Milosevic Exonerated, as the NATO War Machine Moves on

Neil Clark RT

The ICTY’s exoneration of the late Slobodan Milosevic, the former President of Yugoslavia, for alleged war crimes committed in the Bosnia war, proves again we should take NATO claims regarding its ’official enemies’ not with a pinch of salt, but a huge lorry load.
 

For the past twenty odd years, neocon commentators and ‘liberal interventionist’ pundits have been telling us at every possible opportunity, that Milosevic (a democratically elected leader in a country where over 20 political parties freely operated)  was an evil genocidal dictator who was to blame for ALL the deaths in the Balkans in the 1990s. Repeat after me in a robotic voice (while making robotic arm movements): ‘Milosevic’s genocidal aggression’ ‘Milosevic’s genocidal aggression’.

But the official narrative, just like the one that told us that in 2003, Iraq had WMDs which could be launched within 45 minutes, was a deceitful one, designed to justify a regime change-op which the Western elites had long desired.

The ICTY’s conclusion, that one of the most demonized figures of the modern era was innocent of the most heinous crimes he was accused of, really should have made headlines across the world. But it hasn‘t. Even the ICTY buried it, deep in its 2,590 page verdict in the trial of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic who was convicted in March of genocide (at Srebrenica), war crimes and crimes against humanity.

There was no official announcement or press conference regarding Milosevic‘s exoneration. We’ve got journalist and researcher Andy Wilcoxson to thank for flagging it up for us.

How very different it all was when the trial of the so-called ‘Butcher of the Balkans’, began in February 2002! Then, you‘d have to have been locked in a wardrobe not to be aware of what was going on.

CNN provided blanket coverage of what was described as “the most important trial since Nuremberg.” Of course, Milosevic’s guilt was taken as a given. “When the sentence comes and he disappears into that cell, no one is going to hear from him again,” declared US lawyer Judith Armatta from the Coalition for International Justice, an organization which had the former US Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Warren Zimmerman, as an advisory board member.

Anyone who dared to challenge the NATO line was labeled a “Milosevic apologist”, or worse still, a “genocide denier”, by ‘Imperial Truth Enforcers’.

But amid all the blather and the hype surrounding the ’trial of the century’ it soon became apparent the prosecution was in deep, deep trouble. The Sunday Times quoted a legal expert who claimed that “Eighty percent of the prosecution’s opening statements would have been dismissed by a British court as hearsay.” That, I believe, was a generous assessment.

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Dark Age of Intervention: 15 Years Since NATO’s War Against Yugoslavia

Stop NATO 
Richard Rozoff

In March 1999, at the direction of the United States of America, NATO engaged in its first act of illegal aggressive war, beginning what can be called the “dark age of intervention” in which we are living today.

One of the bombed sites in Serbia by NATO in 1999 - Photo: Novosti

The fact that NATO was allowed to get away with the aggression on Serbia and Montenegro emboldened US/NATO and the US military industrial intelligence banking complex and since that day, under a doctrine of Responsibility to Protect, Humanitarian Interventionism, Preventive War and then the all encompassing “War on Terror”, US/NATO have proceeded to destroy country after country and do away with leaders that they have not found to be submissive enough to their will.

The events of 9-11-2001 were a watershed moment for the geopolitical architects and served as a catalyst to allow them to expand their military machine to every corner of the world and invade countries at will and conduct operations with complete disregard for international law and accepted international norms.

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Obama: Crimea’s Secession Referendum a Violation of International Law

Comment: Obama digs another hole for himself...

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Antiwar
Jason Ditz

President Obama continues to express outrage at the idea of the Crimea seceding from the Ukraine, and today insisted that an impending referendum on whether Crimeans want to secede itself “violates international law.”

Obama went on to insist that “in 2014 we are well beyond the days when borders can be redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders,” leaving open the question of how Ukraine’s interim government, installed in the wake of violent protests just over a week ago, amount to “democratic leaders.”

Obama’s interpretation of international law also didn’t appear to be based on anything concrete, as indeed international law is pretty vague on the matter and secession through referendum has been treated as a valid option in the past.

The most noteworthy recent example was the 1991 independence referendum in Croatia, which likewise came over the objection of the recognized sovereign nation, in that case Yugoslavia.

Croatia’s route is strikingly similar to Crimea’s, with its regional parliament similarly preceding the referendum with votes supporting the secession policy. The referendum was overwhelmingly supportive of secession.

Recognition after the vote remained a struggle, with the question of whether people have a right to secede unanswered under international law. In that case, Britain and France similarly argued they did not, though German backing eventually led to international recognition of the Croat nation. Ironically, among the first nations to recognize Croatia’s independence was the Ukraine.

As a practical matter secession is not so much a question of law as a question of whether the suzerain power can crush the secession movement by force. The Russian deployment into the Crimea effectively keeps Ukraine from doing so, and means the Crimea secession, assuming it is approved by referendum, will be a matter of fact even if East-West brinksmanship keeps the US or others from officially recognizing that fact for some time.

Ukraine at the Brink to NATO-backed Civil War as West Demands Transitional Government

Comment: Excellent article. Gives a clear and accessible appraisal of how NATO and American backed forces are doing what they have been doing for many decades: regime change for resources. And in this case, to make sure that Russia becomes the new Cold War villain once more.

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The US Independent

The Death toll in the Ukrainian capital has risen to 67, hundreds, including 500 police officers, have been injured by gunshot wounds. After protesters armed with assault rifles and handguns opened fire at both co-protesters, journalists and unarmed police, killing 26, Tuesday night, the Interior Ministry has authorized the use of firearms against armed radicals in Kiev’s burning Maidan Square. The situation in Kiev reflects the modus operandi that has been observed in Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria and Egypt. The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland are in Kiev, calling for the immediate establishment of a “transitional government”.



Interior Ministry authorized use of Firearms by Police – 67 Police Officers feared taken Hostage by armed Rioters.

Today, the Interior Minister of the Ukraine,Vitaly Zakharchenko, authorized security forces to use firearms in mass riots. The decision came after three more police officers had been killed, bringing the death toll among police up to thirteen, and after more than hundred additional police officers had been injured by gunfire. Zakharchenko issued a statement, saying:

“As part of the work of the anti-terrorist center of the Security Service of the Ukraine, I have signed the respective orders – the law enforcers have been handed combat weapons, which will be used in accordance with the law of  the Ukraine”.

After the announcement, Zakharchenko addressed the armed rioters and opposition leaders, demanded that the arms are laid down immediately and that opposition leaders dissociate themselves from the use of firearms. Stressing that this statement was published on the ministry’s website, for everyone to read, Zakharchenko said:

“The Interior Ministry demands that the extremists voluntarily lay down their weapons and return to peaceful protesting. The leaders and representatives of the opposition, who are able to make a sober estimate of the situation, must disassociate themselves from the radicals and must not support them any further”.

Up until today, the Ukrainian police had, despite the fact that armed rioters killed scores and injured hundreds, not been authorized to use firearms. The Interior Minister stressed that Ukrainian law authorizes the use of firearms by police;

“To protect citizens from attacks which are posing a danger to their life and health, to rescue hostages, to counter life-threatening attacks on police officers and members of their families, as well as to thwart attacks on homes, government buildings or specially protected sites”. 

Police Officers Held Hostage. The Interior Ministry stressed that police also are authorized to use firearms to free seized government buildings and kidnapped law enforcement officers and added, that Rioters have seized 67 police officers who are being held hostage. The statement stipulates that;

“During extremist attacks on law enforcers, 67 troopers were captured. So far, nothing is known regarding the state of their health and their fate”.

While the Ministry and police maintain that the shooting on Tuesday was committed by Rioters, some media quote Rioters as stating that 70 protesters had been killed by gunshot wounds Tuesday night. Although there are images of slain protesters, the information is inconsistent with forensic reports which state that those who were killed had been injured by munitions that were not used by law enforcement. Moreover, the government maintains that it is only today, Thursday 20 February, that police has been authorized to use firearms.

Modus Operandi the same as in Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria and Egypt. A brief Review of Historical Precedence. The Rioters claims about the police use of firearms, killing “protesters” is practically identical with the NATO backed subversions in Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria and Egypt. 

Yugoslavia War planned since Mid-70s. 

The retired French Brig. General Pierre Marie Gallois admitted in a video-recorded interview, that the subversion and war against Yugoslavia had been planned by German, French, British and other NATO member’s top-politicians and military brass in meetings near the German city of Munich, since the mid-70s.

Please listen to the statement of ret. Brig. General Pierre Marie Galois after reading this article.

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Ukraine: West Directs Syrian And/Or Yugoslav model

Stop Nato


There is a noted similarity in the “protest movements” in Syria and Ukraine. There is evidence of armed gunmen among protesters in Kiev targeting policemen.  
 
1) Ukrainian prime minister: Deadly attacks attempt to seize power
2) U.S. ambassador to Ukraine: Government “responsible for everything that happens in Ukraine”
3) As with Syria, European Union and Russia clash over Ukrainian uprising
4) European Council President Rompuy threatens sanctions against Ukraine
5) European Union deliberates over sanctions against Ukrainian government, officials
6) Former Lithuanian prime minister: President Victor Yanukovych must be tried in international court
7) President of European Parliament: Ukrainian authorities “have lost all legitimacy”
8) Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov: Vice President Biden, U.S. government signal support to armed extremists
9) Ukrainian president: Putschists’ call to take up arms crosses the line
10) Security Service opens criminal investigations into coup plotting
11) Russian Federation Council chairperson denounces armed violence in Ukraine, accuses opposition chiefs of receiving marching orders from the West
12) Russian Foreign Ministry demands opposition forces cease deadly bloodshed
13) Two traffic police shot dead in Ukrainian capital
14) Ukrainian Defense ministry intensifies security measures around ammunition stores

Scroll down to Read reports from Russian and Ukrainian media below:

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