New book on US destruction of Yugoslavia

New book on US destruction of Yugoslavia

Workers World - Dec 29, 2005 issue
http://www.workers.org/2005/world/milosevic-1229/


New book gives different view of U.S. destruction of Yugoslavia


By Paddy Colligan


"The Defense Speaks for History and the Future: Opening defense
statement at The Hague by President of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milosevic
with an introduction by Ramsey Clark" published by the International
Action Center, 2005. 120 pp. $19.95


Does this sound like a book to miss? Well, even if you do buy it,
would you let it languish on your bookshelf, without reading it? If
you followed either course of action, you would miss out on a
remarkable document. In fact, you would be react ing precisely as U.S.
administrations from Bush Sr. to Clinton to Bush Shrub have planned.
The demonization of Presi dent Milosevic has been so thorough that
even those on the side of the working class may not expect him to be
the source of historical insight. This is a pity, as he has been a
major political figure for many years in Yugoslavia, a once
significant workers' state.


This remarkable little book gives a lucid overview of the complex
history of the Balkans from World War II to the present. It includes
an analysis of the roots of the tragic inter-ethnic violence and the
way inter-imperialist rivalries have played out in the (now) former
Yugoslavia. At times it is quite detailed and examines arguments
primarily familiar to those who have closely followed the region's
political twists and turns. More often it offers difficult to find and
valuable background information that makes the region comprehensible.


Often books that are translations are awkward and convoluted. Not this
book. It is an excellent and authoritative translation of Milosevic's
opening statement, which he delivered in Serbo-Croatian before the
fraudulent International Criminal Court for the former Yugo slavia.
The writing is clear and even elegant. It is an achievement that
Milosevic was able to produce this in his isolated incarceration in
Scheveningen Prison in The Hague.


Part of Milosevic's opening statement reads, "An untruthful, distorted
picture of what happened in the territory of the former Yugoslavia was
created in internation al public opinion over a long period of time
with clear political intentions. These charges represent an
unscrupulous mani pulation of lies, a perversion of law, a defeat of
morals, and an extreme distortion of history. Everything has been
turned upside down in order to shield from responsibility those who
are truly responsible for the tragic events, to render the wrong
judgments and to draw the wrong conclusions about the nature and
background of the war against Yugoslavia."


It is worth our time to read Milo sevic's book so we can more fully
understand what the U.S. has done to Yugo slavia--this scenario of
systematically demonizing, dismantling and destroying countries that
won't do Washington's bidding continues to be the modus operandi of
U.S. governments.


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