Fw: Chossudovsky on: Impacts of NATO's "Humanitarian" Bombing

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>>From: CONNIE FOGAL <cfogal@netcom.ca>
>>Subject: Impacts of NATO's "Humanitarian" Bombing
>>
>>Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 21:07:29 -0400
....  >
>>From: Michel  Chossudovsky <chossudovsky@sprint.ca>
>>Subject: Impacts of NATO's "Humanitarian" Bombing
snip..>
>>-----------------------------------------------
>>For immediate release, April 11, 1999.
>>
>>
>>For distribution at Press Conference
>>Monday, April 12, 10 a.m.
>>National Press Theatre
>>150 Wellington Street, Ottawa
>>
>>
>>
>>        IMPACTS OF NATO'S  "HUMANITARIAN" BOMBINGS,
>>        THE BALANCE SHEET OF DESTRUCTION IN YUGOSLAVIA
>>
>>
>>        by
>>
>>
>>        Michel Chossudovsky
>>
>>
>>Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa, author of The
>>Globalization of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms, Third
>>World Network, Penang and Zed Books, London, 1997. Professor Chossudovsky
>>can be contacted at 1-514-4252777;  email chossudovsky@sprint.ca; fax
>>1-514-4256224.
>>
>>
>>
>>Amply documented, the bombings of Yugoslavia are not strictly aimed at
>>military and strategic targets as claimed by NATO. They are largely intent
>>on destroying the country's civilian infrastructure as well as its
>>institutions.
>>
>>
>>According to Yugoslav sources, NATO has engaged around 600 aeroplanes of
>>which more than 400 are combat planes. They have flown almost 3,000 attack
>>sorties, "with 200 in one night alone against 150 designated targets".
They
>>have dropped thousands of tons of explosives and have launched some 450
>>cruise missiles.
>>
>>
>>The intensity of the bombing using the most advanced military technology
is
>>unprecedented in modern history. It far surpasses the bombing raids of
>>World War II or the Vietnam War.
>>
>>
>>The bombings have not only been directed against industrial plants,
>>airports, electricity and telecommunications facilities, railways, bridges
>>and fuel depots, they have also targeted schools, health clinics, day care
>>centres, government buildings, churches, museums, monasteries and
>>historical landmarks.
>>
>>
>>
>>Infrastructure and Industry
>>
>>
>>According to Yugoslav sources: "road and railway networks, especially road
>>and rail bridges, most of which were destroyed or damaged beyond repair,
>>suffered extensive destruction". Several thousand industrial facilities
>>have been destroyed or damaged with the consequence of paralysing the
>>production of consumer goods. According to Yugoslav sources, "[B]y totally
>>destroying business facilities across the country, 500,000 workers were
>>left jobless, and 2 million citizens without any source of income and
>>possibility to ensure minimum living conditions". Western estimates as to
>>the destruction of property in Yugoslavia stand at more than US$ 100
billion.
>>
>>
>>Bombing of Urban and Rural Residential Areas
>>
>>
>>Villages with no visible military or strategic structures have been
bombed.
>>Described as "collateral damage", residential areas in all major cities.
>>The downtown area of Pristina (which includes apartment buildings and
>>private dwellings) has been destroyed. Central-downtown Belgrade --
>
>>including government buildings-- have been hit with cluster bombs and
there
>>are massive flames emanating from the destruction. According to the
>>International Center for Peace and Justice (ICPJ):
>>
>>
>>"No city or town in Yugoslavia is being spared. There are untold civilian
>>casualties. The beautiful capital city of Belgrade is in flames and fumes
>>from a destroyed chemical plant are making it necessary to use gas masks".
>>
>>
>>Civilian Casualties
>>
>>
>>Both the Yugoslavia authorities and NATO have downplayed the number of
>>civilian casualties. The evidence amply confirms that NATO has created a
>>humanitarian catastrophe. The bombings are largely responsible for driving
>>people from their homes. The bombings have killed people regardless of
>>their nationality or religion. In Kosovo, civilian casualties affect all
>>ethnic groups. According to a report of the Decany Monastery in Kosovo
>>received in the first week of the bombing:
>>
>>
>>"Last night a cruise missile hit the old town in Djakovica, mostly
>>inhabited by Albanians, and made a great fire in which several Albanian
>>houses were destroyed ... In short, NATO attacks are nothing but barbarous
>>aggression which affects mostly the innocent civilian population, both
Serb
>>and Albanian.
>>
>>
>>The Dangers of Environmental Contamination
>>
>>
>>Refineries and warehouses storing liquid raw materials and chemicals have
>>been hit causing environmental contamination. The latter have massively
>>exposed the civilian population to the emission of poisonous gases. NATO
>>air strikes on the chemical industry is intent on creating an
environmental
>>disaster, "which is something not even Adolf Hitler did during World War
>>II."According to the Serbian Minister for Environmental Protection
>>Branislav Blazic, "the aggressors were lying when they said they would hit
>>only military targets and would observe international conventions, because
>>they are using illegal weapons such as cluster bombs, attacking civilian
>>targets and trying to provoke an environmental disaster". A report by NBC
>>TV confirms that NATO has bombed a the pharmaceutical complex of Galenika,
>>the largest medicine factory in Yugoslavia located in the suburbs of
>>Belgrade. The fumes from this explosion have serious environmental
>>implications. "The population is asked to wear gas masks that in fact
nobody
>>
>>
>>Supply with drinking water for the inhabitants of Belgrade is also getting
>>difficult after the drinking water facility at Zarkovo was bombed.
>>
>>
>>Hospitals and Schools
>>
>>
>>NATO has targeted many hospitals and health-care institutions, which have
>>been partially damaged or totally destroyed. These include 13 of the
>>country's major hospitals. More than 150 schools (including pre-primary
day
>>care centres) have been damaged or destroyed.  According to Yugoslav
>>sources, more than 800,000 pupils and students do not attend schools in
the
>>wake of the war destruction. There is almost no pre-school institutions
>>(nurseries and day-care centres) which are operational.
>>
>>
>>Churches, Monasteries and Historical Landmarks
>>
>
>>
>>NATO has also systematically targeted churches, monasteries, museums,
>>public monuments and historical landmarks.
>>
>>
>> "The targets of the attacks on historical and cultural landmarks have
>>included the Gracanica monastery, dating back to the 14th century, the Pec
>>Patriarchate (13th century), the Rakovica monastery and the Petrovarardin
>>Fortress, which are testimony to the foundations of the European
>>civilization, are in all world encyclopedias and on the UNESCO World
>>Heritage list".
>>
>>
>>The Use of Weapons banned by International Convention
>>
>>
>>The NATO bombings have also used of weapons banned by international
>>conventions. Amply documented by scientific reports, the cruise missiles
>>utilize depleted uranium "highly toxic to humans, both chemically as a
>>heavy metal and radiologically as an alpha particle emitter". Since the
>>gulf War, depleted uranium (DU) has been a substitute for lead in bullets
>>and missiles. According to scientists "it is most likely a major
>>contributor to the Gulf War Syndrome experienced both by the veterans and
>>the people of Iraq". According radiobiologist Dr. Rosalie Bertell,
>>president of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health:
>>
>>
>>"When used in war, the depleted uranium (DU) bursts into flame [and]
>>releasing a deadly radioactive aerosol of uranium, unlike anything seen
>>before.  It can kill everyone in a tank. This ceramic aerosol is much
>>lighter than uranium dust.  It can travel in air tens of kilometres from
>>the point of release, or be stirred up in dust and resuspended in air with
>>wind or human movement.  It is very small and can be breathed in by
anyone:
>>a baby, pregnant woman, the elderly, the sick.  This radioactive ceramic
>>can stay deep in the lungs for years, irradiating the tissue with powerful
>>alpha particles within about a 30 micron sphere, causing emphysema and/or
>>fibrosis.  The ceramic can also be swallowed and do damage to the
>>gastro-intestinal tract.  In time, it penetrates the lung tissue and
enters
>>into the blood stream. ...It can also initiate cancer or promote cancers
>>which have been initiated by other cancinogens".
>>
>>
>>According to Paul Sullivan, executive director of the National Gulf War
>>Resource Center:
>>
>>
>>"In Yugoslavia, it's expected that depleted uranium will be fired in
>>agricultural areas, places where livestock graze and where crops are
grown,
>>thereby introducing the spectre of possible contamination of the food
>chain."
>>
>>
>>The New York based International Action Center called the Pentagon's
>>decision  to use the A-10 "Warthog" jets against targets in Serbia "a
>>danger to the people and environment of the entire Balkans". (Truth in
>>Media, 10 April 1999). In this regard, a report in from Greece:
>>
>>
>>"registered an increase in levels of toxic substances in the atmosphere of
>>Greece, and said that Albania, Macedonia, Italy, Austria and Hungary all
>>face a potential threat to human health as a result of NATO's bombing of
>>Serbia, which includes the use of radioactive depleted uranium
>>shells".(April 10, 1999, see Truth in Media, 10 April 1999).
>>
>
>>
>>The Plight of the Refugees
>>
>>
>>What is not conveyed by the international media, is that people of all
>>ethnic origins including ethnic Albanians, Serbs and other ethnic groups
>>are leaving Kosovo largely as a result of the bombing.
>>
>>
>>There are reports that ethnic Albanians have left Kosovo for Belgrade
where
>>they have relatives. There are 100,000 ethnic Albanians in Belgrade. The
>>press has confirmed movements of ethnic Albanians to Montenegro.
Montenegro
>>has been portrayed as a separate country, as a safe-haven against the
>>Serbs. The fact of the matter is that Montenegro is part of Yugoslavia.
>>
>>
>>
>>    Michel Chossudovsky
>>
>>    Department of Economics,
>>    University of Ottawa,
>>    Ottawa, K1N6N5
>>
>>
>>    Voice box: 1-613-562-5800, ext. 1415
>>    Fax: 1-514-425-6224
>>    E-Mail: chossudovsky@sprint.ca
>>
>>
>>
>>Recent articles by Chossudovsky :
>>
>>
>>On Kosovo:  http://www.transnational.org/features/crimefinansed.html
>>
>>
>>On the break-up of Yugoslavia:
>>http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/62/022.html
>>
>>
>>On the Brazilian financial crisis:
>>http://wwwdb.ix.de/tp/english/special/eco/6373/1.html
>>
>>
>>On global poverty and the financial crisis:
>>
>>
>>http://www.transnational.org/features/chossu_worldbank.html
>>http://www.transnational.org/features/g7solution.html
>>http://www.twnside.org.sg/souths/twn/title/scam-cn.htm
>>http://www.interlog.com/~cjazz/chossd.htm
>>http://www.heise.de/tp/english/special/eco/
>>http://heise.xlink.de/tp/english/special/eco/6099/1.html#anchor1
>>
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