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October
16, 2003
Agents
of Empire
The
Infrastructure of Intervention
by Nebojsa Malic
One
of the secrets of Empire's success is that so many people
have a vested interest in it. From the White Marble Throne
itself to the lowliest NGO intern in some obscure occupied
satrapy, the fact that they represent the Empire gives them
power, authority and meaning. It is also a very lucrative
source of income to many.
Local
rulers can hardly come to power without Imperial blessing.
Knowing that without the Empire one would probably decorate
a lamppost is a powerful incentive to be obedient and loyal.
So, any rumored shifts in policy – and with it, their precarious
status – bring on fits of hysteria.
Swarms
of people endeavor every day to perpetuate the current system:
"judges" and "prosecutors" at the Hague Inquisition, legions
of missionaries from the so-called "NGOs," news media, and
local potentates, who still get to boss their own people around
even as they serve foreign masters.
All
of them form an "infrastructure of intervention," growing
fat on pillaged tax money and intoxicated with near-absolute
power. Lying, cheating, stealing, killing – all is justified
for the greater cause; not human rights, liberty, democracy
or any such nonsense, but the very real perks of serving
the Empire.
Star
Witness?
Towards
the end of September, reports from the Inquisition revolved
mostly around the shocking testimony of Momir Nikolic, former
officer in the Bosnian Serb Army involved in events around
Srebrenica in July 1995. Needless to say, few made a point
of noting that Nikolic's confessions and testimony were part
of a plea bargain he made with the prosecutors.
On
September 26, the London-based IWPR reported how Nikolic "made
history as the first Serb commander to give the inside story
on the massacre at Srebrenica," citing his testimony in great detail.
The same day, Marlise Simmons of the New York Times
cites
a part of Nikolic's tale about six Muslims who surrendered
to a UN vehicle, only to realize it had been captured by Serbs;
then they were taken away and shot by one Serb soldier, who
said he had "taken revenge for my brother."
Note
that this hardly sounds like "systematic genocide" the case
is supposed to be about, but rather like an opportunistic
execution of POWs (still criminal, but lacking the propaganda
punch). Yet the best – or the worst – is yet to come.
Holy
Perjury!
Three
days later, on September 29, a different IWPR "reporter" breaks
the shocking news: Nikolic was exposed as a liar!
In front of the "judges," the prosecutors and the defense
attorneys for another officer – who did not cop a plea, but
chose to defend himself – Nikolic admitted to lying about
one event (just one?) crucial to the current case. The star
witness, the "insider" who "made history," committed perjury.
According
to IWPR's Chris Stephen, Nikolic "was so desperate to get
a deal with prosecutors that he was willing to lie to them."
This revelation "will undermine confidence in other details
he has supplied about the Srebrenica killings in July 1995,
and raises questions about how plea-bargain agreements are
negotiated with those accused of war crimes."
That story is not trumpeted by wire services, or the
New York Times, nor did anyone issue retractions for
deceiving their readers. But there is more. By October 4,
IWPR has replaced their original article with another one,
also by Chris Stephen, again on the subject of Nikolic's perjury.
But instead of "Key Srebrenica Witness Admits Lying," this
article is titled "Key Srebrenica Witness Apologises for Lies."
The above-cited passages are gone, replaced by editorial guidance
and spin.
Fortunately,
the original article was re-posted
elsewhere on the web, and thus saved from the Memory Hole.
Now,
it is not unusual that the Tribunal's "star witnesses" turn
out to be liars; that's a quotidian occurrence in the Milosevic
show trial. That the IWPR changed its story after accidentally
telling the truth isn't so shocking, either. Though it purports to teach "professionalism"
to Balkan presstitutes,
it is really just a paid propaganda outlet. That no one is
shocked by either the ICTY's, or IWPR's actions – now that's
a story.
Protecting
Power and Privilege
Meanwhile,
in Bosnia, NATO occupation troops accused
the Bosnian Serbs of hoarding weapons, and raided
the Muslim-Croat police and intelligence HQ, refusing to explain
why. Ethnic quotas
were imposed on the Serb Republic's Supreme Court. According
to BBC, everyone just loves the impending
merger of Serb, Muslim and Croat armies. Humbug! According
to local press, the Muslim-Croat armed forces can't even pay
electricity bills (Oslobodjenje, 12 October 2003) in
their headquarters. BBC doesn't mention that, naturally.
This
is life as usual in Lord
Ashdown's fiefdom. That is, until someone threatened to
topple the entire house of cards by speculating about withdrawing
Imperial troops badly needed in, say, Babylon.
Even
as the EU announced readiness to take over
the Bosnia mission from NATO, Ashdown led the howls of protest.
American presence is necessary, he said, because "[Bosnians]
regard Europeans as the people who sat there and did nothing
for four years while they were slaughtered…The Americans are
the people who came in and saved them," the viceroy is quoted
as saying.
Of
course, he wasn't speaking about "Bosnians," but about Bosnian
Muslims, and though those might be one and the same
to him, the distinction is important. Besides, Europe sent
peacekeepers, food and negotiators to try and stop the war.
It is hardly their fault that the Muslim leader Izetbegovic
was only interested in provoking American military intervention
by
any means necessary, including holding his own people
hostage.
Ashdown's
protests were immediately echoed by the International Crisis
Group ("it is vital to have an American commitment"), and
Izetbegovic's SDA party ("categorically against an American
pullout"). And remember, just last week Richard Holbrooke
and Bernard Kouchner paraded around the Balkans
advocating continued US presence.
Sounds
as if someone is afraid for their authority and influence
if Americans leave, making one wonder where that power and
influence (and let's not forget, money) came from to begin
with.
The
Vienna Setup
"Bosnians"
are not the only ones fussing. There was a meeting in
Vienna on Tuesday, between a delegation of "Kosovo" (i.e.
separatist Albanians) and Serbian government officials, and
Imperial legates, ostensibly to talk about license plates
and other such nonsense. Since the KLA leaders refused to
attend, the Albanian cause was represented by "president"
Rugova, dubbed by
new viceroy Harri Holkeri as "a symbol of multi-ethnic unity
of Kosovo."
Someone
should have searched Holkeri's bags for drug paraphernalia.
The only unity Rugova symbolizes is the Albanian desire for
an ethnically pure, independent Kosovo.
Or
maybe Holkeri means exactly what he said. On October 8, his
spokesman chose to argue his case for Albanian attendance
in Vienna (through IWPR,
no less!), explaining in rather thinly veiled terms that this
whole dog-and-pony show was concocted for their benefit.
Dialogue
"should happen as an expression of the maturity of Kosovo's
provisional institutions," wrote Whitney Mason. The "burden
is on Kosovo Albanians to show they are serious leaders prepared
to face tough issues… prepared to act like governments everywhere."
Translation: this could legitimize your claim to independence
by showing you can behave like a government.
And
just in case they don't get it, here it is again, verbatim:
"If…
Kosovo leaders are sincere in wanting to resolve Kosovo's
status, they have to prove that they have the maturity to
conduct themselves as a government."
Hints
are already dropping
that the Empire seems inclined towards independence. The media
are already preparing the public
for certain conclusions. Serb concerns are dismissed.
Yet the Albanians protest, boycott and stonewall, vowing to
achieve independence by any means necessary. Sounds a bit
like the 1999 Rambouillet setup,
doesn't it?
Fight
to the Finish
Those
who have come into positions of power and prestige through
violence and lies have never allowed truth or reason to stand
in the way of their ill-gotten gains; it is unlikely they
should start now. Thus the Hague Inquisition continues to
fabricate lies in its quest
for a false
Balkans history; Bosnia's rulers – both foreign and domestic
– continue to pursue their pipe dreams, and the Conquerors
of Kosovo don't intend to begin paying attention to international
law just because Dossie quislings asked them nicely. There
is too much blood on the ground, too many skeletons in the
closet, too much debauchery still ahead, to
stop now. They mean to keep this up, till the very end.
All
the more reason to bring it about.
–
Nebojsa Malic
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