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Posted July 5, 2001
Unproductive Spats
[Regarding B. Inkova's Backtalk letter, "Disgusted by Apocalyptic Prophecies":]
…Your Bulgarian reader …expressed frustration with [Justin Raimondo's] "apocalyptic" foretelling of Balkan events. Although Antiwar.com's writers (Messrs. Raimondo and Malic in particular) display uncanny prescience and accuracy in their analyses, there is very often a worrying sense of bitter futility and powerlessness, not to mention an ideological rancor, that pervades these editorial columns. For example, while Mr. Raimondo correctly points out that Ramsey Clark's high profile and partisan presence might be more detrimental than beneficial to Milosevic defense, he reduces the matter to ideological warfare, libertarianism vs. socialism. For those of us who read Antiwar.com not out of a political affiliation, but because we are genuinely concerned with the situation in the Balkans and seek true and unadulterated news reports, these spats seem very unproductive. With the pedestal and prestige you have, you really should be more proactive and offer positive solutions, instead of ridiculing your enemies and preaching righteous, but impotent, commentaries.
~ C. Deliso, San Francisco
Justin Raimondo replies:
It is not a matter of "libertarianism versus socialism," but of a rational nonsectarian opposition to intervention versus extreme leftist sectarianism – a sectarianism that discredits the antiwar movement and is a monumental embarrassment. This may explain, at least in part, the sense of futility and powerlessness that you perceive. As for ideological rancor, I can't top Gloria LaRiva and her cohorts in Berkeley (of course!) who, during the Kosovo war, denounced me from the podium of an antiwar rally right after I had spoken – much to the consternation of the Serbian students who had worked so hard to put on the event. How's that for "rancor"?
Money and Freedom
So what's [Sascha Matuszak's] point on communist China? Money = freedom? I hear that all the time from Libertarians who believe "free trade" = free trade, when in fact it's managed trade, with government bureaucrats sitting between the producer and consumer.
~ D. Marciniak
Sascha Matuszak replies:
In no way do I think money equals freedom and I don't believe the article says that either. My point is that money equals contentment and disregard for freedom. Chinese are so focused on making money, studying harder to get the good job, making the connections with those bureaucrats you refer to for advancement that the inequities of the CCP are sideshows – easily forgotten in the sea of greed. Check out "China's Youth Revolution" – my point there is similar. Actually many of my articles revolve around the greed that is resulting in a blasé attitude toward CCP corruption and control and politics in general.
Not a Hoax
Justin ought to dig deeper before repeating the canard about the Racak atrocity being a hoax in his column on "The Trial."
Contrary to the Berliner Zeitung, the article of J. Raino, K. Lalu, and A. Penttila in Forensic Science International of 15 February 2001, does not represent the final report of the European Union Forensic Expert Team, merely the report of the autopsies of January 1999 in Racak. The Team, under the direction of Dr. Helena Ranta, made two more trips to Racak with a full complement of forensic investigators, and their summarized conclusions are in the report of the EU Forensic Expert Team in Kosovo, 1998-2000 to the Council of the EU.
The Team returned in November 1999 and March 2000 with photographers and surveyors, and found bullets and bullet fragments in the gully in the positions where the bodies were found and photographed at the time. Bullets were subjected to DNA analysis, confirming a connection to the victims. Cartridge cases were also found, giving evidence of the number and types of weapons fired at the gully.
This report was sealed and delivered to the ICTY in June 2000. The Executive Summary was reduced to a limited classification in February 2001. Although the summary sticks to the facts, and does not attribute responsibility, it appears to confirm the Newsweek report of 24 April 2000, which pointed out that the newly discovered evidence indicated a massacre at the gully in which the victims were shot, not at point-blank range, but at a distance of at least a meter.
~ David Walls, Sebastopol, California
EU's Popularity
[Regarding Carl Haber's Backtalk letter, "EU Debate":]
Haber says "that in Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Spain, Holland and Belgium the great majority of citizens are in favor of the EU and have continually polled as such." This isn't true. In January of this year a poll published simultaneously by (the impeccably liberal-credentialed newspapers) the Guardian in Britain, Le Monde in France, El Pais in Spain, as well as [newspapers] in five other European countries – and coordinated by Louis Harris of France – indicated low levels of faith in one of the EU's biggest litmus tests, the Euro. In Germany only 29% are satisfied that it has replaced the mark. In France: 50% approval. In Italy 46%, and Spain 42%, are happy to have replaced their national currencies with the Euro. Of the eight countries polled, only in Luxembourg – where the national currency was extremely weak – is there strong support for the Euro, at 72%. But it doesn't stop at the Euro: In Spain 48 per cent said they were somewhat or totally dissatisfied with all forms of economic and monetary union – and the European Commission's approval rating is down to 37%… 72% of Germans said they have little or no confidence in the ability of the European Commission to improve their lives. 21% gave the EU's executive arm a positive rating.
Were every citizen of Europe given the …opportunity to vote, the commission might die of a collective heart attack. But it won't come to a vote because those building the new Europe can't waste their time with building a democratic institution.
~ M.C.