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The Avalanche of Propaganda

Those who have been following the developments surrounding southern Serbian province of Kosovo could not fail to notice Western propaganda machinery was starting to get dangerously overheated around December 10, as the NATO-imposed deadline for negotiations over Kosovo-Metohija status was nearing. The unstoppable avalanche is continuing at the present, ahead of the announced UN Security Council Kosovo session scheduled for December 19.

The MSM, swarming with propagandistic iditorials, agitprop op-eds and quasi-articles devoid of any informative value, but hot-’n-heavy on independence-is-inevitable mantra and the tireless repetition of the wartime propaganda and myths busted long ago, have flooded the mass media to the point where reading the daily “news” should start with a reminder to get the barf bags ready.

Serving the interests of the Western elite, the propaganda deluge is this time around as boring and repetitive as ever. Most of the lobbyists monkeying as journalists are simply borrowing the whole passages and phrases - lies, misinformation, unsubstantiated allegations and all - from each other, parroting the same tired slogans, twisting the same facts, ignoring the same inconvenient details, omitting the same embarrassing points and rooting for the same State Department cause.

They do differ in delivery, though. Some, like NY Times Comrade Nicholas Wood, barely manage to preserve the thin top veneer of common decency, while others, like BBC’s Allan Little, have dropped all the pretense long time ago, letting their hateful Serbophobia rip with abandon. Clearly, once it is decided the truth doesn’t really matter and that no facts will be allowed to get in your way, it becomes merely a matter of outdoing the most vicious of trolls, by pouring more vitriolic acid over the head of a collective designated enemy - in this case, the Serbs.

Nebojsa Malic Dissects the Ongoing MSM Propaganda Onslaught

Wading through these mounds of verbal excrement is a tiresome, nauseating job, so Serbian analyst Nebojsa Malic, the originator of the ingenious iditorial-phrase, deserves our sincere gratitude for the valuable snapshot of the latest, ongoing imperial propaganda offensive. Few years down the road, when the current Western agitprop flag-bearers fade back into the darkness that spawned them, we will be able to pull them out of the naphthalene again, to dissect, analyze, study and teach the aspiring young journalists what to avoid if ridicule of the future generations isn’t an integral part of those aspirations.

Apart from the unbearable stench the Goebbels successors are producing these days under the BBC, Guardian, CNN, Reuters, AP, NY Times, Independent etc. orchestration, the main other consequence of the current “tsunami of lies” is that the voices of few of the admirably sane Western journalists, authors and analysts are being entirely smothered by the screeching noise the majority of raving lunatics is producing.

December 12 article by the highly regarded author of Fools’ Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions, Diana Johnstone, is a myth-busting powerhouse and a must-read for anyone who wishes to get a clear insight into the current Kosovo-Metohija problem. While I personally couldn’t disagree with her more on the suggestion that partitioning Kosovo province would be an acceptable solution (in fact, every Serb I know is decisively against it, and Diana herself makes a perfect case against the notion that Serbs should give away a single inch of their land, let alone to “allow the arm to be cut, if not up to a shoulder blade, than around the elbow,” to paraphrase James Jatras’ metaphor), most of her latest article reads like sheer poetry, simply by the virtue of being imbued with intelligence, superior knowledge and understanding, reason, reliance on facts and truth-telling.

Myth No.1: West Wants to Avoid Another Balkan War

Titling her article “Dreaming of Diplomacy, Waiting for War,” Diana Johnstone opens the analysis explaining how the Western powers keep doing everything to ensure another Balkan war becomes inevitable, while saying that is exactly what they want to avoid.

“[…] War results when the opposing parties have totally conflicting views of reality. The Albanians and Serbs have totally opposing views of the very history of the disputed province of Kosovo. The role of diplomacy is to take such conflicting views of reality into account. It means avoiding pushing one party to a dispute into a humiliating corner. It involves seeking to promote mutual respect and understanding, at least enough to accept compromise.

“Instead, the United States, followed by its irresponsible European allies, has from the start endorsed the extreme Albanian nationalist view, treating Serbia as a “rogue state” that does not deserve the normal protection of international law. Washington has orchestrated two rounds of totally sham “negotiations”, whose conclusions it dictated from the start, on behalf of its Albanian clients. The first round took place at Rambouillet, leading to the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia and occupation of Kosovo. The second round took place this year, leading to what could be another, more muted but longer, unpredictable conflict.”

Myth No.2: Western Powers Keep Trying to Come to Negotiated Solution, But the Serbs and Albanians Cannot Agree

“At the end of the 1990s, the Clinton administration was not really concerned with solving the Kosovo problem. It wanted to solve its own NATO problem. Its NATO problem was this: What is the use of this military alliance, now that the Communist bloc, which it was created to deter, no longer exists? To preserve NATO, a new raison d’être had to be found. This was “humanitarian intervention”. From now on, NATO would exist in order to rescue oppressed minorities in foreign countries–especially those with some geostrategic or economic value, of course. The deep-rooted Kosovo conflict between the Serbian State and an Albanian secessionist movement, marked by spasmodic violence on both sides, provided the experimental terrain for this new policy. The Kosovo problem was proclaimed to be a crisis, requiring international intervention, only weeks before NATO’s 50th anniversary meeting, when this U.S.-designed policy was officially adopted.

“To provide a casus belli, the Clinton administration orchestrated sham negotiations at the French château in Rambouillet. The U.S. abruptly promoted Hashim Thaqi, the head of the armed “Kosovo Liberation Army”, to head the Kosovo Albanian delegation, shoving aside more reputable Albanian leaders such as Ibrahim Rugova. No direct encounters between the Serbian and Albanian delegations were even allowed. Both were ordered to accept a comprehensive plan drafted by the United States, allowing for NATO occupation of Kosovo. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright bullied Thaqi into reluctantly accepting the ultimatum, with back-stage assurances that he would eventually get his own “independent Kosova”. The Serbs had agreed to the principle of autonomy of Kosovo, and their parliament had drafted a proposal–totally ignored at Rambouillet. But the Serbian delegation rejected the ultimatum, which included an annex that would have allowed NATO occupation of the whole of Serbia. This rejection was the result Ms Albright sought. On the pretext that Serbia had “refused to negotiate”, NATO could wage its victorious little “humanitarian” war.

“This year, the world has been provided with the spectacle of much more prolonged sham negotiations. For weeks and months, the West’s semi-official media have put out “news” reports that the negotiations to settle the Kosovo problem were not getting anywhere. This was not news because the negotiations were framed in such a way that they could not possibly succeed.

“”The Serbian and Albanian sides can’t agree”, the pseudo-diplomats say of their pseudo-diplomacy. They mean, the Serbian side has not agreed to the Albanian demand for an independent Kosovo. This was the only proposal with U.S. support. It amounted to yet another ultimatum to the Serbs. The Albanians knew they had the support of the United States and NATO, who are occupying Kosovo militarily. They had no incentive to bargain. They could just wait for the negotiations to fail, sure they would be given what they want by occupying Great Powers.”

Myth No.3: Putin Uses Kosovo Issue to Flex his Muscles and Annoy Virtuous Americans

“The West is putting the blame for this failure on Vladimir Putin. The servile press is puffing up Putin’s status as the latest world class bad guy, motivated by “power” and a perverse desire to annoy the virtuous Americans. Since the Americans back the Albanian demand for independence, the Russians, out of contrariness, back the Serbian position.

“This is not exactly accurate. The Serbian position is to offer very comprehensive autonomy to Kosovo, a self-government just short of formal independence. The Russian position is to be ready to support any agreement reached between the two sides.

“Western reporters and commentators refuse to grasp what this means. It means that the Russians are insisting on genuine negotiations, between the two parties, the Serbian government and Kosovo Albanian separatists. They are not saying what the outcome of such genuine negotiations would be. They might reach some sort of compromise providing for some sort of independence. The point is that such an agreement, reached by both parties, would be legal under international law. Independence proclaimed unilaterally by Kosovo Albanians, without negotiated agreement with Serbia, would constitute a clear violation of international law. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has repeatedly warned that a unilateral proclamation of independence could provoke further interethnic violence in the region and set a dangerous precedent for many other countries with ethnic minorities.

“In the level of principles, the contrast is not between the U.S. backing Albanian Kosovo independence and Russia backing Serbia. It is between Russia backing diplomacy and the United States backing force.”

Myth No.4: Severed from Serbia, Kosovo Will be Free and Not a NATO State

“But how much “independence” will Kosovo really enjoy? In private, European governments know that Kosovo is not a viable independent state. This has been demonstrated during eight years of international protectorate. Kosovo’s economy is almost entirely dependent on remittances from emigrés to their families, international aid (including Saudia Arabian mosque building projects) and flourishing crime (drug and sex trafficking in particular).

“Since official international endorsement of unilateral Serbian guilt has made reconciliation between Serb and Albanian inhabitants impossible, NATO forces, under the guise of the European Union, are expected to stay on “to protect the human rights of minorities”. In terms of security, the “independent” Kosovo will be a NATO satellite. Formal independence from Serbia, following eight years of de facto independence from Serbia, will do nothing to improve the miserable state of the economy. The huge number of unemployed young Albanians like to hope independence will bring jobs and prosperity. But it is hard to see how closed borders with a hostile Serbia will do more for Kosovo’s economy than decades of preferential Yugoslav development funds. Some sources of income may even diminish, notably foreign aid, as “humanitarian” NGOs move elsewhere. Even foreign remittances may be cut back if certain European governments decide to send their Albanian guest workers back to their “liberated” homeland. Only organized crime seems certain to prosper.

“Last August, as the long round of sham negotiations got underway, Slobodan Samardzic, the Serbian minister for Kosovo, said that a Kosovo state created with the U.S. support “would only serve the interests of America and the local mafia clans.” Samardzic belongs to the younger, pro-Western generation that tended to attribute the West’s hostility to Serbia to Slobodan Milosevic. But Milosevic has been gone for years, and Western policy remains unchanged.

“Samardzic said that NATO plans to make Kosovo virtually its own territory, “a satellite, an army barracks state on foreign territory”. The main source of power in Kosovo would be the huge U.S. military base, Camp Bondsteel, built immediately after NATO occupied the territory in June 1999, without asking permission from anyone.

“As the latest round of sham negotiations ended, Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica said events prove that the real reason NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 was in order to conquer Kosovo as a “NATO puppet state”.”

Myth No.5: Joining the EU will Compensate the Loss of Kosovo

“And what has Serbia been offered in return for loss of its historic territory? Merely a vague suggestion that, if it behaves, it may eventually obtain EU membership. In short, in return for losing sovereignty over Kosovo, it may be allowed to give up more of its sovereignty to the European Union. But even this is a hazy prospect.”

Myth No.6: Serbia Has Lost its Right to Kosovo

“It is quite possible that Serbia could manage better economically without Kosovo, which was always the poorest and least developed part of Yugoslavia, despite massive development funds from the rest of the country. But Serbia’s reasons for wanting to retain Kosovo are not economic, but moral. The West has refused to take these into account, brushing them all aside with the single argument that Serbia “lost its right” to the territory because of Milosevic’s repression of Albanian separatists. More realistically, NATO “won its right” to dispose of Kosovo by bombing Serbia. The Western argument comes down to might makes right, or rather, superior might makes right.

“The Serbian reasons to reject Kosovo’s secession are legal and moral:

“1. International law. Even after NATO bombed Serbia into allowing Kosovo to be occupied, its sovereignty over the province was officially confirmed under international law. As the one-sided war ended, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1244 which reaffirmed “the commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Yugoslavia, of which Serbia is the successor State. Resolution 1244, which remains the existing basis for the legal status of Kosovo, also speaks of “substantial autonomy and meaningful self-administration”–which is what Serbia has agreed to and proposed. It does not speak of independence.

“What has Serbia done since the fall of Milosevic to merit worse treatment than was prescribed in 1999?”

Myth No.7: Serbs Have Lost Kosovo by Killing 10,000 Albanians and Committing Mass Expulsion of Albanians

“[…] The deep, truly painful sense of injustice and humiliation at the manner in which the Great Powers are orchestrating the amputation of this most cherished part of Serbia’s historic territory. Serbs are blamed for something they never did, something even Milosevic never did: the attempted “genocide” or at least “expulsion” of Albanians from Kosovo. This is no more than wartime propaganda, which by now is probably believed by most Albanians, since the Great Powers endorse it. The official line, criminalizing Serbia, echoed daily by more or less ignorant, but well-coached, editorialists and commentators, heaps unbearable insult on injury. Sometimes insult is harder to take than injury.

“This last reason, which may be the strongest of all, is virtually invisible to Americans and Europeans who have swallowed whole the official line of wicked Serbs persecuting innocent Albanians, in willful ignorance of the complexities of history and culture of the region […]”

Another author, Philip Cunliffe, does an excellent job of busting one of the greatest myths parroted by the Western politicians and media lobbyists. Unfortunately, Cunliffe doesn’t quite grasp the role of Russia and President Putin, falling into another of the MSM traps of treating Russian insistence on the international law as merely a way of irritating “equally belligerent” Western powers, but busting at least one myth this well deserves to be specially noted.

Myth No.8: Serbian Attachment to Kosovo-Metohija is Irrational and Emotional

“[…] According to the Guardian’s Simon Jenkins, Kosovo is part of Serbs’ ‘emotional and historical integrity’ (2). Time and again, the Serbian stance on Kosovo is explained by reference to Serbs’ attachment to Kosovo as the ‘cradle of Serb civilisation’.

“In other words, the Serbian stance on Kosovo is irrational - a mere emotional spasm. This means, in effect, that Serbs are being over-emotional when they object to being isolated by UN sanctions for a decade, when they oppose being bombed day and night for 79 days, and when they baulk at having their country amputated by international diktat. From this point of view, the height of rationality would be voluntarily to dismember your own territory in order to spare the Western powers the embarrassment. Anything less than immediate compliance is put down to emotional immaturity.

“In truth, the Serbian response to international pressure over Kosovo is not down to ancient birthrights, but something much more profound: the universal impulse to resist being attacked and undermined by meddlesome outsiders.”

Finally, NewsBusters’ Bill Hobbs allows a precious glance at the behind-the-scenes movers and shakers, reminding us of carefully hidden real reasons a patch of dirt in the Balkans, such as Serbian Kosovo province, is so significant to the Western elite and notorious “philanthropists” Eastern Europe is literally sick of.

Myth No.9: Soros is a Philanthropist and Kosovo is Worthless to Western Powers

“A recent NewsBusters post about the role that leftwing billionaire George Soros played in undermining, quite literally, the economic future of an impoverished region of Romania, prompted a reader to send me a link to a profile of Soros published in 2003 which contains a tantalizing mention of Soros’ involvement with another mining project in Eastern Europe.

“Writing in the London magazine New Statesmen about Soros and his “Open Society Institute,” journalist Neil Clark wrote,

“Soros deems a society “open” not if it respects human rights and basic freedoms, but if it is “open” for him and his associates to make money. And, indeed, Soros has made money in every country he has helped to prise “open”. In Kosovo, for example, he has invested $50m in an attempt to gain control of the Trepca mine complex, where there are vast reserves of gold, silver, lead and other minerals estimated to be worth in the region of $5bn. He thus copied a pattern he has deployed to great effect over the whole of eastern Europe: of advocating “shock therapy” and “economic reform”, then swooping in with his associates to buy valuable state assets at knock-down prices.“

“[…] Writer Neil Clark’s piece doesn’t give details on how Soros pursued the Trepca mine, so I googled it and found the Trepca mine story is wrapped up within the NATO war in Kosovo against the Serbs.

“A few months after the military occupation of Kosovo, the International Crisis Group (ICG) a think tank supported by Financier George Soros, issued a paper on “Trepca: Making Sense of the Labyrinth” which advised the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) “to take over the Trepca mining complex from the Serbs as quickly as possible and explained how this should be done”. And in August 2000, UNMIK Head Bernard Kouchner sent in heavily armed “peacekeepers” (”wearing surgical masks against toxic smoke”) to occupy the mine on the pretense that it was creating an environmental hazard through excessive air pollution.“