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Posted August 3, 2001
No Reason
[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column, "The Balkans: What is Bush Up To?":]
The recreation of the old Ottoman empire is not a possibility. The first fatality in any military operation undertaken by Turkey will be its economy, the current state of the Turkish economy does not allow for any adventurism.
Turkey's economic problems and war in Kurdistan also make entry into the European Union during this century extremely unlikely.
Perhaps Mr. Raimondo is trying to look for a reason behind the American-led aggression in the Balkans – there is none.
~ Sotiri Bonanos
Justin Raimondo replies:
The economic disaster that has befallen Kosovo and environs has not prevented the Kosovo "Liberation" Army from pursuing its dream of a Greater Albania, so this idea that economics determines everything in this instance is, I think, highly dubious. Indeed, it may well be that economic turmoil in Turkey could stoke the fires of pan Turkic nationalism, and give the regime a means to divert attention away from their troubles on the home front.
I
agree that Turkey's entry into the European Union is unlikely in the
near future, but that doesn't preclude a military alliance, in tandem
with the US and Israel. The EU is, after all, not just sitting by and
passively accepting the establishment of NATO-controlled protectorates
in southeastern Europe, but actively cooperating in setting them up
and administering them: Bosnia, Kosovo, and now Macedonia, all countries
which have been effectively Turkified by the actions of the US acting
in concert with its European allies. The US and the EU are cooperating,
and not competing, in the de-Slavicizing of the Balkans: it is a joint
project, taken up to achieve mutually complementary policy objectives,
as outlined in my column.
Abdic
[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column, "Free Fikret Abdic!":]
Your article on Fikret Abdic is one of the most disgusting lies I have ever heard. I was there, my friend. Out of personal greed for power, Fikret Abdic betrayed his people. He should be happy that he still lives – usually traitors get hanged. I hope he also gets what he deserves.
I don't know what your reason for writing these lies is (maybe you get paid for it, maybe you are misinformed) but don't think that people are stupid enough to believe you. Everyone remembers what happened there.
~ R. Smith
Justin Raimondo replies:
If
"everyone remembers" anything other than the brutal repression
of a relatively free and prosperous Bosnian enclave by the mullahs of
Sarajevo, then I'd like to know what they're smoking. So you were there,
were you: given your views, I would say you were up to no good, and
the whole nutty tone of your letter speaks volumes about the source
of your animosity toward Fikret Abdic.
Occupation of Japan Inexcusable
I was surprised not to find any response to Richard Earley's letter [July 28, "Letter Dissected"] defending the continued occupation of Japan by the United States.
Aside from a possible debate about exact numbers, Earley is correct about the history of Imperial Japan. But in no way does this excuse his reckless and absurd suggestion that because of this history the US should occupy the country.
Earley makes it seem like Japan is a threat. He whines that, "Within a half-century Japan attacked all 5 founding members of the United Nations Security Council – Great Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States – without declaring war. Yet Americans have persisted in thinking Pearl Harbor was treachery unique in world history." His meaning is clear, and perhaps a little racist: if you leave them to their own devices eventually they're going to come and get us (western powers). They've done it before, so they'll do it again, right? He also ignores the fact that these five empires didn't yet belong to any "Security Council." The UN was founded after World War II – or maybe Earley is privy to information that remains a secret to the rest of us.
The Continuity of Foreign Policy
[Regarding Angela Kurdziel's letter, "Suggest Solutions":]
Angela's criticism of Malic's columns – that they are too hard on local politicians in Balkans – is correct. Local politicians are pawns in greater game. Pawns can win games but they are pawns, not rooks, and Malic confuses the two. Let's review:
Bomb
Kosovo. Defeat Russia, the ally of the Palestinians. Tell the Germans
that we are paving the way for the restoration of the German empire
under NATO auspices. Tell the EU power bloc that a broken-up Yugoslavia
will be less powerful in the EU. Tell the Brits that the defeat of Russia
will pave the way for BP Amoco in the Caspian. Throw the old Turkish
game on the pile, add a dose of the old Axis interests for the fascisti
Spaniards and Italians, then fix the ticket for Hillary in New York.
Call a war conference in Camp David, where Bill gives campaign speeches
for Hillary and destroys 10 years of Oslo to get Hillary elected, while
Palestinian children are gunned down in the
streets.
Meanwhile, the Russkies see their chance in all this mess: Yeltsin out, KGB in; pretext for nationalistic politics, asymmetrical warfare, dead bodies from Bar Harbor to Hawaii, pact with China in Central Asia, enormous weapons sales, war in Chechnya. Resume control over Caspian. Feed pan-Slavism, Ukrainian weapons to Macedonia. Yeltsin the Great out, Putin the Terrible in. Oil prices up, booming economy, a whirlwind of activity, a list too long to enumerate here.
Meanwhile, in the Mideast, the Palestinian state has been forestalled (the wisdom of "intervening early"), the settlements continue. Peaceniks out, war criminals in. Lord Bush flies to Kosovo and leaves Nazi bootprint on Slav graves, no doubt on the advice of foggy bottom elites with an interest in the "continuity" of foreign policy.
One could go on and on but where was I? Oh yeah, Malic's Balkan politicians. I think I changed my mind. Malic is right, it really is about the enemy within.
~ Steffen Blendheim