Dear RN list, May 13 I have been trying to keep up with the news about the war in Yugoslavia and am finding myself faced with a feeling of deep ignorance when faced with the simplest questions. Questions like: WHY would the German government along with the US government have wanted to destabilize Yugoslavia and to precipitate this war? And: Why is the bombing continuing? In other words, what must Milosovic do to bring an end to the bombing? There are some things I do not feel so ignorant about: It seems clear that the Rambouillet "agreement" was an ultimatum designed to justify bombing. The bits of mass media stuff I hear convince me that those responsible for the bombing think the more bombs they drop, the more successful they are; whether or not they succeed in bringing refugees back to their homes in safety seems to have little or nothing to do with success! These NATO spokespeople also go on about ensuring NATO's credibility. What a joke! (See Robert Fisk's comments in the next posting.) I get the feeling NATO is not really trying to impress dictators with its ability to make them toe the line.... Maybe NATO is really trying to get us activists to give up or at least to stop talking about human rights abuses lest we unwittingly help to justify them going in to bomb some other unfortunate spot on our fragile earth. The idea that the bombing was initiated to protect human rights seems ludicrous. I am quite sure NATO has spent much more on humanitarian assistance since the bombing started rather than before, when humanitarian assistance might have helped to alleviate the tensions. Certainly NATO countries backed IMF policies in Yugoslavia which created a humanitarian disaster: mass unemployment which, when combined with continuing to let arms flow into the region (and to send the arms in) virtually ensured that there would be violence. The two postings I am sending today address the questions I have raised above. If any of you reading this have comments or clarifications on these questions I'd be interested to see them. Also, if anyone wonders why I have come to the conclusions I outline above, I am willing to send you particular postings which helped me reach my conclusions. all the best, Jan PS I am not the only person on this list who is baffled by the WHY question. Hans Sinn, who has worked to set up nonviolent peace-keeping and human rights protection efforts for many years, wrote: Date: Sun, 09 May 1999 11:48:00 -0400 From: Hans Sinn <•••@••.•••> Subject: Re: rn- Re: "Who in the hell started the barbarism some 8 years ago?" Hi Richard, I have read with interest your long answer to the question "Who started the mess (in Yugoslavia) 8 years ago? ": The Germans! I am prepared to accept that the re-united Germany kicked off "the mess". But you have not told us why. Instead you told us all about the motivation of the Americans and the "capitalist elite". So the question remains: Why were and are the Germans (and the former German Minister of Foreign Affairs Hans-Dietrich Genscher) so interested in seeing Yugoslavia disintegrate ? Where did the Germans get the political muscle to force the other western governments into a premature recognition of the secessionist governments of Slovenia and Croatia? Why would the Germans precipitate a situation in which they would become the major recipient of the consequent refugee flood? For instance, there are now 800.000 Albanians living in Germany. According to you it appears that the Germans were and are merely the instrument of the Americans and the "capitalist elite", who are reaping the benefits of the Balkan chaos, while the German government merely saw fit (for some reason) to invite another two million refugees or so into its already densely populated country. I like to believe your analysis, but to do so I would have to know much more about the actual past and present German motivation. Kind regards, Hans. R.R.4 Brooke Valley Road 687 Perth, Ontario Canada Tel: 613 264 8833 Fax: 613 264 8605 Civilian Peace Service <http://www.superaje.com/~marsin/cps.htm>
