Swans

A Few Questions

by Pedja Zoric

August 21, 2000

 

Note from the Editor:  After over one year of digging all over Kosovo to find the tens of thousands of dead bodies, the Western Powers are ending their search with little evidence to glorify their actions and to justify ex-post the illegal war against Serbia. "Mark Laity, the acting Nato spokesman, said last night: 'Nato never said the missing were all dead. The figure we stood by was 10,000. If it's wrong, I'm prepared to put up with a little bit of egg on our face if thousands are alive who were thought to be killed.'" (Excerpt from an article published in the Guardian on August 18, 2000). The article is reproduced at the end of this commentary under the provision of U.S. Code, Title 17, section 107 (which happens to be the fair use provisions of copyright).

If it's wrong, if you don't know, do you go to war? Do you pulverize a country? Do you break all international laws? Do you kill from the safety of 15,000 feet? And you do not even have your data straight? Pedja Zoric of Vancouver, Canada, can be legitimately upset by the consequences of the seeming ignorance of the Western leaders who decided to wage war against one of their oldest democratic allies, Serbia. You go, maim the civilian population, kill their people, destroy their infrastructure, suffocate their citizenry to a slow death like you do in Iraq and all you have to say is, "I'm prepared to put up with a little bit of egg on our face if thousands are alive." Well, perhaps, could you come out with a clean face and answer Pedja Zoric's questions one by one. Zoric sent those questions by e-mail to the Canadian prime minister and to members of parliament. If it's wrong... The only way not to play a game is to NOT play the game.

You will find a series of related links at the end of the article.

 

       Even when admitting lying in the past, NATO continues using extreme propaganda and misleading the people. As a Canadian taxpayer, I/we demand from elected representatives answers on the following:

1. How many out of those 2,788 died before March 24, 1999?
2. How many died during NATO bombing?
3. How many died after the bombing stopped?
4. How many died of natural causes?
5. How many are of Albanian, and how many of non-Albanian origin?
6. How many are Albanians that were loyal to Serbia and against independents?
7. How many died because of NATO missiles, cluster bombs and depleted uranium?
8. How many died because of environmental catastrophe caused by NATO bombs?
9. How many were killed by KLA?
10. How many killed by Serbian police and army?
11. How many killed by Serbian paramilitary units?
12. How many killed were KLA soldiers?
13. How many "civilians" were killed while firing weapons?
14. Age and gender, how many killed execution style, how many massacred?
15. Permanent residence of those dead, country of birth, their parents and their grandparents, Albania, Serbia or other? Citizenship?
16. How many caught in the crossfire between KLA and Serbian forces?
17. Who trained and armed KLA ? NATO & KLA joint operations during bombing?
18. What is the proof that there were hundreds of thousands displaced before NATO bombing?
19. Is the proof of CNN/WH (Amanpour/Rubin) origin - pictures of one tractor on the road and one tent in the woods? [Ed. Note: The reference is to former US State Department spokesman James Rubin and his wife, CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour.]
20. What is the proof that there were 862,979 Albanian refugees that fled Kosovo after NATO bombing started? How many of them registered?
21. How many non-Albanians and Albanians killed by Albanians after NATO entered Kosovo?
22. How many non-Albanians and Albanians forced to leave after NATO entered Kosovo?
23. How many Albanians moved from Albania and the rest of the world to Kosovo, after NATO entered Kosovo?
24. How many civilians were killed and crippled for life, by NATO in the whole Yugoslavia?
25. How many civilians died or are dying in Serbia because of environmental catastrophe caused by barbaric bombings of chemical industry, refineries, oil depots, power grids, DU etc.?
26. Massive Serb offensive against Albanian villages (from the article) is contrary to Kosovo OSCE monitors' reports, true?
27. When is the full report by Dr. Helena Ranta about Racak incident going to be made public?
28. What is the total cost of western involvement, before, during the bombing and after?
29. What is the total cost for us, Canadian taxpayers, up to date?
30. How many NATO/Canadian soldiers are sick or dead because of DU?

If there is no satisfactory answer in the next three months, I/we will explore all possible legal means to make responsible persons/organizations accountable!

Pedja Zoric
Vancouver

P.S. Bonus FAQ:
Q. Who won the war?
A. Both NATO and Serbia (the only multiethnic state remaining out of Former YU republics) LOST ! We the people and humanity will win at the end, and the evil will end up behind bars.

To: PM & MPs
Bcc: Media and Humans


 

Figures put on Serb killings too high - The Guardian

Special report: Kosovo

Jonathan Steele
Friday August 18, 2000

Nato officials conceded last night that their wartime estimates of the number of Kosovo Albanian civilians massacred by Serb forces might have been too high. They were reacting to findings by forensic experts for the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague who are preparing to complete their work in Kosovo after exhuming about 3,000 bodies. Not all of the dead can be proved to be victims of murder or execution.

The war crimes teams have dug up 680 corpses this year at 150 sites. Added to the 2,108 found last year, the total is well below the murder estimates, ranging from 10,000 to 100,000, made during the war. Paul Risley, the Hague tribunal's press spokesman, said yesterday: "The final number of bodies uncovered will be less than 10,000 and probably more accurately determined as between two and three thousand."

Nato's intervention against Yugoslavia was prompted by massive Serb offensives against Albanian villages in Kosovo, which caused hundreds of thousands of civilians to hide in forests or flee across the border. There were frequent killings of unarmed civilians.

During the Nato airstrikes, when the Serbs restricted access to Kosovo, there was no way to verify atrocity reports. But Nato officials talked of 100,000 missing men and said at least 10,000 had been killed. Mark Laity, the acting Nato spokesman, said last night: "Nato never said the missing were all dead. The figure we stood by was 10,000. If it's wrong, I'm prepared to put up with a little bit of egg on our face if thousands are alive who were thought to be killed."

He added: "Nato is always going to lose. If there were 100,000 dead we would be criticised for entering Kosovo late. If it's a few thousand, we're criticised because people say there wasn't a crisis."


 

       Pedja Zoric is a computer guru who lives in Vancouver, Canada, and a member of the Serbian Canadian Society of Vancouver. He can be reached at pedjazoric@home.com

Published with the written permission from the author.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Related links

A New World Order by Rebecca Sumner

Bringing Democracy to Bosnia-Herzegovina by Gregory Elich - The darker reality of humanitarianism

A different kind of Killing: A Review by Gilles d'Aymery

Armies of Compassion: The Missionary, the Businessman and the Military by Gilles d'Aymery - The civilizing forces of democracy at work

 

 

Resources on the War in Yugoslavia and its Aftermath

 

Articles Published on Swans Regarding the War in Yugoslavia and its Aftermath


Published August 21, 2000
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