pressed hard for an intervention force for various reasons, but the French 
obviously wanted to stop the brutal RPF armies from seizing power and consolidating 
Anglo interests in a traditionally French region of Africa.  

Of course as opposed to Kosovo and Bosnia, in this case the US didn't want 
multinational intervention and actively blocked it b/c they were already directing 
their own proper intervention through the RPF and the RPF's military successess suited 
the "facts on the ground" as the US wanted them.  In the Balkans, the "facts on the 
ground" i.e. the ethno-spatial settlement of Orthodox Slavs across key routes in the 
Balkans, didn't suit the interests of the US and thus the need to intervene to change 
these (including massive ethnic cleansing).  The same thing happened to Hutus in 
Central Africa who have been butchered in the hundred thousands since 1994 and to 
Congolese who have died in the millions for resisting US-backed Tutsi militarism and 
expansionism.

The story is that the US didn't want to intervene b/c of Somalia.  The falacy of this 
line is proven by the fact that the French were willing and what is most important 
ready and capable to intervene without US help.  So US obstructionism at the UN had 
another purpose then, to delay until its ally any type of intervention (besides the 
RPF aggression) until the RPF took control of the entire territory of Rwanda.  

Of course the "Shame on the US for not intervening in Rwanda for narrow political 
reasons and due to the Pentagon's desire to avoid another Somalia", which is the line 
trotted out in the USA and by various left-lib "intellectuals", serves the agenda of 
the humanitarian interventionist better than the "US did intervene in Rwanda through a 
rabidly militaristic and expansionistic force of aggression that has gone on to carry 
out genocidal violence in Rwanda and Congo and support brutal minority rule in 
Burundi, including the internment of hundreds of thousands of Hutu's, but didn't want 
multilateral intervention in 1994 b/c this would have been against its regional 
interests and may have actually impeded the consolidation of power by this US ally".  
Few! That was a mouthful, but you get the point.

Anyway hope ya'll enjoying yer summer...

cheers!

KOle

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FW: Israel's Crimes against Palestinians: War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity,

[Boyle, Francis]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-



Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954(voice)
217-244-1478(fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  
 


-Original Message-
From: Islamic News and Information Network [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 11:28 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Israel's Crimes against Palestinians: War Crimes, Crimes
Against Humanity, Genocide (Prof. Francis Boyle)


Asalamu'alaikum

Israel's Crimes against Palestinians:War Crimes, Crimes Against
Humanity, Genocide

by Francis Boyle (Prof. of International Law)

The International Laws of Belligerent Occupation

Belligerent occupation is governed by The Hague Regulations of 1907, as
well as by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and the customary laws of
belligerent occupation. Security Council Resolution 1322 (2000), paragraph
3 continued: "Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to abide
scrupulously by its legal obligations and its responsibilities under the
Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in
a Time of War of 12 August 1949;..." Again, the Security Council vote was
14 to 0, becoming obligatory international law.

The Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the West Bank, to the Gaza Strip,
and to the entire City of Jerusalem, in order to protect the Palestinians
living there. The Palestinian People living in this Palestinian Land are
"protected persons" within the meaning of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
All of their rights are sacred under international law.

There are 149 substantive articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention that
protect the rights of every one of these Palestinians living in occupied
Palestine. The Israeli Government is currently violating, and has since
1967 been violating, almost each and every one of these sacred rights of
the Palestinian People recognized by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Indeed,
violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention are war crimes.

So this is not a symmetrical situation. As matters of fact and of law, the
gross and repeated violations of Palestinian rights by the Israeli army
and Israeli settlers living illegally in occupied Palestine constitute war
crimes. Conversely, the Palestinian People are defending Themselves and
their Land and their Homes against Israeli war crimes and Israeli war
criminals, both military and civilian.

The U.N. Human Rights Commission

Indeed, it is far more serious than that. On 19 October 2000 a Special
Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted a Resolution set
forth in U.N. Document E/CN.4/S-5/L.2/Rev. 1, "Condemning the provocative
visit to Al-Haram Al-Sharif on 28 September 2000 by Ariel Sharon, the
Likud party leader, which triggered the tragic events that followed in
occupied East Jerusalem and the other occupied Palestinian territories,
resulting in a high number of deaths and injuries among Palestinian
civilians." The U.N. Human Rights Commission then said it was "[g]ravely
concerned" about several different types of atrocities inflicted by Israel
upon the Palestinian People, which it denominated "war crimes, flagrant
violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity."

In operative paragraph 1 of its 19 October 2000 Resolution, the U.N. Human
Rights Commission then: "Strongly condemns the disproportionate and
indiscriminate use of force in violation of international humanitarian law
by the Israeli occupying Power against innocent and unarmed Palestinian
civilians...including many children, in the occupied territories, which
constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity;..." And in paragraph
5 of its 19 October 2000 Resolution, the U.N. Human Rights Commission:
"Also affirms that the deliberate and systematic killing of civilians and
children by the Israeli occupying authorities constitutes a flagrant and
grave violation of the right to life and also constitutes a crime against
humanity;..." Article 68 of the United Nations Charter had expressly
required the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council to "set up" this
Commission "for the promotion of human rights."

Israel's War Crimes against Palestinians

We all have a general idea of what a war crime is, so I am not going to
elaborate upon that term here. But there are different degrees of
heinousness for war crimes. In particular are the more serious war crimes
denominated "grave breaches" of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Since the
start of the Al Aqsa Intifada, the world has seen those inflicted every
day by Israel against the Palestinian People living in occupied Palestine:
e.g., willful killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army and
Israel's illegal paramilitary settlers. These Israeli "grave breaches" of
the Fourth Geneva Convention mandate universal prosecution for their
perpetrators, whether military or civilian, as well as prosecution for
their commanders, whether mili

Re: NYT's Friedman: NATO Should Occupy Palestine [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[cube321]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-


  Most of us are aware that this character is the mouth-piece of
opinion, as many of "his" ideas seem to magically come to light.
So, it's interesting to note his final remarks, particularly the last
line in which he prepares us for the ineviatable: " What is
> needed is for Israel to turn these areas over to NATO
> or a NATO- like force. The Palestinians can have their
> state — but no army — under NATO's watchful eye.
> It's a long shot, but it addresses the real problem,
> and a **future column*** will explain how it might work.

On 27 Aug 01, at 6:59, Rick Rozoff wrote:

> Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
> -
>
> [The same writer, in 1999, urged NATO to bomb
> Yugoslavia back to the 1300s.]
>
> "The only solution may be for Israel and the U.S. to
> invite NATO to occupy the West Bank and Gaza and set
> up a NATO-run Palestinian state, a la Bosnia and
> Kosovo."
>
> New York Times
> August 24, 2001
> FOREIGN AFFAIRS
> A Way Out of the Middle East Impasse
> By THOMAS FRIEDMAN
> The Middle East conflict has gotten so violent and
> depressing, you wonder how the two sides can ever find
> a way out. We need a new idea. I'd like to propose one
> — but first some background.
> If you listen to the Israeli left, the only way out of
> this stalemate is more talks with Yasir Arafat. I was
> a strong believer in the Oslo process, because Oslo
> was a necessary and worthwhile test of whether Israel
> could produce a Palestinian partner for a secure
> peace. It was a test the majority of Israelis wanted,
> it was a test that contributed mightily to the
> investment and prosperity Israel enjoyed in the
> 1990's, which helped absorb so many Russian
> immigrants, and it was a test that made possible the
> Israel-Jordan peace treaty, as well as Israeli
> diplomatic missions from Qatar to Morocco.
> It was also a test that Israeli leaders, from Yitzhak
> Rabin to Bibi Netanyahu to Ariel Sharon, felt was
> important enough for each to participate in
> land-for-peace trades with Mr. Arafat, because they
> each knew that there was no military solution and that
> any long-term peace had to involve Israel's ceding
> land in return for Mr. Arafat's providing security.
> Finally, it was a test needed to unite Israel: a
> majority of Israelis had to find out if there was an
> alternative to permanent life on the barricades.
> But at some point you have to say the test failed.
> That is what Camp David symbolized. Mr. Arafat was not
> willing to look his people in the eye and tell them
> that 95 percent was all they were going to get and
> they needed to make the best of it, nor was he willing
> to acknowledge a Jewish connection to Jerusalem's
> Temple Mount. Which is why I don't believe the left's
> argument that more negotiations now with Mr. Arafat
> will do the trick. Maybe Israel can still strike a
> mini-deal or a cease-fire with Mr. Arafat, but not a
> final peace.
> That's right, says the Israeli right, so what we need
> now is not more negotiations but more military
> pressure; now is the time to crush Mr. Arafat and his
> whole gang.
> No one can criticize Israel for retaliating in the
> harshest manner for suicide bombs in restaurants; no
> country in the world would behave otherwise. But the
> idea that there is a tipping point, where enough
> military pressure on the Palestinians will get them to
> say "uncle" and willingly accept some mini-mini-state
> in the West Bank, is utter fantasy. Five million Jews
> cannot sustain a military solution against five
> million Palestinians and 95 million Arabs.
> O.K., says the Israeli right, then just smash them and
> then put up a wall around Israel. Another fantasy.
> First of all, thanks to all the ideological Jewish
> settlements that Israel has set up in the West Bank
> and Gaza (recklessly cheered on by the American Jewish
> right), Israel now has a huge strategic-political
> problem.
> If Israel keeps all the settlements and the Arab areas
> around them, demographically it will become an
> apartheid state or a non-Jewish state. If it tries
> unilaterally to uproot some of the settlements,
> without any commitments from the Palestinians, it will
> trigger a Jewish-Jewish civil war. It will also
> provide a huge victory for Palestinian radicals — who
> will have gotten land for war. If Israel uprooted only
> some settlements and put up a wall, it would leave
> behind a chopped-up Palestinian mini-state that would
> be totally non-viable. It would be a seething
> cauldron, uncontrolled by Israel, that could easily
> acquire heavier weapons from Iraq and become a
> strategic threat.
> In short, Oslo was a test that failed, but was aborted
> before it was too late. The settlements are a
> continuing, long-term threat to the entire Zionist
> enterprise. So what to do? Staying in the West Bank
> and Gaza will slowly destroy Is

Germany: 2001 Or 1941? [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

[Chancellor of a reunified, remilitarized German
occupies third former European entity. Hitler and
Ribbentrop didn't get to that point until almost eight
years in power, with the invasion of Greece in 1940.
Good job, Gerhard and Joschka, Frederick the Great and
Bismarck, not to mention later examples, would be
proud of you.
When do you expect to be in Moscow?]  

Monday August 27, 10:24 PM
Schroeder expected to win parliamentary approval for
NATO deployment
BERLIN, Aug 27 (AFP) - 
The executive committees of both parties in German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's centre-left government
said on Monday they would back the deployment of
German soldiers for NATO's peacekeeping mission in
Macedonia, all but assuring a positive parliamentary
vote on Wednesday.
The two committees made the announcements after
meetings in Berlin Monday, despite grumbling from
leftists in the coalition which had left German
participation in the operation called Essential
Harvest in doubt.
Some 30 left-wing members of Schroeder's Social
Democrats (SPD) and the formerly pacifist Greens have
objected to German participation in the NATO action to
disarm ethnic Albanian guerrillas as too risky, both
for the soldiers and for Germany if the mission leads
to a long-term commitment.
The German deployment proposal, to be voted on in
parliament Wednesday, calls for up to 500 German
soldiers to join the NATO force which on Monday began
collecting weapons surrendered by ethnic Albanian
rebels. 
SPD member Harald Friese had told the Frankfurter
Allgemeine newspaper on Sunday: "The risk of the NATO
mission cannot be calculated and therefore is not
responsible."
Such fears were underscored Monday when NATO said a
British soldier serving in Macedonia had been killed
Sunday by a piece of concrete thrown through the
window of his vehicle near the capital, Skopje.
German soldiers expected to be sent to Macedonia will
received special defence training and equipment to
ensure their safety, a defence ministry spokesman said
Monday.
He said that they would be required to wear
bullet-proof vests and steel helmets while outside
barracks. Vehicles would also only be allowed to
travel in convoy.
The overall NATO force was expected to number 5,000
troops from a dozen alliance members.
Schroeder's SPD-Greens coalition has a majority of
only 16 in the 666-seat lower house, the Bundestag,
and so would need support from the opposition if it
lost too many votes from his side.
The conservative opposition has echoed the concerns
expressed by Friese and said that the German army,
already burdened by government austerity programs and
peacekeeping missions in both Bosnia and Kosovo,
cannot afford to deploy in Macedonia.
But Schroeder said last week that the armed forces
would receive an extra 120 million marks (60 million
euros, 55 million dollars) for the mission, plus a
monthly 15 million marks out of general federal funds
and not the defense ministry budget.
Angela Merkel, leader of the main conservative party,
the Christian Democrats (CDU), told ZDF television
over the weekend that members of her party were free
to vote as they wished on Wednesday and would not be
pressured to reject the measure.
She had previously opposed Germany sending troops,
saying the current defense budget was too small to
fund such a mission.
Schroeder has also apparently won support from the
opposition Free Democrats (FDP) for the deployment,
with FDP chairman Guido Westerwelle backing it.
Winning over the FDP could signal a change in the
political landscape, as Schroeder could turn to this
liberal party to form a new coalition after general
elections next year, if the Greens either fail to win
enough votes or continue to cause him problems in
carrying out his policies.
Schroeder's cabinet approved on Thursday the
deployment plan, which would put the German contingent
under French command and have a 30-day mandate.
Schroeder said the aim of the NATO operation was to
make it possible for different ethnic groups in
Macedonia to live together, as the alternative is
civil war, and that Germany could not leave such an
important task to its allied partners alone.
Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping said last week that
he did not expect the mission to last longer than 30
days, "But I cannot rule that out."
The German public is split over sending troops to
Macedonia, according to a poll published Saturday by
Bild newspaper.
The poll showed 49 per cent backed the German army's
involvement in Operation Essential Harvest, with 46
per cent opposed.


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Corsica: NATO Death Squads [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

[Thomas Mann: "National German Socialist Workers Party
(nazis), every word of which is a lie."..."How can the
Socialists in power allow themselves to cover up and
encourage political assassinations?" For the very same
reason they initiated and supported the Hitlerian
aggression against Yugoslavia and are now presiding
over the dismemberment and destruction of Macedonia:
Because they are no more socialists - or workers
parties - than was their predecessor and role model in
Bavaria in the 1920s.]

Monday August 27, 9:06 PM
Corsican militants attack government as arrests follow
assassinations
BASTIA, France, Aug 27 (AFP) - 
The political wing of an armed Corsican sepratist
group on Monday accused the French government of
colluding in the recent murders of the movement's
founders.
French police had earlier arrested four suspected
members of the group, which seeks independence for the
French Mediterranean island.
"How can the Socialists in power allow themselves to
cover up and encourage political assassinations,"
demanded a statement released by Presenza Naziunale,
the political wing of Armata Corsa.
Francois Santoni, the co-founder of a group which has
claimed responsibility for three killings and around
20 attacks since June 1999, was himself shot dead on
August 16.
Armata Corsa's other founder, Jean-Michel Rossi was
shot dead a year earlier. There have been no arrests
in either case.
Four Corsicans thought to be linked to the group were
arrested on Sunday by police investigating an
attempted bomb attack on administrative buildings,
police sources said.
The Presenza Naziunale statement made no reference to
the arrests, but accused the government of protecting
Armata Corsa's rivals within the separatist movement
which it blames for the murders.
It is widely thought that Santoni and Rossi were
targeted after accusing other militants of being
mixed-up in mafia-style organised crime rather than
concentrating on the 25-year-old struggle for Corsican
independence.
The statement warned that the attacks would increase
the pressure on the Corsican peace process, under
which the government in Paris has promised the island
limited autonomy in return for an end to violence.
"How can we decently talk about a peace process?" the
statement asked.
The latest breach in the truce supposedly backed by
all the main separatist groups was reported Sunday,
when a police officers car was damaged in a bomb
attack that left him in severe shock.
The latest wave of violence, which has seen three
Corsicans shot dead, has led to calls for Prime
Minister Lionel Jospin to abandon his plans to give
the island's assembly limited lawmaking powers.
But Jospin has refused to back down from his plan,
which he maintains is still the best hope of bringing
the fighting to an end.
A leaked government report published in the French
press last week said the island was a haven for
mafia-style racketeering, that corruption was rife in
local politics and that separatist groups were funded
through armed robbery.

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Re: Powell Won't Go to Racism Conference; Outright Ban Still Possible [WWW.ST...

[TOOLGT]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

In a message dated 8/26/2001 2:33:35 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:


   WASHINGTON -- After weeks of deliberation, Secretary of State Colin 
Powell (his massa) has decided not to (let him) attend the U.N. conference 
on racism beginning in 
Durban, South Africa, later this week. 

Fine! The US wouldn't engage in anything constructive. 
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NYT's Friedman: NATO Should Occupy Palestine [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

[The same writer, in 1999, urged NATO to bomb
Yugoslavia back to the 1300s.]

"The only solution may be for Israel and the U.S. to
invite NATO to occupy the West Bank and Gaza and set
up a NATO-run Palestinian state, a la Bosnia and
Kosovo."

New York Times   
August 24, 2001
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
A Way Out of the Middle East Impasse
By THOMAS FRIEDMAN
The Middle East conflict has gotten so violent and
depressing, you wonder how the two sides can ever find
a way out. We need a new idea. I'd like to propose one
— but first some background.
If you listen to the Israeli left, the only way out of
this stalemate is more talks with Yasir Arafat. I was
a strong believer in the Oslo process, because Oslo
was a necessary and worthwhile test of whether Israel
could produce a Palestinian partner for a secure
peace. It was a test the majority of Israelis wanted,
it was a test that contributed mightily to the
investment and prosperity Israel enjoyed in the
1990's, which helped absorb so many Russian
immigrants, and it was a test that made possible the
Israel-Jordan peace treaty, as well as Israeli
diplomatic missions from Qatar to Morocco.
It was also a test that Israeli leaders, from Yitzhak
Rabin to Bibi Netanyahu to Ariel Sharon, felt was
important enough for each to participate in
land-for-peace trades with Mr. Arafat, because they
each knew that there was no military solution and that
any long-term peace had to involve Israel's ceding
land in return for Mr. Arafat's providing security.
Finally, it was a test needed to unite Israel: a
majority of Israelis had to find out if there was an
alternative to permanent life on the barricades.
But at some point you have to say the test failed.
That is what Camp David symbolized. Mr. Arafat was not
willing to look his people in the eye and tell them
that 95 percent was all they were going to get and
they needed to make the best of it, nor was he willing
to acknowledge a Jewish connection to Jerusalem's
Temple Mount. Which is why I don't believe the left's
argument that more negotiations now with Mr. Arafat
will do the trick. Maybe Israel can still strike a
mini-deal or a cease-fire with Mr. Arafat, but not a
final peace. 
That's right, says the Israeli right, so what we need
now is not more negotiations but more military
pressure; now is the time to crush Mr. Arafat and his
whole gang.
No one can criticize Israel for retaliating in the
harshest manner for suicide bombs in restaurants; no
country in the world would behave otherwise. But the
idea that there is a tipping point, where enough
military pressure on the Palestinians will get them to
say "uncle" and willingly accept some mini-mini-state
in the West Bank, is utter fantasy. Five million Jews
cannot sustain a military solution against five
million Palestinians and 95 million Arabs.
O.K., says the Israeli right, then just smash them and
then put up a wall around Israel. Another fantasy.
First of all, thanks to all the ideological Jewish
settlements that Israel has set up in the West Bank
and Gaza (recklessly cheered on by the American Jewish
right), Israel now has a huge strategic-political
problem.
If Israel keeps all the settlements and the Arab areas
around them, demographically it will become an
apartheid state or a non-Jewish state. If it tries
unilaterally to uproot some of the settlements,
without any commitments from the Palestinians, it will
trigger a Jewish-Jewish civil war. It will also
provide a huge victory for Palestinian radicals — who
will have gotten land for war. If Israel uprooted only
some settlements and put up a wall, it would leave
behind a chopped-up Palestinian mini-state that would
be totally non-viable. It would be a seething
cauldron, uncontrolled by Israel, that could easily
acquire heavier weapons from Iraq and become a
strategic threat.
In short, Oslo was a test that failed, but was aborted
before it was too late. The settlements are a
continuing, long-term threat to the entire Zionist
enterprise. So what to do? Staying in the West Bank
and Gaza will slowly destroy Israel from within, but
just leaving and putting up a wall could destroy
Israel from without.
The only solution may be for Israel and the U.S. to
invite NATO to occupy the West Bank and Gaza and set
up a NATO-run Palestinian state, à la Kosovo and
Bosnia. I'm serious. Israel can't stay in the West
Bank and Gaza and remain a Jewish democracy; but it
can't unilaterally withdraw, put up a wall and leave
an uncontrolled Palestinian entity there — without
creating a permanent threat to Israel's existence.
Nor, for that matter, can Israel trust Mr. Arafat
anymore to administer these areas properly. What is
needed is for Israel to turn these areas over to NATO
or a NATO- like force. The Palestinians can have their
state — but no army — under NATO's watchful eye.
It's a long shot, but it addresses the real problem,
and a fu

US Civilian Killed In Bosnia [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

U.S. Civilian Dies in Bosnia From Stab 

The Associated Press
Monday, Aug. 27, 2001; 5:14 a.m. EDT

EAGLE BASE, Bosnia-Herzegovina –– An American civilian
contract worker assigned to a U.S. military base in
Bosnia died from stab injuries sustained during a
fight, U.S. officials with the NATO peacekeeping
mission said Monday. 

Robert Ruiz, 27, was a contractor working for the
University of Maryland and had been assigned in June
to U.S. Eagle Base in the northern Bosnian town of
Tuzla. 

Medical personnel on the base pronounced Ruiz dead
Sunday morning, and a statement listed the cause of
death as apparent stab wounds. An autopsy was pending.
No further details on the altercation were released. 

"Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of Mr.
Robert Ruiz," said Maj. Gen. Walter L. Sharp,
commander of the base. 

The base police detained a suspect in the stabbing,
but the suspect's identity and other details would not
be made public until the investigation was completed,
the statement said. 



 
   

   


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The Real Face Of NATO [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

The Guardian (Australia)
August 22, 2001

The real face of NATO


When Slobodan Milosevic was kidnapped from Belgrade
and arraigned before The Hague War Crimes Tribunal he
was assured by Judge Richard May: "You will be
accorded the full rights of the accused, according to
international law."

The Hague is supposed to be a UN Tribunal but those
implementing charges, convictions and court procedures
are violating international law in many ways.

President Milosevic has been held in solitary
confinement for weeks despite his protest and the
official UN position which says: "Efforts addressed to

the abolition of solitary confinement as a punishment,
or to the restriction of its use, should be undertaken
and encouraged."

Then there is the right to sleep. During the first
days, the lights of his cell were never turned off. In
addition, video cameras are trained on Milosevic at
all times, thus providing no right to any privacy.

Then there is the right to engage legal representation
of one's choice. After weeks of haggling one of
Milosevic's Yugoslav attorneys was finally allowed to
see him. However, the Dutch Government, acting, it
says, under instructions from the Tribunal' has denied
another Yugoslav attorney a visa.

The right to receive visitors. Mr Milosevic's wife has
been treated like a criminal since coming to Holland.
She has been confined to a hotel room when not
visiting her husband from whom she is separated by a
pane of glass. Yet the UN says, "All prisoners shall
be treated with the respect due to their inherent
dignity and value as human beings."

So, it is in this way that NATO brings its claimed
"humanitarian values" to the world, and flagrantly
violates the principles that the UN has itself laid
down.

Is this treatment any surprise?

This is the treatment meted out to anyone who has the
courage to stand up to NATO and defy the NATO
warmongers and aggressors.

Is it an accident that Slobodan Milosevic is
imprisoned in the Tribunal's jail located in
Schevenieng, Holland, the very same village where the 
German Nazis detained members of the Dutch Resistance
before shooting them during WW 2.

For years the media demonised Milosevic and the whole
Serb nation with tales of horror and ethnic cleansing
yet it is those who make such allegations who were
responsible for the illegal bombing of Serbia, who 
have armed, trained and financed the fascists of the
Kosovo Liberation Army and are using these forces to
dismember the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

It is NATO bombing and support of separatists that has
caused tens of thousands of refugees.

It is NATO forces that are responsible for using
depleted uranium artillery shells in Serbia and
Kosovo, turning both territories into a radioactive 
dump?

Why are they not being charged with war crimes at The
Hague?

By refusing to bow before the NATO criminals,
Milosevic has done the world an incalculable service.

Letters of support and solidarity can be sent to
Slobodan Milosevic addressed to:

President Slobodan Milosevic
Huis van Bewaring Pompstationsweg 46a
2597GX Den Haag
The Netherlands.

* * *

Acknowledgement to Emperor's Clothes



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Past, Present & Future NATO Destabilization Victims In Shared Delusion [WWW.STOP

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

[Albania is already a crime-ridden NATO statelet;
FYROM is ninety percent there; Greece has its troops
in FYROM, other NATO troops in its own country, and
both it and Bulgaria are next on the firing line.
But the foreign ministers of their Western puppet
regimes gather to "work for peace and territorial
integrity" - as though their criminal collaboration
with NATO in its war against Yugoslavia in 1999 hasn't
insured that there is no peace and no territorial
integrity in FYROM, the Balkans and most of the world
currently. Nor will there be until the cause of the
unrest and destabilization - NATO and its chief
national components - are either dismantled or reined
in.]


KATHIMERINI
ATHENS, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2001
  
  

Balkan states promise to work for peace
Ministers of Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and FYROM meet
at Prespes crossroad

The foreign ministers of Greece, Albania, the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria met at a
point where the first three countries meet and pledged
to work for peace and the territorial integrity of
FYROM. Thirty Olympic champions from Balkan countries
also gathered at the Prespes lakes and issued an
appeal for an international truce during the Winter
Games in Salt Lake City next year.
"(We) agreed to work toward peace," Greek Foreign
Minister George Papandreou said after talks with his
three counterparts in the northern Greek town of
Florina. "I hope that, finally, we can resolve our
problems among ourselves." 

The calls for peace came as a NATO force deployed in
FYROM to collect weapons that ethnic Albanian rebels
have agreed to hand over. The difficulties facing the
allied force (of which Greece is a leading member with
a contingent of 411 soldiers) were highlighted
yesterday by the Skopje government spokesman's angry
declaration that NATO's estimate that 3,300 weapons
had to be handed over "is not a serious figure" and
will encourage the rebels "to keep their arms and to
continue their war." Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski
said the NATO figure was "laughable and humiliating
for Macedonia." He also called for military action
after two Slav-Macedonian employees were killed in an
explosion at a motel near Tetovo in rebel-held
territory.

The meeting in Florina, and that of culture ministers
and athletes at the annual Prespes cultural festival,
was the first such gathering since Slav-Macedonian and
ethnic Albanian parties signed a peace agreement in
Skopje on August 13. 

Papandreou held separate meetings with Ilenka Mitreva
of FYROM, Albania's Paskal Milo, and his first meeting
with Bulgaria's new foreign minister, Solomon Pasi. He
said he also telephoned Yugoslav Foreign Minister
Goran Svilanovic, who said the Balkan countries
"should solve their problems on their own." Mitreva
also met with her Albanian counterpart.

The last of Greece's 411 troops from 525 Mechanized
Battalion deployed at Krivolak on the highway between
the border and the capital, Skopje, on Saturday
afternoon. They are to be given the weapons in order
to transport them to Greece where they will be
destroyed at the Halyvourgiki steel works at
Aspropyrgos near Athens.

Opposition New Democracy party leader Costas
Karamanlis yesterday urged the international
community, "even at this late hour to ensure that the
border between Skopje and Kosovo is sealed." He was
speaking at a Balkan conference organized by his party
and the Youth of the European People's Party in
Halkidiki, northern Greece.
 
 


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KLA Blamed For Macedonian Atrocities [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

THE TIMES (London)
MONDAY AUGUST 27 2001 
 
Rebels blamed for Macedonia outrage 
 
FROM MICHAEL EVANS IN CELOPAK 
 
TWO Macedonian Slav bodies lay dismembered in the
rubble of a village motel yesterday after it was blown
up on the eve of Nato’s 30-day mission to collect and
destroy 3,300 weapons from the ethnic Albanian
National Liberation Army (NLA). 
The bombing of the motel belonging to a Macedonian
Slav near the ethnic Albanian village of Celopak led
to a protest by about 200 Macedonians at the site of
the explosion. They blamed ethnic Albanian rebels. 

The breach of the ceasefire in the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia was followed last night by
another bomb, this time in the capital, Skopje. There
were no injuries reported after the explosion in a
rubbish bin in the northern suburb of Skopje Sever. 

The explosions increased the tension surrounding
Nato’s plans to start the arms collection operation
this morning. So, too, has the total of arms to be
collected, which has provoked anger and ridicule from
senior ministers of the Macedonian Government. 

Major-General Gunnar Lange, the Danish commander of
Operation Essential Harvest, gave details of the arms
to be collected, even though Ljubco Georgievski,
Macedonia’s Prime Minister, repeated yesterday his
view that the figure of 3,300 was a “ridiculous” total
— the equivalent, he said, of a single raid on an NLA
arms cache by Macedonian police. He estimated that the
true figure was closer to 60,000 weapons. 

Nato sources said they hoped that the Macedonian
parliament would approve the political reforms agreed
in last month’s peace deal with the ethnic Albanians,
despite the huge discrepancy in arms totals. 

Nevertheless, the mangled bodies of the two men, who
according to some reports had been tied to a pillar
with explosives attached to them before they died,
illustrated the potential risks ahead for the Nato
mission and the country’s security. The state news
agency MIA said the motel had been mined and it blamed
“Albanian terrorists”. 

The bodies were found after the explosion at 6.15am at
the riverside Motel Brioni, outside Celopak, about 15
miles west of Tetovo. The men worked at the motel and
had been sleeping there overnight. 

There was some confusion about who was responsible,
but the blast appeared to be aimed at undermining
confidence in the peace settlement and Nato’s role in
collecting rebel arms. 

Albanians in Celopak confirmed that they had heard an
explosion, but denied that there were any NLA men in
the area. Vele Ristoski, owner of the motel, condemned
those responsible for failing to allow his two members
of staff to leave before blowing up the building. “I
have no guns here, no weapons; why has this happened?
I could have been here sleeping myself.” 

In his statement, General Lange said that the arms to
be collected included six airdefence systems. British
defence sources added that they were shoulder-launched
Sam 7 anti-aircraft missiles, which the Macedonian
Government had indicated were the greatest threat to
its forces. 

Nato will press ahead with its 30-day timetable,
agreed by all NLA commanders, but sources admitted
that the politics of Operation Essential Harvest was
proving more difficult to resolve than the mechanics
of arranging handover times and locations with the
rebel leaders. 

Yesterday a French reconnaissance team was scouring
for an appropriate location for the first arms
collection, due to take place in the region of
Kumanovo in the northeast. 

In the village of Poroj, near Tetovo in the northwest,
the local bearded NLA leader, Commander Leka, with
knife, pistol and mobile phone strapped to his side,
said that he was waiting to be told when to hand over
his 112 Brigade’s weapons. He was unwilling to say how
many his brigade possessed and said that Macedonian
police were still “shooting at us at night for no
reason”. But he said he was confident that Nato would
provide the necessary security guarantees. 

For today’s first arms handover, about 150 soldiers
from the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment and 150
French soldiers of the Foreign Legion will guard the
weapons collection centre. Macedonian and NLA forces
have to withdraw two kilometres (1.25 miles) from
their positions once the disarmament begins. All
Macedonian heavy weapons have to be returned to
barracks. 
 
 

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British Soldier Killed In Macedonia [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

The Irish Times
August 27, 2001

British solider killed in Macedonia 
A British soldier travelling in a military vehicle
near Skopje, Macedonia, was killed after he was struck
by a piece of concrete, the Ministry of Defence said
today.

The man was taken to hospital but died from his
injuries this morning. Local reports said the concrete
was hurled by youths, but MoD officials said it was
unclear how the incident had happened.

The vehicle was travelling south of Skopje last night
when the incident happened, hours before NATO's
weapons collection mission was due to begin.

A British special investigations squad is helping
local police with the inquiry and the man's family
have not yet been contacted, an MoD spokesman said.

The spokesman refused to give details about the man,
the unit with which he was serving, or what he was
doing when the incident occurred.

He was believed to be from Aldershot, Hampshire.

Sources said his vehicle was driving beneath a bridge
when a local threw the missile, which the MoD said
shattered the windscreen before striking the man.

It was not yet known if there were other people in the
vehicle at the time.

PA 

© The Irish Times/ireland.com 
 


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FYROM/Kosovo KLA Fire On US Troops, Terrorists Flee Back To Kosovo [WWW.STOPNATO

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

...penalties for extremist activity are light in the
UN-administered province [Kosovo]. Most of about 500
guerrillas arrested since June have released since
they were determined to no longer be a threat to
security in Kosovo



Kosovo peacekeepers clash with NLA 

Sunday, 26 August 2001 0:44 (ET)


Kosovo peacekeepers clash with NLA
By JEFF BIELEY

SKOPJE, Macedonia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Violence in
Macedonia spilled over into Kosovo, when a group of
ethnic Albanian insurgents fired on U.S.
peacekeepers, the peacekeeping force reported
Saturday.

The members of the National Liberation Army had
crossed into Kosovo from the Macedonian town of
Radusha when a combined American-Polish patrol
spotted them.

Two of the militants dressed in NLA uniforms tried to
flee, before one opened fire on the peacekeepers. U.S.
soldiers took cover and then returned fire, wounding
one guerrilla in the leg. He and four others were
captured and taken to the main American base, Camp
Bondsteel, for questioning.

No soldiers from the NATO-led peacekeeping force known
as KFOR were injured in the incident, which took place
Friday morning near the border village of Gorance.

KFOR did not immediately report the clash, releasing
only a routine statement Saturday that a patrol
detained a wounded man after illegally crossing into
Kosovo.

A spokesman for the peacekeepers declined to release
the man's name, but the NLA commander in Radusha
confirmed that Emrush Suma, one of his soldiers, fired
on the American troops. He said Suma, in his mid-20s,
is from the southern Kosovo border town of Hani
Elezit, about five kilometers from where he was shot.

The incident is likely to raise fears that some of the
rebels who have been battling Macedonian security
forces for the last six months will not abide by a
peace agreement signed Aug. 13.

Kosovo is the main base of men and materiel for the
NLA, which exploits a porous border with Macedonia to
fuel its rebellion against the government.
KFOR says it has stepped up patrols along the
Kosovo-Macedonia border in an operation it calls
"Relentless Denial" to clamp down on ethnic Albanian
extremists.

However, Friday's incident, in which guerrillas in
uniform were traveling inside Kosovo in broad
daylight, suggests that the militants do not fear the
peacekeeping force.

KFOR did report some success in two unrelated
incidents overnight Friday and Saturday morning with
the arrest of 48 suspected NLA members who crossed
in Kosovo from Macedonia. One automatic rifle was
seized, along with hand-held radios and an unspecified
amount of cash.

KFOR troops detained all of the men, who were taken
for questioning to Camp Bondsteel. About 150 suspected
ethnic Albanians are being held there while military
tribunals process their cases.

However, penalties for extremist activity are light in
the U.N.-administered province. Most of about 500
guerrilla suspects arrested since June have been
released after they were determined to no longer be a
threat to security in Kosovo, KFOR spokesman Maj.
Norman Johnson said.

Illegally crossing into Kosovo without a weapon is a
misdemeanor in Kosovo, handled by U.N. police, rather
than peacekeepers.

The flow of arms and fighters out of Kosovo has
reversed in the last week, Johnson said, following the
entry of NATO forces into Macedonia to disarm
the militants. NLA rebels moving into Kosovo may be
trying to hide their arsenal of assault rifles,
grenades and mortars there before a NATO
operation to disarm ethnic Albanians begins in
Macedonia.

Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski has announced an
amnesty for guerrillas who lay down their arms,
following an Aug. 13 peace deal that granted more
rights to ethnic Albanians. However, both the peace
accord and the amnesty still await parliamentary
approval.

The NATO disarmament mission, dubbed Operation
Essential Harvest, is set to get underway Monday, if a
disagreement about the size of the rebel arsenal to be
collected can be resolved.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski
ridiculed NATO estimates of the number of weapons to
be collected, saying it was woefully inadequate. An
alliance spokesman said talks with the government
would continue Sunday.


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Caucasus: Azerbaijan Threatens Armenia [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

[As the U.S. and Turkey effectively take over
Azerbaijan, backing the latter against Iran, and
support NATO candidate Georgia which has announced
that it has drawn back its troops from the border with
Abkhazia, and the Russian troops protecting it - the 
troops that Georgia swore won't there two days ago. If
this sounds like a massive NATO campaign in the
Caucasus and the Caspian, it should - that's exactly
what it is.]
 

BBC News
Saturday, 25 August, 2001, 20:47 GMT 21:47 UK 

Azerbaijan warns of fighting with Armenia

The defence minister of Azerbaijan, Safar Abiyev, has
warned of the possibility of renewed hostilities with
Armenia over the Armenian-speaking enclave of
Nagorno-Karabkh. 
Speaking during talks with the visiting head of the
Turkish armed forces Huseyin Kivrikoglu, Mr Abiyev
accused Armenia of concentrating large numbers of
weapons in the area. 

He said such weapons and the presence of an enormous
number of refugees pose a threat of renewed fighting
in the region. 

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought an eight-year war over
Nagorno-Karabakh which ended with a ceasefire in 1994
with Armenian separatists controlling the enclave. 



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Election To Bring First Former Soviet Republic Into NATO [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK]

[Rick Rozoff]

Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
-

[But no reason for Russia to be nervous; the U.S.
wouldn't have objected if Puerto Rico, say, had joined
the Warsaw Pact in the 1980s.]

Sunday August 26, 11:29 PM

Estonia to elect new president to lead it into EU and
NATO
 
 
 
TALLINN, Aug 26 (AFP) - 
Estonia begins on Monday the process of electing a new
president to guide the tiny Baltic nation into the
European Union and NATO but the biggest challenge of
the office may be living up to reputation of outgoing
leader Lennart Meri.

Two candidates are formally registered for the Monday
vote to replace Meri, 72, who is barred by the
constitution from serving a third consecutive term in
office. But three others are also seen as serious
candidates in later rounds of voting.

None of the five is seen as likely to change Estonia's
foreign policy priorities of joining the EU and NATO,
although opposition candidates are more critical of
the costs involved in joining the 15-nation EU, which
could happen as soon as 2004.

Analysts also believe none of the presidential
candidates is likely to win the necessary two-thirds
majority, 67 votes from the 101 members of parliament,
to be elected to a five-year term.

"Under the current balance of power, it is highly
unlikely the parliament will be able to elect the new
president," public opinion pollster Juhan Kivirahk
told AFP.

Deputy parliamentary speaker and former education
minister Peeter Kreitzberg is carrying the banner for
the opposition Centrist Party against Andres Tarand,
who previously served as the leader of the
pro-government Moderates and a caretaker prime
minister.

In subsequent rounds each of the three governing
coalition parties is putting up its own candidate. But
even if they were to back a single candidate they
would only have a razor-thin majority of 54 votes in
the 101-seat parliament.

If no candidate is elected on Monday, or in two
subsequent rounds of voting on Tuesday, an electoral
assembly composed of the 101 members of parliament and
266 local government representatives will be convened
on September 21.

Although the local government representatives are
rather unpredictable, the Reform Party's candidate
Toomas Savi, who is well-known from his time as
parliamentary speaker, is expected to garner most
votes from the electoral assembly.

The Pro Patria Union of Prime Minister Mart Laar is
putting forward former university rector Peeter
Tulviste, who is currently serving as a city council
chairman in the university town of Tartu.

Wide-ranging popular support is enjoyed by the
People's Union candidate Arnold Ruutel, a former
Communist who attained his popularity as the country's
president during the restoration of independence 10
years ago.

Whoever finally gets the presidential job will have a
hard time filling the shoes of Meri, who has become a
living legend in this country of 1.4 million people.

"While Meri was part of Estonia's liberation struggle,
the current candidates are just common people,"
explained Rein Ruutsoo, social scientist and one of
the drafters of the Estonian constitution.

The son of an Estonian diplomat who was educated
abroad, Meri speaks six languages and is widely read
in history and literature.

He has played a major role in securing for Estonia the
support of Western countries in its bid join the EU
and NATO, from which it hopes to receive an invitation
next year. 

"Meri has been the best brand for Estonia abroad,"
said Ainar Ruussaar, a columnist and journalist
covering the presidential election.

Despite the office having few formal powers, since
becoming the first post-independence president in 1992
Meri has commanded great moral authority.

"Lennart Meri's footsteps abroad are too big for
anyone to jump into them but the new president could
do more to bring politics closer to the people at
home," Kivirahk said.

With Estonia near to securing its main foreign policy
goals, the next president is expected to focus on
domestic issues, such as working to close the gap
between the rich and poor which has opened wide during
ongoing economic reforms.


 

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