| Russians in Kosova
From the Kosova Crisis Center News – July 12, 1999
http://www.alb-net.com/kcc/071299e.htm
“It’s really difficult to have the Russians here because they will support the Serbs, naturally,” said Ahmet Dermala, a mechanical engineer. “And a lot of local Serbs took part in assassinations around here. We will continue our protests until we got a positive answer, and a positive answer is that the Russians are not coming here.”
I understand the Kosovar mistrust of “Russians” the so-called natural allies of the Serbs. But, all ethnic and religious hatred must stop. However, people who have never been free are not likely to trust anyone. Remember that the Kosovar War is not with the Serbian people but with the Serbian command. Indeed we should all feel sorry for those who did not seek their freedom a decade ago and allowed their leaders to commit crimes and atrocities in their name.
The fact that the Kosovars trusted NATO however is a sign that Kosovars see their alliance with Europe and the international community as a step toward freedom. The Russians (still learning to be free) are a part of the international community as are Canadians and Americans and Australians and Italians and French and British and Swiss and South Africans. Yugoslavia is the nation that the international community will not want to party with. The Kosovars need to keep their eye on Belgrade, not Moscow. It is the command of Milosevic that brings terror upon the children.
From my limited view and desperate hope, it appears that NATO will have no patience for any peacekeepers from anywhere in the world who are not highly professional and well trained in the principles of human rights, individual security and the international rule of law.
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World Peace and a Journey to Mars
Like the flow of water, forces affecting humans in this universe are chaotic. Order evolves over time and space, according to the laws of physics which humans continue to discover. However, some philosophers, scientists, political and religious leaders argue the oneness and perfection of their God’s forces. To accomplish the twisted goals of homogenous control some leaders of people behave badly, they use the brutal power of a state police and army, corrupt and incompetent judiciaries, and the repression of a free press as their sovereign tools to war and repression.
Such behaviour from leaders of humans will always lead to war and must not be tolerated at the table of human nations.
The opposite of “humans going to war” is “humans going to Mars.” Going to Mars is a more noble pursuit. For in knowing Mars we know more about Earth. The knowledge will finally become obvious to all, the hate on this planet is wrong and the love and protection of our home is the real task of humans. The repressive power of one group over another group will be tolerated no longer in the quest to discovery and adventure and peace.
In the region of Europe, the Russian Military and NATO understand this, but are incapable of action without political will. It is the people and their leaders who haven’t got a clue. It is we, the people, who would keep our eyes at the end of our nose, our energy in the mud at our feet, and our spirits in the dark pockets of our minds, never to look at a distant horizon, never to find peace.
Mars, close to Earth during these days of war in Kosova, is a red beacon shining brightly. Its horizon is within the technological reach for our machines. Soon, our energy, bravery and wit could get actual humans to Mars and home again. What a terrific party the humans will have on that day!
But the dirty little wars of intolerance and the repression of any human may yet keep us grounded for years and years to come. If this is allowed to happen the lives of all the planet’s children will be impoverished and dull. If we look back a century, to the wars of nations, we are heartbroken but complacent because going to space was only a dream of the few and going to war was the past-time of the rich and powerful. When our grandchildren look back at our millennial days will they be heartbroken by our inaction or enriched and warmed by our foresight and sense of adventure? Today, the choice for a stellar future belongs to all free people and their leaders. Or, they can do nothing.
Look up. You may find a God who may save you from terror, but freedom and reason will do that too. Look up to the stars, to the horizons of our next adventure in human evolution.
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Defending my Freedom
Gus Anemn wrote: – Friday, 07/02/99, 6:38:22pm (#6195 of 6195)
>Hello Pavlo whats up? 🙂 I think that U have another warmonger like Kathy , to tell U about the hatrant of Milo. And then she said:Milo loves power. I was wondering does she knows anybody that does not love power? On the other hand she only want to talk about Milo that he refused the ultimatum that he was served . U know U cannot beat those warmongers with words.A stick will do.:-)
Twentieth century history of free people, their use of power and words and the desired products of their resources and intelligence, is a fascinating story and will surely enlighten you. Go do some historical fact-finding, Gus.
As to the stick … aggression may not be easy to recognize in every system, but sooner or later, the light of everything that is good will shine upon the darkness, the brutal repression and injustices, and the stupid acts of so-called leaders of sovereign nations.
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After the Winning in Kosova
War changes us. Some wars are more effective at change, other wars pass into our history as footnotes, but all wars change something. For me, half way around the planet, the killing fields of Kosova have changed everything. Kosova must be a time mark in human social evolution.
Our conflict against the brutal fascists of the Serbia/Yugoslavia regime was our stand of arms for the principles of human rights and responsibilities, freedom and justice. Any so-called “sovereign” state using policies of apartheid and hatred will no longer be tolerated at the international table of human nations. The planet is too small and the important tasks too great.
NATO, a defensive force, acted to disarm an illegal regime. War is hell, but surgically guided strikes prove our technology can disarm a regime of its larger and physical tools of terror and command without carpet bombing entire civilian populations. Unfortunately for NATO, the brutal fascists hold no similar compassion for their own citizens and Kosovar Albanians were used as human shields in many locations. There are many such examples of how the Belgrade regime abuses the rights and security of one group of citizens in order to aggrandize their own group. Fascism described by Webster’s Dictionary as belligerent nationalism, and state-condoned apartheid is wrong and must be declared illegal by the alliances of free and peace loving nations.
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Rebuilding Kosova 2
Hi All …
The rebuilding of Kosova is going to take more than just money! What tools do we use to rebuild in a land where people have never been free?
Today in Pristina … Kosovars can open schools, restart their newspapers and radio stations and try to resume a normal life. However, they will not just pick up from where they left off in 1989. The Kosovar worldview will never be the same.
Some of the tools we must have to rebuild Kosova are the tools of a free state; manifested as the rights and responsibilities of the individual in community. European and international friends can help bring these tools to Kosova, now that NGO’s don’t require transit rights from Belgrade. We use freedom’s tools to stay warm, dry, well fed and well loved. Freedom’s tools also allow us to have exciting adventures and accomplish greatness in art and science.
I hope the Kosovars will pick up the tools of peace and freedom and get to the important work of building a future for their children. This is no time for more hatred and oppression.
Sadly, today we cannot see the same opportunity for Serbia. It is a nation living in the dark, cold and brutal environment of dogma, fear and loathing, and the hopelessness of belligerent nationalism. The only tools known by the Serbian State are lies, tanks, and the terror of police. A state of human affairs I would not wish upon any human being.
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In No Mood for US Bashing
caslavp wrote – Sunday, 06/27/99, 8:16:39pm (#3271 of 3498) wrote:
>When the US decides to intervene in a conflict, its policy is to take a side. In case of Balkan wars it was always >the side against Serbs.
Sorry caslavp, you’re misinformed. Serbs and the US fought as allies against Hitler. Another little known fact about allies … Serbs and Albanians were allies at Kosovo Polje. It was a multi-nation army, led by Prince Luzar (sp?), a Serb, who lost to the forces of the Ottoman Empire. (hardly surprising, either.)
Some would tell you that a spot of land on this planet is worth the blood of billions. I would tell you to open your mind to the reality of today. Get yourself to low earth orbit or talk some who have. Then ask yourself what you what you can do to make all our lives better.
Free people must always present arms against brutal fascists. We hate to do it because we are acutely aware of the dangers. But, in the case of Kosova, the free world stood for the decency and integrity of all human beings on this planet.
“I suppose I am in no mood for US bashing this morning.” — Catherin Gregory, in the rain, 7:00am PDT.
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Rebuilding Kosova 1
I try to imagine this summer morning in Mitrovica, Prishtina, or Gjakovica. I was once in Tito’s Yugoslavia, for only a moment but for a moment I will always remember. There was the border police and the travelers who disappeared from my bus. Spooky. In the morning I had coffee in a place where local women didn’t and elephants stomped down dusty roads.
Perhaps my Scottish heritage claims the Albanians as a long lost tribe or perhaps the world is just a smaller place than ever before. But today free people can no longer tolerate state-condoned abuse of human integrity, rights and responsibilities. That any government can lie about ethnic cleansing and state-condoned massacres is just too terrible. That it would happen in the Balkans, at the end of the Cold War, may have been inevitable.
The current task of re-building civil administration is daunting. I hope the Kosovars continue to be ready and willing to take on the challenges of peace and democracy. Personally, I admire their efforts at peaceful, non-violent resistance throughout most of the decade. But, the formation of the KLA was inevitable. Oppressed people always search for a method to throw off their chains. However, the Kosovar’s peaceful resistance will no doubt enhance their law and arts for the future. But I worry that the stress and events of the past months may break the Kosovar heart? I hope not.
The Balkans, eh? In history, east meets west. In this century, it is the basket-case of Europe. The beginning of the century saw its borders drawn on a map of the world when drawing borders along ethnic and religious boundaries was considered the right thing to do. Looking back now, one wonders if social evolution was still in the dark ages.
If we evolve, drawing national borders will be different in the next century. I hope our view from space would suggest political borders have their limitations.
If I guessed at the future, I would say that brutal regimes and social structures, like imperialism, totalitarianism, apartheid and fascism (religious or territorial) will not survive. The new electronic environment of a free media should keep the bad guys from getting out of control. The free media has a huge role to play in the future of Kosova. Go Christiane!
Of course, I could be wrong. Imperialism and totalitarianism was rampant during the cold war, an international balance of power maintained at all costs to human rights. And during the eighties, the free media was doing much more distracting than informing. It started with the wedding of Diana and Charles and ended with the OJ Simpson trial and Diana’s death. In between was almost two decades of stupid distraction, public consumption of celebrity and violence and we all forgot about world peace.
Slipping back into rant mode … gotta go***
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Stopping the Fascists
Yes, perhaps some people think I want my way with the world.:-)
People who are not free may be suspicious. That much seems obvious. But the alternative to not standing up for democracy and freedom is just too ludicrous to imagine.
The fascist Milosevic uses belligerent nationalism, deceit and hatred to maintain power. The free people can not sleep peacefully when fascists have power. Fascism is easy to recognize. One group is aggrandized because another group is terrorized. This behaviour does not compute in a new millenium or in a free world. Our parents stopped fascism in Europe once. It is sad that we are at it again. But standing for freedom and human rights is what free people will continue to do.
We are free because the integrity of each individual is secure. On this rock in space we can stand for nothing less. Therefore, fascists must not be allowed to party at the table of human nations. The court and the sword will stand strong for freedom.
Rebuilding in the Balkans? Not yet.
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To Jim Wright, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Canada
It’s the human rights, isn’t it? The love and the responsibility of the law, the compassion and integrity and value of each individual, anywhere on the planet. Human Rights are the most important global recognition of ourselves, it is evolutionary. It is the purpose for which free people must be vigilant and passionate. In the Balkans and anywhere … UNMIK , civilian administration, institution building, and lessons in democracy and NGO’s are even more important than precision bombs.
And what the Serbians need to understand is that the free and democratic world will not play at the party of fascist and criminal leaders who institutionalize an apartheid against their own citizens. Freedom is liberating, but for people who have never been free without the love of law, freedom can be lost.
My question … why would anyone want a nation called “Yugoslavia” at the table of human nations? It seems to me that a criminal nation can only be tolerated for so long by other nations. Even “Yugoslavians” have chosen other nation names.
If we insist that Kosova will be a part of Serbia then we are in denial of any lasting peace. If we are to insist that Kosova is a part of Yugoslavia then we need to define Yugoslavia. As far as I’ve heard Milosevic is not running to change the Yugoslavia constitution regarding Kosova autonomy.
The entire region needs a makeover.
If we, the free and democratic nations do nothing, then basket-case politics of fear and repression will inevitably result in more war and more death.
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To Dayside: re June14/99 7:40 am PDT
The morning news about Peace in Kosova spots the lying Yugoslavian UN ambassador and then Michael Bliss who is just wrong.
Norma Lee asked some good questions. “Should we have done nothing?” But, Michael Bliss’ answer to the problem would have appeased the Belgrade regime, therefore prolonging the terror in Kosova and neighborhood. Besides, appeasement of brutal regimes is just wrong. History will judge NATO’s actions as just and right. Appeasing those who justify their state-condoned hatred as the way to power over their own citizens is immoral and such state behaviour must be outlawed at the table of human nations… the Milosevic regime is fascism and it is wrong.
Therefore, standing up to a heavily armed criminal regime requires force. NATO force had the responsibility to disarm this particular criminal regime. And many of the talking heads are amazed at what weapons the Serbians do have after 78 days of bombing. The size of the Yugoslavia military is still of cold-war magnitude. NATO had hoped Milosevic would not want to take the military and command degradation Perhaps, like in Bosnia, Milosevic would cave early. But war is unpredictable, isn’t it? War, by its very nature, will facilitate change. In this case, history will say both sides misjudged the other.
Milosevic had a plan, a plan issued from the Serbian Arts and Science Institute in 1937. His shilly-shallying at Rambouille was a ploy. It is now obvious that he was willing to subject his citizens to NATO bombs as cover for his criminal actions in Kosova. In the first days of the bombing I found evidence on the FRY website that indicated they could survive 60 days of bombing without any problems.
Don’t you see this evil plan?
NATO may have known about the plan. However, fewer and fewer people on the planet really remember what ethnic cleansing in Europe was like. For most of us, we only know about it through history books and documentaries. That any “sovereign state” in Europe would actually carry out such brutal and criminal actions against its own citizens, unfortunately, surprised and shocked us all. And in this instance NATO (more the political than the military) misjudged the Belgrade regime.
However, why not go talk to some Kosovar Albanians? Ask them about the terror and hatred that they experienced under the Belgrade regime for ten years? Then ask them about being liberated?
Some people say that war in this region is a way of life for the residents. Clearly, the people of the Balkans have never truly known freedom or understood democratic principles. The Church and The Family and more recently the “Communist Government” have passed down through generations some values of human rights and freedoms that would indeed seem alien to my Canadian values. That the region is a political basket-case, yes even “post-cold war”, should be a surprise to no one, particularly to Mr. Bliss. In fact, in Mr. Bliss’s enthusiasm to NATO bash, he ignores what has really been going on in the former Yugoslavia for 10 years.
We can only speculate on what the history books will say about Kosova. It will be a good thing to get beyond January 1, 2000 and then look back. Personally, I will see Kosova as a pinnacle of 20th century warfare and hope other “states” who wish to participate at the table of human nations will take note. State-condoned hatred and terror is wrong and if the free world can do something about it, then they must do something about it. If the final resort to decency is the use of bombs to degrade, yes even to destroy, the enemy’s weapons and command of power … then let it be so.
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To: rebickj@toronto.cbc.ca
Subject: Women in Afghanistan & NATO
Date sent: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 10:03:51 -0700
Judy …
Great spot this morning on the lack of freedom and democracy. Informative and provoking. I’m hoping to attend an information meeting about women in Afghanistan next week in Victoria. We need to inform ourselves and stand vigilant against repression and terror anywhere on the planet.
Re: Kosova … No one likes bombs. However, for most free people we like fascism even less.
Milosevic found his power in terror and hatred. This behaviour must not be allowed at the table of human affairs. If NATO can rid Europe of the weapons of barbarism then I say GO NATO!!
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June 10, 1999
For 78 days I’ve heard the enemy’s claims of NATO criminality, like the child who refuses to acknowledge a lie, the enemy looks anywhere for someone to blame. Contrary to the liking of some talking heads, international law is not static. Even Hitler and Gladstone had all kinds of appeals to existing law. Certainly “international law” takes into account the armed criminal loose among the people?
Of course, days are still early. NATO and the entire international community has a huge task ahead of it. Freedom was won for the Kosovars … now it is up to the Kosovars to learn to live free. For that matter, this crisis has won freedom for the Serbs too … if they want it.
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June 10, 1999
What does Kosova mean to me?
What does Kosova mean? I’m surprised that this crisis jarred me more for than I ever would have thought. Must be my Scottish roots … Or, more likely, my 1999 world view of the universe, the planet and the human beings on it. Suddenly, I don’t want anyone to take freedom lightly.
– Kosova means the international community finally has the will and the means to stop the barbaric results of extreme nationalism. The roots of war lie in the evil of ethnic and religious intolerance and/or political fanaticism.
– Kosova means “hope” that the 21st century will not be a repeat of the horror of the 20th century.
– Kosova means that when the international community has the will and the means to act by intervention, then it will act responsibly, standing up for decency and the planet and rights and freedoms of humans.
– Kosova means that the world is a much smaller place, again. Repression and terror can no longer hide behind lies and deceit. Its evil face can be exposed to the world and the world will take notice!
– Kosova means the faces of 2 million people with terror and repression written on their faces.
– Kosova means democracy and freedom require constant vigilance and the will to act.
– Kosova means that the definition of “sovereignty” means more than borders and a military force.
– Kosova means the good winning against evil, freedom winning against repression, and the love of law winning against barbarous revenge and unchecked hatred of fascism.
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Justice enforces its will with two methods. Expulsion from the table of human affairs and when that doesn’t work, the use of the sword has its own ways and means.
The events of the past 78 days have been horrific for our North American world view. Once again proving that War is Hell. But, today I am thankful that NATO’s hard tasking and brilliant planning is meeting the objectives of the democratic alliance of free and peace loving people.
We must continue to stand on guard for peace and decency. To allow extreme nationalistic forces, any place on the planet, to plan and condone hatred and repression, terror and murder, of one group over another for any ethnic, religious or political reason is intolerable at the global table of human nations.
Thanks to the evil and propaganda of the Milosevic regime, the people of Kosovar have been repressed for at least this past decade. Although, Serbian and Albanian hatred has its roots in the medieval history of Europe . is it too optimistic to hope that peace will fill the hearts of all the people in a new millennium?
In this bloody century ethnicity and religion has proven to be dangerous to ordinary people who want nothing more than basic human rights and freedoms and the chance to participate in the adventure and discovery life has to offer.
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The Media
Re: CTV News 1; 4:10 p.m. PDT, June 9, 1999.
This day’s CTV spin, presented as news, is incredibly biased. I am ashamed that such an institution as CTV would make these mistakes and still call themselves “the free media.”
When the talking head from York U. said the Serb troops were most definitely leaving Kosova (as if we should take his word as final, your CTV anchor agreed with gusto. They both fawned and flattered the dictator and said the problem was NATO’s. This is bad journalism and CTV should know better. Have the forces of Vuk Draskovic been flattering or paying you? For 78 days I have watched CTV support the forces of fascism and ignore the vigilance of democracy. In my opinion, your corporation has some explaining to do.
Shame on you. Tonight, we send our Canadian sons and daughters into harm’s way to stand for the ideals of democracy and human rights … and I am appalled that your news service continues to spout Belgrade propaganda. Nor does spinning the controversial make for objective journalism.
I expect a response.
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In the final 6 months of this millennium bombs are falling on yet another brutal dictator, and the forces of power are like shifting sands. War is weird.
The dregs of ethnic and religious intolerance erupt and flare with secondaries. Hungary and alone, the fragile mother and child are terrified.
“Today, Jamie Shea tells the world:
“Now as you know, it has been just about a week since Milosevic agreed to
the Ahtisaari-Chernomyrdin peace plan. So in other words he has had a
week during which he could have made that peace real. And during this time
he has lost 29 tanks, 93 armored personnel carriers, 209 field artillery
pieces, 11 air defense artillery positions, 86 mortars and innumerable
prepared positions and support vehicles, and these are the sort of losses that
no army can suffer for long and remain operational.”
Yippeeeeeeeee!!!!! NATO destroys the tools of state condoned repression of one group against another!
(Rant Mode On)
But what is the real story??? Again, the media needs to let their enthusiasm for writing tonight’s headline be tempered by the facts of history. There are intense plans afoot for the deployment of military and civil forces. NATO, EU and everyone else with a voice or power now begin the real work. The work that is “as important as taking the weapons away from the criminals.” As usual, this part of the mission is a relative ghost to North American media. Perhaps the word “NGO” could be used more often.
People who have never lived free need to be taught freedom and the love of law. In Canada, we the people DO “law and freedom” very well, it is not perfect, but we learn from our mistakes. It only makes sense that a Canadian experience in building democracy and cooperation is needed. I am very proud of our sons and daughters who stand in harms way for freedom and human rights … and I want their story reported in full, each and every day.
(Rant Mode Off)
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Milosevic’s most fatal mistake was to underestimate our resolve…
The wicked criminal plan of ethnic terror and genocide was wrong. The FRY could be permanently removed from the table of human nations. Perhaps one day in the future the people of the Balkans will want to return to the international party and can act decently and learn the love of law.
In the new century “sovereignty” can not mean the use of terror and abuse of those who have over those who don’t. China and Russia should well understand the needs of people; warm, dry, well fed and well loved. Their support of this Belgrade regime only underscores the danger of totalitarianism.
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Dear All…
I feel sorry for everyone in this conflict. But I am proud that by using the force of NATO, civilized western civilization is prepared to stand for decency and the respect for human rights. It is long beyond the time to negotiate, appease, or to use Jamie Shea’s expression, shilly shally regarding individual security and freedoms anywhere around the world.
Shilly shallying in the past, (Africa comes to mind) is no excuse for shilly shallying in the future. But what is different here is that NATO is destroying the tools and command of Serbian repression. It certainly had no mandate to do such a thing in Africa. And it is obvious that the UN hasn’t got the force required to battle systematic, state condoned, ethno-religious abuse of the human rights of one group of people against the other.
Russian demand to use UN Peace Keeping forces is worrying and probably wrong. We already know that Serbian military has little respect for the UN. Yugoslavia is already non compliant with three UNSC resolutions. To believe that the criminal thugs in Belgrade would do anything other than shilly-shally with the UN should be obvious to anyone with human senses.
It is simple, the sooner the Belgrade regime is arrested and taken to The Hague the sooner the Serbian people will be allowed back to the table of the international community. (Of course, in my opinion if the entire Balkan People are left “tankless” that is a good thing too.)
Milosevic & Co. are masters of deceit and revisionists of history. This, I believe, is at the root of my hawishness. For all the crime and punishment, for all the celebrity and trivia, for all the useless western culture we delude ourselves with, why does Bill Clinton not get away with lying about sex and yet Milosevic, and criminal leaders like him, do get away with lying about ethnic cleansing and human rights abuse????
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One repeated theme I continue to hear throughout the crisis in Kosova is that a once peacenik boomer generation is now surprisingly hawkish. Personally, I spent many a day of my youth participating in peace marches and deploring any government’s desire to desecrate the planet with bombs. John Lennon told us peace was here if we wanted. Peace and yes, even Love, could fix the problems of the world.
Thirty years, and a whole lot more lifetime later, I am surprised at and need to explore my new hawkishness. Why do I seek NATO victories daily? Why do NATO mishaps send me to my panic control? Why do I insist the bombing continue until every last vestige of the tools of terror, the tanks and police, are withdrawn from Kosova? We MUST win in Kosova. We, the democratic nations of the planet cannot appease the hatred and violence any longer. And if NATO bombs can tear down and destroy at least the tools and command of hatred; the tanks, the torture, the abuse, then I can say to the children “at least we tried to stand up for decency, democracy, and the love of law, our rights and responsibilities.
Lennon said “Peace if You Want.” Yes, we still desperately want peace as there are still many discoveries and adventures to share. But Kosova, finally, may have crystallized the nature of getting Peace. Nearly two million Kosovars were abused for at least a decade by the worst kind of fascism and totalitarian state seen in Europe in 50 years. This is no way to peace. Despite brave attempts at peaceful resistance and the path of Ghandi any dissent brought about brutal state-led and condoned terror and injustice. The Kosovars wanted peace and tried and tried and tried. But Belgrade answered their cries of injustice with more abuse and more terror.
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June 6, 1999
Talking at Kumanovo?
The Serb military (forget Yugoslavia, IMHO it not longer exists) is not in Kumanovo to negotiate anything … they are there to get withdrawal instructions. If this is not to be the case, and there is some negotiation, then in this day’s events (June 6/99) we may be witnessing the birth of a Serbian military dictatorship, no longer just the basket-case forces of a criminal Belgrade bureaucrat.
Unlike the Serbian military and police, who have lost all sense of civility, NATO continues to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. Its true, no one likes bombs. I pitied the Serbian people for having to live through these past weeks of war but they had their coffee and their cigarettes and their homes. The Kosovars had nothing! I was also encouraged by NATO’s success in destroying the tools of repression. Now, if what looks to be happening in Kumanovo is the birth of a military dictatorship, I “really” pity the Serbian people. The “almost” civil Serbian society has reverted into the worst kind of government and social injustice possible. To lose freedom and democracy to the police thugs and war mongers of ones “own” nation is a terrible fate for any human on the planet.
But my sadness for the Serbian predicament of today, is tempered my outrage that two million people in Europe have been terrorize for years and now brutally expelled from their homes. After World War II our parents promised “it would never happen again.” In 1990 it started again. Dayton solved some problems but it didn’t go far enough. The tools of repression and the command of hatred should have been destroyed before March 24, 1999. But Kosova … I will never forget and I will never appease hatred and repression again.
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Ben …
Re: Jun 4/99 12:15 PDT – Newsworld Today
Hypocrisy is something the Serbian state knows all about. That the people of that, or any regime, would not see and then reject the hatred and terror of extreme nationalism, only means that the lessons of Hitler were not well learned in Belgrade.
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June 4, 1999
Kosova … I will never forget
I have been to Kosova in 1980, for only a moment, but the place and people is a snapshot of my world I have always cherished. Seventy-two days after NATO began destroying the tools of Serbian oppression I know that my life, the social connection and my world view, will never be the same. Kosova has radicalized me.
Unfortunately we all failed, again, to see what happens when people are not free from state condoned hatred and violence. To see the Kosovars suffering again, under the brutal hand of their own neighbours and “extreme sovereign state”, changed everything for me. I am concerned, yes even angry, to see ethnic and religious intolerance in any so-called “sovereign state.” That it is at all tolerated, even with disgust, at the wider table of human nations is beyond my ability to sit back and do nothing. It is past the time in human history to fix such gross indecency to human rights.
This planet is but a speck of rock in space. If you don’t understand the importance of this, or you don’t believe it, go ask Julie Payette, she does understand the fragility of our situation. Ask any astronaut/cosmonaut or any Earth-bound thinker who looks up into a clear night sky. Ask any environmentalist, any historian and any child. They will all say … “there is no room for the evil of ethnic and religious intolerance.” Even ask the capitalist businesses and world market places … nationalism and religious hatred (intolerance) is eventually unproductive and will destabilize markets. Ask anyone who only seeks some warmth, some food, and some knowledge, for themselves and their children. Ask anyone about our situation in this universe. They will all agree that tools of repression in the hands of sadistic and megalomaniac regimes must be destroyed. Now, forever vigilant, we move on to the really important work of lessons in democracy and building peace. Kosova … I will never forget.
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June 1, 1999
The Media and Winning in Kosova
In 1999, war is hell and no one wants to drop bombs. But, in my not so humble opinion, North American media is so focussed on when the bombs will stop that the real story has gone missing.
The bombing should stop when the regime in Belgrade complies to the international community’s call for peace, justice and the respect of human rights. And/Or, when all those assets of state are destroyed … the police and army, their weapons of repression, and all the tools of power and command employed in the most horrific European campaign of ethnic cleansing and brutality since the days of Hitler. The agenda for stopping the bombs belongs to Milosevic … the only decision he must make is to get his thugs out of Kosova and allow the Kosovars to return home in security and autonomy.
Prior to March 23, 1999 Kosova was a “nation” that the media mostly ignored and the North American public had never heard. Kosova is now a nation that will mark a new millennium in western civilization. Unfortunately, everything is so tense right now that even CNN isn’t able to wrap the story tonight. My timeline prediction is for the 2st of January, 2000.
When citizens of Belgrade, whose families and social systems remain intact, gather over coffee asking “why?” let them ponder the situation of the Kosovars, neighbours for a millennium. The ask them what right do their leaders have in promoting hatred.
But, the arm of justice is never as strong without the sword. It is clear that Milosevic is the leader of a criminal state. The table of human nations must bring such criminal states, which brutalize and terrorize their own citizens, to justice. There should be no sovereignty to criminals. People who have lived with repression for generations can learn and live the lessons of democracy, tolerance and peace, justice and prosperity. This is the important work of democracies in the new Millennium. When negotiation and diplomacy fail, destroying the tools of repression is one way to get to justice and peace faster.
I continue to be amazed that western media does not get it! War headlines lead with Milosevic victim and damage count. In other words, I’m amazed, and confused and angry, that my western media consistently headlines his propaganda. CNN started it, but do you all have be as irresponsible? Where is the history of this conflict in your reporting?
Serb State Police terror and criminality did not begin when NATO started aiming its bombs on March 23, 1999. Thank goodness for the internet because if I had to rely on North American Media to get any sense of this story I would be truly frustrated.
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May 28, 1999
Dear Mr. Prime Minister…
Julie Payette will launch into space this week and becomes the first Canadian to work aboard the International Space Station. For me, this is an event I have been awaiting with much joyful anticipation for some years now. I believe Canadian participation in the space program, an endeavor of adventure and discovery, is just about THE most exciting international dream alive. Personally, I would spend my time watching NASA TV and Canadians in Space than be bored to death with most of what western civilization calls entertainment, including the NHL playoffs.
Sadly, current events in Kosova tempers my “Canadians in Space” celebrations. My hopes and dreams are now intrinsically linked by the two events. Peace in Europe, for which our parents sought and gave their lives, came with a pledge to never let past hatreds erupt in terror, genocide and state criminality, ever again. That a megalomaniac dictator completes a campaign of ethnic cleansing and state terror on its own population in the final year of this century is unacceptable, and quite frankly horrific.
We must defeat the tools of hatred and intolerance on Earth as we continue to continue to benefit from our adventure to space. Except for the very richest of states, space exploration can only be accomplished in a cooperative international environment. It is in cooperation that our adventures and discoveries will reap the greatest rewards, not just in space sciences, but throughout all aspects of our human lives.
Our stunning blue planet orbits an ordinary star, one of billions and billions of a variety of stars. From this perspective, human hatred and intolerance is just stupid; an insipid waste of human time and effort. Our future requires as much cooperation and compassion as ever. We must make no room for criminal states and intolerant populations on Earth.
It is obvious. In this new century freedom-loving states must not party with criminal states. We must use all ways to isolate and defeat regimes that refuse to comply with modern human rights standards. We must not party at the table of the state who uses the tools of state (tanks and police) to cover up criminality and dissent.
The work of freedom and democracy is as urgent as ever. Kosova sounded that chord in my being. As Julie is launched to ISS she takes with her my hopes and dreams for our human future, a supernova bright future, one we can proudly pass on to our children, if only we can free the world from hatred and violence.
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
Dear Media,
I’ve tried to keep an open mind about the “free” media coverage and spin on events in the former Yugoslavia. But, I am losing patience with the talking heads that forsake objectivity and fairness by giving controversy the only voice.
For almost 60 days CNN and its talking heads have criticized NATO in every possible way and the headlines lead with Milosevic’s agenda. Certainly, you may call yourselves investigative … but its obvious your investigations are incomplete and biased.
Do you simply choose not to use your journalist’s memory (history) in telling the story of terror in Europe? You may think you are being unbiased but you are not. Milosevic is the worst kind of criminal, he uses the tools of his state, the tanks, the guns, the press, the church and lies to repress another group of people within his own state. He is a megalomaniac criminal who claims sovereignty over a people he hates.
Milosevic himself, his thuggish family and friends, *and* the tools of hatred/war must be destroyed. The UN may pass resolutions until ET calls home. But the UN cannot destroy the tools of repression. Milosevic is already in non-compliance with 3 UN Security Council Resolutions. In Bosnia, Serbian forces used UN forces as human shields and broadcast live on CNN. … Milosevic and his thugs have obvious contempt for the UN. NATO, on the other hand, is THE European Security Force and boldly doing the task that needs to be done. It does the task well and continues to accomplish its goals. Given time and good weather and soon one important task is done.
The other task, that task we never hear about in the media, is the task of democracy building and peace keeping. In my opinion, this story is just as exciting and important as watching cruise missiles destroy Milosevic’s supplies and facilities. It is the story of human determination to be free and live in peace.
Real democracies are a way to peace because real democracies put the rights of human beings first. In nations that do not build and grow their democracies the “free” media is only tolerated. It is therefore the responsibility of the “free” media to stand and speak for democracy, freedom and the rights of humans.
Current coverage of the Kosovo crisis is unacceptable. Far from standing for the rights of humans, the media is facilitating Milosevic control of the daily headlines.
Some of my strongest criticism is leveled at the American media. Appeasing dictators is not part of any American dream I understand. That institutional level media cynicism is be a part of the American media reality, at the turn of this century, is a sad state of international affairs. We all know the US has those ghosts in it’s closet.
War creates history and war brings change. It is in the interest of all free media to clearly understand the role of media in any conflict and the role for the winning in Kosova.
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
Dear Mr. Prime Minister
War is Hell and I am getting weary. Yet, I am proud of our sons and daughters who go in danger’s way and stand and speak for the just cause of human rights and freedom. My heart breaks on the eve of the 21st century, this world still full of hatred and fear and the repression and the killing won’t stop. I am weary but the fighters for freedom and justice must prevail.
We must do more to defeat the enemies of freedom and peace, more for human rights around the planet.
Milosevic can not be rewarded. Milosevic can not win. If the international community fails to prevail in Europe then none of us will sleep well at night. We can only pass onto our children and all the children of the planet an uncertain and unjust future, certainly not the bright and sparkling future of our dreams.
Julie Payette, Canadian astronaut, will soon launch. If we could *all* go to space and look back at this precious bit of rock orbiting our Sun … then peace and freedom and a stellar future of adventure and discovery would *finally* come to the human beings. When you speak with her please do ask her about that, she understands.
For now, International Space Station, the Moon and Mars are inaccessible but to a lucky few. All paths to peace and freedom must be sought. Therefore, I charge you, Mr. Prime Minister, and all those people of the world who would work for the common good, to prevail in Kosova, to win peace and freedom for all the children of the world.
(Rant Mode = On)
Do you think the Americans only want peace and freedom for themselves? Do they think it is ok to sing of freedom and then, like monkeys posing, appease and manipulate international governments who scoff at human rights and use the tools of violence, rape and expulsion to silent the cries of the unfree? Are *they* in need of Lessons in Democracy?
(Rant Mode = Off)
* More Reasons to Stop Milosevic *
To use the tools of war to repress a community is criminal. It is the first clue that human society is reverting to uncivil and immoral behaviour.
If the peace and freedom loving people of the world win in Kosova, or any such battle, then we learn valuable lessons in Democracy. This is important. Democracy doesn’t come out of a bottle nor have a top rated, primetime show. Nor is it “something” we are born with. All lessons in Democracy are important. If we lose the battle in Kosova the lessons will be different for us, and I am not so naive as to imagine what lessons other brutal nations may learn.
Ten years after the Cold War … nation states running amuck with ethnic and religious hatred is just too terrible a situation to pass on to the planet’s next generations. It must stop and it must stop now!!!
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
To: cbcinput@toronto.cbc.ca
Subject: The War in Kosova and The Media
Copies to: pmo@pm.gc.ca, ralph@toronto.cbc.ca, schlesinger@toronto.cbc.ca, on-air@turner.com
Date sent: Wed, 12 May 1999 12:09:50 -0700
Last night, on Newsworld news, I heard that visa applications for the CBC in Belgrade are consistently refused by the Yugoslavia Police without explanation. Good for you all!! I love my CBC! 🙂
Perhaps it is that I am homebound, but for 50 days now I have watched every Canadian Defense Department briefing, every NATO briefing (yes at 6am PDT), most state department briefings and pentagon briefings … except they are rarely on cable tv anymore, then I switch to CTV 1 when CBC and CNN has had enough of the important and can’t wait to jump to the commercial. Also, for hours I’ve searched the web going from site to site, returning to important sites daily.
(Caution: Rant Mode = On)
The free media loses its objectivity by “forcing” only the opposites and the controversy. The free media loses at the task of information gathering by ignoring the obvious.
Milosevic and his thugs/family are playing the North American media like a violin… his refrain of propaganda is obviously dangerous to states and individuals. Is the media too far in time and space from the history lessons in centuries of European conflict?
Given a chance, Milosevic will cling to power over a Serbian chicken ranch (after its been ethnically cleansed of course). He uses every slick trick to get his own way and to distribute his lies. And he does it for a decade with the left over tools of Tito, no less! Its heartbreaking that North American media laps up what he dishes out, like dogs at the feet of a master, it is demeaning and speaks poorly of democracy and freedom.
As our Canadian sons and daughters prepare their kit for battle my heart also aches with fear and with pride. War is Hell. But this is a battle against state condoned brutality and genocidal abuse of it’s own population and neighbours, not a battle of territory or interest. This may be the first modern battle for the principles and the heart and soul of a democratic peace.
Of course, the media must be allowed access to ask and transmit all the questions and all the answers from everyone. The first sign of doom is a controlled state or any other kind of media. A democracy and a free media are intrinsically linked like the Earth and the Sun.
But, I am very angry with the North American media who, enmasse, appear to be following along and sucking up to the Milosevic agenda. And I just don’t get it!!
Why does the North American media not speak up for democracy and freedom?????? Why is NATO all of a sudden the bad guy? (CNN – May 12/99 “NATO on the Rampage” leads the news.) In my not so humble opinion, if we are wishy washy in our love of freedom then we stand the chance to loose that freedom.
I understand that journalists will not appear biased… but give me a break! How can anyone be unbiased about police states, ethnic hatred and genocidal cleansing? We’ve been there, we’ve seen it before in Europe and around the world. We see the signs, we know the causes. Freedom loving people must stop the terror of the state. We can and we must move on from the hatred. It is nearly the 21st century … there is much work and play to do.
(BTW, this is the month I was to celebrate the launch of Julie Payette into space … instead I’m feeling angry and worried about some On the Beach future. <groan>)
Democracy isn’t a glitzy adventure with a party and a wrap at the end of each day. It is often tedious and confusing. Global understanding of democratic principles do not fit into any currently fashionable pre-programmed segment on the news or in our schools and institutions. If the end of the cold war has taught us anything it is that democracy and freedom are learned then loved. Our free media, which only exists through the ages in democratic states, has a heavy responsibility to democracy and freedom. Be unbiased yes, but do it right as the stakes are high.
(Rant Mode = Off)
If we could all have a Space Station window seat for a couple of hours the fragility of this planet and its inhabitants would be obvious. We could look back on our ethereal bit of rock and atmosphere and our hearts would empty of the hatred and suffering that history speaks to us. In it’s place we would find peace and love and solidarity, and in our future, the shining of a zillion stars lighting our way to adventure and discovery.
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
From: Self <Single-user mode>
To: pmo@pm.gc.ca
Subject: 10 Reasons to Stop Milosevic
Date sent: Mon, 10 May 1999 21:01:49 -0700
Dear Prime Minister,
The first ten reasons to stop Milosevic and his thugs…
1. If we do nothing about ethnic cleansing then it is as if we support it. By inaction our 21st century democracies will appear to
condone such brutal police state actions … if we love our freedom and peace we must be willing to stand up for freedom and peace
anywhere on the planet.
2. Yugoslavia was a modern state gone bad. Maybe, through the pain and the suffering, we can learn more lessons about
democracy and human rights. How do we teach freedom and the love of law to people who have never known it? Yugoslavia is
history. Milosevic tore it apart and he must not be allowed to claim sovereignty over even a Serbian chicken yard. Sovereignty is about statesmanship and freedom in the 21st century. Milosevic wouldn’t know such a concept.
3. Brutal states create brutal freedom fighters.
4. Telling lies and breaking promises to the state’s own population and the international community is not allowed. Lies and theft
cannot hide for long in a democracy. State propaganda that rewrites history and desires only it’s version of truth is the first
warning to freedom loving people.
5. Learning more lessons about democracy … other repressive nations and brutal dictators who have a plan to ethnically cleanse
their population … take note!
6. Europe is not safe with Milosevic in charge of the guns of Yugoslavia. May the guns of Yugoslavia be silenced forever. May
peace finally come to Europe.
7. Milosevic is an evil power monger who will stop at nothing to hold power. The international community should be ashamed to
have appeased such evil for as long as it did…. yes, NATO acted too late in this battle of principles … we must conclude this action with no less finesse than our democracies deserve.
8. More Lessons of Democracy … our important NGO’s … new 21st century schools of peace. Global activists doing human rights
and sustainable development with a new relevant and urgent meaning.
9. Milosevic and his thugs are war criminals
10. To win this battle of principles we must destroy the regime’s tools of repression. But even then, to allow Milosevic to remain in
power just doesn’t make any sense. An international arrest team should take him to The Hague immediately.
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
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War at the end of the 20th century still sucks, despite the talking heads and their smart bombs. I search the early morning tv and net for news of peace and understanding and love among all human beings … I haven’t found it yet. Do people not understand that barbarian religious nationalism doesn’t work on this planet anymore?
IMHO, Human Rights means that every human is free from the fear of repression by agents of the state, and Democracy means that justice and freedom is fair for all because our intrinsic care for others would not let it be any other way. We know our need for shelter, nourishment and knowledge is common for all humans.
The bombs, seeking the tools of repression, smart as they may be, still suck. A far better justice is in the international courts where war criminals are indicted. 21st century communications technologies can be just as devastating in a court of law as on any historical battlefield. Serbian leaders banned the western press … a very bad sign of more impending repression. When Serbia allows the western press back surely the bombs will stop soon after.
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
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May 20, 1999
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Dayside …
Re: legal action against NATO (May 25, 1999)
I can tolerate many opinions, but from the media I expect real exploration of the truth. IM(not so)HO, the news anchor that does seek the answers to the questions we all ask is either controlled or lazy.
The question I want answered, by those on today’s program or any other supporter of this criminal regime is “Why has the so-called “sovereign” government of Yugoslavia carried out human rights and human security violations against the Kosavars for more than a decade? And why has that state used the tools of state to expel nearly 2 million of its citizens in a manufactured atmosphere of hatred and fear?” Why do they support a regime that has carried out ethnic cleansing plans formulated by Serbian nationalists as early as 1937?
Freedom loving nations must not party with criminal states. They must find a way to isolate and defeat regimes that refuse to comply to modern human rights standards of behaviour. States which use state power to brutalize their own citizens and attempt to coverup such criminality from the international community must not be allowed to party at the table of international affairs.
Hitler got started with ethnic cleansing. And we appeased such horrific state condoned actions until it was too late to save 6 million Jews. Any campaign of terror and hatred using the tools of state and religious or ethnic justification should be obvious right from the start to those people who love freedom and peace. There can be no appeasement with these states. IMHO, criminal states, like dangerous parasites, must be rooted out of our civilization and deleted from our future.
I do not know all the answers in stopping cruel and barbaric dictatorships around the world, but I do know that we cannot just stand by and watch ethnic cleansing and flagrant human rights abuses. Milosevic is obviously a madman dictating over a basket-case region of the world. Because he appears to running the Daily War News agenda, and NATO criticism is far and wide, I fear he will get away with all he has done.
Modern media has an integral role in global conflict, as observers and reporters, of course. But in seeking freedom, the free press may maintain it’s own freedom. It is frustrating and dangerous work … yet it is imperative that the task is done. Criminal states around the planet must be stopped.
Yes… history is full of megalomaniac dictators who terrorize and massacre opposition. But, it is up to freedom loving people to use all efforts, legal, diplomatic, and if necessary military force, to put a halt to the terror and violence committed by criminal states. It is right to hate war, but when we appease the criminal we only put off the inevitable conflict.
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
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May 18, 1999
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May 24, 1999
Judy Rebick in “The Bombing Must Stop” (CBC Newsworld Online) said:
“It’s beginning to feel like 1965 when the U.S. first intervened in Vietnam. Most people supported the Vietnam war in 1965. The American government assured its citizens that it would be a brief intervention to stay the hand of Communism in the region. “
Dear Judy,
Defeating communism is not the same as defeating Milosevic.
NATO’s goals are clear. Destroy the tools of Serb State repression and allow the Kosovars to return home in freedom from terror. When this is done, democratic activists can truly live in democracy and peace. Do not forget Judy, Belgrade’s population is well insulated from the activities of state thugs.
You *know* a nation state that sets one group against another group is a criminal state. It is rules of physics that to stop force requires force. Unfortunately, repeated UN resolutions have called for Milosevic to pull back the tools of repression from the borders and from within Kosova. Milosevic had the choice of action. He chose to ignore the demands of the international community. In Bosnia, he arrogantly displayed UN forces captured and used as human shields. That we would party with him at Dayton is revolting that we would stop the current bombing before the tools of repression were destroyed is also revolting.
Serbian State policies of repression and terror have continued for a decade. If the Serbian people, activists too, are unable or unwilling to control the criminal behaviour of their own government, then that nation state needs outside help. Of course, the best kind of help you can give anyone is time and interest and energy and money. Bombs, particularly the small percent of anomaly hits, don’t quite fit into the picture. But, having failed diplomacy, the NATO military goals are noble. They will destroy the weapons, the tanks and the missiles, the facilities and supplies of the military, para-military, and police; and most hopefully, the credibility of Milosevic and his criminal claim to power. This is important work and I believe NATO is accomplishing the task.
Have you forgot the Kosovars? Have you not seen the nearly two million who fled as the wrath of Serb state terror expelled them? “Let NATO give you bread!” the soldiers told the people, and then slaughtered and raped and ravaged the hearts and homes of a people.
Criminal states abound. Alas, for women, Afghanistan is a stunning example. As a feminist and as the daughter of a feminist I will not appease repression and intolerance. As a human being on planet Earth, I will not appease repression and intolerance anywhere I find it.
Thanks to the media it’s beginning to feel like a science fiction plot, too… (On the eve of the millennium it was a dark and stormy night. NATO, the international community’s stunningly tech military was on the prowl over Belgrade.) But the reality, from my intense two-month observation and study of the Kosova crisis, is that a plot of imperialism raining bombs on a people, who should have just been left alone in the first place, is highly unlikely.
It is encouraging that the European Community will no longer tolerate hatred and terror in the hands of the state. The post cold-war revolutions were meant to be velvet. But when push comes to shove someone must destroy the tools of repression. Obviously, the US Administration went in kicking and screaming the entire way. Americans, who don’t like to talk about state terror at the worst of times, were too obsessed with their own separation of church and state problems, typically self absorbed.
I don’t believe that anyone thought Milosevic would use NATO bombing as cover for genocide and ethnic cleansing on the scale he accomplished. It was an obvious plan on the part of the enemy. I remember the first days when I heard UNHCR and World Food denying any need for tent cities. The Albanians would all go live in real buildings with other Albanians, they said. No one was prepared for the sadistic revenge Milosevic raged on the Kosovars.
Milosevic’s plan, for ten years now, is to terrorize a group of people to make his own group of people feel good about themselves, while he lives off the spoils of power, of course. He, and his thugs, used all the tools of manipulators and liars, not only the weapons of Tito’s well-constructed military. In fact, it appears that Milosevic and his thugs also use the church as some divine justification.
Thank any God, the international community stands against such criminal state behaviour.
The international community’s tools of diplomacy work slowly, and eventually and infinitely work toward greater freedoms for all people of Earth. Lessons in Democracy and Freedom are learned over and over and over. The free media needs to find a path to those memories. “Story of the Day” spin and then on to “something entertaining” is insufficient data collection and dissemination. The free media needs to take some responsibility for its freedom. War is serious work. War is unpredictable. War changes our worldview. Stay tuned.
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
**********************************************************************************************************
Subject: Peace in Europe
Date sent: Tue, 11 May 1999 07:15:28 -0700
Dear Mr. Prime Minister …
(I know you are very busy these days… in support I send the following electrons.)
The best thing about being a Canadian, besides this stunning region of the planet, is our freedom and peace. Elusive, yet intrinsic human needs, our rights and our responsibilities, our love of law and justice we hold in our hearts. In this way we avoid the mob rules, the riot and the mayhem which are the result of oppressions and hatreds.
The most heart wrenching feeling about being a Canadian is sending our sons and daughters to dangerous places in conflict.
But we WILL stand for our love of freedom, law and justice! We will grieve and honour and we will learn more lessons in democracy and peace.
Good luck, clear skies and let’s win!
©Catherin Gregory
Victoria, BC
May 12, 1999 |
