This past summer, I left Croatia to the north and mounted a bus that winded through the misty, majestic mountains of Bosnia into Sarajevo. As the sun rose over the historic valley, I saw pock-marked homes that still lay demolished, seventeen years after the war ended. Here I was, at the interface between great religions and empires, where a young Bosnian nationalist’s assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand, the maximum representative of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, supposedly sparked WWI. Respiring centuries of history, I began to question and dig in order to understand what brought imperialist aggression to this beautiful, sacred land, beginning long before 1991 and continuing through NATO and the U.S.’s bombing of Belgrade in 1999.
NATO’s War
Sixteen years ago, the forces of NATO, led by the United States and Germany, waged war on the people of Serbia. Over the course of 78 days in 1999 — from March 24th to June 10th — NATO dropped 79,000 tons of bombs and 10,000 cruise missiles on Serbia, causing enormous casualties to the civilian population and extensive damage to the economic infrastructure. The corporate media spoon-fed the world a false, facile explanation to justify its all-out assault on the nation’s sovereignty. They focused solely on what they portrayed as the sudden resurgence of ancient bloodletting feuds among the nations of Yugoslavia and the need for the West to come to the rescue. The mainstream media repeated this perspective ad nauseam because it reinforced a grim, generalized view that the nations within Yugoslavia were motivated by selfish, narrow interests and “needed” Western intervention. This article revisits what really lay behind the Western military powers’ flagrant violation of international law and what lessons anti-imperialists can draw today from the dismemberment of Yugoslavia.
Torn Apart at the Seams
The victors of WWII hoped to sink their fangs into the Balkans since 1946 when the Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia, led by Marshal Josep “Tito” Broz, defeated the Nazis and established the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The son of a Croat father and Slovenian mother, Tito grew up in deep poverty. He became a metal worker and worked for the German Benz car factory. He rose to the leadership of labor movement, the Partisan army, the revolutionary party and the workers’ state. What made him a special leader was his ability to unite the different nationalities of Yugoslavia behind the idea of a strong, peaceful multinational state.
The profiteers of the West knew that it was only the Yugoslavian fortress —the idea of a strong, united people personified in the principled leadership of Marshal Tito — that protected the individual nations —Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania — from complete re-penetration by foreign capital. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 and the socialist camp left the door wide open for Western maneuvers to rip apart one of the few self-determining and socialist countries left on the global map.
Yugoslavia’s demise was hastened by outside interference which dictated that this centrifugal force had to be smashed. Behind the scenes, foreign meddling stoked the flames of ethnic hatred by encouraging the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo. In 1991, President George Bush and Congress passed the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill which cut off loans, credit and trade for any part of Yugoslavia that did not declare its independence. Italy promised Montenegro $40 billion in “aid” if it went independent. Germany coddled the Croatian bourgeoisie, enticing them with investment promises. Albania was built up as “the capital of the Pentagon in the Balkans” and US, Turkish and Albanian joint forces trained and supported the Kosovo independence movement.[1] Meanwhile, Serbia —the most stubbornly independent republic with the deepest ties to non-Western countries, namely Russia— was subjected to sanctions. As a result, the per capita Serbian income was reduced from $3,000 in 1990 to $700 by 1993.
Yugoslavia & a Correct Evaluation of the National Question
The Yugoslavian economy was not classically socialist but it retained features of a planned economy unacceptable to international high-finance.
Slobodan Milosovic, the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and his leadership became imperialism’s principle obstacle. The other nationalities had brokered deals with their imperialist sponsors, retreated into their own fiefdoms and were open for business. Milosovic had to go. Consequently, he became the latest anti-Christ needed to validate the unleashing of a full scale NATO war. Milosovic’s intransigence before NATO was his true crime, far worse in the eyes of the West than the rapes, murders and massacres that occurred under his command and the command of every warring party in the 1991-92 conflict that saw over 200,000 killed and four million displaced.
Only under socialism was it possible to unite all of the nationalities on the basis of equality and common ownership of property. Serious efforts were made through Affirmative Action like programs to invest in the development of the historically more underdeveloped southern regions of Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo. The League of Communists of Yugoslavia in each republic forbid their leadership and rank-and-file from having a nationalist orientation. The ideals of internationalism and working-class unity were the bedrocks of the entire social system. For a more-in-depth evaluation of Yugoslavia’s history and economy, see Richard Becker’s article.
Socialists respect the right of every oppressed nation to self-determination. But we oppose those forces who claim to speak in the name of a nation but are really acting in conjunction with U.S. imperialism.
The separatist claims of the NATO-supported, fascist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) were in reality against the interests of the working class of all nations. As Kosovo —a region rich with mineral wealth—was pried away from Serbia, Serbia was subjected to a 78 day bombing spree. Gregory Elich —author of Killing Democracy: CIA and Pentagon Operations in the Post-Soviet Period— detailed NATO’s intentional targeting of auto factories, civilian infrastructure, and the Chinese embassy. Kosovo became the host of Camp Bondsteel the US and NATO’s largest base in the Balkans where 28,000 foreign troops continue, to this day, to oversee the colonial project.
Not surprisingly, Kellogg, Brown and Root, KBR Inc. —a military subsidiary of Halliburton— received the massive contract to build and supply the base. In the words of capitalist ideologue Thomas Friedman; “The hidden hand of the market will never work without the hidden fist —McDonalds cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the F-15.”[2] Kosovo —like Tibet, South Sudan, & the Kurds of Iraq (but not Turkey) offer an example of imperialism’s sinister manipulation of the question of national liberation.
Srebrenica: Sorting through the propaganda
Nazi propagandist Joseph Gobbles infamously said “A lie repeated 1,000 times becomes the truth.” One-sided reporting simultaneously freed the US proxy forces of blame while vilifying any impediments to their underlying designs. The most glaring example in the case of Yugoslavia was what the West called “the Srebrenica genocide.”
There is no question that the siege of the majority Muslim, Bosnian town of Srebrenica was horrific. But was it any more or less grisly than the Croatian ethnic cleansing of Serbian families in the Krajina region or the massacring of Serbs by Muslim warlord Naser Oric in the days leading up to the Srebrenica massacre? All sides committed mass murder, rape and other war crimes. Imperialism needed Srebrenica and pure victimhood of Bosnia’s Muslims to justify their wanton destruction of the infrastructure and economy of Serbia. Scholars Michael Parenti and Diana Johnstone, among others, painstakingly documented the one-sided coverage to guilt trip the Western public into supporting the NATO war. As we have seen in Iraq, Libya and Syria, the pro-imperialist media is very adept at feigning concern for human rights. The U.S.’s wars of the 21st century are justified under the guise of “humanitarianism.”
Lessons Learned
Studying and understanding the dynamics of the dismemberment of Yugoslavia teaches us valuable lessons that we can apply to the empire’s ongoing wars of conquest across the world today. As the godfather of all war criminals Henry Kissinger reminds us, the U.S. “has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”
Although the ruling class has whipped up islamophobia to justify its imperial adventures in Afghanistan, Palestine and beyond and to rationalize the repression of dissent here at home, imperialism is not anti-Muslim across the board. They are far too cunning for this. In the case of Yugoslavia, one of their main proxies was the Muslim president of Bosnia, Alija Izetbegovic.
Izetbegovic served three years in jail for his support of the Nazi occupation of Croatia during WWII and later became an extremist advocate of Sharia law. Today it is common knowledge that the U.S. conspired with extremist, jihadist forces from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Albania and beyond to wage their proxy war in Bosnia. Professor Peter Dale Scott documents the West’s use of al-Qaida in Bosnia. He argues that the training of some KLA units in terrorist camps run by Osama bin Laden followed a long pattern also used by National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski in Afghanistan in 1979 to defeat the secular government of President Najibullah and the Progressive Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Not a word was uttered against the honor of the Muslim Bosnians because they were the “good guys” in this conflict. They needed a pure victim and a totally evil aggressor (Serbia) led by Satan himself (Milosovic).
Through think tanks, academic conferences, professional analysts and paid experts, the warmongers constantly monitor dynamic situations. They shift alliances according to their interests. Imperialism has proven that it will renege on old partnerships and create new ones according to the moment.
It is enough to remember that “bad guys” such as Manuel Noriega, Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden were all once stooges of the U.S., when the forces they oversaw did the U.S.’s bidding. When it no longer served their interests to support them, the empire turned on them and converted them into the latest boogeyman (i.e. ISIS). Their crimes and human rights records then became convenient excuses to bomb, invade and occupy Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan which were all steps in the recolonization of these regions.
When the non-aligned Yugoslavia functioned as a buffer zone between the Soviet Union and the US in the Global Class War, the IMF and the European banks were content to lend it money, drive another wedge through the idea of Soviet-Yugoslavian unity and keep it —even if only partially— in their sphere of influence.[3] With the rise of the unipolar world, this calculation changed. The US and EU countries did not stop their war drive until the country was completely under its boot again.
Yugo-Nostalgia
According to studies by historians and sociologists, a high percentage of people today —spanning across the different nationalities— yearn for the unity and social stability guaranteed in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[4]
In Zagreb and Sarajevo I found responses consistent with this sense of Yugo-nostalgia. Many citizens of the former Yugoslavia bemoaned the stripping away of people’s right to health care, a home, a university education, a job and social peace —and the concomitant privatization of these services. In their opinion, these maneuvers represented the thirdworldization of the Balkans, a return to a position of servitude they had valiantly overcome. According to an article in The Economist entitled “Balkan’s Economies, Mostly Miserable,” 23% of Serbian workers are unemployed today and this number climbs to the 50% mark for younger workers. These statistics are representative of the struggles of the different nationalities of the region to make ends meet and resist the globalization forced upon them by NATO bombs.
A Template for Imperialist Wars Today and Tomorrow
Karl Marx said that “History repeats itself first as tragedy then as farce.” The dynamics of the Yugoslavian situation repeat themselves again today and the American public is being duped again.
The mainstream media —as the spokesperson of the State Department—does not get it wrong. A key part of our training as anti-imperialists —dating back to the Zimmerwald Conference when socialists maintained that WWI was not fought in the interests of working people— is to read beyond the headlines and stay principled when imperialism goes into war drive. When our class enemies beat the war drums and pretend to appeal to Americans’ human compassion —as in the case of every US invasion— it is necessary to decipher what the empire’s true interests are. No matter how relentless, sensationalist and patriotic the barrage of propaganda, it is unacceptable to line up shoulder to shoulder as our oppressors at home relentlessly demonize inconvenient nationalist forces abroad. It is important to return to Malcolm X’s formulation: ““If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” Our defense of a nation’s right to defend themselves vis-à-vis foreign domination is not a blanket endorsement of their social systems. Surely every social system has its flaw and challenges, but this is no justification to dismantle the central state as we have seen in the countries aforementioned in this article.
As the billionaires run out of new markets to conquer, they are seeking to expand. China, Russian and the other BRICS nations are demonized because they have resisted deeper penetration. The wars of the 21st century will be ignited along these lines and will come packaged in human rights rhetoric. Any nation who resists capitalist re-enslavement —Zimbabwe, the Bolivarian camp in Latin America, eastern Ukraine, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Cuba and the DPRK— will be in the cross heirs. The hundreds of thousands of refugees who seek to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe are the very victims of these recolonization efforts. They have been defuturized by US/EU proxy wars. While the corporate media outlets lament the plight of the refugees, they do not utter an honest word about the source of this human conflagration. Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan are today’s Yugoslavia. The greatest solidarity we can render to imperialism’s millions of victims is by challenging its power right here in the belly of the beast! Until then, in the words of the prophet of peace, Bob Marley, “Everywhere is war.”
[1] Dakovic, Mirko. The Center for Peace in the Balkans. March 22, 2001. “Destabilizing the Balkans: US & Albanian Defense Cooperation in the 1990s.”
[2] Cited in the New York Times, March 28th 1999.
[3] The Soviet leadership was to blame for failing to unite with Yugoslavia on an anti-imperialist basis. This was due to the fact that post WWII, the Soviet Union agreed with the US and Britain to divide up Southern Europe between the three powers, with Greece and Yugoslavia falling into the US/British sphere of influence and Bulgaria and Hungary falling into the Soviet orbit. Stalin then unjustifiably expelled Yugoslavia from the Socialist Camp at 1948 Cominform meeting accusing the Yugoslavs, among other charges, of “Nationalism; and, ‘counter-revolutionary Trotskyism.” This was a huge gift to imperialism. With his back against the wall, Tito soon after moved into a military alliance with NATO. He was central figure along with Nasser, Sukarno, Nehru and Nkrumah in the non-aligned Bandung Conference of 1955, clearly an attempt to draw the newly decolonizing countries away from the Soviet-led socialist camp.
[4] Several studies are cited in Titostalgia: A Study in Nostalgia for Josep Broz by MitjaVelikonja.
Good afternoon Professor, Is there class tonight?
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The mainstream media has a significant impact on the information that is diffused to the public. We see how the United States doesn’t care about any other country but its own. There have been many cases where the U.S had intervened and manipulated the media to make people believe them. They made Yugoslavia be portrayed in a negative way.
We see how the United States has tried to block their acts by trying to ensure that Yugoslavia needs western intervention. Marshal Josep known to be “Tito” defeated Nazi and rose as a leader to unite Yugoslavia. On the other hand, we see how President George Bush would cut trade or loans to any part of Yugoslavia that did not declare its independence. There was much interference involvement from other countries encouraging individual nations to become independent.
Many Yugoslavs wished to have unity and social stability under socialism. As stated in the article, “The ideals of internationalism and working-class unity were the bedrocks of the entire social system.” They were much aware of having to develop affirmative action in order to help underdeveloped nations, but fascist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) were in reality against the interests of the working class of all nations. They were more concern on their interest rather than any other nation. Moreover, “as we have seen in Iraq, Libya and Syria, the pro-imperialist media is very adept at feigning concern for human rights.” Which shows how the media outlet can easily manipulate people’s minds and the injustice Yugoslavians were under.
“Bad guys were all once stooges of the U.S. When the forces they over saw did the U. S’s bidding. When it no longer served their interest to support them, the empire turned on them and converted them into the latest boogeyman”. That is how the United States played the stage to every war fought, to every dispute and every interest they are after. When a nation does not comply with the imperialist power, in their own way, that is when the United States begin to instigate the surrenders states to pursue what U.S is after it. A clear example was Yugoslavia.
The United States saw the opportunity to dismantle what it was left of nationalism in Europe. It used its power to not only violated international laws and get away with it. But also, to put those countries against each other for its own benefit. As it said in this article, there is still foreign troops stationed in Kosovo, giving the United States a great deal of power over that region. These proxy war induce by United States, shouldn’t surprise anyone. This happens before with Cuba, were the United States also sanctioned the island as they did with Servia who was a great allay of Russia.
This article once again demonstrates the huge impact the mainstream media has when it comes to giving out information to the public. Here in America, especially, the news we receive from mainstream outlets often only tells one side of the story, or the side of the story that they only want us to here. When we are able to listen to other sources other than the mainstream ones, we are able to see how the United States really is, and how they do not care for any other country. The way that the United States has portrayed Yugoslavia and the events that have occurred there only further shows how the United States interferes in other countries’ all the time, then try to cover it up and make it seem as if they had no negative effect there.
In this article, it is shown how the United States has tried to justify the actions they have taken in Yugoslavia by attempting to convince the people that their help is needed. A majority of the Yugoslavs wanted to have unity and stability in their communities all under socialism. This meant that once Marshal Josep, who was known as “Tito” in the article, defeated the Nazi and became the leader of Yugoslavia; it was a good thing for the people because he had plans of uniting them all. The United States interfered in Yugoslavia and was ready to cut any part that would not declare their independence from the others. The United States thought it was appropriate for them to encourage and practically force parts of Yugoslavia to declare their independence and not unify. This once again shows that the United States believes they know what is best for other countries, when in reality they are not helping anyone but themselves.
In this article it really shows and proves that the U.S. does control what really goes on in the media. The reason is because that’s what the U.S. done with Yugoslavia; they produce what they wanted the people of the U.S. to hear what they were going to do with this country. What the U.S. is trying to do is get control and be involved in other nations, so what they did was put a bad news about the Yugoslavians out there. An example of something is when “George bush and congress passed the foreign operation appropriation bill”, which cut off all the important essential stuff Yugoslavia needed. “Some of the stuff they cut off was loans credit and trade, it was for any part of Yugoslavia that didn’t declare its independence”. They did all of this because the U.S. couldn’t control them, so what the mainstream media did was portray Yugoslavia as “bad” and they needed help. This is all because they didn’t’ want to do the U.S. bidding.
“Yugoslavia: A Blueprint for Imperialist Partition and Recolonization” discusses how the United States handles the media in order to make people believe that what the country is doing is acceptable. Instead of displaying both sides of the event, American media only shows the side of the story that they want the people to believe; this often occurs when the U.S. enters other countries for their own gain. Rather than explain the real reasons for their invasions, the government informs the public that American soldiers are entering these countries for others reasons. Specifically, this article displays how the United States carried out this system of propaganda in Yugoslavia.
In Yugoslavia, socialism allowed for all ethnicities to come together through ideals of equal rights and property ownership, which benefitted the working class members of Yugoslavia. Marshal Josep, or otherwise known as, “Tito” created the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. His experience with poverty at a young age gave him the skills he needed to create a system that linked people of all races and colors within Yugoslavia. However, in 1991, the Bush administration “passed the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill which cut off loans, credit and trade for any part of Yugoslavia that did not declare its independence.” George W. Bush and the legislation passed a bill that stopped capital and trade from entering Yugoslavian nations that were not self-governing. This bill caused areas to feel reluctant to become independant and lose the plan to unite that Josep had initially wanted. Whatever the United States wanted to occur became the law even though it was not the United States’ right to interfere with another country at all. Yugoslavian citizens privilege to an education and a job were taken away because of the American government’s greed.
This article is the perfect example of how the United States utilizes the media in order the manipulate the masses into thinking we are a superpower and leaders of democracy, when in reality we are one of the biggest bullies and instigators in the realm of international affairs. it is so easy to target a country with a weak economy or government because they have no means of fighting back when it comes to a country with a large military such as ours. If there is any type of resistance from those being oppressed, they are labeled as “terrorists” or “radicals”, thus inducing fear into those who aren’t even aware of what these citizens are subjected to on a daily basis. American greed has ruined the lives of so many families in these oppressed nations, yet they have the audacity to say they are intervening to perpetuate freedom and democracy. Its hard to believe people are not catching on to this phenomenon, and realizing that the United States is causing the issues that people at home are so afraid of. If one takes away the confidence and power of a nation, of course they are going to become complacent and simply accept whatever exploitation they receive. It is ironic how so many people yearn for socialist values in our government, yet fear socialists as a threat to our society and infrastructure. People must be willing to accept change in order for things to change. Doing one’s own research is also key in forming your own opinion separate from what the mainstream media feeds you.
After reading this article I now see how the media has a major effect on how the people obtain there information. Thinking about the media, I realized that within the U.S. the general population receive there news from huge corporations that filter current events to their bidding. By looking at multiple different news outlets, one can see the differences between what the mainstream news tells us vs how things really are. Yugoslavia and the occasions that have gone on there have been enclosed by the United States which shows how the country chooses to interfere with other countries.
The article shows how the United States convinces the people that what they did in Yugoslavia was necessary by telling the people that their support was needed. Through socialism the people of Yugoslavia wanted to have a stable community that was united. When Marshal Josep, also known as “Tito”, became the leader of Yugoslavia and created the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, it was clear that the people could be united. Through the Bush administration, the United States interfered in Yugoslavia by passing a bill that put a stop to capital and trade from coming into Yugoslavian territories that did not have a form of self-government. In the end, the United States feels it is responsible for the affairs of other countries, but they are just benefiting from their actions.
The Media has cover all of the dark secrets The U.S have taken part of or begun themselves. A hero portrait has been painted on the media as it is how the U.S has been seen and looked up to. In this article we see how The United States can not see no other country rise up to power because they will feel threaten by them but that’s not why, the main reason is because they want to have full power and dominate other countries to feel superior. As we see Serbia was yet another victim, and the truth of why so many innocent people died will never be known because the media will always feed us information that benefit this country and encourage us to see others as enemies.
Youglosovia wanted to find a way to unite its people through socialism. A leader known as “Tito” took control and power as with his mentality and character he showed that he had the power to help bring others together with Yugoslavia. But as within the process Bush the president of the United States of America took the liberty to destroy the rise of “Tito” by using a bill to stop trade and putting a stop to the capital from gaining the power they were acquiring. This goes to prove that other countries can’t suucceed unless the U.S benefits from it and regarding the fact that is wrong the medias that are mainstream will always cover up for this country and their killings and tortures will forverr remain a secret.
This article does not sugar coat you the truth but in fact it tells you exactly what happened. Being born in Albania, I experienced the outcomes of all these events. I always wondered why my country could not be seen in the map, due to its size. It has been 8 years since Kosovo finally declared their freedom from Serbia (their oppressors). Yugoslavia used to be all one and they were powerful that way. United states didn’t want them to be united so they turned them all against each other as they did in the middle east and other parts of the world. This is a tactic that they use so they can stay on top. Italy even bribed Montenegro with money if they would claim their independence. But since the end of the soviet union, Yugoslavia broke into pieces. They divided and conquered Yugoslavia. They made sure all the nations were separated into different countries. This made it easier for the invasion because now they were weak. Thus, Serbia took control over Kosovo. Women and children died on the way after being forced and kicked out of their homeland. I had a friend that was from Kosovo and we could not communicate because she was not able to speak our native language, since it wasn’t allowed in Kosovo. She was taught to speak only Serbian in schools and elsewhere. The Serbians took their language and their culture. The mistreatment of Serbians on the Kosovo’s is similar to the jews on the Palestinians.
The mainstream media is in favor of the oppressor. They manipulate most of american minds into thinking the ones that are being oppressed are evil. For example: no one witnesses what happens to Syrian civilians and refugees everyday because they think that muslims are ISIS and they deserve it. Failing to realize where ISIS came from and how it was created. They get distracted by these made up groups instead of looking at the bigger picture, which is: that many families have no home and many die because of the U.S, Saudi Arabia and Russian bombing.
U.S. always makes people believe that their going to a different country just to simply “ help” those in need. The truth is they are going there for their own self interest because they are not in the interest of other countries. People need to be knowledgeable in order to choose who they believe and what they believe and not let the media decide for them.
Hidden dark secrets are kept away from us as we get false information on what our countries are doing. The media has covered up for the government and showed us what people want to hear. The United States has been in power for many years, but the reason why other countries have not rise as much, is because when they do the U.S intends to shut them down and kill innocent lives. Yugoslavia being one of many victims, power is liberation for all countries and we are aware that not many have the freedom nor the aid of other countries. Receiving news that the decision was made for our best we then see it as a relief but truly we don’t exactly know what really happened.
In this article we witness how Bush shuts down every door available for unity, as “Tito” a leader who searched for the unity of the different nationalities of Yugoslavia was denied from furthering his power. This shows how The United States fears of others gaining control and friendship from other nations. This is where we take action and the media covers up by saying that this was the right thing to do as they were our enemy and were putting our lives at risk typically saying to make our country feel less guilty. A bill was then passed by Bush as it stopped Yugoslavia from proceeding with their unity but it also stopped trade which many businesses and families lived of trading goods and other necessities. We have known this for a long time the information given to us is all not true and we will remain the big bad guy until we let other countries succeed as well and have hope in our people.
Sixteen years ago, war on the people of Serbia was established. Millions of individuals were killed and the economic infrastructure was surely destroyed because of it. Prior to the war, the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill was passed. This particular bill cut off loans, credit and trade for the people of Yugoslavia. The United States commenced this feud, took away what Yugoslavs were entitled to and are at fault for the countless casualties during and post the war. But who else was at fault for these casualties? Slobodan Milosovic also known as Yugoslavia’s President of the Federal Republic, was blind to see what NATO was doing. The president looked over countless rapes, murders, and massacres that happened under his own nose. How can a so called “president” be so oblivious and apathetic about his own people being treated so unfairly? Over 200,000 people were killed and even more were unaccounted for.
The media played a significant role in getting information of the war out to the public. They gave false information on Yugoslavs. Mainstream media had one focus: make Yugoslavs look like the enemies. The media talked about the feuds Yugoslavians participated in. The outcome of this was the Yugoslavs being perceived as selfish and possessed narrow interests. If the media covers a story, they should tell the full truth. However, they give out false information to make the United States look good. The people of Yugoslavia are not at fault for any of this; so why dare make them be perceived this way? We the people are made to believe that the United States is perfect. That they are fair and always do the right thing. This is certainly not the truth. They do not care about anyone but themselves.
When it comes to the United States and the rest of the world, it is safe to say that the United States wants to benefit from any country that it can get their hands on. The media plays a vital role in portraying what the United States wants its people to see. The media does not portray all the truth. As Malcolm X said “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” The sad truth is that the powerful and wealthy in the United States only want to gain more wealth and power; and as the article says, countries who fight their interest like China and Russia, are looked down upon. The United States uses the media to show the flaws in the country, even if they don’t exist in order to get involved. They did this with Yugoslavia and said that they were bad and that they needed United States intervention. However, as long as a country is of benefit to the United States, the United States doesn’t bother to change anything. As soon as a country goes against the will of the United States elites, the United States uses the media and comes up with a way to achieve what they want. This is imperialism at its finest and if a country isn’t careful or doesn’t have the power or resources to fight it, they will surely fall into the hands of the United States.
Malcolm X once said, “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power.” Malcolm X words describe the main idea that is portrayed about Yugoslavia in this article. Yugoslavia during 1999 was bombed constantly by NATO, which was led mainly by the United States and Germany. Like all powerful imperialist countries, the U.S used the media as a source of weapon to manipulate their purpose for intervening into Yugoslavia. The U.S specifically used this sense of breaking international law as, “the West to come to the rescue.” The media is a tool that manipulate many civilians minds who are across the other side of the world. To Americans, the United States were seen as the heroes whose goal was to protect the Yugoslavian citizens.
However like most past imperialist actions committed by the U.S, their only concern was to take away power from leaders who would present the political system of communism, or any sort of system that was non-western. For instance in 1946, Marshal Josep “Tito” Broz, was a leader in Yugoslavia who established socialism. He had the ability to unit a variety of diverse nationalities into one single leadership. Tito having this unique talent to bring together diverse amount of civilians in one country, makes one analyze how leaders internationally are not able to do this. Furthermore, during the 1900’s once the Soviet Union fell apart, President George Bush with the help of the Congress saw it as the opportunity to dismantle Yugoslavia. The U.S took action by passing a bill that completely cut off any sort of both economic and food resource to Yugoslavia. Other close by countries like Italy and Germany would offer money, in order for the country to give up their independence. This idea of imperialist countries bribing smaller countries with the use of their wealth, and threatening them with their military weapons, concludes that imperialist countries will always remain powerful and imperialist. Tito was a leader who wanted to promote peace and socialism, yet to the NATO countries it seemed a hazard. Overall, Yugoslavia is a clear example how history is repeating itself no matter how modern we individual’s call society. The lesson being learned, media is a powerful manipulative tool that can make innocent people look guilty, like Yugoslavia, and the guilty look innocent, in other words imperialist countries.
After reading this article, I can’t help but find parallels between how the issues taking place in Yugoslavia leading up to World War I and the recent U.S. election involving Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. Either way this election went, the world was going to be in trouble. However, with Trump winning, the presumption is America is generally in more trouble than it would have been if Clinton was elected. On the flipside, the nation’s outside of America would have been a greater risk had Hilary won the election. Although there is no doubt that outside players made a bad situation worse, the nations within Yugoslavia also have blood on their hands. Srebrenica being under siege, Serbs being massacred at the hands of Muslim warlord Nader Oric, and more represent injustice as well.
Moving forward, it is important for us to recognize the stakeholders behind these agendas so we can more effectively combat these strategic moves on behalf of imperialism. This will not happen overnight, so educating ourselves on struggles before us, as well as victories, will be primitive in our fight for liberation. I appreciate these articles very much. I feel more and more prepared every time I finish reading one of them.
The article, “Yugoslavia: a blueprint for imperialist partition and recolonization”, reveals the truth about how our perspective of view can be changed based on what modern media projects on. In the article, I found this quote very interesting. “It is important to return to Malcolm X’s formulation: ‘If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.'” I believe this statement is the main idea, which it is leading us to repeat the history again and again. When I read the part where the forces of NATO caused killing massive amount of civilians living in Serbia and the corporate media shouts out to the world with an obvious false explanation to justify their action in 1999, I can see how the world that we are living in is keep smoothly repeating. Where can the people get the truth from it? I believe people are heavily relying on medias or newspapers to get the brief ideas what is going on with politics or other information because those are the only sources that they can get. However, those medias are controlled by the rich and strong politicians. How can people know what is the truth of behind the social medias? So, I feel very unfair towards how they are only showing the tweaked information instead of the truth. Currently, people who don’t live in the United States or never had interaction with other races people before, the only way to know them is through media. However, if media shows how specific religions are labeled as terrorist and some races are dangerous, what are the other way people will learn about them. People should never fear about them because those fears are not the truth. They must never judge or label them until they actually learn the truth about them. So, I wish someday people get the “True” information from the medias that are no longer controlled by rich and strong politicians.
Overall what I grasped from this article was the difficulties of the casualties of war. Although I am empathic to issues such as the slaughter of innocent towns and civilians there is also a need to comprehend,that is war . War is ugly without the intentions to smell like roses. We could be empathic and sadden by this, but realistically speaking our country was built on war. Although, Tito had the gift of language to be able to bring all people together despite the difference of their nationality it rarely defeats the greater evil .
It seems that the United States tends to feel their feet in every country for their benefit and never for the betterment of their government and the way they govern their citizens . The United States, well aware of how these countries treat their people as they were less than human, still continue to make deals with them. This just goes to depict just how separated we all are and how no one is concerned with humanitarian issues .
This article was very interesting and unique to read. I have never really gotten the chance on being able to read about Yugoslavia, so I was very curious on knowing what I would learn from it. This article provided me a better understanding of Yugoslavia and what was of it. independent. Marshal Josep known to be “Tito” defeated Nazi and rose as a leader to unite Yugoslavia.To my understanding media seemed to mess with what was said when something occurs. They are the ones who give information to the people but they are seen as people who shouldn’t be trusted. They either tell people what they want to hear or half of a story to things. This shows the way they minaplulate people into believing things that can be lies. We don’t get the full picture of how things really seem to be rather how the U.S is. This can be used as a benefit to them to being able to filling up the minds of people with false explanation that can justify them for actions made. This can include the decisions they had made upon Yugoslavia. They justifed themselves as trying to convince them that they needed help. It was also unfortunate and surprising to read that President George Bush cut off trade or loans to any part of Yugoslavia that did not declare its independence. This showed that they were put into a pressure from other countries who encouraged them to becoming Independent. The United States took advantage of the powers that they had, which led them to having countries against each other. One of these examples can be seen with Kosovo. They felt their power was strong because of the foreign troops that they had stationed there The United States was very serious when it came to getting Yugoslavia to declaring themselves as Independent. It showed that the U.S thought what they were doing was right but it was actually seen as a problem.
It’s sad how much the media can actually impact people’s everyday thoughts and lives. The media controls what people learn and know. The United States are merely only focused on themselves but fail to show us the struggles that these other countries go through. What is main stream is non sense because it simply sugar coats the reality of what these people face every single day. This kind of behavior makes me almost feel ungrateful for thinking that we have it bad when in reality, nothing compares! The United States think they know what is best for everyone when they do not even know what is best for themselves. Instead of saying that they caused invasions, they say that their sole purpose was for other reasons. Yugoslavia allowed ethnicities to come together and form something much stronger than we know. The US targets weaker countries that cannot defend themselves due to lack of strong government. Yugoslavia wanted unity and a stabled community, something that the United States will never be able to conquer.
These people were destroyed. Tito used his experience to help bring varies nationalities back together. Unity was denied by Bush. He wasn’t interested in becoming allies with other countries. He cut off any strings with Yugoslavia that did not declare independence. We must educate ourselves and others so that they can understand that everything is not what it seems. Mainstream media shows us history repeating itself but more tragically each time around. It’s great to have articles such as this one that gives us the reality of things. It’s sad that there has to be a reality to things.
In Yugoslavia, socialism allowed for all ethnicities to come together through ideals of equal rights and property ownership, which allowed the working class members of Yugoslavia. Marshal Josep, or otherwise known as, “Tito” created the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This leader had the audacity to allow everyone to come together as one, no matter who they were regarding color, race, ethnicity, gender etc.. The American media tends to only show the side of the story that they want people to believe. This goes to show what the media wants to show us and provide information to us. Usually we see this happen when the U.S wants to invade another country.
“Yugoslavia: A Blueprint for Imperialist Partition and Recolonization” Displays how the U.S carried the system of Propaganda in Yugoslavia. In 1991, the Bush administration passed a bill know as Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill that allows the bill to cut off loans, credit and trade for any part of Yugoslavia that did not declare its independence. This sounds to be a bit ridiculous but this is what the U.S does. Marshal Josep was actually pretty happy with this bill being passed because this is what he initially wanted. This allowed the country to be reluctant and become independent.
This article depicts the true nature and cause of the imperialist country we call the greatest in the world. The common American, like a sponge, absorbs the information given to them on news outlets and social media without the thought of squeezing themselves dry of the lies they are fed. Yugoslavia, like any war victim of the U.S., is no stranger to the deception and strategic war games of the United States. Any capitalist overlord would be quick to silence any that oppose their imperialist rule, with a united front and self-determined identity. In this case, as many others, the Yugoslavian fortress was systematically picked apart in the self-interest of “higher powers.” Yet, we as Americans won’t ever see the truth until the smoke has settled.
One of the biggest ways to gain control is by instilling fear amongst the masses with the thought of a looming threat. America has the knack for exactly that. I myself have fallen for the deception of what the news media feeds us. It is a common misconception to believe that the United States business in foreign countries is for the greater good; for “humanitarianism.” This is how they get away with what they do, creating a guise so that the people of the country that are waging war are seen as the “good guys” fighting against a threat against humanity. The imperialists manipulate these threatening countries, forcing them into a division of powers. Strategically, they cut off their resources leaving them no choice to surrender themselves to the greater power. Finally, whatever socialist power is left is then painted in an image that allows them to be invaded with full support.
The true threat against humanity, are the lies that are spoon fed to the country that allows themselves to be fed. Who are we really, if not a sleeping giant in a dream designed so that we are never able to wake up. A giant that if really awoken, would shake the very fabric that keeps the dream alive. This threat, is exactly what the super powers of the world fight to stop from happening and will continue through history as it repeats itself. As quoted by Karl Marx “History repeats itself first as a tragedy then as a farce.” The story of Yugoslavia, will always play on a constant loop if not now with the Middle East but another again in the future.