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WSWS : Readers' forums : US-NATO attack Yugoslavia

"One-sidedness" in Yugoslavia war coverage: An exchange

12 June 1999

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Dear WSWS,

Your stories go on and on about evil NATO and the US bombing poor Serb troops. Come on, open your eyes. The Serbs have killed and displaced more Albanians than you will admit, the war was necessary and fought as it should have been. I am a very liberal person but I don't like your one sided, hypocritical reporting. I bet you would feel differently if you had been forced, beaten, raped or worse. A little fairness in your reporting would be appreciated.

R. Willey

The WSWS replies:

Dear Mr. Willey,

Permit us to suggest the following exercise.

Take a sheet of paper and attempt to write an essay on the following topic: "The history of Yugoslavia and the origins of the Balkan War of 1999."

See how far you get, and then ask yourself whether you really know anything other than what you have seen on network news or read in the newspapers. You might also ask yourself whether you really know enough to distinguish truth from propaganda.

Has it ever occurred to you to undertake an examination of the political background of the war? Of the events that gave rise to the breakdown of Yugoslavia (a state that had existed since 1918)? Of the responsibility of the United States—politically and economically—for that breakdown? Of the implications of the Yugoslav collapse for minority ethnic groups (Croat, Muslim, and Serb) which suddenly found themselves living in new states controlled by right-wing parties based on the majority ethnic group in that particular region?

Have you asked yourself why the United States supported the ethnic cleansing of somewhere between 250,000 and 400,000 Serbs from their ancestral homes in the Krajina province in 1995? (This support included playing a key role in the planning of the military offensive that achieved the expulsion of the entire Serb population in several days.)

Have you ever asked yourself why the United States supports the Turkish government, which is engaged in perhaps the largest on-going project of ethnic cleansing in the world—against its Kurdish minority? Thousands of villages have been destroyed over the last 15 years and up to 2,000,000 people have been displaced. The US recently sold Turkey Cobra helicopters to assist it in its war against the Kurds. And only a few weeks before launching the war against Serbia, the US helped Turkey kidnap Abdullah Ocalan the leader of the Kurdish national movement. He is now on trial, deprived of basic legal rights, and will in all likelihood be sentenced to hang. Any complaints from the Clinton administration?

Can you explain the contradiction between the US's decades-long demonization of the PLO—which was fighting on behalf of several million Palestinian refugees driven out of their homes by the creation of Israel in 1948—and the enthusiastic embrace of the KLA?

Have you looked into the possibility that there are other strategic and economic interests, not widely discussed in the media, that underlie the expansion of NATO and the attack on Yugoslavia? For instance, have you read about the growing interest of the United States in the Caspian region, which has the world's largest untapped oil reserves?

We could go on like this for quite a while. Perhaps you will think this over. After all, thousands of people have been killed in the last two months, and the impact of this war will be felt for decades. Unless you are really confident that you understand the historical background and know the facts, you should be cautious about applauding 79 days of US bombing against a largely defenseless nation.

Yours sincerely,

WSWS Editorial Board.

See Also:
Biggest one-day slaughter in war: NATO cluster bombs kill hundreds of Serb troops
[10 June 1999]
Why is NATO at war with Yugoslavia? World power, oil and gold
[24 May 1999]
Earlier letters and replies:
Behind the war in the Balkans
[8 April 1999]
Cause and effect in the Balkan War
[17 April 1999]
The fate of democratic rights
[22 April 1999]
The IMF in Yugoslavia
[8 May 1999]

Full list of WSWS articles on Yugoslavia