Bill Clinton smirked as he bombed Belgrade - International Imperialism

We tend to forget the precursor to the illegal Iraq invasion was the bombing of a European capital city by Bill Clinton who smirked and gloated as he bombed civilian targets! America’s real intent became evident in that criminal action. The arrogance and callousness displayed on that occasion would bloom into a full-scale holocaust in Iraq -- they laughed as they bombed Serbs and Chinese then and they continue to disregard civilian casualties in Iraq today!

Yugoslavia was one of the first, if not the first, nation to recognise the new State of China in 1950; the Chinese have been firm allies (of Serbia) ever since – a fact that no doubt added to the calculated targeting of the Chinese embassy by the Americans.

The world has changed and learnt much since Western forces declared war on Yugoslavia. They have learnt that American arrogance and power is largely based on myth and fiction; Americans are not capable of maintaining their ‘acquisitions’ in any theatre of conflict. The total destruction of the U.S. military base of occupation, Bondsteel, in Kosovo would herald a new beginning for the Balkans and Europe.

America has dug a deep pit for itself since that supercilious Clinton smirk!

American incompetence is evident in every theatre of its activity from military campaigns in Central Asia, the Middle East to Eastern Europe – not forgetting its abysmal failures to deal with crises on the home front – ‘Katrina’ and the economy!

We do not wish to place too much emphasis on the fact that tiny war-torn Serbia has recently contested -- in both divisions -- the Australian Tennis Open. The men’s title going to Kosovo Serb, Novak Djokovic – the victory and symbolism is not lost in the region!

We sincerely hope that Hillary/Bill Clinton will be successful in their bid for the presidency; we will derive great satisfaction in wiping that supercilious smirk off the American terrorist face!

Hometown Americans that imagine a real race for the presidency exists and that the major parties offer contrasting alternatives are dreaming the American (divorced from reality) dream!

Any unilateral declaration of independence by KLA terrorists in Kosovo would be tantamount to a declaration of war on Serbia – notwithstanding the flagrant illegality of such a move by Muslim terrorists and their allies.

It should now be evident that Serbs are at their fighting best against great adversity and 'insurmountable' odds!

CCCC

During World War II, the Croatian nation fought side by side with Hitler’s Germany. The Serbian people, like the Jewish people, were slaughtered by the Croatian army and those who survived were placed in concentration camps. After the fascists were defeated in World War II, Croatia became a republic of Yugoslavia, but retained an infrastructure of fascism.

In 1990, Franjo Tudjman became President of Croatia. During his reign he fired 300 women journalists and closed down any newspapers and television stations that offended him. His rule gave power to a small oligarchy. Yet despite his ultra-nationalism and his brutal purge of ethnic Serbs from Croatia, the US, under President Bill Clinton and his Balkan adviser, Richard Holbrook, supported Tudjman’s regime.

In early August 1995, the Croatian Army received support from the Pentagon and the CIA in planning and carrying out the attack on Croatia’s Krajina region and the expulsion of its 250,000 ethnic Serbs. Croatian soldiers had been trained at Fort Irwin, California, and additional training assistance came from a private company of mercenaries, the American Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI). The end result was US participation in an unprecedented act of ethnic cleansing, resulting in a quarter of a million Serbs fleeing from their homes.

In the early 1990’s, tension broke out in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In September 1992, in an attempt to prevent Bosnia–Herzegovina from sliding into war, several international peace plans were offered. The most reasonable proposal was the Carrington-Cutileiro plan, under which all districts in this area would be divided up among Bosnia’s Muslims, Serbs and Croats.

Initially, the plan was signed by all three sides, but it was never implemented because Alya Izebegavic, Bosnia’s Muslim leader, withdrew his signature from the agreement after Washington promised to recognize Bosnia as an independent country.

In 1991, Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia. They had been encouraged to do so by Germany, which hoped to reestablish traditional German influence in the Balkans. The United States then joined Germany in supporting the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), promising military and political assistance to the ethnic Albanian separatist organization in its quest for an independent Kosovo and, ultimately, a greater Albania.

In 1998, Richard Holbrook, representing the Clinton Administration, came to Kosovo and appeared in public ceremonies with the KLA, sending a clear signal that the US was backing them. Exploiting the tensions between the KLA and the Serbs in Kosovo, the US used staged ethnic protests and conflicts to justify military intervention. In March 1999, in Rambouille, France, the United States demanded that Yugoslavia accept NATO occupation of Kosovo and the expulsion of all Yugoslav forces. Milosevic refused, and the United States used this as a pretext for war.

On March 27th, 1999, the Clinton administration initiated heavy bombing of Yugoslavia. These attacks on a sovereign country were never approved by the United Nations or the US Congress, violating both international law and the War Powers Act.

The US and NATO had advanced plans to bomb Yugoslavia before 1999, and many European political leaders now believe that the US deliberately used the bombing of Yugoslavia to establish camp Bondsteel in Kosovo.. According to Colonel Robert L. McCure, “Engineering planning for operations in Kosovo began months before the first bomb was dropped.”

In June 1999, in the immediate aftermath of the bombing of Yugoslavia, US forces seized 1,000 acres of farm land in southeast Kosovo at Uresevia, near the Macedonia border, and began the construction of a camp. Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, currently provides all of the services to the camp. This same company receives $180 million per year to build military facilities in Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, and several other countries. Presently, the Bondsteel template is being supported in Georgia and Azerbaijan. According to Chalmers Johnson, author of “America’s Empire of Bases,” the US has about 1000 bases around the world. “Once upon a time, you could trace the spread of imperialism by counting up colonies,” says Johnson. “America’s version of the colony is the military base.” Kosovo is an American colony.

The main purpose for the Bondsteel military base is to provide security for the construction of the Albanian-Macedonian-Bulgarian oil pipeline (AMBO). The AMBO trans-Balkan pipeline will link up with the corridors between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea basin, which holds close to 50 billion barrels of oil.

Hashim Thaci, Kosovo’s current Prime Minister, was formerly the political head of the KLA. The KLA is widely regarded as a terrorist organization and is supported in large part by drug dealing and human trafficking, making particular use of Eastern European women. The US had begun training KLA forces well in advance of the bombing of Yugoslavia.

Presently, Camp Bondsteel houses about 1000 US military troops along with more than 7,000 local Albanian personnel. It is no coincidence that the escalating US presence at Bondsteel was accompanied by increased military activity by the KLA. Since the appearance of this massive base, more Serbs, Roma and Albanians opposed to the KLA have been murdered or driven out of Kosovo.

It is quite clear today that the United States and NATO had advance plans to bomb Yugoslavia long before the ethnic conflicts emerged there. The Kosovo Liberation Army and NATO were determined to foment violence, and no concessions by President Slobodan Milosevic would have prevented the bombing. Building Camp Bondsteel was the US mission, and, by whatever means necessary, it would be built to ensure the completion of a pipeline to the Caspian Sea.

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