Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001 19:37:09 -0700
Subject: Re: AUT: Serbia
From: Sharon Vance <canito3-AT-earthlink.net>




http://www.wbenjamin.org/walterbenjamin.html

This website has an interesting update on what may be taking place in Serbia
right now. I'm not there so I don't know if it is true.

Assuming that it is it brings up some important points for me. During the
war in Bosnia, and later Kosovo, I was outraged at the mass murders that
were taking place. And I did see images of the Holocaust before my eyes and
I was outraged that once again the West would sit by and do nothing.
And I know that the West does this all the time, in Africa, Asia and Latin
America, and that is also sick. But two sicknesses do not cure a disease.
And once again I see myself making the same old arguments I got into a few
years ago. The reason why I bring this up is to explain my own perspective
and how it may be changing. During the ethnic cleansings I was in favor of
some kind of intervention.

And I have to admit I was happy to hear that Milosovic was going to stand
trial for war crimes. But it seems that Milosovic and the whole bloody
Balkans war is just an excuse to turn the former Yugoslavia into the same
superexploited region that Russia and the former USSR has turned into. And
that is also sick, it is wrong, and it most likely could once again promote
the rise of fascism. I guess my own position would be that I want to see war
criminals tried for war crimes (and yes all of them) and I do not want to
see NATO use Milosovic as an excuse to turn Serbia into a  neo-liberal free
trade zone with 40% of the population living in poverty, as has happened in
Russia. This means supporting the Serbian people in their fight against
globalization, neo-liberalism, and capitalist domination, but not in their
defense of Milosovic, which is what this website seems to be advocating.

Are there any groups in Serbia that are doing this while at the same time
denouncing nationalism and attacks on other ethnic groups and ethnic
minorities? 
Sharon



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