FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA May 22, 2000 Letters
Editor The New York Times New York, NY Subject: A letter to the editor re. “Mr. Putin’s Missteps” - your May 22, 2000 editorial Dear Sir, I’ve taken the liberty of editing ever so slightly the closing paragraphs of your editorial, “Mr. Putin’s Missteps” (May 22), in which you lecture the new Russian president on human rights and international law. But he who lives in a glass house should not cast any stones. So my editing was done with only one thought in mind: What if the shoe were on the other foot? I am sure that your readers would enjoy seeing the other side of the coin, the one that neither the Times nor a majority of the NATO lapdog media has allowed them to see so far. Thank you in advance for re-running it. “Mr.
Clinton’s Missteps” (an
excerpt) As
President Clinton prepares to visit Moscow next month, there are
disquieting signs that the U.S. president is steering the Washington
toward anti-democratic policies… By
hosting General Wesley Clark, the former NATO Supreme Commander and a
loyal ally of Bill Clinton, leaders of the European NATO countries defied
the war crime charges laid or pending against this and other NATO leaders
to deal with atrocities they had committed against Serb civilians in the
recent Balkan ethnic conflicts. Gen.
Clark was the top NATO military commander during the war in Kosovo. On April 11, 1999, NATO bombers operating under his command
killed Bojana Tosovic, 11-months, along with her father, at their home in
Podujevo (Kosovo). Six days
later, they killed Milica Rakic, 3, while this girl was having a bath at
her home in Batajnica. On May
27, they killed Dejana Pavlovic, 4, and her brother, Stefan, at their home
in Ralja. Overall, Gen.
Clark’s NATO “heroes” murdered over 2,000 Serb civilians, including
79 children - one for each day of NATO’s bombing of Serbia. Serbia's public prosecutor, Dragisa Krsmanovic, said on May 19 that
charges would shortly be filed against western leaders accusing them of
committing war crimes against the civilian population during last year's
NATO air war, according to a May 20 Reuters report.
As
a member state of the U.N., the U.S. and other NATO countries had an
obligation to detain Gen. Clark so he could be brought to trial. Instead,
they rolled out a red carpet for this (as yet) unindicted war criminal,
showering him with praise and decorations.
Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and other NATO leaders may be playing to
their New World Order-“death merchant”-banker sponsors with their
embrace of the person whom even the Pentagon brass has shunned.
But these steps are a direct slap at Moscow. Mr.
Putin's advisers talk about the coming summit meeting as an opportunity to
take the measure of Mr. Clinton, and a chance to explore a broad agenda of
common interests. The American leader may turn out to be a pragmatic
negotiator. Certainly he is more energetic and more familiar with policy
details than his predecessor, George Bush. On economic issues, he seems
inclined to spur reform. But on such critical issues as respect for
democratic principles, Mr. Clinton has not made a promising start.”
I am also enclosing below your original editorial, so that you can compare it to the above piece, and see why your comment is not a promising start, either, in your coverage of Russian Affairs. Best regards,
Bob Djurdjevic, Founder, Truth in Media, Phoenix, Arizona ------- THE NEW YORK TIMES - EDITORIAL May 22, 2000 Mr. Putin's Missteps As President Clinton prepares to visit Moscow next month, there are disquieting signs that Russia's new president, Vladimir Putin, is steering the Kremlin toward anti-democratic policies. A government raid on a private media company earlier this month and Moscow's recent welcome for Yugoslavia's defense minister, who has been indicted for war crimes, suggest a contempt for democratic values that Mr. Clinton and his aides must consider as they plan for the Moscow summit meeting. It is possible that the police raid on the offices of Media-MOST and the defense minister's visit were tactical maneuvers designed to placate some of Mr. Putin's conservative political allies rather than a signal of new policies. Even so, Mr. Putin must have understood that the steps would send a chilling message in the first days of his presidency. The government defended the crude search of Media-MOST headquarters as necessary to gather information for a criminal investigation of suspected financial irregularities at the company. Mr. Putin himself echoed that view when he endorsed the police action, while affirming his support for a free press. But it is difficult to believe that the arrival of masked agents with automatic weapons was not an effort to intimidate an enterprise whose publications and broadcast outlets have been critical of Mr. Putin and his prosecution of the war in Chechnya. By hosting Dragoljub Ojdanic, Belgrade's defense minister and a loyal ally of Slobodan Milosevic, the Yugoslav president, Moscow defied the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, which was established by the United Nations Security Council to deal with atrocities in the recent Balkan ethnic conflicts. Mr. Ojdanic was army chief of staff during the war in Kosovo. The tribunal last May charged him and other Yugoslav leaders with responsibility for the deportation of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians and the murder of hundreds of others. As a member state of the U.N., Russia had an obligation to detain Mr. Ojdanic so he could be brought to trial. Instead, he met with Russian defense officials and moved freely through Moscow during a five-day visit that coincided with Mr. Putin's inauguration. Last week, after a visit by Belgrade's foreign minister, Moscow granted Yugoslavia a $102 million loan. Mr. Putin may be playing to nationalist and Slavic sentiment in Russia with his embrace of Belgrade, but these steps are a direct slap at Washington. Mr. Clinton's advisers talk about the coming summit meeting as an opportunity to take the measure of Mr. Putin, and a chance to explore a broad agenda of common interests. The Russian leader may turn out to be a pragmatic negotiator. Certainly he is more energetic and more familiar with policy details than his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. On economic issues, he seems inclined to spur reform. But on such critical issues as respect for democratic principles, Mr. Putin has not made a promising start. ------- Also, check out... TiM Letter to Mclean's Magazine, CIA and KLA Ties, His Disgrace, Artemije, How Gen. Clark Misled the World, Death on the Danube, Reverse Fascism, Racism of the New World Order, Death of the City, Cavorting with the Enemy (Albright), Toward a New Multipolar World in the New Millennium, Stitching Together the New World Order Flag Or Djurdjevic's WASHINGTON TIMES columns: "Chinese Dragon Wagging Macedonian Tail," "An Ugly Double Standard in Kosovo Conflict?", "NATO's Bullyboys", "Kosovo: Why Are We Involved?", and "Ginning Up Another Crisis" Or Djurdjevic's NEW DAWN magazine columns: "Washington's Crisis Factory," and "A New Iron Curtain Over Europe" |
