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----- Original Message ----- From: TiM Publisher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: TiM Readers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 3:50 AM Subject: General Perisic: An American Spy? (UPDATE to TiM Bulletin 2002/3-3, Mar. 19, 2002) > > FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA > > Here is an update to our latest Truth in Media Global Watch Bulletin which > is now available at our Web site. Just click on the animated (green) THE > NEWS button to go to our latest report. > > Of course, you can also click on the TiM Bulletins Index button in the left > frame - to go to selections of our Bulletins archived by geographic regions > and subjects, and in chronological order. Or click on any other button in > the left frame for other topics of interest. > > And now, here are the headlines of the latest TiM Bulletin. Just keep in > mind that our stories are CONSTANTLY updated, and that the e-mail text > enclosed below is often merely the first edition of a story. So we > recommend that you keep checking the TiM Web site daily, so that you would > not miss out on some important news or commentary updates. > > Here is an UPDATE to the latest TiM Bulletin: > > HIGHLIGHTS > > Belgrade 2. General Perisic: An American Spy? > > To read the latest update and all the LINKS to the above stories, just > click (or double-click, depending on your computer) on the following Web > address, and you'll be able to see it in full color, along with > accompanying images: > > http://www.truthinmedia.org/Bulletins2002/3-3.html > > ------------- > NOTE: To cancel the e-mail editions of our reports, just reply REMOVE or > UNSUBSCRIBE, followed by your e-mail address. > ------------- > > > Caught Red-handed in Espionage Case, Perisic Confesses But Pleads Innocent, > Citing Primacy of International over National Law > > 2. General Perisic: An American Spy? > > Belgrade Apologizes to Washington! For What? For Doing Too Good Job of > Counterespionage? > > BELGRADE, Mar. 19 - Imagine a former top American military official, now a > high-ranking government minister, being arrested with two of his former > military aides while meeting a foreign power's spook at a restaurant. The > charge? Espionage. Some secret U.S. military materials, found in the > foreign spy's briefcase, serve as evidence. > > All hell would break loose in Washington, right? The State Department and > the White House would send messages of outrage to that foreign power, > demanding explanations and apologies. In fact, in the "good old days" of > the Cold War, such domestic traitors could be summarily court-marshaled and > probably executed, maybe along with the foreign spy. > After all, that's exactly what happened to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, for > example. The couple were tried, convicted and sentenced to death by Judge > Irving Kaufman. They were executed on June 19, 1953 for wartime espionage > (see "Cold War Spies and Espionage"). And Rosenbergs were "mere" civilians > who betrayed their country! > > Well, that was in the "good old days." What happened on Thursday night > (Mar. 14) in Belgrade, Serbia, was just the reverse. A foreign power > (America), which engaged in a failed spying endeavor, and which got caught > red-handed in its espionage activities, professed outrage and demanded > apology. And amazingly - got it, from the vassal Serb authorities who > rushed to defend the accused traitors. > > Furthermore, the three domestic defendants were released by Serb > authorities on Saturday (Mar. 16), solely on the basis of the "enormous > pressure by the international community, specifically the U.S. government," > according to a Mar. 18 report by the Serbian language daily "Glas Javnosti." > > So much for respect of the law and for sovereignty of Serbia and Montenegro > and its judicial system. O tempora, o mores. > > Here's what happened. > > Agents of the Serb military security service, known as KOS, entered on > Thursday night the restaurant "Saric," south of Belgrade, and arrested > General Momcilo Perisic, former chief of the general staff of the Yugoslav > army, along with Colonel Miodrag Sekulic and Vladimir Vlajkovic. Perisic > is currently serving as Serbia's deputy prime minister. > > An American diplomat, (General) John David Neighbor, the U.S. Embassy's > first secretary, with whom the three Serbs were meeting, was also detained > for questioning. Neighbor reportedly heads up the CIA's Balkans desk, > according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (Mar. 18) and Agence France Press > (Mar. 19) reports, > > Serb military sources told the Associated Press that Perisic was > apprehended while allegedly handing over secret army documents that "could > link (the former Serb president) Milosevic with war crimes." Milosevic is > currently on trial by the U.N. war crimes tribunal at the Hague for his > alleged role in atrocities committed by troops loyal to him in Kosovo, > Bosnia and Croatia. > > The secret documents, which reportedly included tape recordings of some top > Serb military leaders' meetings, were reportedly found in the American's > briefcase. Neighbor later claimed they were planted there by the Serb army. > But Belgrade's "Vecernje Novosti" ("Evening News") said that Perisic > admitted to the military investigative judge that he had turned over > confidential documents to the American diplomat (see www.beograd.com, Mar. > 18, 17:05-news in Serbian). Perisic defended his action by saying he was > innocent of the charge of espionage, since he was obligated to do so by > international law (the Hague Tribunal), which (in his opinion) ranks higher > than the domestic law. > > Col. Sekulic, who allegedly secured the secret documents for his former > army boss, is in charge of Yugoslav Army's electronic surveillance, > Belgrade sources said. > > Belgrade's Apology to Washington: For What? For Doing Too > Good Job of Counterespionage? > > "From the outset of his interrogation, John David Neighbor presented > himself as the head of the CIA in the Balkans," Belgrade's "Vecernje > Novosti" reported on Mar 18, quoting Serb military sources (see AFP, Mar. > 19). He was released by the army after 15 hours of interrogation, during > which Neighbor claimed he was roughed up (a hood was allegedly placed over > his head after he was apprehended). > > "I expressed my personal apology and that of the Yugoslav government (to > U.S. ambassador William Montgomery) over the procedure against the American > diplomat," foreign minister, Goran Svilanovic, told Belgrade's Radio B-92. > > After a crisis meeting with the Serb prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, upon > his return from Barcelona late on Friday, Yugoslav president, Vojislav > Kostunica, did not condemn the arrests, saying only that the charges > leveled against Perisic were serious. "According to everything I have > learned so far, and I repeat so far, the legality of the procedure itself, > from the standpoint of domestic procedure, is not disputable," he said. > > But Djindjic, a leading American stooge in Belgrade, described the arrest > as "a first-rate scandal with international consequences." > > State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said on Mar. 18 that > Washington considered the case closed as a "bilateral issue," but denied > reports that the detained diplomat had been involved in any kind of espionage. > > "We have received a formal apology from (Svilanovic)," Boucher told > reporters. "We've accepted that apology.... we view it as a public > acknowledgment of the military's inappropriate and excessive actions and we > now consider this closed as a bilateral issue". > > Wait a minute... What's the rush to have the case "closed" without > completing the due process of law? > > Clash of Generals? > > General Perisic served as Yugoslavia's chief of the general staff during > the wars in Croatia and Bosnia (1993-1998), but was fired by Milosevic in > November 1998, on the eve of NATO bombardment of Yugoslavia, allegedly for > criticizing the Kosovo campaign against ethnic Albanian militants ordered > by Milosevic (see "You Are Wrong about Gen. Perisic," this writer's letter > to the New York Times, Nov. 30, 1998, and (see "Senators Urge Ouster of > Milosevic", TiM GW Bulletin 98/12-8, 12/26/98). > > The NATO attack was intended, among other things, to punish Milosevic for > his crackdown against Kosovo's ethnic Albanians. During the period before > the strikes, Perisic had met top NATO commanders, including U.S. Gen. > Wesley Clark, NATO's Supreme Commander during the bombing. > > After his ouster, Perisic formed the opposition Movement for Democratic > Serbia, which played a role in Milosevic's ouster in October 2000. After > Milosevic was forced to resign and cede power to the Washington-financed > and led "Ostrich Revolution," Perisic became Serbia's deputy prime > minister, responsible for security and defense issues. > > Perisic commanded the old Yugoslav Army (JNA) troops during the opening > stages of wars in Croatia and Bosnia. He was sentenced in a Croat court in > absentia to 20 years in prison for ordering the shelling of Adriatic towns > of Sibenik and Zadar (for a firsthand account of what really happened in > Zadar, see "Don't Mess with Serb Generals," TiM Bulletin 93-11, Nov. 1993). > > One Belgrade source said a local TV report Perisic had been "a CIA man" > since 1999, possibly in the hopes of avoiding an indictment by the Hague > war crimes tribunal. Others, such as unnamed Serb military sources cited > in a Mar. 18 "Glas Javnosti" story, say that "some information had been > flowing from Perisic to American intelligence services" even at the time > when the general was in charge of the Yugoslav Army. > > General Nebojsa Pavkovic, the Serb army's current chief of the general > staff, who had held the same position in Milosevic's regime (see "Serb > General Warns the West Plans to Provoke Violence," Sep. 22, 2000), has > already been indicted by the Hague tribunal for his role in Kosovo as > commander of the Third Army (see TiM Editor's "Tour de Serbia" - Stage 2 > (Nis), Sep. 1999). Pavkovic and Perisic have frequently clashed in public, > through the media (see S99-142, KFOR "Peacefarce" 36 - Special TiM GW > Bulletins, Aug. 29, 1999), which led some sources to speculate that > Pavkovic had ordered the arrests. > > Officially, Pavkovic was not involved in the arrest, according to sources > close to Yugoslav president Kostunica. The order to apprehend the suspects > came from General Aco Tomic, who is in charge of the army's security > service. But since the arrests were made by members of the special > anti-terrorist unit "Kobra," which reports directly to Gen. Pavkovic, "it > is logical that the chief of the general staff knew about the whole > operation," concluded Belgrade's "Glas Javnosti" on Mar. 18. > > Whoever led this counter-espionage operation, evidently did a good job of > it. For, at a marathon weekend meeting at the offices of president > Kostunica, attended by the DOS (Serb ruling coalition) and the Serb > military leaders, the army had reportedly presented an unequivocal proof of > guilt of the accused. > > "After that, some DOS leaders left the meeting looking rather nervous," the > "Glas" said. And for a good reason. For, their cozy and subservient if > not treasonous arrangement with Washington had been evidently exposed. > > At the end of the long meeting, it was decided that a new Council for > National Security be formed, which will oversea the work of both civilian > and military intelligence agencies. > > Good idea. If Washington and its Belgrade government stooges agree. Which > they probably won't. Already, Secretary of State Colin Powell and his EU > cronies are back to their old financial blackmail tactics. Stand by for > another TiM story on that. > -------------- > NOTE: To cancel the e-mail editions of our reports, just reply REMOVE or > UNSUBSCRIBE, followed by your e-mail address. > ------------- > > > > --- > TRUTH IN MEDIA > Phoenix, Arizona > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Visit the Truth in Media Web site http://www.truthinmedia.org for articles > on geopolitical affairs. > > > --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
