🚀 go-pugleaf

Friday, May 7th, 1999

 Sorry for the Inconvenience

     It was Jamie Shea that apologized for the "inconvenience that 
power outages have caused the Serb
 people". Mr. Shea is often compared here to Ivica Dacic, 
spokesman of Milosevic's party, because of his
 cheesy remarks, endless denials, and twisted truth. On the other 
hand, people of NATO countries are
 spared of listening to Dacic's speeches. It is just one of many 
aspects of war that has only one side. 

     Through the ages, wars had two or more sides. Two tribes 
fighting each other, two faces of lies and
 propaganda, victims that suffer on both sides. Not in this case. 
Here, we have victims on only one side -
 the other side has only collateral damage. We have only one side 
committing atrocities - other side is
 committing "humanitarian actions". Also, only one side is 
spilling lies and sickening propaganda - other is
 telling the truth, facts and valid information. 

     In a small rectangle of TV screen, truth can be sculptured to 
suit anyone. We've been watching it
 during communism, then another 10 years of Milosevic's rule. In 
rectangle of Serbian TV screen, we've
 seen endless conspiracies against Serbs, anti-government protests 
presented as barbarism, opposition
 leaders seen as traitors, Albanian refugees fleeing from NATO 
bombs only, we never saw any ethnical
 cleansing or Albanian civilians being slaughtered by military or 
police forces. Those who wanted to know
 the truth kept searching for other sources of information. Those 
who rely on TV as bastion of truth,
 believed what they saw. 

     It is hardly different from what's going on now. Those who 
blindly believe in what they see on TV, can't
 possibly see Serbs as anything else then bloodthirsty ethnical 
cleansers, pathologic rapists and
 murderers. On the other hand, Kosovo Albanians are saintly 
innocent victims, KLA are romantic freedom
 fighters. If believers from Headlineland don't want to look 
outside magic glittering rectangle, nothing will
 move them away from their stand. There is no room for Serbia 
that's not drenched in Albanian blood.
 Every voice from Serbia, even a voice that speaks for piece, 
democracy, against ethnical conflicts will be
 wiped by headlines. 

     So, according to the Holy Screen, NATO "had no choice but to 
continue attacking every element of the
 Yugoslav armed forces until such time as Milosevic meets the 
demands of the international community".
 Latest included power shortage in almost entire Serbia. Despite 
Mr. Shea's witty remarks, this was far
 away from plain inconvenience. I doubt that anyone was much upset 
because they couldn't watch a TV
 movie or couldn't read their e-mail. Half of the country was left 
without water supply. Hospitals, without
 enough fuel for power generators were too busy trying to keep 
critical patients alive to worry about lack of
 entertainment. I doubt that any parent of a preemie considered 
this an inconvenience. For them, as for
 many others who required urgent operations, or those who are in 
intensive care units, it was matter of life
 and death. 

     After three days, many parts of Serbia are still without 
power, and many still have no water. Food in a
 refrigerators, stashed away for hunger that will inevitably come, 
is slowly rotting away. There is no way to
 cook, since there is no gas. No water for toilet. NATO officials 
said that electrical grid is a "legitimate
 target" since Yugoslav army is using it, so that attacks of this 
kind are to be repeated. Statements like
 this justify virtually any target, since Yugoslav army is also 
using water supply, food, hospitals and other
 civilian buildings (including residential). 

     It is rather amusing that NATO military experts actually 
believe in Milosevic accepting their blackmail.
 Milosevic has been sacrificing his people for past 10 years. He 
is not suffering fuel, food, water or power
 shortages. There is no victim among Serbian people that will 
force him to accept any kind of agreement. 

     By justifying NATO attrocities, making them look like 
"humanitarian actions", painting systematic
 destruction of the country as bombardment of military targets, 
NATO caused us greatest inconvinience of
 all. It made our lives worth nothing. 

     Transformation of Serbia from ghetto to concentration camp is 
hardly the solution. Unless, it is
 supposed to be the "final solution". 

                                                               
Cancer Woman