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Posted November 22, 2001
Different Opinions
I've really got to hand it to you guys. While you are obviously an antiwar site with articles and opinions that reflect that attitude, you are very open about printing letters to your site that both praise and denigrate your site and its articles. I am really impressed. Not too many sites use so much web space to make sure they post all sorts of different opinions that they receive.
Second Amendment Dialog
Ron: It's kind of funny, but the one thing you probably despise could be the only thing to save you from the government you fear. The Second Amendment.
Eric Garris: We are 100% for the Second Amendment. You obviously didn't read anything on the site.
Ron: I apologize, I didn't read your web site in depth I am in the process of doing this now. Congratulations, you are a member of two fine organizations. Your response to my email was appreciated, I may not agree with much of what I am reading, but the way you came to the defense of your website and yourself was noteworthy.
Potter
[Regarding "U.S. to Halt Attacks During Holy Month of Harry Potter Movie Release," SatireWire.com:]
It
is very disgusting to see that America is relenting their bombing of Afghanistan
just to respect the release of the Harry Potter movie, rather than respecting
the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. This clearly shows how ignorant is their
president. The president wants the respect of Muslim leaders all over
but ... he shows his behind to these same leaders when they appeal for
a halt to ... the bombing during the holy month. This president of America
brings disgrace to many American people... The poor and innocent and uninvolved
in any works of terrorism keep dying mercilessly in the month of Ramadan.
The American president should be ashamed of winning a war against these
poor defenseless people by using the most sophisticated weapons. It it
damn cruel and heartless.
~ Concerned Reader
'Good Heart'?
[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column of November 14, "'Islamo-Fascism': the New Bogeyman":]
Is this guy for real? He sees George W. as having a good heart? Which planet is he from? It is all about business and nothing else. If he has anything to say about Muslims, it is only because of oil, it has nothing to do with his heart. Where was this so called "heart" in Texas, when as governor, he did not seem to care if he happened to be executing an innocent man or when his "humanitarian" food-drops put innocent children's life at risk. This man is making a mockery of our constitution and all of our lives will change drastically, that is, if you happen to oppose large corporations taking over our planet and the Carlyle Group running our foreign policy – but, oh yes, I forgot that William F.Buckley was one of Mr. Raimondo's childhood mentors.
Albanians
[Regarding Christoper Deliso's guest column of November 20, "Macedonia Capitulates":]
I've been reading the articles of Christopher Deliso with extreme unease. I've been surprise to see published on Antiwar.com so much hate against one people. To him, ... whatever ... [Albanians] do, they are wrong. The fact the the Macedonian government has never done anything for them ... is irrelevant. They should suffer ... and wait for the good will of that government – which will never come because of the irrational hate most people in the Balkans have toward Albanians. Mr. Deliso is just reflecting that hatred.
I've been to Macedonia. Everywhere, even in Struga, everything was written in Macedonian, not a single sign in Albanian. For a Quebecois, this is shocking. For me, if they cannot have a minimum peacefully, it is legitimate for them to fight for it. We Quebecois have been lucky. We had the chance to have an occupant that was brilliant enough to give us the minimum. To give us at least the illusion that politics could change something. We were also lucky that the American revolution made us important enough for the British to keep a foot in America that they made a lot of concessions to us. But what do Albanians have in front of them? A stubborn, stupid government that does not understand that Macedonia cannot exist if a third of the country has no rights.
Mr. Deliso is also talking of Albania as a haven for bin Laden and his organization. It's true that the country was disorganize, but that doesn't mean people there support bin Laden. Most Albanians don't give a sh*t about Islam, they are Muslim like most people are Christians. There is a minority of fanatics of course, but not more than anywhere, not more than in London or Montreal, which are the real havens of Islamics in the world. Albania was very chaotic, the government had no grip on anything. In that chaos, it's easy for anyone to do what they want, as long as they are will to pay.
Actually,
I've
never
seen
anywhere
[else]
so
much
love
for
the
US.
It's
discouraging.
It's
normal
since
they
got
a
lot
of
help
from
the
US
in
Kosovo
but
they
don't
realize
the
Americans
are
only
using
them
to
get
their
hand
on
the
Balkans
before
Europe.
Or
they
realize
but
don't
care.
They
don't
realize
that
the
US
is
"on
their
side"
because
Albania
is
useful
and
as
soon
as
they
find
another
country
more
suitable,
they
will
turn
their
vest,
like
they
did
some
many
times
everywhere
in
the
world.
~
Alexandre
B.
Christopher Deliso replies:
Thank you for your insightful comments, many of which I agree with. For example, your points are quite accurate that 1.) most Albanians are not fanatical Muslims, and definitely not bin Ladenites; and 2.) that the US is just using Albania because of its strategic location. However, I think the analogy between the Quebecois struggle and that of the Albanians is somewhat problematic. Canada is not threatened on three sides, as Macedonia is, by potentially hostile powers. Further, in this day of nation-states, the Slavic Macedonians have no other "homeland" (don't forget, some of them were forcibly relocated there from other places during the Balkan Wars) to go to, whereas the nation state of Albanian exists quite close by. Not a solution, I know, but something to remember.
I also can't agree with your claim that I have "irrational hate" against a whole race. That would take quite a lot of energy! Remember, the articles found here are concerned not with individuals but with broadly political groups. They are also, quite consciously, an alternative to the coverage you will find in the mainstream media; if we seem too anti-Albanian, it is a reaction to three years of excessively lavish praise for all things Albanian in the mainstream media – which of course never really had anything to do with Albanians at all, but rather with building PR support for the Kosovo bombardments and what has followed in Macedonia. Also, you should know that Antiwar.com articles are written with that little edge, that rhetorical bombast, that keeps good readers like you hooked.
Finally, recognize that the true target of the article is not the Albanians as much as the duplicitous American/NATO intervention, which through lies and intrigue has seriously destabilized the Balkans. Serbs, Macedonians and Albanians might not have been particularly friendly before 1999 – but has the situation improved since? No, it has worsened considerably.
What has been most destructive of all, however, in this "nation-building" adventure has been the forcing of American political rhetoric on Balkan political structures. We sometimes forget that all of the rights, freedoms, and legislative "equalities" that Americans (and Canadians) enjoy owe to our great strength, stability, lack of neighboring enemies, short history, and relatively placid minority populations. Try imposing the same ideals on a state which is exactly the opposite – weak, small, under constant fear of attack, with a long and bitter history and angry minorities. Sudden implementation of American ideals, in such a case, is a recipe for disaster. But the bottom line is that it is not our duty to declare what foreign nations can and can't do – it is, rather, their right and their responsibility. Their right, because if they don't do it for themselves, it's not going to mean very much; and their responsibility, because without it those well-intended interveners will inevitably become the scapegoats, for failings the involved parties wish to avoid responsibility for. That's my case against intervention – and not against Albanians.