We get a lot of letters at antiwar.com. One woman wrote in to tell us that she was reporting us to the FBI. At the other extreme, we are getting letters from all over the world telling us that an increasing number of people depend on antiwar.com for news of the war. We publish a large portion of the letters we receive, including the brickbats as well as the bouquets, and try to answer as many as we can. Many of the letter-writers who support U.S. intervention ask us some variant of the following question: "Why don't you publish news of the atrocities committed by the Serbs?" The lack of such news is cited by these letter-writers as proof of our "pro-Serb" bias.
First, we have no policy against publishing such articles. While many of the news items we post contain references to the NATO-Kosovar allegations against the Serbs., it is true that we have not published stories that assume the truth of these allegations. The reason is because no evidence has so far been offered to prove the truth of these assertions, except for the contradictory testimony of Kosovar refugees and fuzzy NATO aerial photos that prove nothing. Furthermore, the blizzard of charges being hurled at the Serbians serves to obscure a very real fact -- that NATO warplanes are taking a terrible toll in terms of human and destruction of property. We know that NATO is raining death on the people of Yugoslavia, a fact that can be easily verified. The same cannot be said about the allegations of "genocide" being recklessly made against the Serbians.
Secondly, we do not pretend to be an unbiased news source. We oppose this war, and would oppose it even if each and every one of the allegations about the Serbs proved correct. This is not our war: whose flag flies over Pristina is not a matter of U.S. national security. If a humanitarian rescue is necessary, then let the Europeans do it: they, after all, are right there on the spot. While Slobodan Milosevic is not exactly a Jeffersonian democrat, neither is the Kosovo Liberation Army the Balkan equivalent of the Founding Fathers: we have no stake in this fight, neither moral nor geostrategic. We do, however, have a lot to lose: not only the lives of our young men and women, but untold billions in tax dollars and a renewal of Cold War tensions that could spark a larger conflict.
Our policy is to post articles that make the case for a complete U.S. withdrawal from the Balkans, from a wide variety of sources -- including Serbian sources. Especially since the United States is now threatening to bomb Serbian television in Belgrade, and has made television transmitters targets in other parts of Belgrade, we are determined to give our readers a perspective from "the other side" -- even if it is sometimes crude, and even when we don't necessarily agree with it. Articles that are links, and not original material generated by antiwar.com (such as the "Wartime Diary" and signed editorials), are posted here for the general information of our readers. We believe that they can draw their own conclusions about the material on this site, without any hectoring by us. By posting an article, we are saying that it merits consideration -- not that we necessarily endorse the conclusoins reached by the author. This goes for news items as well as opinion pieces.
We present a diverse array of material, gleaned from many sources, spanning the political spectrum. The one unifying theme that determines whether or not a piece is going to be posted here is its tendency to throw doubt, however small, on the decision by Clinton and his allies in both parties to launch Operation Allied Force.
A corollary question that comes up is some variation of the following: "Are you pro-Serb?" We take no stand as to the status of Kosovo, or on the conflicting claims of the Serbs and the Kosovars over that much-disputed piece of real estate. In that sense, we are not "pro-Serb." We are only pro-peace. Where we do stand with the Serbs -- not the government of Milosevic, but the Serbian people -- is on the key question of national sovereignty. The Serbs are daring to stand up against the arrogant architects of a so-called "New World Order" -- and on this issue we are with them in their fight. If that be treason, then let the War Party make the most of it. NATO is attacking a sovereign state, and this is without doubt an act of aggression. In that limited -- but important -- sense, we are pro-Serb, as is every American who wants to preserve American sovereignty. The would-be builders of a tyrannical "New World Order" are convinced that they can violate the national sovereignty of any country with impunity. Perhaps a sharp fillip from the stubborn Serbs will disabuse them of this notion. If not, then we are in for a whole series of wars of "national liberation" -- and the specter of another Cold War looms in the background.
~The staff
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