Editor's Choice
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
By Malcolm LaGauche
Mar 15, 2006, 11:32
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 A few weeks ago, U.S. citizens celebrated a federal holiday called "Presidents Day." The annual commemorates the lives of two U.S. presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Let’s look at Lincoln and discuss why he is so admired even today in the U.S. Many citizens consider him the best U.S. president.
Lincoln’s legacy is that he kept the United States intact. Some southern states seceded and formed their own country, the Confederate States of America. Lincoln would have none of this.
Slobodan Milosevic was the
target of mass demonization
The U.S. Civil War began in 1861 and raged for five years. Brother fought against brother and father against son. When the war ended, much of the South was leveled. But, the U.S. was once again a unified entity. Lincoln was a hero and patriot extraordinaire. Today, every U.S. citizen who uses a five-dollar bill to pay for something sees Lincoln’s face on the note.
Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Yugoslavia, died a few days ago. In 1991 and 1992, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, all part of Yugoslavia, declared independence from the Yugoslav federation. Many ethnic Serbs lived in the renegade states and did not heed the call for independence. Milosevic acted in the same manner as Abraham Lincoln and tried to keep his country intact.
Don’t hold your breath waiting to see his picture on any currency. Instead of being called a patriot, Milosevic has been designated the "Butcher of the Balkans" and he is charged of orchestrating the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The consensus in the western media is that he broke up Yugoslavia.
Slobodan Milosevic underwent a demonization program created by the U.S. of such a magnitude that it comes close to the power of the demonizing of Saddam Hussein. The one-time patriot of Yugoslavia was transformed into a mass murderer of horrific proportions. But, as with Saddam, a little scrutiny lays bare the lies perpetrated by the U.S.
During the breakup of Yugoslavia, many atrocities occurred from all sides. However, the U.S. blamed Milosevic for them all. Then, in 1995, a peace agreement was signed in Dayton, Ohio that ended the conflict. Milosevic was the person who orchestrated the signing of all sides. He was now, temporarily, a peacemaker.
Once the smoke cleared, the U.S. began to demonize him again. Then, in 1998, in the Serbian province of Kosovo, ethnic Albanians started an insurgency. Milosevic acted in the same manner that any president of a country would and tried to stop the upstarts.
The propaganda came hard and heavy. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians were found in mass graves. Milosevic was the man behind the slaughters.
In 1999, NATO bombed Yugoslavia for a few months and destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure. After the bombing, the U.S. forced Serbia to hold elections. Milosevic won. But, that would not hold with the U.S., who again forced elections on the Serbs. This time, Milosevic did not win. After the election, then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright proudly stated that the U.S. had given $42 million to Milosevic’s opponent and she was proud that the gift had paid off. The financing of Milosevic’s opponent breaks many international laws, yet the U.S. took pride. They knew that no one would call "foul" because whoever did would quickly be looking down a U.S. gun barrel.
Calls for an international trial were rampant. Milosevic was taken to the Hague to stand trial in the International Tribunal in The Hague, The Netherlands. The U.S. applauded the court and the fact that Milosevic would be held accountable. The irony is that the U.S. refuses to recognize the Tribunal, yet was instrumental in having it take up Milosevic’s case.
There is much speculation as to Milosevic’s death. Some maintain he was given medication secretly that caused his heart medicine to be negated. Others say he took the unprescribed medicine to make his health worse so he could visit Moscow to be treated. I tend to take more credence in the former theory.
What most people did not realize is that the trial only had 55 days left and, according to many international law experts, Milosevic, who put up his own brilliant defense, would be found innocent. The testimony of many witnesses for the prosecution was thrown out of court because they witnesses were proven to have lied. If Milosevic walked, the U.S. would suffer great embarrassment.
In retrospect, there are certain facts that were brought out at the trial that the world never heard. For instance, when Milosevic first heard of Serb troops killing civilians, he was aghast. He called some commanders back to Belgrade and relieved them of their duties and put them on trial. He knew that the adverse publicity would not help the Serb cause.
With Kosovo, the court heard a different story from that of what the western press had printed. Instead of more than 100,000 ethnic Albanians being found in mass graves, the total was about 2,000, most of whom were fighters killed in battle, not innocent civilians. This ploy was used before to demonize Saddam Hussein. In November 2003, it was announced that more than 400,000 bodies were found in mass graves in the south of Iraq. When the truth came out, the number was less than 5,000 who were mostly killed by U.S. bombs in the heavy bombing of Basra in 1991.
There is much more to discuss about Yugoslavia and Milosevic but it would take way too much room. The website www.icdsm is excellent and loaded with articles. It also includes the entire book Divide and Conquer, written by Ramsey Clark.
Milosevic has suffered the fate of many at the hands of the U.S. government over the past couple of decades in that he was a world leader who was targeted for elimination. Let’s look at some instances and compare the similarities.
- In 1983, the U.S. invaded the Caribbean military powerhouse of Grenada. Until this day, the Grenadan government is imprisoned by the U.S.
- In 1986, the U.S. bombed Libya, killing its leader’s daughter.
- In 1989, the U.S. invaded Panama and kidnapped its president (Noriega) who is now serving a 40-year prison term.
- From 1991 to 2003, the U.S. had proxy groups try to assassinate Saddam Hussein.
- In 2003, 600 U.S. soldiers, accompanied by air power and artillery, surrounded the house where Saddam Hussein’s sons and his grandson were staying. After hours of barrage, the three bullet-ridden and burned bodies were taken and then filmed for the world to see.
- In 2003, Saddam was kidnapped by the U.S. and is now in the midst of one of the most ludicrous and unfair trials in history.
- Since 1961, the U.S. has drawn up more than 100 plans to assassinate Fidel Castro.
- Hugo Chavez has been targeted by the U.S.
- Tariq Aziz is now on his deathbed in a U.S.-run prison in Iraq. He has been denied heart medicine and has not had teeth for three years because the U.S. took his dentures away.
- The homes of Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein’s daughter, Izaat A-Douri and Ghadaffi have been leveled by U.S. bombs.
The practice of killing or kidnapping world leaders is despicable. However, even worse is the retribution practiced against their families by destroying their houses or even killing family members. I know of no other country that engages in such barbarity.
In the U.S., scant attention is paid to these atrocities. In fact, from some corners of society, these practices are encouraged. Even some U.S. religious leaders join the call for eliminating leaders whom the U.S. does not admire. On the other hand, some of the world’s leading scumbags who pose as leaders are exempt from these beastly activities because they accept their plight as slaves to Washington. Milosevic was merely another brick in the wall of the U.S. bloodthirsty methods of "negotiation."
Original Source: http://www.malcomlagauche.com/id1.html
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