I don’t think anyone in Serbia has had time to read the Politics of Destruction yet, but it appears I’m not the only one to see things that way. That’s encouraging.
Here’s some excerpts from an article in the Thursday, November 18 issue of a Belgrade daily, Nacional, headlined “Kostunica resurrecting Milosevic?!”:
…American Serbs are watching their political influence drastically wane due to anti-Serb statements by Serbian leaders… In a recent interview for AP, [foreign minister Vuk] Draskovic commented that ‘”Serbia is obviously and tragically returning to the era of Slobodan Milosevic.”
Draskovic clearly notified Washington that [PM] Kostunica and [his party] DSS should be permanently removed from power, claiming Kostunica has ties to Milosevic.
“Draskovic is spreading fear in Washington that Kostunica will lead Serbia back into ethnic conflict…” says a reputable Washington analyst.
[Nota bene: Wasn’t me; I’m not reputable.]
Draskovic’s comments have forced even Serb partisans in Washington to stop and think whether he knows something they don’t.
[…]
“Draskovic is creating an atmosphere in which it’s impossible for Washington to pay attention to Serbian interests. Once again, someone in the Serbian government is sabotaging the country’s national interest.”
[…]
Instead of firing Draskovic and offering evidence of his ‘foul play’ in cahoots with the DS [President Tadic’s Democratic Party], Kostunica actually gives credence to his specious attacks, defending local arrangements with Milosevic’s longtime associates.
“Unless Kostunica can control Draskovic and stop this anti-Serb propaganda by one of his own government ministers, Serbia should prepare for another period of isolation, and maybe even war,” says our source in Washington.
Once again I must repeat, I was not Nacional’s source for this story.
This bit with isolation and war is somewhat over the top; but given the Empire no longer needs even fabricated excuses to engage in wanton repression (or outright aggression), there’s no telling how much damage Draskovic’s barking may cause.
I must say, if Draskovic and Tadic plotted this – with or without outside help, no matter – they are devilishly clever. Kostunica is in a lose-lose situation. If he wants to retain credibility, he must sack Draskovic; but by doing so he would lose the support of Draskovic’s Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO). In that case, he’d either have to dissolve the cabinet and call a new election – which he’d lose to either the DS-SPO coalition, or the Radicals – or form an alliance with the Radicals, who are reviled in the West (and by many in Serbia) as “Milosevic’s allies” and “nationalists.” And wouldn’t that just prove Draskovic’s claims nicely? But the even greater loser is Serbia itself, which as the article from Nacional shows, is losing by the minute what little political capital it had.
Good job, “reformers.” Just swell.