==================================================
All brasscheck.com dispatches on the US-led
attack on Yugoslavia are available, complete
with index, at http://www.brasscheck.com/yugoslavia
Please inform your friends, colleagues, and
others who you think might care.
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May 27, 1999

Slobodan Milosevic and four powerful aides were indicted
today by the UN court. The charges: causing the deportation of
740,000 Kosovo Albanians and for the murder of 340 Kosovo Albanians.

The first charge is bizarre because anyone following the
situation knows that the vast majority, over 90%, of
the refugees left the country AFTER NATO started bombing,
many claiming they were in fear not of "the Serbs" but
of NATO. Sources:
http://www.brasscheck.com/yugoslavia/directory/51099a.html

Another credible report has at least one third
of Albanian refugee fleeing Kosovo deeper *into*
Yugoslavia to avoid KLA forces which have been
known to terrorize them. Sources:
http://www.brasscheck.com/yugoslavia/directory/51999b.html

As for the murder of 340 Kosovo Albanians, I don't have
enough information to comment, but the AP report on the
indictment fails to mention if these particular invididuals
were: a) armed members of the KLA terrorist group or
b) people providing the KLA with logistical support.
It makes a difference and I notice the AP report took pains
to *not* lable them "civilians."

What will the effect of the indictment be?

``Now Milosevic is put into a corner and there's no incentive
for him to make a compromise,'' said Vojin Dimitrijevic, director
of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights.
Source: AP

Surely the court must have known that by issuing this
indictment they are insuring further bloodshed.

This is the court of the same organization that claims not to
have known civilian targets were being hit by NATO until 51 days
into the war:
http://www.brasscheck.com/yugoslavia/directory/51399b.html
and has issued statements that the war has created no ecological
threat though the leaders of neighboring countries have complained
about the effect the war is having on *their* environment,
hundreds of miles away.
http://asia.yahoo.com/headlines/260599/world/927728880-90526142819.newsworld.htm
l

Meanwhile President Clinton is in the second day of
a blatant violation of the War Powers Act which makes this
war indisputably illegal. The "peacekeeping"
force on the south border of Yugoslavia will expand
to 50,000 and is now being openly described by
policy makers as a potential invasion force. The
US Air Force has cancelled all retirements and
declared Kosovo "a major theater war" - even though
war has not been declared, the 60 days given Clinton
by the War Powers Act is up, and an apparent majority
of Congress is now opposed to the war (16 pro-bombing
Democrats have changed their tune.)

In the midst of the ongoing madness, some NATO members are
making timid requests for restraint.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- "Canada is lodging a plea for NATO to choose
its bombing targets in Yugoslavia more carefully as the Clinton
administration extends its review of U.S. policy in the Kosovo
conflict."

Germany and the Netherlands have extended similar pleas.

Russia, China, and India have called for an immediate
end to the bombing as have numerous other countries.
On May 25, Russia's Yeltsin went so far as to threaten
"reprisals" and "extreme measures" if the assaults on
civilians continue. It is within the country's capability
to act on these threats.

Let's see: 1) innocent civilians are being killed daily;
2) the life support systems of a nation are
being destroyed piece by piece threatening the
lives and health of millions; 3) the majority of the
world's population is calling for an immediate halt
to the bombing; 4) two major military powers, China
and Russia, have expressed extreme objections, the latter
going so far as to suggest possible reprisals, and
5) the president is acting in direct violation of the
War Powers Act and the Constitution.

Not satisfied with destroying the country's electrical
and water systems, NATO "voted" yesterday to destroy
its telephone and computer communications systems
as well.

Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-05/27/058l-052799-idx.html

The evidence for the charges from the UN's court?

"The tribunal has been forced to rely largely on eyewitness
accounts from refugees who have poured into neighboring Macedonia
and Albania because Belgrade authorities repeatedly have refused
to let Arbour or her deputies enter Kosovo."

>"The committe had not personally interviewed a single witness.
>The report was based on 1,200 depositions mostly from refugees,
>taken by 22 barristers from Britain. None of the witnesses
>were placed on oath, their names were ommitted (to prevent
>reprisals against their relatives), and hearsay evidence was
>accepted at full face value...(later) a commission of inquiry
>...failed markedly to corroborate a single major allegation on
>the report."
>
>- Phillip Nightly from "The First Casualty"
>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0156311305/emediaA
>
>Posted by Brasscheck April 16, 1999

The above is the historical account of how the
United States was drawn into World War One when
British propagandists accused - falsely it
was proven later - the "Huns" of bayoneting
Belgian babies and crucifying Canadian POWs. There
is an obvious problem with being drawn into
World War Three. At least two of our potential
adversaries possess sufficient nuclear weaponry
to destroy large sections of our major population
centers.

The recklessness of what Clinton, Blair and
their controllers are engaged in is unprecedented.

And the US news media, with very few exceptions, carries
on as if all is well.