Bomben schufen Desaster, das sie verhindern sollen (was: Zaginflatch #24, 4th April 1999]

[Wau Holland <wau@ccc.de>]

Mal eine etwas andere Darstellung...
wau
----- Forwarded message from Ralf Landmesser <ralf@anarch.free.de> -----
...
ZAGINFLATCH #24, 4th April 1999.
newsletter published by Zagreb Anarchist Movement

ZAP / ARK
GAJEVA 55
10 000 ZAGREB
CROATIA

zap_zg@geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/3707/


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what follows are translated extracts from emails posted to
ex-yu-a-lista@zamir.net which is a mailing list for ex-yu anarchists, and
from private emails..

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from: Viktor, Belgrade, olorin@Eunet.yu

I apologize for the absence of emails, but something was wrong with Eunet's
outgoing mail server. I can confirm the story about the bombing of police
buildings in Belgrade. I have also watched it from the terrace. Today I took
a walk to the bulidings and saw the damage with own eyes. Federal police
buildingstation is nothing more than a bunch of trash (this modern
metal-glass architecture once again proved itself as shit), while from the
Regional police building, only the fasade is holding on (the rest was
burned). It is interesting that surrounding buildings are less damaged than
some embassyes I passed by. You won't beleive this but they managed to take
off those marble stones from the Canadian embassy, even to break metal bars
which served as protection from braking in. German embassy looks just a bit
better, mainly thanks to a graffiti written on it's wall "Mirko end Slavko a
re not dead!" (misspeled by purpose, Mirko and Slavko are created characters
of children partisan fighters, created for the purpose of children story
books and cartoons about the IIWW... translator). By the way this is the
only grafiti which doesn't mention reproductive organs in some sort of
action. American and Croatian embassy are surprisingly in good shape, while
Polish was unexpectedly trashed.
This lunacy is too much, even for me. I must admit that I don't see any
logic in what's happening. It looks like the whole situation went from a
state in which one crazy idea existed and determined things to a state in
which there is no ideas at all, and where nobody knows where it'll lead us
or how will it end. The only thing which comforts me in these heroic days
(don't misunderstand me, uder heroic I consider times in which sipmly
different game rules apply) is that one can more easily deal with the
situation as he/she is concentrated no it. When I try to imagine how will
everything look like when the bombings stop, I get sick. I am afraid that we
are all on the good path to, through our psychological fight against lunacy,
become it's prisoners and that we won't be able to return to normality,
however it may look like.



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from: Bojan, Belgrade

The bomb just fell around the corner - I live in 45th block in New Belgrade.
They've hit the heating systems one kilometer from my home. I was behind my
computer again, and the door to the balcony was opened since I've just
listened to hear where does the anti-aircraft artilery shoot from. The sound
of a crusing missile over my neighbourhood has literarly hit my stomach. I
have heard it before as well, but it was never this close. Just after that I
saw first a white flash and then a red one. The bang has thrown down all my
books from the shelf. The sight was incredible, it looked like a mushroom on
fire and at the touch of my hand - we have really big windows all over the
wall, and my room is turned directly towards the late heating system.
Secondary explosions have started a couple of seconds later, my room was
covered with red lights coming from the flames, the sound was also present,
and the building was shaking like a dog when he comes out of the water -
unbelievable sense of  disempoverment in front of the force which is beeing
releived in front of your eyes. Apocaliptim moment was fullfiled with
panical sounds of car alarm, screams from the neighbouring building and the
sound produced by my dog when he hit the glass door - she was totally scared
and lost, she even peed from fear in the hallway...
Members of my household have awakened really quickly and they were
surprisingly calm. I was closing down all active programs with intention to
shut down the computer, and while I tried to look calm in order not to upset
my sister, I noticed that my fingers were uncotrolably shaking: I was
thinking about possible targets of the bombing - heating system was one of
my first thought since the bridge wouldn't burn like that. However heating
system seemed not to be that important as a target so I thought that the
missile has missed it's target and fallen in one of the surrounding blocks.
The fire was coming from the direction of block 70. I couldn't resist it, i
grabbed my jacket and binoculars and ran out. I wanted to take the dog with
me but I couldn't find her in all the rush. By the time I got to the river
Sava, a huge black cloud of smoke has formed, and it was moving slovly
towards me. There were around ten people by the river, they were discusing
possible targets, and through the black smoke you could only see bits of
flames which would seem stronger whenever a secondary explosion occured.
However it was now evident that the heating system was on fire. I didn't
spend to much time outside, as I didn't want to upset members of my
household. On studio B (local tv), they've announced that a large group of
airplanes was coming our way. Also, there was nothing interesting for me to
see. When I came home, the phone was on heat from frequent usage - just like
everybody forgot that it was only before dawn... The war came to block 45.




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from: markos@zamir.net, marko strpic, zagreb

BALKAN AND IT'S WAR(S)

Huh, i've been away from all the informations and e-mail for a while and
that's really good... When you start following what's going on all the time,
then start checking all informations, comparing what you have heard or saw,
trying to predict what will happen, read e-mail, write in english a lot,
etc., you get overloaded with informations and too confused to do anything
that you can be satisfied with. I think that that's somehowe general
situation with most of the people involved in this information network...
So, i'm back after few days, and there's lots of things to write about, lots
of news got here and lots of things have happened since i did my last text
for Zaginflatch. It sounds like it was really long time ago and not just few
days ago... But, that's how situation develops, too many events for one
day - it seems to me like bombings have started months ago and not just nine
days ago... It's strange to write about war that is so similar to one we saw
in Croatia or one that have happened in Bosnia - and maybe it's the hardest
to avoid getting into the "taking sides system", because of the media
"bombings" that you have to survive every day. And most of the information I
get from media are from newspapers and national tv. So far i was saying how
HTV (Croatian national tv) was more or less objective... it still is in a
way, although in a lack of informations about new bombings or lack of things
to show on a tv, they broadcast things that are so similar to what you can
see / hear on CNN. And what CNN does is more or less propaganda (just like
all other tv stations) explaining reasons for bombings... When
they say how they will continue bombings casue of the humanitarian disaster,
they don't really mention real possibilities of helping those people who had
to leave their homes... Of course, NATO claims how all people will return
after conflict stop, but after knowing what have happened in rest of the
former Yugoslavia, everyone knows that that's not possible - there's no
return for most of the people. General atmosphere in media is generalisation
of the problem, with which they create even more polarisation betwen sides
in the conflict - if it's possible to create more polarisation than
there'snow. Refugees from Kosovo are used as an object for explaining to the
international public why attacks are still on (that's what NATO does), and
at the other side, you have Yugoslav media who claim how all that is going
> on at Kosovo started cause of NATO strikes... Closed circle in which civil
population is just an object of manipulation from all sides and the biggest
vicitm of all. It's like watching a new "episode" of  Balcan wars that ended
up just few years ago... So, what i want to say is - after watching news
yesterday on HTV, i felt terrible - seeing all the people on the Macedonian
border, and listening comments by Croatian journalist who was there...
Macedonia is thinking about closing their borders, NATO will continue with
attacks until Serbian side doesn't stop their actions, Serbian side will
stop when NATO stop, OVK declared mobilisation for all the men from Kosovo
betwen 18 and 50 years, and who knows what's next? There are few options -
if NATO decide to send their troops in, they have to do it through Monte
Negro, and political situation in that Yugolsav republic is more or less
open for that option... That would be their chance to declare independance
and do it with support and protection from NATO, although, that wouldn't go
that easy - so it would mean antoher conflict in the area... I'm not sure
how it would turn out at the end, but that's what i hear when i listen
different sources of informations - especially cause that's the only option
from NATO if they want to send their troops in... Maybe i'm wrong about the
situation in Monte Negro, so please, correct me if i am.

SHORT NOTE ON A POLITICAL SITUATION IN CROATIA

 I don't know if readers of Zaginflatch know a lot about situation in
Croatia, but here are few of my notes that are conected with situation in
Yugoslavia and how they put a shadow on current problems in Croatia.
Economic situation in Croatia is terrible and it's getting even worst, even
cause of the NATO strikes (i wrote about that in previous issues of
Zaginflatch), workers strike almost every day, big companies are closing
down, etc. So, all that was a main thing in all news, tension betwen workers
and government was growing, and then NATO attacked Yugoslavia... All the
media turned to that subject right away, economic situation in the country
became "less important news"... Just what government needed... Another war
to put blame on for bad living standard and economic situation. It's
interesting how focus on that problem changed so quickly... And at the other
hand, isn't that something what they needed and hoped for?




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Bombing the Baby with the Bathwater
by Veran Matic

Belgrade, March 30, 1999


The air strikes against Yugoslavia were supposed to stop the Milosevic war
machine. The ultimate goal is ostensibly to support the people of Kosovo, as
well as those of Serbia, who are equally victims of the
Milosevic regime. In fact the bombing has jeopardised the lives of 10.5
million people and unleashed an attack on the fledgling forces of democracy
in Kosovo and Serbia. It has undermined the work of reformists in Montenegro
and the Serbian entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina and their efforts to promote
peace. The bombing of Yugoslavia demonstrates the political impotence of US
President Bill Clinton and the Western alliance in averting a human
catastrophe in Kosovo. The protection of a population under threat is a
noble duty, but it requires a clear strategy and a coherent end game. As the
situation unfolds on the ground and in the air day by day, it is becoming
more apparent that there is no such strategy. Instead, NATO is fulfilling
the prophecy of its own doomsaying: each missile that hits
the ground exacerbates the humanitarian disaster that NATO is supposed to be
preventing. It's not easy to stop the war machine once its power has been
unleashed. But I urge the members of NATO to pause for a moment and consider
the consequences of what they are doing. Analysts are already asking whether
the air strikes are still really about saving Kosovo Albanians. Just how far
are NATO members prepared to go? What comes next after the "military"
targets? What happens if the war spreads? All of these terrifying questions
must be answered, although I suspect that few will want to live with the
historical burden of having answered them. The same questions crowded my
mind as I sat in a Belgrade prison on the first day of the NATO attack on my
country. Whiling away the hours in
the cell I shared with a murder suspect, I asked myself what the West's aim
was for "the morning after". The image of NATO taking its finger off the
trigger kept coming to mind. I've seen no indication so far that there is a
clear plan to follow up the Western military resolve.My friends in the West
keep asking me why there is no rebellion. Where are the people who poured
onto the streets every day for three months in 1996 to demand democracy and
human rights? Zoran Zivkovic, the opposition mayor of the city of Nis
answered that last week: "Twenty minutes ago my city was bombed. The people
who live here are the same people who voted for democracy in 1996, the same
people who protested for a hundred days after the authorities tried to deny
them their victory in the elections. They voted for the same democracy that
exists in Europe and the US. Today my city was bombed by the democratic
states of the USA, Britain, France, Germany and Canada! Is there any sense
in this?" Most of these people feel betrayed by the countries which were
their models. Only today a missile landed in the yard of our correspondent
in Sombor. It didn't explode, fortunately, but many others have in many
other people's yards. These people are now compelled to take up arms and
join their sons who are already serving in the army. With the bombs falling
all around them nobody can persuade them - though some have tried - that
this is only an attack on their government and not their country.
It may seem cynical that I am writing this from the security of my office in
Belgrade - secure, that is, compared to Pristina, Djakovica, Podujevo and
other places in Kosovo. But I can't help asking one
question: How can F16s stop people in the street killing one another? Only
days before the NATO aggression began, Secretary-General Solana suggested
establishing a "Partnership for Democracy" in Serbia and the other countries
of the former Yugoslavia to promote stability throughout the region. Then,
in a rapid U-turn, he gave the order to attack Yugoslavia. With these
attacks, it seems to me, the West has washed its hands of the people,
Albanians, Serbs and others, living in the region. Thus the sins of the
government have been visited on the people. Is this just? There are many
more factors in the choice of a nation's government than merely the will of
the voters on election day. If a stable, democratic rule is to be
established, and the rise of populists, demagogues and other impostors
avoided, the public must first of all be enlightened. In other words there
must be free media. NATO's bombs have blasted the germinating seeds of
democracy out of the soil of Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro and ensured that
they will not sprout again for a very long time. The pro-democratic forces
in Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb entity, have been jeopardised and with
them the Dayton Peace Accords.
NATO's intervention has also given the green light for a local war against
Montenegro's pro-democracy president, Milo Djukanovic. The free media in
Serbia has for years opposed nationalism, hatred and war. As a
representative of those media, and as a man who has more than once faced the
consequences of my political beliefs, I call on President Bill Clinton to
put a stop to NATO's attack on my country.
I call on him to begin negotiations which aim at securing the right to a
peaceful life and democracy for all the people in Yugoslavia, regardless of
their ethnic background. As a representative of the free media I know too
well the need for people on all sides of the conflict to have information.
Those inside
the country need to be aware of international debate as well as what is
happening throughout this country. The international public needs the truth
about what is happening here. But in place of an unfettered flow of accurate
information, all of us hear only war propaganda - Western rhetoric included.
Of course truth is always the first casualty in wartime. Here and now,
journalists are also being murdered.



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from: Ana, Skopje

I am trying to live as normal life as possible. I learned that from the
people of Sarajevo as an individual way to resist the war, but in my  case,
there is one more reason to it. I have given up. I do not believe  in the
power of the NGOs and all good-minded people. I made my peace with the war
that I still, very strongly believe is coming to Macedonia. Because I gave
up, I do not worry that much. I try to enjoy spring and the smell of the
trees and flowers in my garden, do the things I like and ride my bike
around. [Still, I will check with the Red Cross on Tuesday if I could
volunteer with them for few days to help with the refugees]
No, I didn't go crazy. I do not know if you could understand me. From
Amsterdam, all the Bosnia, Indonesia etc. support groups, all that made so
much sense and I was thinking "wow, they are doing a great job". But here,
in the war zones, all that just does not make sense i.e. does not change the
situation here. The refugees keep on coming, the bombs keep on falling,
nothing changes. Thus, all these, however well-intended efforts, viewed from
here seem ridiculous. And this is EXACTLY how my friend Nedzhma from
Sarajevo felt when I was telling her about the NGO initiatives. When she
told me this, long time ago, I thought "How can she think this? It is not
fair, after all the work we are doing...". Today, I completely understand
her feelings. Today, I share them.
Everything I was doing, all the articles I was writing, trying to promote
peace and tollerance, all that seems naive and useless now. Moreover, one of
my best friends told me she was considering to work for NATO in Macedonia.
NATO pays with blooded money, a bit of harassment and a company of a bunch
of stupid jerks wearing uniforms, but who cares, it is good money. And she
considers that. Oh, I am so furious and so disappointed, I cannot tell you.
Am I loosing another friend? I say another because just 10 days ago, I
visited my friend in Panchevo (near Belgrade) whose father meanwhile became
the president of the Miloshevicc's party for Panchevo and the whole family,
including my
friend, is as brainwashed as it can be. The 2nd night of my visit was the
first night NATO attacked Yugoslavia, so we spent the whole night in a
shelter, so I was not able to discuss politics then. But I know I have lost
that friend. The principles that we disagree on are so basic that there is
hardly any basis for friendship left.
It is so hard to be here. I find it so hard to visit people as everybody
talks only about the war and the refugees. My parents watch news 10 times a
day and everybody has lost the smile on their faces. It makes me feel
unconfortable walking with a smiling face around the town (the spring gives
me so much energy that I cannot stop shining when I am outside. In the same
time, I am trying to ignore the noise of the military planes raping our
skies). Meanwhile, my father and me are clearing the ground floor of our
house to accept my friends from Yugoslavia if they decide to flee. We are
also clearing the basement because we may need it as a shelter.
Tomorrow I go in Bitola (a town in SW Macedonia) to visit one women- and one
environmental organisation and enjoy the town I absolutely love. On Monday,
I will go on a TV to talk about the feminism. Should I say "the life goes
on" ?
The war in Yugoslavia gets more severe each day and NATO went completely
insane.


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Dear friends,

Info about Zaginflatch is available on request.

Basically, with this newsletter we want to inform the international
community (this is you) on how antiauthoritarians in Yugoslavia and
ex-Yugoslavia feel in these moments. Also, as people who have experienced
air raids and general alerts, we want to support our friends in Yugoslavia
who are experiencing this today. We don't want to prejudice any political
solutions to Kosovo and other ex-yu problems, we just want to help our
friends, and support them in this way. All opinions published in
Zaginflatch will be just personal ones. There is no joint platform.
Zaginflatch will bring you hardly any news in the way mainstream media does
it. For this kind of info we suggest you try cnn, bbc or some other
services. They are available to you anyway.. This is meant to come from
inside... Also, if you're into alternative news sources, we suggest you try
at www.b92.net ...

Zagreb Anarchist Movement (ZAP)


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the end



*** pseudoastronaut klase D ***



----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
Es ist Krieg, und wir gehen hin...50 Jahre gab es bei uns hochfahrende
Moral gebuehrenfrei und Pazifismus auf Krankenschein...wer urteilen
will, muss etwas vom Krieg verstehen...Wir lernen den Krieg.
(DER KOMMENTAR auf Seite 1, DIE WELT, 08.04.1999)