FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA The Special Truth in Media Global Watch Bulletins on NATO's war on Serbia, such as the one enclosed below, can also be accessed at our Web site: www.truthinmedia.org which is being updated throughout the day. Issue S99-58, Day 36, Update 1 --------------------------------------- Apr. 28, 1999; 1:00AM EDT HEADLINES Belgrade 1. NATO Kills 20 Women and Children in Small Serb Town Moscow 2. Talbott's Moscow Mission Fails; World Inches Closer to WW III Moscow 3. Even Erstwhile Russian Moderate Sounds Alarmed; Russia's Nuclear Chief Issues Warning Against NATO Bombing Washington 4. Pentagon Pushes for Full-scale Invasion of Serbia from Hungary Athens 5. Renowned Greek Composer Denounces NATO, Calls on Greek Public to "Resist" Phoenix 6. Barbershop Small Talk Turns Ugly ---------------------- 1. NATO Kills 20 Women and Children in Small Serb Town BELGRADE, Apr. 27 - Here we go again... NATO has just killed at least 20 civilians, mostly women and children, in a daytime raid on Surdulica, a small southern Serbian town near the Bulgarian border, Reuters news wires reported this evening. A Reuters television crew filmed the destruction in Surdulica. Local officials and residents said 16 missiles had rained down on the town for 25 minutes at midday. "One third of the town was totally destroyed," a town official, Miroslav Stojiljkovic, told Reuters Television. "Between 200 and 300 families have been left without roofs over their heads." State television quoted local officials as saying they had already recovered 20 bodies but feared more would be found. It said 300 houses had been destroyed. Stojiljkovic said an army barracks two km (1.5 miles) from the town had apparently not been hit during the raid, the third on Surdulica. "Two missiles directly hit one house, and killed all the people who were sheltering in the basement,'' resident Stanisa Ivanovic told Reuters Television. Ivanovic, 37, said two men who had climbed on the roof of another house to install a satellite dish had also been killed when missiles struck their house. "Fascists!" one resident said, pointing to ruined homes. The Serbian news agency Beta said the strike had also destroyed a health center and cut water supplies in the town. --- TiM Ed.: Whether due to incompetence or malice, this certainly constitutes another NATO war crime. Add a several dozen additional murder charges to growing list already compiled against Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder and other NATO leaders. Not to mention Clinton's "mini-Goering," the arrogant NATO bomber-in-chief, Gen. Wesley Clark, who confidently predicted that he would bring Serbia to her knees after only three days of bombing. So far, Clark is 33 days behind the schedule... But WAY AHEAD on the list of NATO war crimes. --------------- 2. Talbott's Moscow Mission Fails; World Inches Closer to WW III MOSCOW, Apr. 27 - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, who spent most of the day in talks with top Russian officials discussing the situation in Yugoslavia, has failed to achieve a breakthrough, the UPI news wires reported today. Moscow and Washington still appear to be at opposite poles in their views on how to deal with the Kosovo crisis. Talbott, dispatched by President Clinton to Moscow to listen to Russian arguments, and explain why NATO is tightening the screws on Belgrade by imposing an oil blockade, didn't succeed in changing Russia's opposition to Western actions against Yugoslavia. During a 90-minute meeting, Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, and Talbott apparently disagreed on major points, with the Russian official insisting that only the U.N. Security Council could impose a total oil blockade. "Decisions made by organizations (such as NATO) are only relevant to countries which are members of those organizations." Ivanov said. "They have no legal force for Russia, and Russia will act accordingly." Earlier, Ivanov said if NATO wished to impose an oil blockade, it would apply to the 19 members of the military alliance, but Russia would continue to meet its international obligations to supply Yugoslavia with oil. --- TiM Ed.: And so the Washington and Brussels madmen are nudging the world ever closer to WW III. Just consider the ominous warning issued by another Russian official today (see the next story). -------------- 3. Erstwhile Russian Moderate Warns of "World Catastrophe;" Russia's Nuclear Chief Issues Warning Against NATO Bombing MOSCOW, Apr. 27 - A NATO ground force invasion of Kosovo could irreversibly damage Western relations with Russia and spark a global catastrophe, a prominent Russian pro-reform politician said on Friday. Instead, NATO should take up Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's peace offer of an international presence in Kosovo, former First Deputy Russian Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais told Reuters on Apr. 25. "If NATO goes from air force to ground force it will be a world catastrophe," Chubais said. "(Russia) has never felt such anti-Western, anti-European feelings," he added. Chubais is out in the political cold in Russia, sacked from the government in November 1997, but has recently joined with other prominent pro-reform politicians to establish a new center-right political party. He said that NATO air strikes were responsible for the massive refugee flows in Kosovo. Moscow served notice Monday it would regard as a terrorist act any NATO bombing - even accidental - of Yugoslav nuclear installations. Atomic Energy Minister, Yevgeny Adamov, quoted by Interfax, said that if NATO directed a missile against any nuclear plants situated on Yugoslav territory or in a neighboring country Russia would regard this as "an act of nuclear terrorism." The United States had been the first to insist it was inadmissible to conduct military actions near nuclear sites, the minister said. "Today it is up to us to remind them of this," said Adamov, who has sent a letter with this message to Washington. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said recently there were "three nuclear reactors belonging to research centers in Yugoslavia and four nuclear reactors directly inside the conflict zone, and they are permanently in operation." -------------- 4. Pentagon Pushes for Full-scale Invasion of Serbia from Hungary WASHINGTON, Apr. 27 - Unperturbed by the prospects that they might cause WW III, the madmen in Washington are pushing for a full scale invasion of Serbia, the London Guardian's said today. "Key figures in the Pentagon are asking the White House to consider a full-scale invasion of Serbia in which NATO would capture Belgrade, topple President Slobodan Milosevic and haul his regime before the International War Crimes Tribunal," the Guardian's Washington-based correspondent, Martin Walker, reported today. The plan, divulged to the Guardian by a senior official in the Clinton administration, is by far the most extreme solution yet offered in the debate over whether to deploy ground troops in Kosovo. It would involve an invasion through the new NATO ally, Hungary, allowing tanks to move on to the plains of the Serb province of Vojvodina. --- TiM Ed.: Which is exactly what TiM has been saying ever since NATO destroyed the first Novi Sad bridge across the Danube on Apr. 1 (see Day 8, Update 3, Item 1, Apr. 1, and Day 11, Update 1, Item 1, Apr. 3). --- Despite its controversial content, the proposal is understood to have the backing of NATO's supreme commander General Wesley Clark, the Guardian said. A senior official confirmed the plan had been discussed with Downing Street (i.e., the British). Budapest's backing would be crucial for the success of any such invasion. Hungary, which only joined NATO as a full member last month, has given formal approval to NATO to use its facilities for the bombing campaign. But launching a major ground assault from the territory is likely to cause jitters about the fate of the 300,000 ethnic Hungarians in Vojvodina, the Guardian said. The plan is also likely to provoke a nervous response from the Czech and Slovak republics, both of which have promised NATO full logistical support and access. NATO troops would have to cross their territory to get from Germany to Hungary. -------------- 5. Renowned Greek Composer Denounces NATO, Calls on Greek Public to "Resist" ATHENS, Apr. 27 - A renowned Greek composer, Mikis Theodorakis, took center stage in last night’s highly successful concert in downtown Athens in support of the Serbian people, denouncing NATO’s raids against their country. Facing a cheering crowd, Mr. Theodorakis stated: “The leaders of the NATO member-states yesterday (Sunday) signed a death sentence for the United Nations. The United States can now, with the connivance of the European countries, judge, sentence and punish anyone whom they view as objecting to their designs. I do not think it an exaggeration to say that we are about to enter another Middle Age era. So, get a hold of warm, wool clothing, mufflers, gloves, bitter cold lies ahead. As I have stated since the start of the raids, all that is being said about ethnic cleansing is merely pretext. I have said that they (NATO) don’t care about dialogue and agreements; their sole aim is to turn the heretic Yugoslavia into scorched earth. And they intend to do just that, transform Serbia into a desert made up of dust and blood, displaying it to the next victims, warning them ‘look, this is what lies ahead if you don’t succumb.’ We, the Greeks, should be proud since we were the only ones who all together and in unison said ‘NO’ to barbarity. We shall stand by the victims, by the Serbs. We want our singing today to overpower the air raid sirens and the missile blasts. 'Belgrade, today we sing for you. We are on your side. Be courageous, justice is on your side, and justice always triumphs,' Theodorakis said to a thunderous cheers from his fans. Meanwhile, a TiM correspondent reported this evening increased activity of NATO planes and helicopters in the sky over northern Greece. Also, convoys of NATO tanks and APCs have been on the move, "under a strong (Greek) police protection," this correspondent writes. --- TiM Ed.: It figures. It takes the police escorts to protect the "beloved" NATO troops from the wrath of the people - in a NATO country! -------------- 6. Barbershop Small Talk Turns Ugly PHOENIX, Apr. 27 - Greeks are not the only people outraged at NATO's war on Serbia. This writer just experienced the following condemnation of Clinton's bombing by none other than a bunch of ladies at a Phoenix (co-ed) hairdresser salon. "So what do you think of Clinton's calling up the 33,000 reservists?", this writer's long-time lady-haircutter casually asked this afternoon, while trying to make small talk. Little did she realize she was about to get volcanic anti-war reactions from her customers, seated around the room in various stages of disrepair, while being beautified. One of the ladies said she was a human rights activist. And she suggested that all war criminals should be rounded up, and brought to trial. "Right you are!" this writer reluctantly joined the partisan conversation, while merely trying to get a haircut, after nearly two months in the "bunker," so to speak. "We must go straight to the White House and arrest the war criminal!" After a few seconds of stunned silence, all staff and customers broke into laughter. When the dust settled, and the anti-NATO ladies' verbal volcano had run its course, this writer meekly whispered to his hairdresser that he had just returned from Serbia. "You did what?" she shouted. "You just went to Serbia?" Then turning to her other customers, just in case they had missed her first frantic reaction, she added: "Did you hear this? He just went to Serbia!" Regretting what I had said, I was slinking in my chair while trying to become more invisible than the "stealth" bomber. The last thing I wanted was to attract attention to myself while getting a long overdue haircut. "Why on earth would you do a thing like that?" the hairdresser asked me, after taking time out to duly register everyone's shock at my alleged stupidity. "Because I wanted the Serbs to know that not all Americans are as bad as Bill Clinton," I replied. Stunned silence followed. "Now, we'll all second that, won't we, ladies?" my hairdresser said, turning to her customers. The ladies cheered. There were sounds of approval even coming from some chairs occupied by male customers in this co-ed hairdressing salon. "What can I do to help?" whispered my hairdresser, an ethnic German-American married to a Slovak-American. "You can keep spreading the truth about NATO's war on Serbia," I replied, giving her an anti-NATO Truth in Media button (see our Web site for a sample). "Oh, I'll wear this with pride," she said, pinning the button on her shirt. "Can I get another one for my husband?" She did. -------------- NOTE: To cancel the e-mail editions of our reports, just reply REMOVE or UNSUBSCRIBE, followed by your e-mail address. ---- Bob Djurdjevic TRUTH IN MEDIA Phoenix, Arizona e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the Truth in Media Web site http://www.truthinmedia.org/ for more articles on geopolitical affairs.
