SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule · 2014. 4. 15. · SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule Introduction In an article titled "Milosevic's Vision of Glory Unleashes Decade

SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule

In this section of the special, we trace the war in Yugoslavia from the post-Tito ethnic clashes throughout that nation, to the splintering of the Balkan states, to the most recent events. The perspective that this summary presents is important to understanding how the pieces of the Balkan puzzle, and the current situation in Kosovo in particular, fit into place. Archival material featuring CBC foreign correspondents provides first-hand reports from the area.

Introduction Hardware and Software Diary of a Balkan War Kosovo In Black and White Discussion, Research, and Essay Questions

Indicates material appropriate or adaptable for younger viewers.

Comprehensive News in Review Study Modules

Using both the print and non-print material from various issues of News in Review, teachers and students can create comprehensive, thematic modules that are excellent for research purposes, independent assignments, and small group study. We recommend the stories indicated below for the universal issues they represent and for the archival and historic material they contain.

"Civilians in War," March 1991 "Covering Wars," A 1991 hour-long special

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SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule Introduction

In an article titled "Milosevic's Vision of Glory Unleashes Decade of Ruin" in the online New York Times, Roger Cohen paints a portrait of post-war Pec, "a once beautiful town [in Kosovo], threaded by bright streams, backed by mountains." This Pec is gone. In its place are "abandoned gardens with trees full of unpicked cherries, capsized trellises with vines still clinging to them, dead animals, and the blackened windows that are the baleful eyes of so much Balkan ruin." In the midst of the ruin stands a particular cherry tree planted by the Zajmi family, shading an area behind what was their kitchen. The war destroyed everything this family had, except the cherry tree. The tree continues to grow and will probably bear fruit again. In 1914, the Serbs were ready to go to war to uphold the principle that no police from the former Austro-Hungarian empire had the right to enter their territory to investigate the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. When Slobodan Milosevic went to Kosovo 10 years ago to Kosovo's Field of Blackbirds, where in 1389 the Serbs suffered a defeat at the hands of the Turks, he vowed to do battle for the Serb "state, national and spiritual integrity." In 1999, he conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, defied the UN, NATO, and the outside world, and resisted NATO's bombing campaign, using a variety of ploys. Thus history fueled the war in Kosovo. It was a predictable war, as a 1992 article in The New York Times foretold: "When diplomats and politicians in the Balkans try to imagine where the next regional conflict might break out, their attention quickly turns to the restive Yugoslav region of Kosovo, where ethnic conflicts run deep and prospects for peaceful compromise seem bleak."

Although in many ways it was like a lot of other wars, the war in Kosovo began with no formal declaration of war and ended with no clear victory. To date, there has been no peace treaty signed, no victorious homecomings. There has been a formal ceasefire, laborious repatriation, and vengeful reprisals. At the time of this

writing, the division of political power in Kosovo has not been clearly settled. In the NATO air campaign of this war, more than 36 000 bombing sorties were flown over a period of only 78 days. From the Supreme Allied Headquarters in Mons, Belgium, orders were sent to the Combined Air Operations Center in Vincenza, Italy. Authorized by the North Atlantic Council, the supreme political body of NATO, the bombing escalated; 400 bomber planes increased in number to 1000 and were supplied by 13 nations, including Canada. Military planners and commanders logged on daily to SIPERNET, the U.S. military's secure digitized computer network, conducted video teleconferencing meetings, consulted military lawyerswho assessed potential targets, in terms of the Geneva Conventions and their status as "justifiable military objectives"and ordered escalating nighttime strikes. Using state-of-the-art airpower and night-vision goggles, NATO pilots became masters of the night. In a key strike of the war, transformer yards in Yugoslavia were hit, plunging much of the country into darkness, interrupting the essential services of the country's infrastructure, from streetlights to incubators. It was a morally problematic war, a war that created strange bedfellows: NATO and Russia. It was a war of terrible but relatively limited "collateral damage": the accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy, a civilian train on bridge, a convoy of fleeing refugees.

Flying for the most part above 15 000 feet, the Allied pilots did not destroy Milosevic's army in the field. They helped end the war but, unfortunately, they did not end the killing and the suffering.




SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule Hardware and Software

War can be like a juggernaut ("a huge or overwhelming force or object or an institution or notion to which persons blindly sacrifice themselves or others." The 1998 Canadian Oxford Dictionary). Modern wars especially involve enormous infrastructures and military equipment that, once activated and launched, can seem to take on a life of their own. War is a clash of forces that tends to gather momentum. The purpose of war is to push forward with great resolve, to optimize the use of military power, to win. But wars, ironically and in apparent contradiction, involve both sides doing the same thing. The opposing forces must either diminish the ability of the other to advance or risk a stalemate and constant state of aggression, oras was the case in the First World Warrisk a war of attrition in which each side is slowly and gradually depleted until there is no more material, human or mechanical, with which to make war. The war in Yugoslavia saw the use of the most powerful state-of-the-art technology of any recent modern war. The NATO combat operations were primarily an air assault using aircraft and sea-launched missiles, although some ground forces were used in Macedonia and Albania. NATO used F-16 and Harrier GR-7 fighter-bombers, B-52 bombers, and, for the first time, B-2 and F-117A Nighthawk Stealth aircraft. A NATO "armada" consisted of four cruisers and two submarines that launched cruise missiles such as the Tomahawk. The British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Splendid launched missiles that can travel at 885 kilometres per hour and hit targets hundreds of kilometres away. NATO had many bombs and missiles at its disposal: the Paveway laser-guided bomb, the Tomahawk cruise missile, the 130A air-to-ground missile, and the JDam GPS bomb, which is satellite- rather than laser-guided. Air-to-air missiles included the AIM-120 and the Sidewinder. The secret soft bomb BLU-114/B, which the Pentagon refuses to discuss, was used to short-circuit electrical plants.

The Yugoslav forces used MiG-29 and MiG-21 jets and a considerable number of air-defence missiles as well as surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). Once all this military hardware was activatedessentially deployed from a distance and relatively removed from the targetsthe juggernaut advanced. But, as everyone who works with a computer knows, the hardware is useless without the human component, the "software." Computer softwareeven destructive virusesis programmed human intelligence, knowledge, and instructions. Likewise, the hardware of war is activated by human forces.

Identifying the Software Work with a partner. As you watch this section of this special News in Review program, make two lists: (a) the human elements on the side of NATO; and (b) the human elements on the side of Slobodan Milosevic that precipitated, maintained, and advanced the war machine. You may wish to identify specific decisions, actions, reactions, attitudes, beliefs, statements, judgments, predictions, policies, principles, emotions, or human characteristics. When you have completed and reviewed your two lists, present your findings to the class.




SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule Diary of a Balkan

Writers of all kinds, scientists, social and political commentators, and ordinary citizens frequently keep journals in which, by recording their observations about daily events in a particular field, they collect data that they may use later in some other form. The act of observing and recording also serves to help them develop a perspective on events. While reading the following summaries, written as journal entries by a member of the News in Review resource guide team, consider to what extent they help you understand a very complex news event.

February 28, 1998 There is trouble in the Balkans, again. In Kosovo, a small province of Yugoslavia, two Serb policemen have been killed by militant ethnic Albanianswho make up the majority of the population of this region. The Yugoslav presidentand a SerbSlobodan Milosevic has ordered a crackdown by his police forces. The unrest in Kosovo would appear to be the result of a series of pro-independence demonstrations that media sources say go back to 1968. Even though under the Yugoslav constitution Kosovo has been an autonomous province, Milosevic has stripped it of its power and has sent in troops to maintain control. Nonetheless, the separatists in Kosovothe majority of whom are Muslim and whose families originally came from the neighbouring country of Albaniahave declared Kosovo a republic. This would appear to be a struggle for sovereignty that sounds all too familiar; a minority ethnic group asserting itself against a majority (Serb) population. The emergence of a committed rebel group (calling itself the Kosovo Liberation Army) and the obvious imbalance of power within greater Yugoslavia looks very ominous. This could become an escalating confrontation, or worse, a civil war.

March 15, 1998 The violence in Kosovo has escalated. Dozens in that province have been killed by Serb police who have attacked suspected Albanian

separatists. A headline in The New York Times has declared "Another Victory for Death in Serbia." Western countries are threatening sanctions against Serbia. Milosevic remains defiant, claiming that Kosovo has always been part of Serbia, central to its medieval kingdoms. The ethnic Albanians claim that being the descendants of the ancient Illyrians, they are the original inhabitants. Will this situation escalate even more and involve other European states?

April 15, 1998 International mediation in the situation in YugoslaviaKosovo reallyhas been proposed, but media reports say that 95 per cent of Serbs reject it. Some international sanctions have been imposed against Yugoslavia (the majority Serbian population). And now the U.S. is considering putting its own economic pressures on Belgrade (the capital). Meanwhile, there are reports that the number of rebels among the population of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo has increased substantially. The resistance has obviously grown stronger as has the potential for more violence.

May 31, 1998 Ibrahim Rugova, who was elected president of a separatist Kosovo republic (even though Serbia denies that such a state exists or could exist) and who has advocated a peaceful path to independence, has met with Slobodan Milosevic, but the ethnic Albanian rebels boycotted the meeting. This would suggest a growing opposition to Serb control in Kosovo and a lessening of chances for peaceful dialogue. There is no doubt that the situation has escalated.

June 30, 1998 The situation in Yugoslavia-Kosovo has deteriorated considerably. Media reports suggest that Milosevic has moved decisively to wipe out the rebels in Kosovo. A series of heavy attacks by Serbian police forces against rebel positions has taken place, and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have begun to flee by the thousands from the conflict zones. Not only is there a growing civil war now, but a refugee situation has also developed. Given the relatively small geographic area, a refugee crisis would complicate matters considerably and would certainly have an impact on the surrounding nations, especially Albania. To make matters worse (or better?) Western nations have demanded an end to Serb attacks in Kosovo. Milosevic doesn't seem to be the type of leader who will give in to international demands. Such demands could harden his resolve.

August 31, 1998 The last two months have seen a situation in Yugoslavia that has gone from very bad to even worse. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA

is now as well known as IRA and PLO) seized control of 40 per cent of Kosovo, according to one report, but the rebels were dispersed in a major Serb offensive. The rebels, along with many ethnic Albanian civilian refugees, have fled into the hills and mountains of Kosovo. There are many reports of civilians who have been abducted and killed by Serb forces. Thousands more have become refugees. Media reports of massacres in Kosovar villages and a "Serb terror" add to the general fear that this war is not only far from over but of such potential proportions that the international community may inevitably be drawn into the conflict in some way.

September 30, 1998 The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Kosovo and the start of political dialogue. It's doubtful that this will dissuade Milosevic. He has already defied NATO, which has threatened intervention in the situation. With no military forces with which it can back up its call for a ceasefire, the UN once again seems ineffectual. NATO however is a military alliance that could put very real pressure on Milosevic despite the fact that it was conceived as a defensive alliance. Why, therefore, would NATO countries have any involvement in Yugoslavia? Even though this is a very serious European situation, is it really within the mandate of NATO?

BBC journalists have reported first-hand evidence of a massacre of ethnic Albanians, including women and children, in Kosovo.

October 15, 1998 NATO has moved decisively and with frightening determination. Member countries have authorized air strikes against Serbia if it does not cease its aggression in Kosovo. This was no idle threat, as Slobodan Milosevic also recognized, fortunately. He has agreed to withdraw troops from Kosovo and to facilitate the return of the tens of thousands of ethnic-Albanian refugees who have fled Kosovo. He has also agreed to 2000 unarmed international monitors who will verify his compliance with NATO's demands. What does this ultimatum by NATO suggest about the role of the UN in this war? How far will NATO go? Is Milosevic to be trusted? Will he comply?

Christmas, 1998 It was a fragile truce. The events of the last few months in Yugoslavia have been chaotic, and increasingly a sense of despair permeates media reports. The KLA has not stopped its efforts to assert its military power in Kosovo; they have continued to conduct guerrilla warfare. Six young Serbs were killed in a café. The Serb protests and reprisals have been bloody. Thirty-six KLA rebels have been killed. One report says that Serb forces in Kosovo are now using arrest and

torture practices primarily. The withdrawal of Milosevic's forces is obviously not occurring. U.S. envoy Christopher Hill has been unsuccessful in brokering a political settlement. The tension is increasingly felt on an international scale. There is an increasing sense of déjà vu. One finds oneself thinking, "Only in the Balkans . . ."

The New Year, 1999 On January 15th of this new year, 45 ethnic Albanians were killed by Serb forces outside a town called Racak. On the 29th, 24 more were killed on a raid on a suspected KLA hideout. These events have increased international calls for a peace settlement. NATO has said that it is ready to act. It has authorized its Secretary General, Javier Solana, to order military action if a peace settlement is not reached.

February 6, 1999 Following pressure from the Western NATO allies, the two warring sides in the conflict in Kosovo have come together for a peace conference in Rambouillet, France. Southwest of Paris, Rambouillet is a beautiful chateau surrounded by a superb forest. Built in the 14th century for Francis I, it has been the home to French kings and queensMarie-Antoinette was oneas well as Napoleon Bonaparte, who spent a last night there on his way to exile on the island of Saint Helena. Charles X took refuge in the chateau before his abdication. Much later it was to become a presidential residence, from which Charles de Gaulle gave the order to march on Paris following its liberation by the Allies in the Second World War. How strange that this peaceful town with its historic chateau has become the venue for a critical moment in a Balkan conflict. Television images of the site contrast sharply with the conflict that seems both near and far. It's even stranger that the two opposing Yugoslav parties should meet here. It is hoped that their removal from the area of conflict can change the violent dynamic that exists between them. The delegations do not meet face to face, however. They are staying on different floors while mediators conduct "shuttle diplomacy" between floors. If there weren't a war, this would be comic.

February 12, 1999 By all accounts, the Serbian delegation at the conference is composed of low-ranking officials. Analysts suggest this is Milosevic's method of lowering the status of these talks. This would have the effect of downplaying any results achieved at the conference. Is this a stalling tactic on the part of Milosevic to give him time to solidify his position in Yugoslavia?

February 19, 1999 Despite the relative and uncertain calm at Rambouillet, violence, kidnappings, and bombings by both sides continue in Kosovo. Media

reports, however, are focusing on the talks. Expectations are high but uncertain. What is certain is that if the talks are not successful the conflict will be renewed and expanded. One gets the sense that a greater escalationas opposed to a long war of attritionis the anticipated alternative to failed talks. One disturbing sign is the quiet departure from Kosovo of "verifiers" from the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe). The OSCE has confirmed that full preparations have been made for an abrupt evacuation of its personnel.

February 23, 1999 The talks have ended, but media reports call the conference "inconclusive." It would appear that there is an agreement to agree . . . later! The parties have agreed to meet again on March 15th to discuss the implementation of the deal. According to a statement issued at the end of the conference, "The parties must abstain from any action which would undermine the achievements of Rambouillet. In particular, we expect the parties to honor fully and immediately the ceasefire which should be in place throughout Kosovo, to abstain from all provocative actions . . . and to comply with the relevant [UN] Security Council Resolutions." Why do these words seem so powerless? In summarizing the talks, one media report refers to a loss of international credibility and describes the talks as an "abyss." U.S. spokesman James Rubin is quoted as saying "Peace is not an event, it's a process." His statement especially suggests that the talks are not conclusive. What has been achieved in this "provisional understanding"? It appears that Belgrade has accepted some sort of Albanian self-government and some sort of international military presence in Kosovo; it's only a peace deal in principle. A final agreement is to be signed in the coming weeks. One analyst has wondered when the Kosovo Liberation Army will become in effect the Kosovo Liberation Party. The Serbian delegation has received a hero's welcome on its return to Belgrade, but NATO's threat has not been removed.

It's important to note that at the talks in Rambouillet, the KLA representatives have not won the three things they had sought: a referendum on independence, the deployment of NATO troops, or a real peace. One of their delegates, however, has promised to achieve these in the follow-up talks. Meanwhile, Russia has warned NATO not to use force against Yugoslavia in the event of a total breakdown of the peace initiative. Fuel to the fire?

The Yugoslav army has 4500 troops, more than 60 tanks, and additional military hardware on the Kosovo border. Refugees continue to flee, many now to Macedonia.

March 18, 1999 The Kosovar Albanians at Rambouillet have signed a peace deal that calls for a broad interim autonomy for Kosovo and for its implementation by 28 000 NATO troops. Serb delegates, however, have refused to sign, and the talks have been suspended. A one-sided agreement seems futile and a contradiction of terms.

March 20, 1999 The international peace monitors in Kosovo have been evacuated. Yugoslav forces have launched offensives against the KLA. NATO is ready.

March 23, 1999 U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke has returned from Belgrade where he warned Milosevic of imminent air strikes unless the Serbs sign the peace agreement. Adamant about not allowing NATO troops into Yugoslavia, as stipulated in the agreement, Milosevic has said no. Holbrooke therefore has declared that the Rambouillet talks have failed. NATO has announced the authorization of air strikes. Milosevic has declared a state of emergency in Yugoslavia. In all likelihood, tomorrow the war in Yugoslavia will become an international conflict.

March 24, 1999: Belgrade has been bombed Today, NATO forces were ordered by Secretary General Solana to bomb Belgrade, Yugoslavia. This is the first time in its history that NATO has attacked a sovereign nation. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said "We have a duty to see justice is done." U.S. President Bill Clinton has told the world that NATO had to act to prevent a wider war.

March 30, 1999: The end of the first week of bombing NATO has been bombing Yugoslavia for a week now and has rejected as "unacceptable" a ceasefire proposal from Milosevic. In the second night of bombing, 100 warplanes dropped their bombs on Belgrade. In the subsequent nights, the bombing became a sustained attack. Military commanders were authorized to target tanks and other facilities. The first major loss on NATO's side, the downing of a Stealth fighter, does not seem to have weakened the alliance's resolve. At this point in the war, 500 000 Kosovars have fled their homes, many telling horrifying stories of atrocities. One report describes the pilots as "tense, anxious, and busy." One can imagine what those in Belgrade are feeling.

April 6, 1999: The second week Suggestions that NATO's bombs would quickly end the Serbian opposition to the peace agreement are being questioned at the end of this second week of the campaign. Government buildings in central

Belgrade and key bridges over the Danube (a critical transportation route) have been destroyed. The Serbs have declared a unilateral ceasefire. NATO, whom the Serb media are calling Nazis, have dismissed the offer. The refugee situation is now a serious crisis. The UN is warning that refugees inside Kosovo could face starvation and has reported that a third of the province's population has fled. For Americans, the war came home when three U.S. soldiers were captured near the Macedonian border and shown on Belgrade television. International refugee relief efforts have been stepped up. Macedonia says it will allow a refugee camp to be set up for the 100 000 people trapped at its border who are trying to get out of Kosovo.

April 13, 1999: The third week The world media are focusing as much on the refugee crisis as on the bombing. Macedonia has removed 30 000 refugees from its border area and there is concern and doubt about their fate. Eight thousand NATO troops are being sent to Macedonia to help deal with the refugee situation. Media reports indicate that it is now a question of the expulsion of ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo; there are fears of a new wave of ethnic cleansing. Is NATO playing into the hands of Milosevic?

Albania has committed its airspace, ports, and military installations to the NATO campaign. Boris Yeltsin, in one of the more frightening moments to date, has suggested that Kosovo "could spark a world war" if Russia is forced to intervene.

It's Orthodox Easter in Serbia. The bombing continues.

May 4, 1999: The sixth week Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vuk Drasovik has been fired because of his opposition to his government's position on the Kosovo conflict. Is this a good sign that there is a split in the Yugoslav leadership? Is there more good news in the fact that Russia has led the way in stepping up diplomatic efforts to end the war? Jesse Jackson has gone to Serbia and has negotiated the release of the three American prisoners. Is releasing them a ploy on the part of Milosevic? Is his resolve weakening?

So-called soft bombs are now being used to take out Yugoslav electricity supplies. Belgrade and much of the country are experiencing blackouts. Will the civilian population force Milosevic to back down?

In the last few weeks: NATO accidentally bombed a convoy of Kosovar refugees; cases of malnutrition have been reported among children crossing into northern Albania; other Yugoslav cities have

also been hit hard; targets in Belgrade directly related to Milosevic (his official residence and party headquarters) have been hit; Serbian state television was temporarily knocked out after a missile hit.

NATO has ended its 50th anniversary summit with the threat of an oil embargo. Russia is strongly opposed. The allied bombing campaign is now in its second month.

May 25, 1999: The ninth week This is the 63rd day of NATO's bombing campaign. The war has become standard nighttime viewing, on North American television and elsewhere around the world, especially, in the most real sense, in Yugoslavia. For television viewers, it risks becoming routine. Even coverage from Belgrade itself shows Yugoslavs during daylight hours going about their lives despite the destruction that has occurred around them.

The last three weeks have been an often confusing series of events. For NATO there have been some serious setbacks: an accidental missile strike against the Chinese embassy in Belgrade; an attack on the village of Korisa in southern Kosovo in which 100 civilians were killed; a threat by Russia to pull out of the peace efforts if its mediation work continues to be ignored; a member nation, Greece, calling for a temporary halt to the bombing; a mistaken bombing of a position held by the KLA; the bombing of a prison in which 19 people died and a hospital in Belgradea media relations disaster for NATO. China, referring to NATO's "barbarous act" refused to accept Western apologies and placed a major obstacle in the path of the peace initiative by saying that the UN Security Council, of which it is a member, could not discuss peace plans until NATO stopped bombing. In the case of Korisa, NATO has called it a "legitimate military target" and has accused the Serbs of using civilians in Kosovo has human shields.

And yet . . . the bombing has intensified; there has been no let-up. There is increasing talk (and concern) about ground troops. U.S. former military chief Colin Powell has criticized the conduct of the war saying that NATO must go "all out" to achieve its aims. Britain and the U.S. have made public shows of unity, and NATO has doubled the size of the peacekeeping forces that it says will eventually police the situation in Kosovo. There are reports of hundreds of Serb reservists returning home from Kosovo "without orders," meaning they have deserted.

And clear skies over Yugoslavia have facilitated the bombing. More power facilities, and now water facilities, have been destroyed. The civilian population must increasingly be feeling the effect.

Most important perhaps, in terms of the international pressure and involvement in this war to force an end to the hostilities, Russia and NATO countries have agreed on a draft peace plan for Kosovo. It calls for UN-endorsed "effective international civil and security presences" as well as substantial self-government for Kosovo. This doesn't seem so far off the original Rambouillet agreement.

June 1, 1999: The tenth week Slobodan Milosevic has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). A warrant has been signed for his arrest. This may be a significant blow against Serbia's leader and a gesture in support of NATO's campaign. Russia, however, is still causing some dissension in the ranks. Foreign Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin has said that the NATO campaign has set back relations between the two superpowers "by several decades."

Favourable weather has continued to facilitate the bombing. But NATO planes have hit an old people's home in southeastern Serbia, a bridge on which 11 civilians died, and Albanian army forces, in error, on the Albanian side of the Kosovar border.

There is a report that differences between NATO and Russia are being resolved.

June 10, 1999: The eleventh and final week On Wednesday, June 2, Russian and European envoyshaving at last settled their differencespresented Slobodan Milosevic with a peace proposal, which he accepted the following day after it was approved by the Serbian parliament. The bombing, however, did not stop. Compliance with NATO's demands was something the alliance was not going to take for granted. And as it turned out, there was another breakdown in talks aimed at assuring Serbian withdrawal from Kosovo. Once again NATO threatened to intensify the bombing, but after a heart-stopping week, yesterday, the 78th day of this bombing campaign, Yugoslavia agreed to a full withdrawal. Today the bombing stopped; the war in Kosovo has come to an end. There are reports, however, that Serbs in Kosovo, fearing reprisals, are now preparing to flee.

Witnessing this conflict from the safe haven of Canada, I am reminded of the terrible, and sadly universal nature of war. War seems to be a human malady for which a cure constantly eludes us. As a frequent news watcher, I have been a "media consumer" of many wars and in each war I see on televisionbeginning with the Vietnam War, the first "televised war"some common themes recur, universal issues that are reflected in much of the human behaviour

we see every day: power struggles, the need for dominance and control, the inability or unwillingness to accept differences, despotism, hatred, and vengefulness. Is war endemic to human society? Are we the most aggressive animals on the planet? How thin is the veneer of civilization? I have been re-reading The Plague by the French existentialist writer Albert Camus. One passage in particular gives a brief insightdare I say hope? Camus was a writer who created universal awareness in his work. His simple reminder in this passage of the human folly that perpetuates warand the need to identify with the reality of individual sufferingis perhaps the fundamental lesson we can all learn.

"There have been many plagues and wars in history: yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise. . . . When a war breaks out people say It's too stupid; it can't last long.' But though a war may well be too stupid,' that doesn't prevent its lasting. Stupidity has a knack of getting its way. . . . A pestilence isn't a thing made to man's measure; therefore we tell ourselves that pestilence is a mere bogey of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away. . . . [S]ome thirty or so great plagues known to history [have] accounted for nearly a hundred million deaths. But what are a hundred million deaths? When one has served in a war, one hardly knows what a dead man is, after a while. And since a dead man has no substance unless one has actually seen him dead, a hundred million corpses broadcast through history are no more than a puff of smoke in the imagination." From The Plague by Albert Camus, translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert.

Discussion 1. A plague is a contagious bacterial disease that develops from a micro-organism and spreads rapidly over a wide area. Metaphorically, it has often come to mean a great trouble or a great evil that is visited on human beings as a punishment for some wrongdoing. In what ways is war like a plague? In order to answer this question, suggest what is at the core of a plague, how it spreads, how it is controlled or stopped, and the effects of a plague not only on people's bodies but on their minds.

2. Because human history has known so much war and human destruction, one can understand why our minds might become defensive to the point where "one hardly knows what a dead man is." Why is it necessary for us to think in terms of individual deaths and individual suffering in the war in Kosovo? How do we assure that those who suffered and died in this war do not become another "puff of smoke in the imagination" of humankind?

Follow-up Activity Choose a major national or international news event and begin to keep a journal of factual information, opinions, and your own personal comments and reactions. As your journal entries grow, you will find that you are becoming more and more informed and consequently involved in the particular event you have chosen. Revisit your journal from time to time and examine your perceptions. You will see a growing awareness and a growing knowledge base. Imagine reading your journal in 10 years time. Imagine your descendants reading it.




SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule Kosovo In Black and White

All wars have been documented, through myths and legends, first-person oral or written accounts, paintings, photographs, radio and television coverage, or through some other medium. As you read the following excerpts, think about how the "truth" about the war in Kosovo can best be recorded.

"Two of the prints were all my own work and I considered them pretty fair examples of the photographer's art. The first was a study of a heap of amputated limbs; arrayed against a white background, they had the gravity of a still-life. I was pleased with the tuft of grass spraying up from a clenched fist. The second was of the funeral ceremony held in the region we had recently quitted. Removing this second print from its waxed wrappings I examined it for fading. It was acute, the white vestments of the chaplain and the winding cloths of the dead standing out against the stony landscape. Possibly there was a little blurring in the left-hand corner, but it was scarcely noticeable." From Master Georgie by Beryl Brainbridge. In this novel about the Crimean War, Pompey Jones, a self-taught photographer documents in cold, detached images the horror of war.

"Television, and most of all, reality-based' television programming, it seemed to me, had come to share in the chief vice of pornography, which, in presenting a reproduced image (in other words, by extracting or excising from its native context the rather narrow spectrum of information content which the medium is capable of reproducing), devalues the original act by making it, as it were, mechanical and strictly objective. Everything in the image, by the process of extracting it from the context on which it relies for life, for its existence, is reduced to an object, and objects can interact in no other way than mechanically." From Ockham's Razor by Wade Rowland. In this non-fiction work, former CBC journalist Rowland describes a trip to Europe with his children during which he tries to extract them from their North American culture and mindset,

introduce them to new, authentic experiences, and tries to teach them "how to be civilized."

In "Exile and Return," a photographic essay in the July 19, 1999, issue of The New Yorker magazine, photographer Gilles Peress documents the "full sweep of history" that occurred in Kosovo in only three months. The black and white images are an undiluted representation of what occurred in Kosovo during this war. The art and talent of the photographer communicate a reality that is stark, cruel, graphic, brutal, and simple. There is no colour in the artwork, no sound track, no subtitles, no narration, no interruptions. The magazine reader sees what the camera saw. In a "beautiful" two-page photograph, Albanian refugees aboard a bus arrive in Macedonia "only to find that most Macedonians did not want them there, either." Their faces, especially the eyes, show fear and suspicion, and one gets a sense of the interminable journey they have begun. Reflected in the bus windows is a rough landscape in which we see anonymous Macedonians clustered here and there. In this mirror image, one senses a parallel apprehension and wariness. Another two-page spread is a close-up of two women's faces. Both faces are vivid with grief and torment. One woman raises her hand to her face as if she were attempting to repress the vocalization of her despair. What may be the most disturbing of the photographs is that of an old woman, "her wrists broken by Serbs, who died by the road, and is tended by fellow-refugees who do not know her name." The toothless woman, head wrapped in a simple scarf, is laid out on a blanket. A refugee gently places his hands on her thorax as if he were trying to alleviate the suffering of the woman, even in death. There is in the photograph a silent despair, which is also felt by the viewer. How could anyone be so cruel to this woman? For what possible reasons would anyone want to harm her? What pain and fear must she have experienced? The questions, like the suffering, seem futile.

Discussion and Activities 1. In what ways can art serve history in recording the events of a war? What seems incongruous or contradictory about artists depicting war? Give specific examples of art forms that you have seen or heard that express the truth about war.

2. The Crimean War was another tragic war, best known perhaps because of the work and humanity of Florence Nightingale. In this war there was great loss of life and great suffering. What is especially acute in the way in which the character Pompey Jones describes his

photograph of the results of this war? In your opinion, does he remain detached from his subject? Why does he mention "a little blurring in the left-hand corner"?

3. To what extent do you think that television coverage of the war in Kosovo devalued the tragic events of Kosovo by extracting them from their context mechanically and objectively? Does this News in Review program do that?

4. Why might simple black and white photographs be the best medium for depicting the horror of war? What must the viewer do when looking at a black and white photograph that is not required in other, more colourful media?

5. Find a black and white photograph of an event in the war in Kosovo that you feel is particularly close to the truth of the conflict. Present your photo to the class and explain why you have chosen it. You may wish to describe its composition, its artistic elements, and the role of both the photographer and the viewer.

6. Watch this segment of this News in Review special program again. Working in small groups, choose collectively a short segment that you find particularly effective in communicating the reality of the war in Kosovo. Discuss why you find it effective and then choose a spokesperson who will show the segment to the class and present your findings.




SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule Discussion, Research, and Essay Questions

1. World leaders, including Prime Minister Jean Chretien, attended a 40-country Balkans summit in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia at the end of July 1999. In a communiqué, the summit leaders said, "We regret that we were not able to invite the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia [Slobodan Milosevic] to be present today as a full and equal participant in the Stability Pact." Later, in the summit's final communiqué, the leaders called on Yugoslav authorities "to embrace democratic change" or remain an outcast. Should Milosevic or representatives of his government have been present? Why did they exclude him? How does making him an "outcast" advance peace in the Balkans? Was this an alliance against Serbia as opposed to an alliance for peace? Using these focus questions, discuss the implications of this summit.

2. At the present time, some 34 000 troops of the NATO-led K-FOR peacekeeping force control Kosovo. This is 16 000 fewer than originally planned. Under the terms of the peace agreement, the Kosovo Liberation Army must demilitarize fully. The United Nations is to recruit a multinational police force of about 3000, which will enforce law and order in the province until a local force is established. Under the UN's special representative Bernard Kouchner, a civilian administration will be set up that will help resettle refugees and provide basic services. How will these interim measures maintain peace in the area? Suggest the purpose and mandate of each.

3. Of the estimated 900 000 refugees (internal and external) who fled their homes in Kosovo, more than 700 000 have returned at the time of this writing. The United Nations refugee agency listed their key needs as: shelter, food aid, and the removal of land mines. Write a one-page "backgrounder" for an aid agency in which you create an awareness of these figures and how they represent the ongoing costs of this war and all wars.

4. The evidence of massacres of ethnic Albanians grew following the end of the war. Consistent accounts and mass graves confirmed the atrocities. Moreover, the International Criminal Tribunal's indictment of Slobodan Milosevic lists six specific sites: Racak, Bella Cerka, Velika Krushna, Djakovica, Crkolez, and Izbica. Research one of these "specimen charges of crimes against humanity" and report your findings.

5. Since the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from Kosovo, tens of thousands of Serbs, and many Roma, fled the province, fearing reprisals. According to the Yugoslav Red Cross, about 100 000 people fled to Serbia. Serbs in Kosovo have been attacked and kidnapped, and Serb homes have been looted and burned. If the international community wishes to preserve the ethnic mix that has always existed in Kosovo, how will it accomplish this? Is preserving the historical mix in the best interests of the Balkans? Why is this the fundamental dilemma of this region of the world and of so many other war-torn regions?




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SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule · 2014. 4. 15. · SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC: Reasserting Serb Rule Introduction In an article titled "Milosevic's Vision of Glory Unleashes Decade