April 20, 1999
NATO out of the Balkans - Serbia out of Kosovo
NATO joins the war against the Balkan people
- A call for resistance
[Text of Anarchist News No 20, April 1999, 2nd ed]
The NATO bombing of Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo sees
another force brought into play against the people of
the Balkans. The bombs do not damage the rotten Serbian
regime (nor any of the other rotten Balkan warlords).
They are targeted at the Balkan people, of whatever
ethnicity. Throughout the bombing anarchists from ex-
Yugoslavia have been posting reports to the internet.
One from Belgrade observed: When the smoke from the
bombs clears away, the social differences will be even
bigger, the poverty even worse, the authorities even
more harsh. And the matter of Kosovo WON'T be solved!
We call for Irish people to demand the immediate end to
the NATO attacks.
International Interventions
Since the war in Kosovo began, directed primarily
against the ethnic Albanian population by the Serb state
forces, there have been many calls for international
intervention. We oppose all and any such intervention.
The history of "humanitarian" interventions by Western
powers clearly shows that such interventions have
nothing to do with humanitarianism. The Western powers
intervene only when they judge it to be in their
interests to do so.
In particular, calls for military intervention by
liberal commentators, concerned about humanitarian
issues, have close similarities to the 19th century
liberal support for colonisation as a "civilising" and
"humanitarian" mission. If there did exist some
organisation capable of intervening in a truly "neutral"
manner when governments attack the human rights of their
people, there would be barely a state on earth which
would not be bombed. However no such neutral
independent body exists, for obvious reasons. Those who
delude themselves into thinking that the UN, or even
more absurdly NATO, can be a neutral humanitarian force
are choosing to ignore every single piece of historical
evidence.
NATO: a humanitarian force?
If NATO is a neutral humanitarian force, why did it
stand aside when Croatia forced 160,000 Serbs to leave
Krajina in the mid-1990's? Why does NATO include
Turkey, a country that refuses all rights to the 20
million Kurds living in the South East, right down to
not only banning their language but refusing to
acknowledge their existence. 1994 in Turkey was "the
year of the worst repression in the Kurdish provinces"
according to reporter Jonathan Randal but it was also
when Turkey became "the biggest single importer of
American military hardware and thus the world's largest
arms purchaser." Why does NATO include France, a country
that carried out nuclear tests in the South Pacific
against the wishes of the people there and responded to
the attempts of environmentalists to stop it by blowing
up their ship (Rainbow Warrior), murdering two of the
crew members. Why does NATO include Britain, whose army
continues to occupy the north of Ireland and has killed
dozens of civilians there over the last 30 years. Why
does NATO include the USA, whose army has invaded Panama
and Grenada in recent years and whose record in previous
"humanitarian interventions" is barbaric, in Somalia
alone the US army killed thousands of civilians, many of
them children.
NATO has billions of dollars to spend on bombs to drop
on Serbia and Kosovo, yet it seems it was completely
unable to find a few million to prepare homes and food
for these refugees on whose behalf we are to believe it
is acting.
As a particular example of Western "humanitarianism"
look at Iraq. By most commonly accepted estimates half
of a million children have died because of economic
sanctions which include medicines and sanitation
equipment. Over five thousand children die each month
in Iraq, in order for the Western powers to maintain
their absolute control over the world's major oil-
producing region. Last year US secretary of state
Madeleine Albright was asked on US television: "We have
heard that half a million children have died (as a
result of sanctions), I mean that is more children than
died at Hiroshima ...Is the price worth it?". She
replied "We think the price is worth it". 1.
Calls for military intervention ignore the fact that the
Western powers will only act to promote their own
interests, often at the expense of the people who they
are purporting to defend. The NATO bombing of Serbia
has had the entirely predictable result of escalating
the scale of repression in Kosovo, fuelling nationalism
in Serbia and allowing the Yugoslav state to quell
internal dissent. Meanwhile a resolution is not one
centimetre closer.
The failed Paris talks
The details of the proposed peace settlement which was
composed by the Western powers, shows once again how
Western "diplomacy" is driven by their own interests,
rather than by the interests of those whom they are
apparently assisting. The failed peace deal was
formulated without the agreement of the Kosovar people.
It was basically framed towards the needs of the US, the
world's only superpower.
We claim no special insight into the minds of the NATO
planners as to why they are carrying out this campaign.
Perhaps it is simply a demonstration of strength to show
who is in charge in the New World Order. Perhaps it is
because weakening the rump Yugoslavia will make it all
the easier to complete the process by which the Balkans
are becoming a neo-colony of the European Union,
technically self governing but in reality tied to the
European economy as cheap manufacturing and assembly
bases. Certainly the international arms trade cannot be
complaining, every missile fired and bomb dropped will
have to be replaced at a cost of billions of dollars to
the tax payers of the NATO countries. The demonstration
of the superiority of NATO weapons cannot but help sales
and let's not forget that NATO countries are responsible
for over 60% of the worlds arms trade. Perhaps, in 50
or 100 years time, long after the dead of this war are
forgotten by NATO we will be told the real reasons but
the record of the NATO countries rules out any
humanitarian motive.
Internal Opposition in
Yugoslavia
Throughout the Yugoslav wars, there has been a
significant opposition to Milosevic in Serbia itself.
This has included anti-war movements, independent trade
unions and students. Just over a year ago Milosevic's
police force violently repressed demonstrations of over
200,000 people in Belgrade. Now, when a vastly powerful
military machine goes to war against a country, it is
easy for opposition movements to be painted as enemies
of "national unity". Milosevic's regime has fully taken
advantage of the bombing in a number of ways internally.
The Yugoslav state secret police have been arresting
opponents and shutting down all media outlets not
directly controlled by the regime. In the words of one
Serbian anarchist: "[with] no independent electronic
media and press, civil society is almost completely
isolated and destroyed".
Milosevic has also begun to reverse many of the gains
which workers have won in the years since the Bosnian
War. For example another Serbian anarchist reports:
"And one more great thing in which NATO "helped" us.
Capital punishment (or death penalty). It has recently
been abolished from Yugoslav Constitution and I believe
it one of the biggest successes of our hard fight for
democracy, constitutionalism and normal life values.
Tonight, the Minister of Justice in the Serbian
Government, Dragoljub Jankovic proposed that it should
be introduced again while we have the State of War. I
don't have reasons to doubt that it will be introduced
in these circumstances".
Yet despite their seriously weakened position, a
coalition of 16 opposition groups circulated a statement
on April 6th, calling not only for an end to the NATO
bombing, but also for an immediate end to all ethnic
cleansing and a return of the refugees.
Serbian nationalism and Kosovo
The Serbian army has quite clearly been involved in a
campaign of terror against the inhabitants of Kosovo.
We utterly condemn this war waged against the Kosovar
people. Yet again the lives and homes of thousands of
entirely innocent people have been destroyed in the name
of a ludicrous abstraction called nationalism. The
Serbian armies have used the full range of barbarities:
summary executions, vicious acts of ethnic cleansing and
mass terror against a defenceless civilian population.
This has not happened by accident. The Bosnian war saw
the same pattern of conscious atrocities aimed at
exploiting ethnic divisions and creating an atmosphere
of hatred and fear. While it is not true that "Serbs"
are the monsters portrayed in the Western media, the
Serbian regime depends upon its ability to reinforce the
militaristic nationalism which allows thousands to go
forth to slaughter and be slaughtered for the benefit of
a few cynical rulers. Milosevic, NATO and all the
nationalistic regimes of the region stand on the same
side against the people of the Balkans.
Kosavar Independence and the KLA
Since it seems that a large majority of Kosovars wish
for independence we defend their right to form an
independent state. While we defend this right, we don't
believe that the people of Kosovo have much to gain from
the realisation of this wish except in the immediate
(and significant) sense of getting rid of the Serbian
army and its paramilitary hangers on. An independent
Kosovar state, under the influence of the KLA, would
simply amount to exchanging one bunch of nationalist
bosses for another. It is quite possible that they
would, in turn, seek to expel the Serbian minority.
They have exposed themselves as more of the same through
their attacks on Serbian civilians living in Kosovo and
through their demand for NATO intervention. Furthermore
the KLA's programme for creating a "Greater Albania"
would probably lead the Kosovars into another bloody
war, were they to gain power.
What we can do
While we can offer no instant solution to this disaster
there are ways in which Irish working people can show
real humanitarianism and solidarity with the suffering
Kosovar people.
Oppose the escalation of the war by NATO
Firstly we can oppose any and all Western intervention
in Kosovo, which will only serve to further the
interests of the imperial powers. The real victims of
the escalation of the war by NATO have been the Kosovar
and the Serbian people, who have had to endure a vicious
backlash by the Yugoslav state. NATO will not be
militarily defeated in this war, if they are to be
thwarted, opposition by workers in the NATO states will
have to play a large part. If the war becomes drawn out
there is a real possibility of a mass international
anti-war movement emerging. Previous mass anti-war
movements, like the anti-Vietnam war movement, have
created confidence and momentum to challenge the power
of the ruling elites in the imperialists' country.
What's more they constrict the ability of imperial
powers to act with impunity.
In Ireland we should especially oppose any proposals to
join the NATO "Partnership for Peace" grouping. The
Irish government wishes to enter this military alliance
without even consulting the Irish people. The current
situation shows the reality of NATO's "peacekeeping"
missions. Unless we can stop them, next time there
could be Irish "peacekeeping" soldiers waging war. We
must also be on the watch for Irish airports being used
to aid the NATO war effort and oppose all such uses. In
particular NATO aircraft must not be allowed to refuel
at Shannon, as they did during the Gulf War.
Support progressive groups in Yugoslavia.
Secondly we can attempt to build links between workers'
organisations in Ireland and progressive groups in
Serbia who oppose the war. By the end of the Bosnian
war a large anti-war movement had started to emerge in
Serbia. The NATO bombing has weakened them at the
moment. We must seek ways of showing concrete
solidarity with these movements.
Asylum for the displaced people
Finally the most important act of solidarity that we can
show is to demand that the Irish government offers
refuge to the terrorised, displaced people of Kosovo.
We have heard much about the refugee crisis coming from
Kosovo. It's only a crisis for the refugees themselves.
We should demand that our government give serious cash
to the relief organisations and offer asylum to those
Kosovar refugees who want to get out of the Balkans.
Both NATO and the KLA see them as pawns to be
manipulated for their war games. It is up to the people
themselves, to decide where they wish to seek refuge.
This is the real meaning of humanitarianism, the
offering of assistance and solidarity to those
unfortunate enough to be the victims of disasters. If
our government was truly committed to humanitarian
values the government jet would be busy ferrying
refugees out of Kosovo instead of tacitly supporting the
escalation of the war.
In the future
This latest "humanitarian crisis" is just the latest in
a string of excuses that the west has used to intervene
following the ending of the Cold War. While many hoped
for a "peace dividend" as military spending was re-
directed into education and health care the reality is
that it has remained constant or is increasing. We
should oppose any attempts to draw Ireland further into
this cycle of intervention and in particular oppose
entry into the NATO front organisation "Partnership for
Peace". Beyond this though we need to look towards
building a movement that can oppose all such
interventions in the future.
1 John Pilger in the Irish Times March 27 1999
-----
Truth - the first casualty of war
The experience of the Gulf War warns us to be careful of
accepting atrocity stories manufactured by the western
military and fed to a compliant press. In that war we
were told that hundreds of Kuwaiti babies had been
dumped from hospital incubators and left on the floor to
die, after the war this story proved to be a easily
disprovable lie intended to drum up the support of the
western populations for the war. However even if there
may be some considerable exaggeration it is quite clear
that the Serbian state and the paramilitary forces
controlled by it have been responsible for terrible
atrocities
---
For a mass uprising
Although this is a bosses war a defeat for NATO would
have one advantage for the world's workers, it would
discourage future interventions elsewhere. A mass
uprising in the Balkans which could defeat the NATO
forces there would give every western soldier a choice,
desert or face the consequences of fighting for the
western bosses. In such circumstances we could only be
for the defeat of the west.
On a more abstract level the defeat of the US in the
Vietnam war discouraged military intervention for many
years after this. The apparent invincibility of the
western forces in Iraq where they suffered negligible
casualties reversed this deterrence. So all actions
which weaken the western war effort from individual acts
of sabotage to transport strikes are to be welcomed.
The Serbian military is not capable of defeating the
west but every plane they shoot down will have the
effect of discouraging future western interventions.
Recognising this fact should not discourage us from
supporting all anti war movements, strikes and mutinies
in the Serbian population and army. Vietnam also showed
that a nationalist victory means no long term gains for
the working class, just a new set of bosses.
---------
Why anarchism
The Workers Solidarity Movement is anarchist
organisation. We believe in a revolution by the working
class which will overthrow the bosses and their
governments, and create a society run and controlled by
those who actually produce the wealth of the world. We
believe that it is possible to live without government
and to put in its place councils and assemblies where
the "ordinary people" can decide what happens to this
wealth. We believe in the equality of all and that
maximum solidarity is needed between workers and other
oppressed groups if we are to defeat those who live off
our sweat.
Anarchists are against chaos
When you hear about anarchists you are led to believe
that we are mad bombers. Every other group that lets off
a bomb is immediately labelled "anarchist" whether they
be nationalists, socialists or even fascists. The myth
is created that we believe in violence for the sake of
it. The other myth is that anarchism is chaos It is
claimed by politicians, bosses and their hacks in the
media that if there was no government there would be
chaos. But did you ever wonder about society today and
come to the conclusion that perhaps we are already
living in chaos. The price of butter is scandalously
dear yet every year the EU has to deal with a butter
mountain. Thousands of people are dying of starvation
around the world yet millions of pounds are spent every
day on nuclear arms which have the potential for wiping
us and the world out.
You might ask why is this so? We say that there is one
big reason - PROFIT! At the moment we live in a society
in which there are two major classes - the bosses and
the workers. The bosses own the factories, banks, shops,
etc. Workers don't. All they have is their labour which
they use to make a living. Workers are compelled to sell
their Labour to the boss for a wage. The boss is
interested in squeezing as much work out of the worker
for as little wages as possible so that he/she can
maintain high profits. Thus the more wages workers get
the less profits the bosses make. Their interests are in
total opposition to each other.
Production is not based on the needs of ordinary people.
Production is for profit. Therefore although there is
enough food in the world to feed everyone, people starve
because profits come first. This is capitalism.
What is the State?
There are other classes in society such as the self-
employed and small farmers but fundamentally there are
workers and bosses whose interests are in opposition to
each other. For workers needs to be fully met we must
get rid of the bosses. But this is no easy task. The
bosses are organised. They have the media on their side.
They also have the State and the force of the army and
police that go with it. We only have to look at the
Australian dockers strike to see how the forces of the
state can be used against the working class. We only
have to look at the North to see to what extent the
ruling class are prepared to go to protect their
interests.
The state (i.e. governments, armies, courts, police,
etc.) is a direct result of the fact that we live in a
class society. A society where only 7% of the people own
84% of the wealth.
The state is there to protect the interests of this
minority, if not by persuasion then by force. Laws are
made not to protect us but to protect those who own the
property. Look at how the building workers were flung
into jail when they decided to fight against the Black
economy.
Compare this with the treatment handed out to the multi-
nationals who are able to take 500m in profits out of
the country tax free without the government even knowing
about it. If you think that the state is there to
protect you, think about the fact that PAYE workers pay
88% of all income taxes while the rest - farmers, self-
employed ,and multi-nationals pay only 12% between them.
Socialism from Below
Central to our politics is the belief that ordinary
people must make the revolution. Every member of the
working class (workers, unemployed, housewives, etc.)
has a role to play. Only by this participation can we
ensure that anarchism is made real. We believe in a
revolution that comes from the bottom up and is based on
factory and community councils. Freedom cannot be given,
it has to be taken.
So we say it is up to ordinary people. Some ask is this
possible? Would it not be chaotic? Of course not. At the
moment capitalism would collapse without the support of
the working class. We make everything, we produce all
the wealth. It is possible to organise production so
that the needs of all are met. It is also possible to
create structures that allow everyone to participate in
making the decisions that affect them.
Text of Anarchist News No 20, April 1999
Published by the Workers Solidarity Movement
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/wsm.html
email: wsm_ireland@geocities.com
This article is from Workers Solidarity No 56
published in March 1999
More articles from this issue at
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/ws99.html
From Irelands's Workers Solidarity Movement
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/wsm.html
Email us at wsm_ireland@geocities.com
