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Posted October 15, 2001
Arrogance of Power
Enjoy reading your articles because they are usually well written and provide a different angle. The best reporters are the ones who do not allow bias to sneak into their statements such as in "Arrogance of Power" [October 11]. I personally do not agree with what the Empire is doing in Kosovo or Makedonia. Still the Empire's arrogance of power could be seen as reaction to Milosevic's arrogance of power. Sad fact is that once the Empire gets their presence somewhere, it doesn't care who's right or wrong and they cut the maps the way they like it. Look at Israel. Given overall loses for Serbia, Milosevics's leadership may be the worst that country has ever seen in all of it's long history.
Nebojsa Malic replies:
Balkan
Express has always been an informative commentary,
not commentary-laden information. That I leave
to mainstream media, who specialize in partisan
reporting covered up by claims of impartiality.
I'd like to think my angle is always quite obvious,
and never "sneaks" into anything.
I am reluctant to posit an a priori causal relationship between Milosevic and the breakup of Yugoslavia, since none of the other national-socialist leaders in the disintegrating federation behaved or governed differently. I also find it hard to believe – and very difficult to prove – that the Empire simply reacted to events in the former Yugoslavia. Quite to the contrary, there is overwhelming evidence that it did its utmost to instigate, escalate and exploit the Balkans tragedy for its military, diplomatic and political purposes. Milosevic and his colleagues simply cannot be seen outside the context of Imperial presence, because that presence has been the decisive factor in Balkans affairs since 1991.
Really Scary
I
would like to send
you a contribution, is it safe to do so without
be labeled as anti-American or unpatriotic?
The situation now with clamp down on news is
really scary, and you are really brave to be
publishing this website. If I sent you a check
made payable to cash would it be okay or would
I have to send it addressed to a particular
person? I would not like be placed to the FBI
most watched list just because I am for peace.
~ Anonymous
Eric Garris replies:
You may send us a check made out to cash, and you may also send us a postal money order which is totally anonymous.
Different Voices
This
letter is ... to encourage you in your wonderful
efforts to provide balanced coverage of foreign
affairs. I read some of the nasty messages in
backtalk
today (10/11) and thought you might appreciate
hearing from people who visit your site daily
to read the wide-ranging reporting and opinion
that we cannot find easily anywhere else, definitely
not in the mass media.
Of course, I do not agree with everything that
is put on the site or what you and your columnists
say. But, as you repeatedly have said, isn't
that the whole point? To learn by hearing different
voices and different ideas?
Silly Idea
Back in 1946, as a young trooper serving the nation in the wake of the Big War, I was stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey. [I] had some administrative skills and adaptable attributes. Working in the headquarters where we processed all men who were selective service victims, enlistees, and reenlistees east of the Mississippi....
I may stand corrected here on a few minor points but I believe we, the United States, had about 10 military missions throughout the Earth. Today, I believe we have nearly 100.
...One day, about five or six men, including myself, are called out to attend a post seminar concerning a new development in the military. The countries in concern are: Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Keep in mind that there had been recovery of materials in northern Chile which resulted in the processing of copper for years. There had constantly been minor clashes over this area's resources in which "big important American business interests were making a killing," but the clashes were normally minor in the extreme.
The goal here was ... the following scenario: We would attend linguistic schools in Chilean, Peruvian, and Bolivian courses. Upon completion we would be sent with a small contingent of military to each country. If I went to Peru the goal was to convince them that they needed bombers to bomb the hell out of that controversial area. If you went to Chile you'd convince them that they needed fighter planes to attack the bombers, etc. – a real game to keep up military hardware production in the good ol' U.S. of A. The locals would continue to process the raw product with this added involvement and industry in America would be making money. The poor cusses on the ground and in the governments wouldn't know what the score was.
Dumb at the time, I dropped out of the idea. Yes, I'm certain that others picked up the cudgel. I don't recall the follow-up being as vicious as it could have been in the infant days of this silly idea. But now we have military missions in, again – is it some 100 countries? These ideas have brought nothing but disaster to those nations or countries involved. But "big business" has made money, with devastation to all concerned at this later date.
What Is Really Going On
Antiwar.com – the best website I've seen in weeks! Apparently you are one of the few people here in the States that realizes what is really going on.
I
am a German who moved to New York 9 years ago.
I still read European media on a regular basis,
especially now – and it's amazing to me how
the US media keeps trying to convince the American
people that Europe is behind them in attacking
Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, etc.
It is painfully obvious that Europe's definition
of the "War on Terrorism" and the
US definition of the "War on Terrorism"
are two entirely different things.
~ Oliver G., Policehumor.com
The Influence of Stupidity
Mr. Raimondo's column [of October 3, "The Incompetence of Empire"] brings to mind what 19th Century British historian Lord Acton is reported to have once said: "Never underestimate the influence of stupidity upon history."
RAWA
Official RAWA Link:
The link above will take you to the official site of RAWA, Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. This organization is bitterly opposed to the Taliban and has risked life and limb to publicize their plight. Unfortunately, dishonest propagandists have been using the information provided by RAWA as justification for the current bloody war against the Afghani people. Anybody interested in truth will not use the plight of Afghani women to justify a war that the anti-Taliban women of Afghanistan oppose. Such behavior is inexcusable. The US media and other elements in American society have been using the plight of the Afghani women, made most visible by RAWA, as a propaganda tool designed to support a war that RAWA does not support. Here is the real, official, position of RAWA. Please kindly spread this far and wide in order to counter the propagandists who are using the plight Afghani women to justify killing Afghani women (the inevitable result of the current bombing).
~ A.M.