From: Chrys Pelegris <chrysp@zooid.guild.org>
Subject: Yugoslavia            1/2
X-To: ALL
Organization: The Zoo of Ids
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 20:08:57 GMT

..just crossposting an interesting message I found on another network, so
please don't bother sending me flamed emails.. :)

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Date: 11-30-92 (17:05)             Number: 129
From: ZORAN JOVANOVIC              Refer#: NONE
  To: ALL                           Recvd: NO
Subj: Media reports from bo 1/       Conf: (13) Worldtlk
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                   MEDIA REPORT FROM BOSNIA

 A Mixture of Outright Lies, Staged Events and Untold Stories


     "There can be no peace or coexistence between Islamic
     faith and non-Islamic faith and institutions... The
     Islamic movement must and can take power as soon as it is
     morally and numerically strong enough, not only to
     destroy the non-Islamic power, but to build up a new
     Islamic one..." -- Current Bosnian President Alija
     Izetbegovic from his book "Muslim Declaration"


     "Genocide is a natural phenomenon, in harmony with the
     societal and mythologically divine nature. Genocide is
     not only permitted, it is also recommended, even
     commanded by the word of the Almighty, whenever it is
     useful for survival or the restoration of the kingdom of
     the chosen nation, or for the preservation and spreading
     of its one and only correct faith." -- Current Croatian
     President Franjo Tudjman from his "Wastelands of
     Historical Reality.


"A lie that is repeated frequently becomes truth", said the Nazi
propaganda expert Josef Goebbels. Many people believe that out
democratic society would never allow Goebbels style propaganda. Yet the
media reports from former Yugoslavia provide just the opposite. Here are
five examples of media lies which gained credibility through frequent
repetition.

 1.  The two most prosperous, most western republics (Slovenia
     and Croatia) have declared independence to avoid further
     domination of Serbia.

The media failed to explain how the alleged Serbian domination resulted
in more prosperity for Croatia and Slovenia. In the period from 1947 to
1981, the economic growth of Slovenia, relative to the Yugoslav average,
was over 190% and of Croatia over 125%, while the average growth of
Serbia was close to Yugoslav average at 99% (see A Short History of the
Yugoslav people by Fred Singleton, page 270). The alleged Serbian
domination was justified by the fact that 70% of the officers of the
Yugoslav army were Serbs. Yet among the top ranking military generals
67% were not Serbs. All leading politicians in post-war Yugoslavia
including Josef Broz Tito were non- Serbs. They controlled the communist
party, the army and the police and carried out the policies which were
detrimental to Serbs in and outside Serbia.

 2.  The Croats and Slovenes have a democratic government,
     while the Serbs have an oppressive communist government.

Not true. The western media continues to portray the Croatian president
Franjo Tudjmanas a democrat in spite of his racist constitution,
citizenship and tax laws, historical revisions and media abuse. The
leader of the Bosnian Muslims advocated the creation of a pure Islamic
state in Bosnia in his book "Muslim Declaration". He also agreed with
the Iranian vice- premier during his last visit to Sarajevo that British
poet Salman Rushdie deserves a death sentence for writing his book
"Satanic Verses". The Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic is portrayed as
a brutal dictator. Yet he was freely elected and he allows an
independent media. The non-Serb residents of Serbia and Montenegro are
not subjected to signing an oath loyalty, unfair property tax laws,
evictions, refusal of citizenship and other unfair government measures
that are widely practised in "democratic" Croatia. Establishment of
current civil limitation in the Kosovo region within Serbia is a
response to Albanian nationalists who staged armed uprisings in 1968 and
1981 demanding secession, and who are preparing to do the same in 1992.
They are encouraged by Croatians and Bosnian Muslims, as well as by
Turkey and other Muslim countries.

 3.  The Serbs in Bosnia are opposed to Bosnian independence.

Not true. The Serbs respect the right of Croats and Muslims to have
their own independent states. All they want is the same right for
themselves. French historian Edmond Paris wrote in his book "Genocide in
Satellite Croatia" that "The greatest Genocide in World War II in
proportion to a nation's population took place not in Nazi Germany, but
in the Nazi_Created independent state of Croatia. There, in the years
1941-1945 some 750,000 Serbs, 60,000 Jews and 26,000 Gypsies - men,
women and children - perished in a gigantic Holocaust". An additional
million people, mostly Serbs, perished in other parts of Yugoslavia in
World War II. Given the still vivid memories of the Genocide committed
by their Croatian and Muslim neighbours, and the intolerant policies
endorsed by the current Croatian and Muslim leaders, the Serbs have
every reason to fear for their safety in independent Croatia and Bosnia.

 4.  The conflict in Bosnia was caused by the outside
     intervention from the government in Belgrade which wants
     to create a Greater Serbia.

This line is still prevalent in the media in spite of the UN Secretary
General's report of May 30 which states that the Yugoslav army is not in
Bosnia and that the government in Belgrade is not command of the Bosnian
Serbs. The same report confirms that there are 35,000 regular Croatian
troops operating in Bosnia. Why are there no sanctions against Croatia?

 5.  The Serbs aggressors in Bosnia since they occupy
     two_thirds of Bosnia.

The Serbs are indigenous people of Bosnia. According to a 1981 census,
there were 32% Serbs, 8% Yugoslavs (who are mainly Serbian converts to a
new ethnic group promoted by Tito), 39% Muslims (who are mainly Serbs
and some Croats that converted to Islam during 400 years of Turkish
occupation, and were also promoted as an ethnic group by Tito in the
1970), and 18% Croats. As farmers, Serbs and Yugoslavs own close to 60%
of the land, which is what they claim, so the "land grab" charges by the
media are totally unfounded. The Muslims want control all of Bosnia
without any compromise. Since they cannot win the war, they continue to
murder civilians and UN troops in front of cameras and blame Serbs in
the hope that the UN will eventually intervene on their behalf. A recent
UN classified report reviewed in the London weekly Independent on August
22, 1992 - but never reprinted anywhere in North America - confirmed
that the infamous 'bread massacre' and attack on the orphan's funeral
were staged by Muslims as a public relations ploy to win support from
the world.


                Why is the media so anti-Serb?

Because powerful financial backing from the Vatican, Germany and Islamic
world allows Croatians and Muslims to influence the western media and
politicians in their favour. The Vatican and Iran were the first
countries to call for military intervention in Bosnia.

POWERFUL WASHINGTON PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRMS were hired by the Croatian
and Muslim side, including Rudder Finn and Hill & Knowlton. The latter
is responsible for the phoney story about the Iraq's soldiers killing
incubator babies in Kuwait. That influenced US politicians to pressure
the UN to go to war against Iraq. The staged bombing of Dubrovnik on May
30 and the alleged death camps reports also coincided with important UN
Security Council decisions to impose one-sided sanctions against Serbia
and authorise the use of force in Bosnia. These stories have likely been
circulated by the PR firms.
>>> Continued to next message
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