Liar's Poker: The Great Powers, Yugoslavia and the Wars of the Future 0965691667

Citation preview

4B3 P

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—

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Bosnia Before Partition

Who Was This

map of Bosnia

is

based on figures from the

Living Where?

official

census carried out just before the war in 1991. It shows the majority nationality for each community. In blue; Serbian. In brown: Croat. In green: Muslim.

being above

all

Majority means sole group.

ni2

The

Serbs,

peasants, occupy the largest areas. at least

51%,

but does not

mean

it

is

the

Thus the communities

are even

more mixed than

this

map shows. One

sees that

all

the largest

towns

—

in

mauve

—are

plurinational (without absolute majority).

Thus, to partition Bosnia invariably means isolating communities, "purifying" whole regions, and preparing

mass deportations.

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2009

http://www.archive.org/details/liarspokergreatpOOcoll

WiiCHEL

COLLON

The Great Po^^%^' ^^^s The war Yugoslavia and

Future of the

Translated from French by Milo Yelesiyevich and Terence

McGee

with the assistance of

Peter Kolk, Enrique Cervera, and Daniel Winner Translation reviewed by Milo Yelesiyevich

Liar's Poker the great powers, yugoslavia and the wars of the future Copyright© 2002 ISBN: 0-9656916-6-7

International Action Center 39 W. 14th Street Suite #206 New York, NY 10011

Phone

(212) 633-6646

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Cover Design: Jan Depover

GAL

Design:

Originally published by

© 20A

rue Tel:

EPO

and Michel Collon 1080 Bruxelles - Belgique 32(0)2/414.29.88 Fax: 32 (0)2/414.92.24 1998 Editions

Houzeau de Lehaie e-mail:

Library of

-

[email protected]

Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Collon, Michel.

[Poker menieur. English] Liar's

poker

:

the great powers, Yugoslavia and the wars of the future

translated from French by Milo Yelesiyevich

and Terence McGee

Peter Kolk, Enrique Cervera, and Daniel Winner

;

;

/

Michel Collon

;

with the assistance of

translation reviewed by Milo Yelesiyevich.

p.cm. Includes index.

ISBN 0-9656916-6-7 1

.

(alk.

paper)

Yugoslav War, 1991-1995.

Peninsula

—

2.

Yugoslav War, 1991-1995— Press coverage. 3. Balkan 1989- 4. Europe Politics and Government 1989Yelesiyevich, Milo. II. McGee, Terence. III. Title.

and government

Politics

Balkan Peninsula— Ethnic relations.

—

—

—

I.

DR1313 .06513 2002 949.703—de.21

Pre-Press and Printing Coordinated by Graphics Management, Los Angeles Phnted in Hong Kong by Graphics Management (Asia) Ltd., Hong Kong

© Copyright 2002

by Michel Collon.

All rights

reserved.

may be reproduced, distributed, or any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from lAC, except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted No

part of this publication

transmitted

in

by copyright law. For permission requests, write to lAC. "Attention: Permissions Coordinator," at the address above.

addressed

The author and

publisher assume neither liability nor responsibility to any any direct or indirect loss or damage caused, be caused, by the information contained herein, or for errors, omissions, inaccuracies, or any other inconsistency within these pages, or

person or

entity with respect to

or alleged to

for unintentional slights

against people or organizations.

.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the English Translation— Liar's Poker, the

Dangers

of

War and

the Prospect for

Resistance by Sara Flounders and John Catalinotto of the International Action Center Translator's Note and Acknowledgements To Illuminate a War Said to Be "Incomprehensible," as well as the Coming Wars

6 7

Acknowledgements

8

—

Let's Make a Fresh Start Media Tests: How Good Is Our News Information? Geographic Censorship —How to Demonize Your Opponent —Aspects of Sarajevo Concealed by the Media —Rapes, Camps, Enclaves: The Battle of Media Lies

The Media 1

1

9 13 14

—

The Great Powers: 2.

Germany's Revenge

3.

A

49 65 89 103

Become a Superpower

Bonn Wants

5.

"Their Objective

7.

Allies or Rivals?

Recurring Story?

4.

6.

28 34

The USA The Four

vs.

to

Is to

Prepare

for

War"

111

Germany

Strategic Stakes

127

the Balkans

in

—Control

of Oil Routes —The Domination of Eastern Europe —Weaken and Control Russia

—The

Struggle

for Military

8.

NATO: War

9.

1991-1995: Five Years

or

Bases 59 175

Peace?

1

of Rivalry

between Bonn and Washington

199

Index

MAPS Who Was

Living Where? Bosnia's Demographic Breakdown (Color) The Former Yugoslavia, It's Six Republics and Two Autonomous Regions Who Was Living Where? Bosnia's Demographic Breakdown (B&W)

Yugoslavia 1918 Yugoslavia 1941

Yugoslavia 1945 Yugoslavia 1991

German

Minorities

in

Europe

The Balkans: Four Things at Stake at a Strategic Crossroad "Nationalist" Wars All Along These Pipelines "Nationalist" Wars All Along These Pipelines (Detail) The Danube, A Strategic River Misery That Will Provoke Revolt, Repression, and Wars Washington Is Establishing Military Bases Everywhere Where Is NATO Preparing to Intervene? Along Three Axes

Inside Front

Cover 11

13

68 68 69 69 98 128 134 135 137 140 152 164

International Action Center by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and other anti-war activists who had rallied hundreds of thousands of people in the United States to oppose the U.S./UN war against Iraq, and then organized tribunal hearings in twenty countries and thirty U.S. cities against U.S. war crimes in Iraq. It incorporates opposition to U.S. militarism and domina-

The lAC was

initiated in 1991

around the world with the struggle

tion

people

in the

to

end poverty, racism, sexism, and oppression of lesbian, gay. bisexual and transgendered

United States.

Beginning 1993 the lAC anticipated the coming U.S. /NATO assault on Yugoslavia, organizing discussions and writing a pamphlet lies demonizing Serbs and U.S. economic pressure on Belgrade, and demonstrating against U.S./NATO military

exposing media

intervention during the civil

most astute

activists

war

in

and analysts.

Bosnia. Early in 1998 the

A month

bombs

before the

I

AC

NATO

published

Balkans, representing the work of the

in the

started dropping in 1999, the

I

AC

organized a national tour warning

of the coming war.

When

U.S. -NATO

bombs and

rockets hit Yugoslav cities,

Ramsey Clark went with an lAC

the Yugoslav resistance, in alliance with the Yugoslav communities, distinguished

ders spread

by the U.S. -NATO propaganda machine and produced

Starting July 1999, the

drew up

a

of 19 charges against the

list

NATO

countries and in the former

exposed the criminal actions of the U.S. and

as they

Milosevic against

NATO's

The lAC has fought

court in

The Hague

show

soli-

challenged the anti-Serb slan-

Targets, to help mobilize the opposition.

NATO

Warsaw

NATO. The lAC joins

as a continuation

the blockade against Cuba, led the

War Crimes

against Yugoslavia. Clark

countries and the officers

who

carried

Pact countries used these 19 charges as a

with those

who

see the defense of Slobodan

of this struggle.

movement

lion Iraqis, including a half million children, battled the use

the

NATO's

and military leaders of the major

political

out these crimes. Similar tribunals in other

model

a video,

its activities. It

hearings of an International Tribunal for U.S. -NATO

lAC organized

delegation to Belgrade to

lAC's weekly demonstrations of thousands and clear solidarity with

darity with a people under attack. Inside the United States the

to

end the U.S.AJN sanctions

that

caused the death of

1

.5

mil-

of radioactive "depleted-uranium" weapons that have endangered both

Middle East and the Balkans, fought "Plan Colombia" and other U.S. military intervention in Latin America. Since the 1999 lAC has actively joined this growing and youthful movement in Washington and Quebec

Seattle anti-globalization protests the City.

The lAC has played

political prisoner

Philadelphia in April 1999 and a rally in

A major part tion.

It

end the death penalty and especially the mobilizations to win freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal. lAC organizers coordinated a mass demonstration in

a leading role in the struggle to

Black liberation fighter and death-row

of the lAC's work

shows instead

is

to

New York's

expose the

that U.S. intervention

is

Madison Square Garden

intricate

dictated

web of lies woven

by the drive

for profits

available for education, healthcare and needed social programs contracts. ly

popular

web

site,

www.iacenter.org, which has

made

the "top

1

in

May

2000.

before, during and after each U.S. military interven-

and

that as military

Much lAC

percent of

web

material

sites"

list

is

funding expands, the

published

for the

first

on

its

money

increasing-

thousands of

sites that link to

relies totally

on the donations

it.

The lAC

is

a volunteer activist organization. In

its

campaigns opposing U.S. intervention, the center

and assistance of supporters around the country. To be a part of a growing network, or volunteer your support, contact the lAC. International Action Center

39 West 14th Tel:

Street,

Room

206,

New

212-633-6646; fax 212-633-2889

Email: [email protected]

Web

page: http://www.iacenter.org

York, N.Y. 1001

1

USA

to

make

a donation, request a speaker or

Liar's Poker,

Dangers of War and the Prospects for Resistance Introduction to the English Translation of Liar's Poker

As we were preparing

the publication of the English version of Michel Collon's

book on

the

Mentew: Les grandes puissances, la Yougoslavie et les prochaines giierres. Editions EPO 1998. Bruxelles). a new crime was committed against the people of Yugoslavia. Former President Slobodan Milosevic was turned over to the so-called International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia, a court created by and subservient to NATO itself This serious new attack on the people of Yugoslavia, the Balkans. "Liar's Poker" {Poker

of Serbia and

Socialist Party

its

leadership

is

also directed at

people

all

in the

world struggling

and freedom from exploitation.

for independence

Milosevic has been targeted for only one reason: he was the head of Yugoslavia when its people dared to resist the onslaught from the U.S. and NATO military machine. With this trial

NATO

the

they started on also

want

to

leaders have

victims

its

sow

two main

— Milosevic

objectives.

they are liable to be captured, tried and persecuted the wishes of the U.S. and other

Because of the need

They want

to put the

blame

for the

war

and the Serb population in general. They of small countries throughout the world that

in particular

fear in the hearts of all leaders

G7 governments

if

they are not completely subservient to

—the big powers of NATO plus Japan.

to counter the lies that the prosecution will raise

International Criminal Tribunal for the

and disseminate during the

Former Yugoslavia (ICTFY)

trial,

it

is ail

the

more

important that "Liar's Poker" be published in English.

From

the

fall

of the Beriin Wall

in

1989 to the end of the Soviet Union

in 1991,

an historic

counter-revolution shook the world, setting back the struggles for socialism and for national liberation.

Big

capital

from Bonn

to

New

York to Tokyo was overjoyed and

Pundits announced the end of history. Commentators said the

new

capitalist

optimistic.

worid order

would usher in a period of continual economic growth and political democracy worldwide. Some few might grow very rich, the mainstream media said, there might be some ups and downs, but everyone would flourish under the market-driven economy, and peace and order would replace the mutual terror of the Cold War. Ten years later a look back shows that only one thing the mainstream media said was true: a few people grew obscenely rich. This counter-revolution has brought neither stability, nor economic prosperity, nor peace to the worid's people. According to the United Nations Human Development Report for 1999, the worid's 200 richest people more than doubled their wealth in the four years prior to 1998 to more than a trillion dollars. The other side of enormous accumulation of wealth is mass poverty. Some .3 billion people live on a dollar day or less. This criminal gap between the rich and the poor is being produced, maintained and widened by the big transnational corporations, banks and stock markets that function according to the one and only principle of maximizing profits. this

1

a

Union opened the gates to aggression. It war against Iraq based on its overallowed U.S. agents to unleash a proxy war in the

Instead of bringing peace, the demise of the Soviet

made

it

easier for the Pentagon to

whelming technological advantage.

Congo war

wage It

a one-sided

that has reportedly killed over 3 million people.

into

Europe

And

it

permitted

N.^TO

to bring a

for the first time since 1945.

During the years the U.S. and Western European regimes promoted war in the Balkans, Michel Collon worked on countering them and especially on countering their propaganda. This work is summed up in "Liar's Poker," published in 1998, the year before NATO began its

murderous 78-day bombing assault on Yugoslavia.

of Western money and

NATO

It

was

Until

now

still

Collon 's book, available

in

5,

2000.

French, Flemish and Spanish, was not available in

English. Far from being out of date, however, "Liar's Poker"

NATO's war on Yugoslavia and with the events Hague today. Any analysis of the latest developments

with

their roots

would

find Collon's

two years before a combination government in

military threats overthrew the Socialist Party

Serbia and President Slobodan Milosevic on October

is

unfolding in the

remarkably connected both in the

Balkans and

in

The

Balkans that searched back for

work indispensable. U.S. and German imperialism and

their

NATO

planted these roots

allies

covered

Now

Poker."

in "Liar's

in

and nurtured them through the period growing from them are strangling the peoples of

the early 1990s

the vines

the former Yugoslavia.

Western aggression has imposed misery on the peoples of the Balkans. The publication of "Liar's Poker" in English is a step to assure that the same powers that planned and carried out the

war

prosecution

are not the only ones to write

The Hague

at

its

story.

It

of the

will ensure that the voices

will not be the only ones heard during the

trial.

Western Goals Are Achieved by War in the Balkans

As Collon

so carefully documents, the strategic goals of the Western powers' occupation of

the Balkans

was

complete the counter-revolution

to

in

access to the East, to Russia and Central Asia, to the

danger

oil

of the Caspian Sea.

A new

war

threatens to spring from this drive to dominate and control the raw materials of

still

this region

Eastern Europe and get unrestricted

and

potential profits.

its

and areas

for markets, resources

in

The danger

which

is

to invest

greater because the ruthless competition

among

the imperialist

powers themselves

pushes them into adventures.

Alongside these strategic goals for Washington. Berlin and the other Western governments, the Western multinational corporations and banks will never pass up the opportunity to pick

up some booty

in

new government in JAT

Yugoslavia itself Soon, under the laws passed by the

Belgrade, they'll be bidding on the Zastava auto and arms factory and the well-run airline,

among 4,500 state-owned

They giveaway

enterprises in Yugoslavia.

workers as they buy the most profitable sectors

at

will be laying off

Yugoslav

They have already

prices.

grabbed the best parts of the Kosovo mining and refining industries.

By

the

summer of 2001,

the

government of Yugoslavia has begun

Yugoslavia's state-owned industry on sale

at

what remains of

to put

bargain prices. The purchasers are expected to

be Western corporations and banks, perhaps with a handful of wealthy Serbs. To

Yugoslav industry even more attractive to these bankers, privatization laws so that only 15 percent of the factories

Under

60 percent was guaranteed

a 1997 law,

Meanwhile,

in

order to obtain

some meager

this

make

regime has also changed the

must now belong

to

its

workers.

to the workers.

loans that will put the workers and farmers of

government in Belgrade him guilty under Serbian laws. Then, on Kosovo of 1389. June 28. it kidnapped him from his Belgrade prison and turned him over to NATO's kangaroo court in The Hague. U.S. President George W. Bush insisted on this betrayal of Yugoslav sovereignty as the price of approval for the loans. In return, Washington and the European Union will allow the new Yugoslavia

hock

in

arrested Milosevic.

for the next century, the Kostunica-Djindjic

It

first tried,

the very day that Serbs

and

remember

failed, to find

the heroic battle of

authorities in Belgrade to preside over the re-colonization of Serbia.

The new

authorities

their political

have also shown they

will use

The Hague Tribunal

opponents within Yugoslavia, attacking anyone

the Balkans with

party that led the

who

as a

weapon

all

of

—

phony war-crime charges. Leaders of the Socialist Party of Serbia the government during the entire period of the 1990s and of the Yugoslav

—

United Left movement are especially targeted. But the potential victims of purge include

against

resists the subjugation

the workers

this political

and farmers of Yugoslavia.

— What's Next for Yugoslavia

Decline of Eastern Europe

modem

Since

records have been kept, there has not been such a rapid decline in economic

conditions as has resulted from the devastation of the changeover from socialism to capitalism in the

former

USSR

face under the

new

and Eastern Europe. This order that

is

is

the fate that the peoples of Yugoslavia

This grim scenario assumes the occupying powers

and order and

that the people are unable to

however, have shown that the U.S. and bility

than in bringing order.

now

poised to complete the counter-revolution.

They have

NATO also

ingly hopeless situations. There has been

no

in the

mount an

Balkans are able to maintain

effective resistance.

have been much better

shown

that resistance

stable order in

at

The

stability

past ten years,

sowing havoc and

sometimes

arises

insta-

from seem-

Kosovo, where the right-wing

KLA

has driven out most of the non-Albanian-speaking population with no resistance from the

NATO

Now.

troops.

in the

provoking a new war

For

summer of 2001,

these

same

KLA terrorists

with U.S. bacicing are

neighboring Macedonia, and are planning one for Greece.

and economic might of the imperialists, they hardly seem

the military

all

in

The outlook

in control

of

masses of the world's population may still be grim, but the failure of the New World Order to solve the problems reawakened instability. It has also a movement of new of humanity has created a era of events, either in the Balkans or worldwide.

resistance from Palestine to

Genoa where

Seattle to

in

Colombia

new

resistance

reflected in the imperialist centers from

It is

July 2001 over 200.000 defied Italy's vicious police forces to

challenge the meeting of the

This

to Nepal.

for the

G7

imperialist

powers and

capitalist Russia.

movement should have Michel Collon's book

available, for

it

details the

powers brought war to the Balkan Peninsula. war waged to wrest Bosnia from Yugoslavia, but his technique could be used just as well to reveal the lies used to justify the later bombing campaign on Yugoslavia. It exposes also the lying media campaign that sold this later war of imperialist plunder as a "humanitarian" intervention aimed at helping Kosovar Albanians step-by-step methods

What he

and

by which

the Western

writes about specifically

is

falsely painted the Serb people

incarnate.

It is

a case study in

selves, prepared for

how

and justified

the

and the

their elected president,

NATO

Slobodan Milosevic, as

a military intervention using the false

evil

among them-

powers, even as they competed

claim that the

inter-

vention was humanitarian.

Along with the promise of stable economic growth, they had promised a period of peace ushered in by the end of the confrontation with the socialist camp led by the USSR. The Cold War is supposed to be o\er, but the George W. Bush administration in Washington is moving on many fronts to start a new arms race, threatening the People's Republic of China and unilaterally tearing up the treaties that have been in force for three decades. Washington also threatens new military intervention in South America with "Plan Colombia." In the

Middle East, Bush

Jr.

bomb

has continued to

imposed the Oslo Accords on the

Iraq.

Palestinians. But

U.S.-brokered plan has been unable

to deliver

Former U.S. President

Bill

Clinton

what has come of these accords'? This

peace or

stability.

The

Israelis

keep expanding

West Bank and Gaza, doubling the settlements. Clinton thought the military and economic weight of the United States would allow him to set the terms for peace, for a compromise that was to the disadvantage of the Palestinian people. But the U.S., for all its control of the

power, cannot control events.

documents

In the Balkans, Clinton resolved the U.S. -German competition that Collon

"Liar's Poker" by leading a massive air

in

war against Yugoslavia.

U.S.-EU Rivahy and the Role of NATO Since the defeat of the Soviet Union, strategists in U.S. ruling circles have promoted the policy of expanding first

of

all

NATO

and using the military pact as a worid police

directed against smaller and

aimed also

at

strategists,

it

weaker countries

in

serves an additional purpose. While the major

Africa and Latin America and

they compete over

aimed

at

how

to divide

up what they

keeping these powerful rivals

in line

all

its oil

riches.

is

It is

But for U.S.

NATO powers are militarv' allies,

they are also rivals for markets, resources and areas to invest. in exploiting Asia,

force. This policy

Africa and the Middle East.

plundering the East, up to the Caspian Sea with

They share

a

common

interest

of labor worldwide. But as Collon shows,

exploit. U.S. strategy

of expanding

NATO

is

behind Washington.

As far back as November 29, 1992, retired U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael J. Dugan and George Kenney of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace w rote an opinion piece for The New York Times, entitled "Operation Balkan Storm: Here's a Plan."

"A win that

in the

that

Balkans would establish U.S. leadership

in the

Operation Desert Storm never could." they said. Dugan.

command

in

massive

facilities,

September 1990 air

for

War worid in a way who had been relieved of his bomb Iraq, wrote

post-Cold

speaking too frankly about U.S. plans to

power should be used

to destroy Serbia's electricity grid, refineries, storage

and communications.

By 1998

the Clinton administration had decided to go ahead with a version of this plan.

Using as

a pretext a

trumped-up "massacre"

in the

town of Racak

in

Kosovo,

it

set the stage

—

The next step was to fix the talks in Rambouiiiet. France, so that Belgrade would be forced to reject the ultimatum they produced. Disguised as an agreement, the Rambouiiiet ultimatum was really a document of total surrender, demanding that Yugoslavia give NATO occupation troops in Kosovo access to air fields, roads, ports and railroads throughout Yugoslavia, without even the need to notify Belgrade. No self-respecting government for aggression.

could accept such an ultimatum.

On March allies,

it

The U.S. resist.

dominance over

its

however, on the detemiination of the Yugoslavs

to

24, 1999, the U.S. launched the aggression. With

its

military

seized the initiative in Europe. strategists hadn't counted,

Instead of capitulating within a week, as Washington apparently expected. Belgrade

and the population of Yugoslavia resisted heroically

The U.S. showed

for 78 days.

not that

it was a great power bringing peace to the Balkans, but a great bully bringing devastation. killed or severely wounded, some 30 percent of the casualties were children, and the country's industry and infrastructure was wrecked.

Thousands of Yugoslavs were

Throughout the world and especially within the

NATO

countries, hundreds of thousands of

people demonstrated against the war. The Greek workers' movement especially mounted

NATO,

real resistance to

even slowing deliveries of war materiel

to the

NATO troops.

United States, tens of thousands of people demonstrated continually. While

had potential, with their

it

own

failed to reach a height that

courage.

Exposing the Lies Used

When

More needed to Justify'

to

this

In the

movement

matched what the Yugoslav people had merited

be done

to counter

NATO's propaganda machine.

War

bombing ended, those who opposed NATO's war undertook a more protracted expose the media lies. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark wrote a brief charging the NATO powers and their leaders with war crimes. The International Action the

campaign Center

to

U.S. joined with anti-war forces in countries

in the

exposed the

tribunals that

lies

of Clinton.

Blair.

all

over the world to hold popular

Schroeder and company that

this

was

a

humanitarian war. At these tribunals, panels of judges found them guilty of crimes against peace, crimes against humanity and In February

some of that to

Rome

200

1

people

in

Germany tuned

truth revealed to

to Brussels to

war crimes.

all.

London

to

their televisions to the

These are the same

facts

ARD

network and saw

Moscow

to Berlin

to bring before

whatever

people from

San Francisco worked so hard

audience they could gather for tribunal hearings through 1999 and 2000. that there was no massacre of civilians at Racak in January 1999. was a Gulf of Tonkin-type incident aimed at justifying NATO's aggression. They showed that the Rambouiiiet agreement was in reality an ultimatum that Yugoslavia could never accept. They showed that the war was not clean, but dirty with depleted uranium shells and environmental disaster at Pancevo. They showed that there was no genocide by the Serb forces, but a war against a subversive force the KLA (or UCK in the Albanian language) that was armed and supported by Washington and Berlin. They showed that most of NATO's bombing targets were civilian targets chosen to inflict punishment and wear down the resistance of the Yugoslav population. Finally, the mainstream media had to admit the truth,

These tribunals showed that

it

—

but of course without the repetition needed to counter the

U.S.-EU Intervention

in

lies.

Yugoslav Election

The September 28, 2000, election in Yugoslavia, to paraphrase the Prussian General von Clausewitz, "was the continuation of war by other means." There was no authentic popular uprising. Instead Washington and its European allies subsidized this movement's leadership with huge sums of money, bolstered them with enormous political support, exhausted the Yugoslav population with war threats and sanctions, demonized Milosevic by spreading lies and

false charges,

On December

11,

and goaded the opposition

to

Milosevic to risk

2000, the Washington Post ran a story with

agencies carried out the electoral coup in Yugoslavia.

meetings

in

Budapest with opposition

parties.

It

told

It

civil war.

all

reported

how

the details of

how

how

U.S.

they held strategy

they trained the student group

Otpor. and even paid people to be poll watchers. For example:

—

"In the twelve months following the strategy session, U.S. -funded consultants played a crucial role behind the scenes in virtually every facet of

the anti-Milosevic drive, running tracking polls, training thousands of

opposition activists and helping to organize a vitally important parallel vote count. U.S. taxpayers paid for 5,000 cans of spray paint used by stu-

dent activists to scrawl anti-Milosevic

graffiti

on walls across Serbia, and

2.5 million stickers with the slogan 'He's Finished.'..."

Despite the pressure that succeeded in having the

send him to the

The

beautiful country

Meanwhile,

new Belgrade government arrest Milosevic and

NATO court in The Hague, the movement inside Yugoslavia has not surrendered.

Socialist Party

of Serbia and

allies are

its

continuing to struggle against the takeover of their

by Western imperialism and the attempt

rivalry

among

the European imperialist

to turn

it

into a colony.

powers and the U.S. rose immediately

bombing of Yugoslavia ended, with European Union ministers meeting to demand is to be an EU army of 100,000 troops,

after the

the formation of the "Rapid Reaction Force." This

including 18,000

German

Europe without needing

troops, that

to rely

NATO powers into final veto. Now this is

the other it

the

The

EU

would allow

interventions up to 2,500 miles from

on the Pentagon. Washington started the 1999 war to whip behind its lead, knowing that U.S. military supremacy gave

again an area of conflict.

NATO, and the Capitalis t Market

U.S..

Have Brought Oppression

A decade

line

Eastern Europe without Bringing Peace

to

Now we

can see that Washington can't manage World Order has brought not peace, order and development but poverty, chaos and war. People have been left with no choice but to resist. ago, the U.S. appeared invincible.

the world.

It

has become clear that the

New

Outgunned and impoverished, the Palestinians have chosen to resist. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia People's Army (FARC-EP) in Colombia, even without the

—

support of the Soviet Union, have chosen to fight for socialism.

And even

in the imperialist

young people from Seattle to Washington to Prague to Genoa, who grew up when there was no Soviet Union, have shown their disgust with savage capitalism. They have begun to search for another road. Part of helping them find that road is ensuring that they centers

know how

NATO

the heroic people

of Yugoslavia resisted

The U.S.

rulers are the

contribute to the

Europe.

all

and how

—

major source of war. Their European allies who are also rivals It is vital to combat this war danger with whatever forces are

It is

also vital to

to support the defense

those

to the

for 78 days in 1999,

war danger.

willing to struggle, whether that

and

NATO

had prepared that war for years beforehand.

who

war

combat the

is

Colombia, Korea, Africa, the Persian Gulf or

in

false tribunal the

of Slobodan Milosevic,

resist imperialism.

who

NATO faces

powers

trial

development of a movement

that can

set

up

because he

Michel Collon's "Liar's Poker"

is

at is

The Hague a

combat the next war, and continue the

with those forces within Serbia and Yugoslavia

who

symbol of

a serious contribution solidarity

struggle to regain fi-eedom and independence

for the peoples of the Balkans.

John Catalinotto and Sara Flounders, August 2001

Flounders and Catalinotto.

in their

work with the International Action

organize the protest movement against U.S.-NATO aggression

in

Center, helped

Yugoslavia during the war.

and were organizers of the popular Tribunals within the U.S. that charged U.S. and leaders with war crimes for the 1999 aggression against Yugoslavia.

NATO

Translator's Note It

The Great Powers. Yugoslavia,

has been an honor and a privilege to present "Liar's Poker:

and the Wars of the Future"

to English

speaking readers around the world. "Liar's Poker"

a handbook for the anti-globalist movement.

It

is

is

also an invaluable tool for journalists,

researchers, historians, and activists.

The

translator

would

translation could not

like to

thank Terence McGee, the co-translator of "Liar's Poker." This

have been completed without his enthusiastic participation.

to thank Peter Kolk, Enrique Cervera,

and Daniel Winner

I

also wishes

for preparing draft translations of

several lengthy sections. Robert Bononno helped interpret several difficult passages.

I

also

wishes to thank Michael Diamond and Heather Cottin for proofreading the manuscript. John Catalinotto of the International Action Center copy-edited the manuscript, and provided

many

valuable suggestions.

final proofreading.

The

I

cannot thank Michael Howley enough for giving the manuscript a

translator

is

also indebted to Daniel O. Harris for doing the initial

layout. William Dorich provided a great deal of support for printing the book. Last but not least, the translator

founder,

Ramsey

wishes to thank Sara Flounders, the International Action Center and

Clark, for their continued support.

The

translation

its

and publication of

"Liar's Poker" could not have been accomplished without the generous support of each of the aforementioned individuals.

Please note that English language sources are cited with American style dates, for

May

1,

2001; non-English European source notes, however, have been

language, and dates are expressed in the European style,

Milo Yelesivevich

i.e.,

1.5.01 for

i.e.,

left in their

January

5,

5/1/01

original

2001.

and much lamented Sean Gervasi (U.S.A.) who fought so bravely for truth and for peace.

To the late

To all the victims of this war.

whatever their

Said

to

nationality.

To Ilium inate a War Be "Incomprehensible, " as well as The Coming Wars

Something didn't sound right... What they were telling us was either much too simple or much too complicated. What were they hiding from us in this Machiavellian, murderous game of liar's poker?

Governments and media kept telling us that this war in Yugoslavia was simple. Everything was the fault of the Serbian aggressors, and the Great Powers were, as it seemed, surprised for at least twelve by the disintegration of the country. So why hide the fact that Bonn had supported, financed, and even anned the Croat nationalists who had been preparmg years

—

—

to secede?

Or else everything was

attributed to the

famous "age-old ethnic

hatreds'": Serbs.

Muslims.

this. and Croats had never been able to live together in peace. But historians disagree about "Nationalism"? Of course, but where did it come from and why was it flaring up just now? An important question for all of us since reactionary nationalism and racism proliferate in the times of crises. In short, these simplistic explanations explained nothing. The key to

mystery lay elsewhere.

war seemed to be rather complicated. Even incomprehensible. powers "were not interested in Yugoslavia, a-landthe U.S. putting pressure on the Bosnian Muslim leader, prolong the war? And Alija Izetbegovic, so that he would not sign any peace plan and thus why did the U.S. end up imposing a peace plan at Dayton that it had turned down three years Looking

at

For example,

it

more

closely, this

we were

told that the great

with-no-oil." But then

why was

earlier?

Incomprehensible? Only

if

one takes the

official

media version

at

face value. Because

bombs but with lies. Thus, as in our .Attention. Medias!, this book starts newswith checking what we have been told by American, French and Belgian television and enormous as those of papers. The first chapter will show that the media lies have been just as wars do not

the

start

Gulf War.

It

with

mechanisms and Can we put up with being

will unveil the

this is indispensable.

the goals of this disinformation. Exposing told

all

kinds of

lies

about every military

intervention?

The following chapters will expose what has been hidden from us: the real interests of the Great Powers and their secret maneuverings throughout these four years of war. the Yugoslavia has served as a laboratory. It is not we who are saying that, but rather can serve as Secretary General of NATO, Javier Solana: "The experience acquired in Bosnia war? a model for future NATO operations." Where are they preparing to wage

You But aren't other countries more in the news than Yugoslavia? That is not the question. follow be manipulated if you jump superficially from one country to another, and if you Let us step back governments. Or by media. corporate by the imposed day the of order the accumulation of media to examine the case of this specific country. As we sweep away the will

lies, as we uncover what is really coming conflicts: Eastern Europe, East, China perhaps...

Does economic right

crisis lead to

war?

at stake,

the

Is

we

will give ourselves the tools to understand

Fonner Soviet Union. Central Asia. Africa. Middle

there a connection between

now (namely unemployment, growing

v\

hat

we

are living through

misery, social discontent) and what people

7

who

.

ha\e alread> lived through a great deal intuiti%ely foretell: "All this will end up in a war!" Isn't it necessan to worn. when, in discrete specialized periodicals, official strategists w-rite that the

Balkan War and the confrontations between the Great Powers resemble what First World War?

preceded the

For

all

these reasons this

Yugoslavs. .And

it is

war concerns us enormously.

In

some

fashion,

we

are

all

ne% er too late to understand. ne\ er too late to defend peace.

Acknowledaements

We thank

from the

bonom of our hean

investigation, research,

We w ould being relative more. Here

and

editing.

have liked to have been able

— and not only so

we will

those

all

Without them

in the

to

list

ha\ e helped us in this long labor of

name them

Balkans

only provide a partial

w ho

we w ould never ha\ e completed the

—

all.

task.

But. freedom of expression

that could cost

of first names, but

some

their jobs or

even

we are thinking of them

all:

Radmila. Ga%TO. Nikola. Teodora. Gordana. Gojko. Zoran. \'esna. \ladimu-. Milka. Rade. Predrag. Zoran. Branko. \eselin.

.\Iarja.

S%etlana. Francoise.

Manme.

Foad. Hilde. Velena.

Georges. Sacha. Bosko. .Athanase. Erikos. Jose .Antonio. Stefan. Jurgen. Michael. Paul. JeanPierre. Chiket.

Michel. Jacquiline, Sean. Heather. .Maurice. Thomas. Josiane, YannicL

Georges. Daniel. Jean-Phillipe. Jean-Marie. Baudouin. Lucien. Salim. Mao. Lies. Miel. Bart Ingrid. Dirk. Louis. Therese. Pierre. Elisabeth, Nicole. Christian, PairicL

Serge. Margarita. Geofifroy.

We

also

pages of

w ant

all

to

thank the greatly talented

the chapters

w ith

To

all

artists

for

who

illustrate the introductory

in the struggle against

what they have contributed.

responsible for the opinions expressed and any errors

thanks in advance to those

agreed to

Mahovic. Timothee. Zak... Their works unleash the

and beauty w hich also help us

we are sincerely grateful

who

original drawings: .Aero. .Alwani. Michel Barzin, Brito,

Million. Serdu, Ste%en Stni%f. \'eesse. derision, force,

will point

w ar.

Of course, we alone remain

w hich ma\ have been made. .Many

them out and

to those

who

will bring us fresh

information and eyewitness accounts.

'Contact Address:

Ludo. Maria,

.

EPO. 20A rue Houzeau de Lehaie. 1080

Bruxelles. Belgique.

i\f^ac((: £u^^'

1.

How Good

Is

Media Tests: Our News Information?

Yugoslavia:

An

"Indivisible" Country

we know about Yugoslavia? A test we even those people who are very interested in it have never been given the basic historical and geographical facts which would allow them to understand the drama.

After a flood of "infonnation". what in the end do carried out ourselves

•

Occupied

showed

this:

by

rival

for centuries

empires, Yugoslavia has seen

deported, forcibly converted, and

mixed

into a tossed salad

its

populations divided,

of nationalities.

to 1991, Yugoslavia consisted of 6 republics, plus 2 autonomous provinces which were part of Serbia.

•

From 1945

•

Cutting up Yugoslavia into "ethnic" states makes no sense. For example, of 8 million

Serbs, only 5.8 million were living in Serbia in 1991. The others were settled in etc.... They have been presented as invaders while in fact they had been living on these lands for centuries.

Croatia, in Bosnia,

having performed studies and inquiries, a Yugoslav commission drew up the frontiers of the new republics in minute detail. Milovan Djilas was the last surviving member of this commission: "The populations are extremely mixed. But pure and strict borders on an ethnic basis are Impossible, and not only in the Balkans, but in all of Europe."

•

In 1943, after

•

The map shows

it:

no "monoethnic" state could have been constituted without

The wars of Yugoslavia show whole world when nationalism and ethnicism become politi-

gigantic transfers of populations or their massacre.

what can happen weapons.

cal

in the

'

Population: 1.963,000

Population: 4.760.000

Croats: 2.7°o

Serbs:

n

Croats:

2.4% I

I

Capital: Ljubljana I

Yugoslavs:

I

I

Others:

I

2.2"?

7.7%

Zagreb

Capital:

•

77.9%

Serbs: 12.2%

Ljubljana Muslims: 3°o I

SLOVENIA

Zagreb

[]

I

Yugoslavs: 2,5% Albanians; 1.3%

CROATIA

Gypsies:

VOJVODINA

1

.2%

Capital: Belgrade

Novi Sad PopulatK

BOSNIA-

Belgrade

HERZEGOVINA SERBIA

Sarajevo

BBfgliBfii^M^^M

Pristina*

KOSOVO Skopje Population: 4,365.000

Muslims: 43,7%1

I

I

I

Serbs:

ALBANIA

31.4%

Croats:

17.3%

Yugoslavs: 5.5% Others:

2.1% Population:

615 000

Capital: Sarajevo I

Montenegrins: 61,8%

I

I

Serbs: 9,3°o Albanians: 6,6=

I

I

Yugoslavs: 2,2'

[] I

I

Others:

Capital: Podgorica

7.7%

Most Ethnically Diverse Republic

Bosnia, the

founds a nation. As

if the

Protestants of France or the

Yugosla\ia: 43" o "Muslims." .^{"o Serbs.

Bosnia was the most "ethnically diverse" republic of ITo Croats and

Catholics of England became a "nationality"!

T'o "Yugoslavs" (persons from mixed marriages or not wishinglo be identified with particular nationalities).

Bosnia has never been a state, except very briefly at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century.

There are no ethnic or linguistic ditTercnces between tiie Muslims and the other nationalities of Bosnia. It is a maner of Serbs or Croats who adopted Islam a \ery long lime ago. under the influence of the Ottoman occupation.

For a long time it was only a pro\ince. first of the Turkish Empire, then of .Austro-Hungar\. and finally

In

1067 Tito decided

that these

republics

Muslims— but

other of the Montenegro) shall become a a capital M. Almost a unique case

"No

Territory

not those

Kosovo. (Macedonia. nation. Thus Muslims w ith

who

were

Catholic) and In this

in history: a religion

Homogenous"

is

^'ugosla\ia.

Thus, there were no "Bosnians"

10

in

Bosnia. Only Serbs

Croats

Orthodox.

generally

Muslims of Serbian or Croatian

book we will write "Muslims" with Muslim nationalist forces.

(Roman origin.

a capital

M

designate

"Bosnia

Was

only Possible within Yugoslavia"

no ethnicalh homogeneous territory in Bosnia of significant size. The most heterogeneous republic of all. Bosnia, is comprised 31.3"o of Serbs. 17.3''o of Croats and 43.7''o of Moslems. To define ethnic divisions conies down to reducing 40% of the population to a minority status. Such an arrangement would considerabK reduce

"Bosnia was onl\ possible w ithin ^ugosla\ia. Inside that framework. Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats could live together without different interests and demands and without being pulled towards their "mother country' and all the

of these persons. [Editor's text was written in the beginning of 1992.]

population groups could once more be opposed to each other as a function of power struggles of their respective bourgeoisies, which represents an unparalleled catastrophe for Bosnia. Above all. for those people w ho do not want to commit themselves either on the one side or the other."

"There

is

the political and ci\ note: this

ic

rights

"A town like Banja Luka would certainly become Sarajevo Muslim: hut Banja Luka is an imponant site of Muslim history and Sarajevo, with its 150,000 Serbian inhabitants, is the third largest Serbian city in the «orld. .According to the Lisbon .Agreement, the Croats would become a minority in Mostar. where the> represent 40" o of the population." Serbian, and

Tihomir Loza. Sarajevo journalist. Babel (France). June 1992. p 37

"The

UN Assists

"In Croatia, the

UN

Ethnic Cleansing"

makes buses

at the

li\

e in peace.

"The end of Yugoslav

Renate Hennecke, lawyer weekly

ia

meant

that

XAZ (Germany), November

the different

1995

"Serbian or Muslim Towns Do Not Exist" "A major tact: all the cities are cosmopolitan. Serbian

or

Muslim towns do not exist, any more than the notion that Muslims are slightly more urban than the other two groups.

On

a\ ailable to e\ acuate the

Serbs of Western Slavonia. thus assistuig ethnic cleansing (carried out b> the Croats), just as it had done in Bosnia-

Herzegovina Muslims."

other inhabitants could

time of the expulsions of the

the other hand. e\ en considering tow ns and countrvside taken together, not a single ethnically homogenous region exists; at most, one can note a certain dominance, such as

the preponderance of Croats in Western Herzego\ ina or

Eastern Herzego\ ina. such as the Muslim "pocket" Northwest. Despite that, mixing and co-existence remain everywhere the rule

Serbs

in

in the

"

Magyar Szo, newspapers

Coumer Iniemational.

of

the Hungarian minority o( Northern Sertjia. quoted

in

1.6.95

Jean-Arnault Derens. M(magazine)(France). Octotier 1992.

p,

52.

"Ethnic Power Struggles Escalate the Conffict" "The tripartite formula of go\ernment in Bosnia-

"Partition Was Absurd and Criminal" "It was impossible to separate nationalities without

Herzegovina is founded on the iheor\ of three constituent peoples and their rights to establish an ethnic domain based on the territories where they are the majority. This formula has not led to peace. The appetites of the representati\es of the parties ha\e onl\ grown, and their government has become the essential cause of the escala-

voking

tion of conflicts

and

rivalries."

Rlipovc. professor ot philosophy at Sarajevo, leader o! the Bosnian Muslim Organization (opposition). Fetmjary 1992.

Muhamed

ethnic

cleansings.

Proposing

to

pro-

partition

Yugosla\ia is as absurd as cutting up Brussels into Flemish, French-speaking, .Arab. Spanish, Italian, etc. municipalities. .Absurd and criminal. Nonetheless, that is what first Gemianx. then Europe and the U.S. did by imposing the independence of Sloxenia and Croatia in 1991. and then Bosnia in 1992." Michel Collon. Solidaire (Belgium). 6-9.95.

—

Bosnia Before Partition

Who Was (See color

Living Where?

map on

inside front cover) Thus the communities

map of Bosnia is based on figures from the official census carried out just before the war in 1991. It shows

map

shows.

the majority nationality for each community. In gray:

One

sees that

This

Serbian. In mid-gray: Croat. In light gray: Muslim. Serbs, being abo\ e

Majority means

all

all

the largest

at least 51''o.

towns

—speckled

this

areas

are plurinational (without absolute majority).

but does not

mean

it

is

the

Thus, to partition Bosnia invariably means isolating communities, "purifying" whole regions, and preparing

mass deportations.

Is

more mixed than

peasants, occupy the largest areas.

sole group.

Media Tests: Ho\k Good

The

are even

Olr News

Isform.atios?

—

.

Media —

Test:

How Good

Is

Our News Information?

Warren Christopher (U.S. Secretaiy of State at the Geneva negotiayour fault, you Europeans. You let the Serbs invade Bosnia!

tions): It's

— David Owen (European Mediator): But they were living there! — Warren Christopher: For a long time? — David Owen: Forever'

How Can One Be

the

Aggressor Against

Own

One's

Country?

-

Where does

this

mistake of Christopher's

General Charles G. Boyd was Deputy Commander in Chief of the U.S. European Command from November

come from? From the fact that Western media who have come from the outside to attack

constantly presented the Serbs as aggressors

Bosnia. This surrealistic dialogue shows that if a Western minister wants to understand a political situation, he should not read his

The the

nationalist

first

media

lie,

Muslim

own

media. Nor should we,

either.

forces of Izetbegovic were presented as the victims. This

the opening volley in an

is

enormous campaign of manipulating public

opinion. A double campaign in fact: on the one hand, demonizing "our" adversaries, the Serbian nationalists; on the other hand, "angelizing" "our" proteges, the Croatian nationalists of Tudjman and the Muslim nationalists of Izetbegovic. Angelizing and

demonizing necessarily have

to

go hand

in hand.

1992 to July 1995. After he wrote: I

wisdom All

Washington

in

factions

in

avoiding minority status

any successor state

most

tools

achieve that end.

described, using examples fi-om

Our book. Attention, medias! Manuel anti-manipulation, the

Gulf War, the disinformation procedures used

in

In this

at Stake

Western media. The demonization of an

which deprives public opinion of the means to understand the real economic and strategic stakes of a war. We refer back to this book and particularly finds to Chapter 3 on demonization.' Even if the Yugoslav situation is more complex, one adversary

is

a procedure

same methods

the

work

at

there.

We

will analyze the six

fundamental procedures of this

The myth of the invaders. The crimes of "our friends"

3.

Stage-managing events

4.

Demonization

5.

Demonizing an

6.

Silence about a regime which fires on

1

in

have used

available

to

of fear, uncertainty,

do what international recognition had done for the Croats of Croatia and the Muslims of Bosnia: ensure that they would not be a minority in a state they perceived to be hostile (...)

Much

what Zagreb

of

calls

the

territories is in fact land

for

more than three

moved the Serbs to the frontier (Krajina) shopkeepers of Vienna (and Zagreb) from the Ottomans. The same is true of most Serb land in Bosnia, what

to protect the

willfully ignores facts. entire people. its

own

the Western media frequently refers to as the 70 percent of Bosnia seized by

population.

rebel Serbs. There were only 500,000 fewer Serbs than Muslims in Bosnia at independence, with the more rural Serbs

tending toward larger landholdings. in the final chapter.

Media Lie No.

1:

short, the

new

The Myth of the Invaders

more often than not about

a Serbian minority supported

from the outside by

the "invaders." This

myth concealed two

Belgrade, but without refuting the

myth of

In

Serbs are not trying to conquer but merely to hold on to

territory,

what was already

have the corporate media presented the situation in Bosnia? As aggression carried out by Serbs who have come from the outside, from Serbia (capital, Belgrade), attacking a neighboring country with which they have nothing to do. Some highly regarded media

How

talked

all

(...)

centuries, ever since imperial Austria are hidden.

and around Sarajevo.

In the first two chapters we will confine ourselves to demonstrating the extent of the disinformation. Certain points will only be examined in greater depth and understood

completely

Yugoslavia or

and resurgent nationalism, first the Croatian and then the Bosnian Serbs with Serbian support— took up arms to

held by Serbs 2.

in

— and

readily

atmosphere

occupied

campaign:

(...)

former Yugoslavia

the

have pursued the same objective

the

Demonizing and Angelizing: Six Media Lies that Hide What's Really

his retirement,

"The views share here are the product of seeing this war up close, almost continuously, in all its ugliness. These views differ from much of the conventional

'Foreign Affairs

(USA)

theirs.'"

September-October 1995.

essential elements.

The

first

element: Yugoslavia was a multiethnic and multinational country, a genuine

tossed salad of nationalities (see the

maps on pages

II

and 13) impossible

to partition.

Liar's Poker

When

the Great

Vance-Owen Peace Plan and and mass deportations. The Serbs were not aggressors who came from another country, they

Powers imposed

this breai