Aftermath of election coup: U.S., West Europe invade Yugoslavia

From International Action Center on recent Yugo elections:

Aftermath of election coup: U.S., West Europe invade Yugoslavia

          By John Catalinotto

          Following the Oct. 5 Belgrade coup and Vojislav Kostunica's
          election as president, United States and West European
officials
          have begun a step-by-step invasion of Yugoslavia. Kostunica,
in
          turn, got a few handouts from the European Union at its
Biarritz,
          France, meeting and pledges of support against his Socialist
Party
          opponents at home.

          One might forget for a moment that the same leaders, now
giving
          euphoric welcomes to the new Yugoslav president and praising
the
          Serbian people for their move to "democracy," launched a
          murderous bombing campaign against Yugoslavia just 18 months
          ago. These leaders were found guilty of war crimes at trials
held in
          Yugoslavia and at people's tribunals in countries around the
world.

          The imperialists' current aim is to make Kostunica look like
he can
          win quick relief from sanctions and military pressure. They
want to
          bolster him against the Socialist Party and help him tear down
the
          Yugoslav state, especially the army.

          A look behind the diplomatic facade reveals that new demands
on
          Yugoslav and Serb sovereignty lie in Kostunica's future,
presenting
          a threat to the population and especially the workers of
Serbia and
          Montenegro.

          The first top-level visitor to Belgrade after Kostunica's
election was
          French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine. Like all NATO military

          powers, French imperialism participated in the war. But of
them all,
          a French representative would probably arouse the least
hostility
          from the Serbs, especially compared to Germany or the U.S.

          Vedrine promised a rapid lifting of sanctions and on Oct. 12,
in
          President Jacques Chirac's name, invited Kostunica to attend a

          European Union informal summit in Biarritz, France, on Oct.
14-15.

          U.S. sends two agents

          Clinton's top adviser on Yugoslavia, Jim O'Brien, also was in
          Belgrade to meet Kostunica. William Montgomery--who was
          running the U.S. office in Budapest, Hungary that gave funds
and
          advice to the opposition during the election--also went to
Belgrade.
          But the State Department thought better of having Montgomery,
          who was obviously the center of the conspiracy to defeat and
          overturn the Milosevic government, be the first U.S.
representative
          to meet the new Yugoslav president.

          Montgomery's presence in Belgrade saved those working with
          pro-NATO politician Djindjic or with the counter-revolutionary

          leaders of the student group Otpor from having to travel to
          Budapest for funds or instructions.

          The biggest public event was Kostunica's reception at the
European
          Union summit. He was not only "welcomed to the European
family"
          with words of praise from Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard
          Schroeder and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, he was
offered
          $173 million in "emergency aid" to help Yugoslavia get through
the
          winter.

          If the same countries' militaries, plus the Pentagon, hadn't
bombed
          away $4 to $40 billion of Yugoslavia's infrastructure and
factories
          and hadn't been blockading the county, it wouldn't need the
aid. But
          Kostunica, though he claims to be a Serb nationalist, didn't
mention
          that at the meeting.

          Instead he immediately conceded that Milosevic should be
turned
          over to a U.S.-dominated "war crimes tribunal" in The Hague,
          though not right away. During the election campaign, he had
          correctly denounced that tribunal as a political tool of NATO
and
          not a true international court.

          Later he also conceded that the people of Montenegro, which is

          now led by a pro-West president, should vote in a referendum
on
          splitting from Yugoslavia. He made no demands about returning
          Kosovo to Serbian sovereignty, though he had criticized
Milosevic
          for "losing" Kosovo.

          And he approved having a French manager direct the sensitive
          work of clearing the Danube of bombing debris instead of a
          Yugoslav, as Milosevic had insisted on.

          Kostunica is discovering it was easier to be a staunch
nationalist
          while in the opposition than it is to face down the heads of
15
          imperialist states--even without a U.S. presence--and stand up
for
          sovereignty.

          The stick behind the praise

          In the shadow of the welcoming praise from the top imperialist

          officials are the comments behind the scenes. A news item from
AP
          Germany on Oct. 11 reported that Foreign Minister Joschka
          Fischer welcomed the changes in Yugoslavia but noted that a
          German army presence would be needed there.

          Christian Democrat Karl Lahmers also said a "revolution in the

          minds of the Serbs" would be necessary, meaning an admission
of
          collective guilt.

          While the Clinton administration has only had welcoming words
for
          Kostunica and the Serb people for overturning Milosevic, other

          U.S. politicians have been more open in attacking Serbs in
general.

          Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, is chair of the
Senate
          appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, and Patrick

          Leahy is the ranking Democrat. The two wrote an op-ed piece in

          the Oct. 16 New York Times that demanded Yugoslavia turn over
          all those accused before The Hague tribunal before it gets
further
          relief from sanctions.

          These demands on Yugoslavia's sovereignty aim at a complete
          takeover. A report in the Oct. 10 USA Today gave an idea of
the
          economic side of that takeover: "While European companies,
          already busy with Balkan projects, have a home-court
advantage,
          U.S. companies such as infrastructure specialists Brown &
Root,
          AES and General Electric could get a piece of the action.

          "European companies such as Telecom Italia, Italy's biggest
phone
          concern, and Germany's Commerzbank have an eye on
          Yugoslavia."



          John Catalinotto was an organizer of this year's June 10
          International War Crimes Tribunal in New York that exposed
          U.S./NATO crimes during the 78-day bombing of Yugoslavia.



          International Action Center
          39 West 14th Street, Room 206
          New York, NY 10011
          email: iacenter@iacenter.org
          web: www.iacenter.org
          CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
          phone: 212 633-6646
          fax: 212 633-2889



--
Mine Aysen Doyran
Ph.D Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222



Shop online without a credit card
http://www.rocketcash.com
RocketCash, a NetZero subsidiary