Helmet Joachim Schmidt and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The government of Syria continues to remain steadfast despite open intimidation from Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Other enemies of Syria including America, France, Jordan, and the United Kingdom, all prefer a more underhanded approach. This isn’t surprising given the many joint military alliances between al-Qaeda linked terrorist groups and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) despite all the words of denial coming out of Washington. After all, various FSA units work side by side with al-Qaeda linked groups and it is difficult to split them given the reality on the ground. Of course, the Islamists are “useful tools” just like they were in Bosnia when Bill Clinton gave them the green light. However, in time the United States would squeeze them out of the picture in Bosnia once their evil deeds had served the purpose of Washington.

Last year it was the turn of NATO Turkey to try and entrap Syria by not only allowing the FSA and various Islamist groups to reequip and manipulate the border areas; but also because Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey had hoped to ensnare the Syrian armed forces into open hostilities in the border areas between both nations. The Syrian government is fully aware about the real motives of Erdogan therefore they have no intent on assisting his plans. After all, it is not in the interest of Syria to become involved in a conflict on another front. Therefore, with internal discontent increasing in Turkey because of the policies of Erdogan towards Syria, then now it is the time of Israel to play the devil’s advocate for Washington.

President Obama pulled American forces out of Iraq and then supported a policy of the destabilization of Syria in the full knowledge that al-Qaeda and other sectarian forces would be reinvigorated in Iraq. Obama knows that it is a very hard sell to openly fight on the same side of al-Qaeda. Therefore, the CIA is being “pimped out” just like MI6 in the United Kingdom in order to do the dirty work from a distance. Prudently, it is wise for Obama to do this because the FSA Islamists have committed horrendous atrocities and currently two Christian bishops are being held by forces which are allied to the causes of Ankara, Doha, London, Paris, Riyadh and Washington.

America’s “war on terrorism” in Syria is clearly a war on allowing Saudi Arabia and Qatar to openly support terrorism, sectarianism and sedition. The embassy debacle in Libya, the recent terrorist attack in Boston and the Saudi connection to September 11; means that it is a hard sell for Obama to openly side with the forces of al-Qaeda and sectarianism in Syria. This also applies to the fact that thousands of American troops were killed in Iraq but today because of the policies of Obama – and regional nations which are against the government of Syria – then the same forces of al-Qaeda are once more thriving in Iraq and now they can reach deeply within the Levant.

In recent weeks it is clear that the armed forces of Syria have been reinvigorated and Jordan appears to have taken a step back based on self interests because the ratlines couldn’t be covered-up no more. Also, the elites in Jordan know that the Muslim Brotherhood will not stop at Syria because many ardent members want to take over the leverages of power within this country. Jordan should look at modern day Pakistan and how this nation helped to destabilize itself by giving birth to the Taliban and then fighting a brutal war with the same forces that were unleashed in Afghanistan. Islamists were “adorable killers” of Orthodox Christians for American in Bosnia because once they had dutifully served the interests of others; then they could be dismantled because their powerbase was weak internally. Yet in Jordan the Palestinian and Muslim Brotherhood questions are very real therefore some elites in Jordan are worried about ensnaring themselves.

Turkey likewise backed down when NATO balked at becoming fully involved because just like the European Union it is clear that many members don’t buy into the hard sell of America, France and the United Kingdom. Also, with the Russian Federation remaining firm and internal discontent growing within parts of Turkey towards the policies of Erdogan; then his rants and goading of Syria have died down despite the menace still existing. The recent attack by FSA Islamists against Turkish border guards is also a reminder that Erdogan is playing a dangerous game because you have major religious, political and ethnic divides in this country.

However, Israel doesn’t have to worry about a widespread Palestinian uprising because Hamas is increasingly in the pockets of Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Also, despite anti-Christian persecution increasing in Egypt this isn’t stopping America from supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt both financially and militarily. Therefore, Israel doesn’t currently face an internal threat and with sectarianism growing in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria; then this may be an opportunist moment to weaken Hezbollah further in the knowledge that the “Lebanese street” is extremely divided.

The bombing by Israel also may highlight the death knell of FSA Islamists forces which are being pushed back in many areas by the Syrian armed forces. It seems inconceivable that Syria would be arming any other entity given the range of enemies against this secular nation. Similarly, the involvement of Israel makes a mockery of al-Qaeda because Islamists are not attacking NATO Turkey in the north or Israel in the south. On the contrary, Islamist terrorists are only focused on destroying Syria which is the last major independent state in the Arabic speaking world.

Syria will be faced with a major dilemma if the bombing of this country by Israel becomes more frequent. After all, the Syrian armed forces can’t afford to be drawn into a conflict with either Israel or Turkey. Therefore, Israel may be goading Hezbollah in the knowledge that if Syria and Iran do reply then it will most likely come through south Lebanon and the heartland of Hezbollah. Also, with FSA Islamists attacking villages along the border between Lebanon and Syria and with Sunni Islamist militancy growing in Lebanon; then does Israel see an opportunity to entrap Hezbollah during a time when this organization may become over stretched?

The government of Syria is the most stabilizing entity within the region because clearly this nation doesn’t seek to become embroiled with hostile nations. Israel can’t justify their attacks against Syria on any grounds because the government of Syria is not behaving in a hostile manor unlike Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Therefore, it is imperative that Syria is supported by friendly nations against all the dark forces which are against this country.

Syrian TV stated that “The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups, which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army.”

Ironically, the opposite will most likely happen because the more nations are pushing against Syria – then the more united the armed forces are becoming. Likewise, all major religious leaders in Syria from the entire spectrum remain firm against the meddling of outside nations.

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Boutros Hussein and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The new Iraq since the US led invasion remains to be blighted by terrorism, sectarianism and regional powers like Turkey ignore the sovereignty of this nation when it comes to energy related issues and other important areas. Since outside nations in the Gulf region were given the “green light” to sponsor international terrorism, mercenaries and to spread radical Salafi thought patterns to Syria; then this nation is becoming reduced in power just like in Iraq. However, unlike Iraq, the nation of Syria is faced with enormous media manipulation, sanctioned terrorism, regional nations partaking in destabilizing this country and other barbaric realities like destroying the economy and infrastructure.

Somehow the mass media is trying to make people believe that feudal monarchies in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others are interested in democracy. Likewise, the mass media is trying to hide the shenanigans of the CIA, MI6 and other intelligence agencies which are fermenting the destabilization of Syria. Therefore, when Christian bishops are kidnapped, people are beheaded, minorities flee in fear, car bombings, killing media personnel and political assassination attempts are done by elements within the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the array of different Islamist terrorist groups; then all this is brushed under the carpet in order to hide the barbaric policies of Ankara, Doha, London, Paris, Riyadh, and Washington.

Iraq and Mali show that you have major splits between the forces which are destabilizing Syria. After all, Qatar and Turkey didn’t support the French led initiative of supporting the people of Mali against international terrorism, disintegration and destroying Sufi shrines. Similarly, elements within the CIA in Iraq are at a loss about the policies of the Obama administration because over 4,000 US soldiers sacrificed their lives. Yet today al-Qaeda and other terrorist forces have been given the green light to enter Syria. At the same time, the same Islamist forces have re-entered parts of Iraq where many US soldiers were killed. Apparently, the governments of America and the United Kingdom care little about their war dead because the same al-Qaeda and array of other terrorist forces are now fighting on the side of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Iraq is now facing a fresh sectarian nightmare because while terrorism remained within the body politic of this nation since the US led invasion; the forces of al-Qaeda and sectarianism were on the back foot. However, today in modern Iraq the forces of al-Qaeda, other terrorist networks, Salafi indoctrination and increasing sectarianism are on the march once more. This reality also highlights another Mali split because the leader of Iraq is clearly pointing the finger at regional Gulf nations and the role of Turkey. Qatar once more and other forces throughout the Gulf are at loggerheads with London, Paris, and Washington, when it comes to Iraq because leading Western nations don’t want to witness the unraveling of this nation. Despite this, regional feudal Gulf powers believe that they are outside the United Nations and other international institutions because of their petrodollars.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki of Iraq unlike regional Gulf nations and leading NATO powers fully understands the nightmare engulfing the region. Maliki stated that “Sectarianism is evil, and the wind of sectarianism does not need a license to cross from a country to another, because if it begins in a place it will move to another place.”

He continued by stating that “Strife is knocking on the doors of everyone, and no-one will survive if it enters, because there is a wind behind it, and money, and plans.” 

Indeed, with Christian bishops currently being kidnapped by forces which are allied to Ankara, Doha, London, Paris, Riyadh, and Washington – and with vast numbers being killed in Iraq – then the current chemical issue is probably masking many recent events in order to cover-up the reality of what is happening in Iraq and Syria. Also, it is abundantly clear that the armed forces of Syria haven’t collapsed and currently new fresh approaches appear to be reinvigorating their fight against international terrorism, covert operatives and a plethora of proxy forces. Therefore, the nations meddling against Syria desire a “no fly zone” and increased funding for the array of forces against the government of Syria because Damascus remains strong.

Omran Ahed al-Zouabi reported to RT that “First of all, I want to confirm that statements by the US Secretary of State and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie…I want to stress one more time that Syria would never use it – not only because of its adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of humanitarian and moral issues.”

He further stated that “The US is concealing that Qatar is financing terrorists, supply weapons to them. Thus, the US is basically involved in what is happening in Syria….Their aim is, first, to cover those who are really behind (the) use of chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal, and secondly, to repeat Iraq’s scenario, to pave the way for other investigation inspections. To provide, based on their results, maps, photos of rockets and other fabricated materials to the UN, which as we know, opened the way to the occupation of Iraq.”

Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya are unstable because of outside meddling but while these ongoing nightmares continue the same Gulf and NATO powers continue to destabilize other nations. Syria is blighted by this axis of evil and for the people of Iraq a new crisis is unfolding despite the last crisis never being solved in its entirety. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya and now Syrians are dying in vast numbers because of the whims of Gulf nations and major NATO powers. The death toll keeps on rising in all the above nations alongside chaos, the decreasing rights of women and the growing menace of Salafi Islam which is bent on destroying the non-Muslim world and diversity within the Muslim world.

The leader of Iraq fully understands that outside forces throughout the Gulf are involved in many dark forces. Likewise, it is ridiculous for political elites in America, France and the United Kingdom to believe that al-Qaeda and Salafi indoctrination can be contained within Syria. Of course, this policy is not only internally barbaric but now Iraq and Lebanon are facing many serious internal issues because of outside nations meddling in the affairs of Syria. Therefore, it is essential that “this madness” is curtailed because if the current axis of evil in Ankara, Doha, London, Paris, Riyadh, and Washington aren’t contained; then more nations will be destabilized and the mosaic of Syria will be lost.

http://rt.com/news/syria-chemical-iraq-scenario-483/

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Boutros Hussein and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The Syrian government is fighting international Islamic jihadists which are funded by feudal Gulf monarchs and whereby NATO Turkey is a friendly participant in the destabilization of Syria. Indeed, it is amazing that America, France and the United Kingdom are playing the “international jihadist card” against Syria after the deplorable reality of what happened in Afghanistan. This applies to America, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other nations, openly funding terrorists throughout the 1980s and 1990s in Afghanistan and clearly this reality existed long after the demise of the Soviet Union. Indeed, when America needed help after September 11 it was the Russian Federation supported Northern Alliance which helped Washington against its former Islamist friends.

However, under the Obama administration the terrorist ratlines which existed pre-September 11 have once more been re-opened. This can be seen by events in Libya where many Islamic jihadists which were fighting in Iraq suddenly fused together with powerful Gulf nations, America, France and the United Kingdom. Clearly this “unholy alliance” resembled the reality of Bosnia whereby international jihadists went to this part of the former Yugoslavia in order to slit the throats of Orthodox Christian Serbs. America under Bill Clinton marched in step with international jihadists, Iran, Saudi Arabia and an array of different nations which supported the jihadist banner against Orthodox Christians in Bosnia. Like usual, the media was at its compliant best because somehow all the beheadings, international jihadists, covert ratlines linking the CIA and Iran, and so forth, were conveniently missed.

Modern day Syria resembles the political spin of Bosnia because international jihadists, supporters of sectarianism and outside nations have been given the usual free ride. The real “David” is Syria which faces many “Goliaths” which seek to crush the independence of this nation. America, France and the United Kingdom have geopolitical ambitions but just like in Afghanistan the long-term will be won by Gulf Islamist indoctrination if Syria is crushed. It matters not that Islamist terrorists on the ground are cleansing minorities, killing mainstream Sunni Muslim clerics and putting women in the shadows. After all, elites in London, Paris and Washington know full well that secular Syria will be crushed by sectarian Islamists if the government of Syria falls.

Chechen Islamists and Caucasus Jihadists

Islamic jihadists from all over the world are flocking to Syria and clearly NATO Turkey is “pimping itself out” in order to enable Islamist to enter the north of this country. At the same time, Gulf petrodollars are helping to arm international jihadists against secular Syria alongside spreading Islamist indoctrination by manipulating charities, refugee camps and by spreading media propaganda throughout the Middle East. The Chechen and Caucasus Islamist angle is also increasing and given the notoriety of Chechen fighters then clearly the allies of America are enabling this to happen – this applies to Turkey and Georgia.

In a past article by Modern Tokyo Times it was stated that “It is known that Turkey and Georgia have given either tacit approval of safety to Chechen Islamists in the past, or both nations have been involved in covert operations aimed at the Russian Federation. Either way, it is clear that Chechen Islamists were given breathing space in parts of Turkey and Georgia. Georgia could claim that the internal convulsions which continue to cause problems in several parts of this nation, is a valid reason why they couldn’t prevent Chechen Islamist intrigues in the past. Yet, Turkey can’t provide any such excuse and given the nature of this nations support for sectarianism, terrorism and sedition within Syria, then clearly the “Chechen connection” may be based on the intrigues of Ankara.”

In 2012 Bill Roggio, The Long War Journal, stated that “The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group that is fighting Bashir al Assad’s regime in Syria, has claimed credit for yet another suicide attack as well as another joint operation with Chechen fighters.”

Murad Batal al- Shishani wrote in the Jamestown Foundation on April 19, 2013, that “A video posted on YouTube in the last week of March documented the unification of two Syrian armed groups; the Katibat al-Khattab (Army of Khattab Brigades) and the Katibat Jaysh al-Muhammad (Army of Muhammad Brigades), with the Katibat al-Muhajireen (KaM – the Brigade of Migrants). [1] The video showed armed men giving their bayat (allegiance) to the amir of the Katibat al-Muhajireen, Abu Omar al-Shishani, an ethnic Chechen from Georgia’s Pankisi valley. The newly unified groups announced their incorporation into a new movement using the name Jaysh al-Muhajireen wa’l-Ansar (JMA – the Army of Migrants and Supporters) and under the command of al-Shishani (“The Chechen”). Like its components, the new movement will continue to be dedicated to helping Syrians topple the rule of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. [2]”

He continues by stating that “The KaM was formed in the rural areas of Latakia (northwest of Damascus) in mid-2012 by Libyan volunteers who joined the Syrian revolution after toppling Mu’ammar Qaddafi’s regime in Libya. However, the leadership of the group is currently dominated by Chechens. With a membership of roughly 1,000 fighters, the Muhajireen operate in various areas of Syria and have seen action primarily in the Aleppo area (Kavkaz.tv, March 26). The KaM also coordinated attacks with other armed groups in Syria, especially with the jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), which renewed its allegiance to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in mid-April (al-Shorfa.com, April 15). One of the best known of these joint attacks was the assault on Air Defense Brigade 602’s base in the Handarat district of Aleppo (Jabhat al-Nusra, Statement No. 166, November 21, 2012; as-ansar.com; al-Jazeera Arabic TV, November 6, 2012).”

It is therefore abundantly clear that the wave of Libyans, Tunisians and other North Africans were unable to topple the government of Bashar al-Assad. Therefore, Gulf petrodollars and the connivance of the Erdogan government in NATO Turkey are intent on funding greater professionalism within the Islamist jihadist ranks. Not surprisingly, the Chechen and Caucasus Islamist angle became most appealing given the links between Turkey and Chechen jihadist groups.

Interestingly, the Chechen angle to the Boston terrorist attack in America witnessed the “crocodile tears” of President Obama. After all, “real Chechen Islamist terrorists” in Syria are being supported by the allies of Washington. Indeed, even after the terrible events of Boston the government of America announced more funding to various factions in Syria in order to further destabilize secular Syria. Therefore, it appears that the United States isn’t interested in the real picture and this echoes the reality surrounding September 11 whereby nearly all the jihadists came from Saudi Arabia.

The Chechen and Caucasus Islamist angle in Syria continues to develop because in the early stages this reality was negligible. Yet from the middle of 2012 it became apparent that Islamists from the Caucasus area were increasingly going to Syria. This reality can be seen today because Chechens and others are playing a more important role within the international jihadist terrorist movement in Syria. Indeed, in the last 24 hours it was reported that two Orthodox Christian bishops were kidnapped in Syria and once more some reports are pointing the fingers at the Chechen angle. Irrespective, if Chechens are involved in the kidnapping of two Orthodox Christian bishops in Syria; it is clear that only “good terrorists” exist in the minds of the governments of America, France and the United Kingdom.

In the past the Gulf petrodollars funded Islamist terrorism and indoctrination throughout the Caucasus region and clearly this reality is still ongoing. Therefore, the Russian Federation should be doing more in Syria to counteract Gulf nations, Turkey and the ratlines which exist within MI6, CIA and other intelligence networks. If Moscow doesn’t send covert operatives into Syria – or at least fund Syrian intelligence units and provide greater arms and intelligence knowledge; then clearly this will come back to haunt the Russian Federation.

Modern Tokyo Times stated in a past article that “The Russian Federation should be very worried about this angle because in recent times several Sufi Muslim leaders have been killed in Dagestan and Tatarstan by Sunni Islamist terrorists. Not only this, these new ratlines could trigger more bloodshed in the Caucasus region and in other parts of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the situation in Chechnya could be reignited in the future if bases become obtainable alongside fresh armaments and capital.”

Lorenzo Vidino stated back in 2005 that “On September 1, 2004, a group of Chechen terrorists took hostage and two days later murdered at least 335 schoolchildren and parents in Beslan, a town in the Russian republic of North Ossetia. The atrocity focused world attention on Chechnya. The Russian government used the event to reiterate its arguments that Chechen terrorists and foreign jihadists supporting them have ideological, financial, and operational ties with Islamist terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda.[1] Although President Vladimir Putin and top Russian security officials provided evidence of links between Chechen fighters and Al-Qaeda, European politicians and mainstream Western journalists focused instead upon the Russian army’s brutality and dismissed Putin’s claims as an attempt to gain sympathy in the West and deflect criticism of Russia’s handling of a nationalist insurgency.”

“Putin may have been opportunistic, but he was also correct. A close examination of the evolution of the Chechen movement indicates that Islamists and followers of Al-Qaeda have increasingly sought to co-opt the Chechen movement as their own.”

In Syria in 2013 it is clear that Chechens and other Islamist jihadists from the Caucasus region are hand-in-hand with al-Qaeda. It is also known that the Russian Federation notified America about the individual involved in the Boston terrorist attack way back in 2011. Clearly, both times the Russian Federation fully understood the reality on the ground while major Western powers just closed their eyes.

Today NATO Turkey is a major conduit for many Islamist terrorist ratlines and clearly Chechens and Caucasus Islamists have entered Syria via the connivance of the Erdogan government. The government of Syria insists that it is fighting international terrorism which is being sponsored and supported by America, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Kingdom. On top of this, Jordan is playing a murky role and clearly parts of Lebanon are involved in supporting international terrorism and sectarianism. It is therefore incumbent on the friends of Syria to help this nation much more and for major Western powers to take a long look at September 11, the shackling of women in Afghanistan, daily terrorism in Iraq, the failed state of Libya, the collapse of parts of Pakistan, the destabilization of Mali after the Libya debacle – and other brutal realities like 50% of Christians fleeing Iraq after the US led invasion. After all, why are the same nations supporting the side of international terrorism and sectarianism against secular Syria? Similarly, how come NATO Turkey is a springboard for international jihadists like the Chechens and so many more ethnic groups given their brutal future objectives?

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/11/al_nusrah_front_clai_8.php

http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=40749&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=228&cHash=c3e3cff3cb8c85aa5a70815db7c3871e

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_05_10/74299416/

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

Alyse Radenovic (http://www.alyseradenovic.com) was born in 1973 therefore during her early adult life the war in the former Yugoslavia was blazing. This extremely talented artist was born in America and her adorable fine art covers many different themes and often flows in many directions. Many strong passions exist within Alyse Radenovic and this applies to her love of art and her deep respect towards many political issues. Of major concern for Alyse Radenovic is the distortion of reality when it comes to the coverage of what happened to the Serbs in Bosnia, Krajina and Kosovo. Therefore, this article is about fusing art, history and the “other reality” which was neglected by the mass media. Also, it highlights the fact that many major nations will do anything in order to appease the petrodollar nations of the Gulf.

It firstly must be stated that Alyse Radenovic is a fine arts artist who focuses on many themes. Therefore, the words in this article belong to the respective writers despite being inspired by the art of Alyse Radenovic. However, it must be stated that Alyse Radenovic is troubled by the re-writing of history – or, better to say – a history that was never taught in the first place outside of the embattled Serbs of Bosnia, Krajina and Kosovo.

In this article all the art pieces by Alyse Radenovic are focused on Bratunac and Srebrenica. These images can be put within a limited theme applying to what the viewer can see and feel. Or, alternatively, a bigger picture may entail from many different angles. If we then take the names Bratunac and Srebrenica away then the mist of reality can’t be debated. Yet, the titles clearly state that the art pieces apply to Bratunac and Srebrenica. Despite this, at no point am I implying that Alyse Radenovic is focused on the deeper meaning – only this talented artist can answer this; however, it is this chaos which aptly applies to Bratunac and Srebrenica which creates many images within the mind.

Serbian Orthodox Christians in Bosnia, Krajina and Kosovo had their entire history and martyrdom crushed by a mass media which ignored the past, the reality of the time and this ongoing blindness continues today. In modern day Europe you have northern Cyprus whereby Turkey continues to occupy parts of this country. Following on from Turkish occupation is the de-Christianization of this part of Cyprus. Likewise, in modern day Kosovo vast numbers of Orthodox Christian churches and important Serbian architecture have been destroyed. On top of this, many Orthodox Christians have been killed in Kosovo since the ending of the conflict under the watch of America and Europe. It is no coincidence that the petrodollars of the Gulf and the importance of Turkey in NATO, meant that in three conflicts involving Orthodox Christians and Muslims in the last 40 years in Europe; that America sided with Muslim forces in each conflict.

The stunning art piece by Alyse Radenovic titled Bratunac – Blue says much about the distortions of reality. In this image we see the power of the mountains, distant buildings and flowers which immediately hit you. Tranquility can be viewed despite the rugged landscape. However, for the Bosnian Serbs of Bratunac and other mainly Orthodox Christian villages in and around Srebrenica; then only death, persecution and fear could be found during the Bosnian conflict.

Many powerful individuals on the ground and people in the know, fully understood the real reality of Bratunac, Srebrenica and the entire area whereby mutual hatred flourished. In this atmosphere of hatred many innocent Muslims and Orthodox Christians were killed by opposing forces in this part of Bosnia. French General Philippe Morillon, the UNPROFOR commander who first called international attention to the Srebrenica enclave, is adamant that the crimes were quite “extraordinary in the region committed by those Muslim soldiers made the Serbs’ desire for revenge inevitable. He testified at The Hague Tribunal on February 12, 2004, that the Muslim commander in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, “engaged in attacks during Orthodox (Christian) holidays and destroyed villages, massacring all the inhabitants. This created a degree of hatred that was quite extraordinary in the region.”

Philippe Morillon further states that “Naser Oric was a warlord who reigned by terror in his area and over the population itself. I think that he realized that these were the rules of this horrific war, that he could not allow himself to take prisoners. According to my recollection, he didn’t even look for an excuse. It was simply a statement: One can’t be bothered with prisoners.”

Morillon continues by stating that “the Serbs took me to a village to show me the evacuation of the bodies of the inhabitants that had been thrown into a hole, a village close to Bratunac. And this made me understand the degree to which this infernal situation of blood and vengeance [...] led to a situation when I personally feared that the worst would happen if the Serbs of Bosnia managed to enter the enclaves and Srebrenica.”

“I feared that the Serbs, the local Serbs, the Serbs of Bratunac, these militiamen, they wanted to take their revenge for everything that they attributed to Naser Oric. It wasn’t just Naser Oric that they wanted to revenge, take their revenge on; they wanted to revenge their dead on Orthodox Christmas.”

Bratunac and the entire area in and around Srebrenica witnessed countless massacres against local Orthodox Christians. Indeed, while nobody can deny the brutality of what happened when Srebrenica was taken by Bosnian Serb forces – how, what really happened and the numbers killed can be debated; but it is clear that thousands of Muslim males were killed. However, unlike Naser Oric and the brutality that occurred under his command against old people, women and very small children; the Bosnian Serbs allowed Muslim women and children to escape. At no point does this cover-up the massacres that took places by victorious Bosnian Serb forces when Srebrenica fell. However, it is ironic that the brutal murder of over 3,500 Orthodox Christians was brushed under the carpet despite three years of brutality by Muslim forces in the region.

In the art piece by Alyse Radenovic titled Srebrenica – Gold Red then the stylishly distorted images of houses and the vivid color red denotes the distorted bloodshed and reality which happened throughout this part of Bosnia. The Gold background can denote many things. Yet for both writers of this article it denotes the petrodollars of the Gulf and how America and the United Kingdom were willing to “sell their collective souls” while Turkey and Saudi Arabia were dreaming about the re-Islamization of vast parts of the Balkans. Alyse Radenovic may of course see something very different and the same applies to everyone who views this lovely art piece. Yet this is the connection between art, history, power mechanisms and various thought patterns – after all, much will depend on the world that you see – or the world that you have been allowed to witness.

Major-General (Ret) Lewis Mackenzie, a retired Canadian general, also raises serious doubts about “good” and “evil.” In his article titled “The real story behind Srebrenica.  The massacre in the UN ‘safe haven’ was not a black and white event,” which was published in The Globe and Mail (July 14, 2005), he clearly highlights many neglected areas.

Lewis MacKenzie witnessed many events and he states the following:

“As the Bosnian Muslim fighters became better equipped and trained, they started to venture outside Srebrenica, burning Serb villages and killing their occupants before quickly withdrawing to the security provided by the UN’s safe haven. These attacks reached a crescendo in 1994 and carried on into early 1995 after the Canadian infantry company that had been there for a year was replaced by a larger Dutch contingent.” 

“The Bosnian Serbs might have had the heaviest weapons, but the Bosnian Muslims matched them in infantry skills that were much in demand in the rugged terrain around Srebrenica. As the snow cleared in the spring of 1995, it became obvious to Nasar Oric, the man who led the Bosnian Muslim fighters, that the Bosnian Serb army was going to attack Srebrenica to stop him from attacking Serb villages. So he and a large number of his fighters slipped out of town. Srebrenica was left undefended with the strategic thought that, if the Serbs attacked an undefended town, surely that would cause NATO and the UN to agree that NATO air strikes against the Serbs were justified. And so the Bosnian Serb army strolled into Srebrenica without opposition.”

Most tellingly, Lewis MacKenzie comments that “two wrongs never made a right, but those moments in history that shame us all because of our indifference should not be viewed in isolation without the context that created them.”

Lord Owen was equally alarmed and on page 143 of his book, Balkan Odyssey, he states that “On 16 April I spoke on the telephone to President Milosevic about my anxiety that, despite repeated assurances from Dr. Karadzic that he had no intention of taking Srebrenica, the Bosnian Serb army was now proceeding to do just that. The pocket was greatly reduced in size. I had rarely heard Milosevic so exasperated, but also so worried: he feared that if the Bosnian Serb troops entered Srebrenica there would be a bloodbath because of the tremendous bad blood that existed between the two armies. The Bosnian Serbs held the young Muslim commander in Srebrenica, Naser Oric, responsible for a massacre near Bratunac in December 1992 in which many Serb civilians had been killed. Milosevic believed it would be a great mistake for the Bosnian Serbs to take Srebrenica and promised to tell Karadzic so.”

The three individuals quoted come from Canada, France and the United Kingdom and all are respected individuals within the military and political world. Sadly, if Modern Tokyo Times gave quotes from Serbians, then people who want to gloss over the reality of Bratunac and Srebrenica, will use any means at their disposal. After all, the point was to kill Orthodox Christians in silence and then to hide what really happened by either silence or mass propaganda. In truth, all sides did massacres throughout the Bosnian conflict – after all, you don’t have any war whereby one side is free from committing massacres irrespective of faith, nationality and so forth. Germany committed many massacres during World War Two but millions of German civilians were also killed by carpet bombings and other brutal realities.

The Serbs of the former Yugoslavia have witnessed dhimmitude under the Ottoman Empire and enslavement; the brutal rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; NAZI Germany; Bosnian Muslim, Catholic Croatian and Albanian SS units. On top of this, the communist leadership in Yugoslavia after World War Two allowed further Albanianization to take place in Kosovo. During the conflict in Bosnia the Bosnian Serbs faced Bosnian Muslim forces, America, al-Qaeda, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the role of many other nations – in time NATO would bomb Serbia from the sky at a later date. Therefore, the mass media not only distorted the Bosnian conflict but they trashed the martyrdom and history of the Serbs by simplistic phrases. Today the same mantra is being thrown at Syria whereby America, Gulf nations and major NATO powers are once more siding in a brutal conflict; whereby Islamist terrorists are on the same side and the Croatian military angle is being used to arm the friends of Washington, Ankara, Doha, London, Paris and Riyadh alongside many other ratlines.

Therefore, the art of Alyse Radenovic with regards to Bratunac and Srebrenica unites with the distortions of reality but in a positive sense. The natural beauty of the art pieces by Alyse Radenovic, in relation to this article, also highlights the stillness of time and the rugged landscape. If people don’t know about the history of the former Yugoslavia before the Bosnian conflict, during and after the demise of this entity; then it is easy to take these art pieces at face value. Of course, Alyse Radenovic may desire people to take these pieces of art at face value but given the places that she portrays – then maybe the meaning is much more powerful than what people see outside of the images which spring to mind?

Irrespective of the real reasons behind the art work of Alyse Radenovic towards Bratunac and Srebrenica; the art pieces according to both writers of this article depicts “the ghosts of the dead that have been abandoned by the whims of outside forces.” Therefore, by Alyse Radenovic depicting natural landscapes alongside more blurred images of Bratunac and Srebrenica; it is what can’t be seen which also fascinates given her love towards the abandoned Serbs of Bosnia, Krajina and Kosovo. In this sense, for people who adore the art of Alyse Radenovic it is important to explore the real meaning behind the subject matter in this article. On a bigger scale, the same obviously applies to the distortions of reality when it comes to Bosnia and other issues related to the former Yugoslavia.

Art may appear to be a million miles away from what happened in Bratunac and Srebrenica. Yet, art is open to enormous interpretation and clearly all individuals will come up with their own meaning to the art viewed. However, when it comes to Bratunac and Srebrenica – just like in modern day Syria – then the mass media and powerful nations want only “their single interpretation.” In this sense, the natural charm of Alyse Radenovic allows many interpretations; if only the mass media and major nations would allow the same logic instead of instigating hatred and falsehood.

President Milorad Dodik of Republika Srpska (RS) comments that “The suffering of the Serbs in and around Srebrenica during those three years was in no way inferior, it just didn’t take place cumulatively in the space of a few days, but over the course of three years. Over 3,500 people lost their lives there, for which, as you can see, they clear Naser Orić, and convict Biljana Plavšić of command responsibility, even though she didn’t command anything in the RS, and only held political office. And that makes us wonder again if we’re willing to accept the double standards in this republic or not. I am not willing.”

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Images belong to Alyse Radenovic

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Vojin Joksimovich, PhD

Modern Tokyo Times

We live in a complex world full of mind-boggling developments including cases of ruling administrations pursuing foreign policies clearly not in the national interests. A globalist agenda seems to transcend the national interests. In 2007/2008 this agenda led to the global economic meltdown, the worst since the Great Depression. Two US examples are only briefly mentioned herein and left for another piece. The US has sided with the jihadists in a number of local conflicts and civil wars, e.g. Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya, Egypt, and Syria!!  The other example is that of generalissima Hillary Clinton, to borrow the term from Ralph Nader, who overcame opposition from the Defense Secretary Robert Gates and choreographed NATO overthrow of long-term Libyan leader Gaddafi, who most recently only focused on becoming an African leader. During her four-year term she led a militarized State Department which had little room for diplomacy.

It should be noted that the war in Libya was conducted not only without a congressional declaration of war but without a congressional authorization and appropriation. Hillary’s husband provided a model for lawlessness in the world by unleashing NATO’s force of 1150 planes, dropping 21,000 tons of bombs and firing 1,300 missiles on essentially the defenseless country of Serbia (probably the most one-sided military conflict in history). It was the first time in NATO’s 50-yr history that the alliance directed its military might –second to none in the world—at a sovereign nation.  In my books, Kosovo Crisis and Kosovo is Serbia, I had characterized this act of naked aggression as 78 days of infamy. The US/NATO campaign broke seven international laws including the UN charter (Article 5) and ignored the US Constitution and US law. The House of Representatives did not pass a resolution supporting bombing. The NATO political establishment had to demonize not only the Serbian president Milosevic but the whole Serbian nation in order to justify the illegal and unconstitutional war. The handmaiden reporters played their assigned parts by the political establishment in demonizing the Serbs, as a part of the so called packed journalism.

This article is dedicated to the case Kosovo claimed frequently as a western success—only by ignoring what has transpired in the province since it was stolen from Serbia by the US/NATO and handed over to the domestic Albanian terrorists turned statesmen as Washington Balkan clients. After eight years of resisting pressure to abandon the cradle of its civilization Serbia’s existing government has now decided to capitulate. The capitulation vehicle was entering into the EU sponsored dialogue with an illegal entity called the Kosovo Republic, which unilaterally declared independence five years ago as the US/German creation. Serbia entered into a no win situation since US/Germany are holding trump cards. Serbia has no friends in the West, only in the East but those friends are not involved and Russia in particular. Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign-policy chief, has been acting as the mediator.

Unless the Serbian government decides to pull out of this dialogue at the very last minute it will sacrifice its territorial integrity, in violation of its constitution, primarily to obtain a date for initiation of decade long negotiations for joining the EU!! At the time of this writing it appears that Serbia will get nothing. Aleksandar Vulin, director of Serbia government’s Kosovo office said: “Everything the EU asked of other countries we have long fulfilled, not for the sake of the EU but for our own sake. Many EU member states are in worse economic and political shape than Serbia and less stable. But since we are Serbia other rules apply, and the only question is how long we will take that. Hopefully, Serbian government will reach that point on April 2.” This statement doesn’t offer a satisfactory explanation to why Serbia continues its pursuit of EU membership while sacrificing its territorial integrity and hence this belongs to the “mind-boggling category” to this writer.”

Kosovo Solution not amenable to US/German Impositions

My books address millennium-old Kosovo history about the Serbian and Albanian conflict, which I have routinely compared to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to illustrate the mass complexity. Historical animosities exist, which makes coexistence next to impossible. The Ahtisaari plan, not approved by the UN Security Council, but used by US/Germany as the blueprint for Kosovo independence. The plan was designed by the former Finnish president who was appointed by the UN Secretary General to be the UN special envoy for Kosovo. It recognized that the conflict in Kosovo between Serbs and Albanians could only be peacefully resolved if a way were found to allow the two communities to co-exist in a majority-run polity but also lived their own lives in their own communities. Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian civilization with some 1300 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries, a Serbian Jerusalem. The conflict must be adjudicated either by the UN, with participation of Russia and China, or by some European entity like the 1878 Berlin Congress with participation of Russia. Bombing Serbia and claiming that farcical humanitarianism was in play as well as imposing a Carthaginian peace on Serbia is the crudest way to resolve this complex conflict in particular in the 21^st century. “Carthaginian Peace” is referred to as a brutal peace demanding total subjugation of the defeated side. Tacitus wrote: “They make a desert and call it peace.”  Julia Gorin, an accomplished blogger on Balkan subjects, on the occasion of deployment of Fort Bragg soldiers to Kosovo, wrote: “Bombing a country on behalf of its domestic terrorists is ‘easing tensions.” Only in America, kids. Only in America!”

For eight years, Belgrade was ready to sacrifice almost everything to keep Kosovo within Serbia, including making a proposal for an unprecedented Kosovo autonomy compatible with the UN Resolution 1244, which terminated the 1999 war. However, in 2007 the US decided to abandon the UN process in favor of using the EU and NATO to impose the Ahtisaari plan on Serbia. Ahtisaari’s job was to choreograph the predetermined outcome: Kosovo independence. In 2007, the Finnish News Agency (STT) published two articles alleging that Ahtisaari was “bought” by the Albanian mafia.

Russia and Serbia backed diplomacy but the US backed force.  With the US and Russia at loggerheads, the EU was propelled into a pivotal position. At its annual summit, the EU asserted leadership by giving birth to a 2,000-2,500 person civilian mission named EULEX to replace the UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosovo). The EULEX, costing some $1.3bn since 2008, was supposed to be status neutral, given the EU’s lack of unity regarding Kosovo recognition, but instead became a main proponent of Kosovo independence reflecting the US/Germany influence. Previous Serbian president Boris Tadic and his Democratic Party accepted the EULEX mission, despite advice from Moscow to the contrary. The process of Serbian capitulation was thus initiated with Serbia making one concession after another including border management, Kosovo’s representation at regional meetings, university diplomas, trade, etc.

Serbia Capitulates to become German Colony

Given the availability of my books, as well as many others, I will shift quickly into December 2012. The Serbian government elected in May, 2012, consisting mainly of former Milosevic allies including Ivica Dacic as the Prime Minister (PM), former spokesman for president Milosevic when Serbia fought NATO. This government of former Serbian nationalists decided to violate the Serbian constitution, which explicitly says that Kosovo is part of Serbia. They rationalized that Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo exists only on paper and hence something might be accomplished through negotiations in order to prevent the final act of ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Serbs refusing to accept the Pristina rule.

The EU has been demanding from Serbia to “improve neighborly relations” in order to advance its EU membership bid. Another term in use is “normalization of relations.” It should be remembered that five EU members have not recognized Kosovo independence. Hence it may not be proper to call it the US/EU creation but more appropriately the US/German. It should be remembered that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Serbian officials in Belgrade last year that the “path of Serbia into the EU can only lead through the normalization of its relations with Kosovo.”  It has widely been interpreted that she meant Serbia’s recognition of an independent Kosovo without redrawing the borders. This demand is in stark contrast with the EU’s decision to admit Cyprus without demanding recognition of the Turkish Republic in the north. Vice-president of the Serbian government Suzana Grubjesic said that the dialogue is taking place in Brussels but Berlin decides.  She was partially right as the US and Germany is deciding.

The western media has been reporting that once-sworn enemies have signaled a thawing of relations between the two countries. PM Dacic, on a number of occasions, stated that division of Kosovo was the best solution but that in Brussels they did not want to hear about it as they did not want to see another Republika Srpska in the Balkans. This opposition comes mainly from the US. The American ambassador in Belgrade Michael Kirby stated that Republika Srpka didn’t come out well in Bosnia! He may or may not know that late American diplomat Richard Holbrooke, an architect of the Dayton Accords which terminated the war in Bosnia, was a creator of the Republika Srpska. It may well be that in Washington they believe that Holbrooke acquiesced to demands from Milosevic. This was deemed to be a Serbian success and Serbia was not supposed to have any.

The US has followed two basic rules in the Balkans as eloquently summarized by former US diplomat turned foreign policy analyst James George Jatras. “Rule 1: The Serbs are always wrong, and claims and interests they might have must be thwarted. Rule 2: Muslims are always right, and all claims and interests they may have must be facilitated.” Another reputable Washington-based analyst Doug Bandow said: “the Serbs always lose,” as a general rule. Incidentally, while speaking at the Belgrade Law School, ambassador Kirby refused to apologize for the illegal US bombing of Serbia, while presidents Clinton and Obama have prolifically apologized to misdeeds in the past.

Kosovo Serbs

Nobody can blame the Kosovo Serbs for refusing to accept tyranny by KLA terrorists turned politicians/statesmen on the US/NATO watch after experiencing the murders of thousands, ethnic cleansing (two thirds were expelled), demolition and burning of 155 Serbian churches and monasteries. 200,000 Kosovo refugees are still internally displaced persons (IDP) in Serbia. There are 120-130,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo: approximately some 40,000 in the north and about 80,000 in enclaves scattered across Kosovo. On March 17, 2004, just as in the 1930s, Kosovo Kristallnacht took place, a pre-arranged orchestrated Albanian ethnic cleansing plan. 60,000 strong Albanian mobs drove 4,500 Serbs from their homes. There were 19 deaths and some 900 injuries. Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, slammed NATO/UNMIK for failing to protect minorities.

UNMIK Human Rights Advisory Panel (HRAP) established in 2006, in response to 250 complaints, announced a decision slamming the failure of UNMIK to investigate systematic killing of Serbs and other non-Albanians, including forced disappearances. HRAP requested from UNMIK an apology and compensation to a Prizren Serbian family for failure to find their father and son kidnapped by three KLA thugs in July 1999. In that timeframe according to some estimates the KLA had murdered 6,000 Serbs and other minorities who were mostly Roma.  Some consider this decision a landmark case. However, the competences were transferred to EULEX in 2008. Hence, this decision may prove to be too little, too late regarding accountability.

Even after universally condemning the 2004 pogrom the Kosovo Serbs have continued to be victimized. According to the Serbian office for Kosovo there had been 1025 attacks on the Serbs since Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence five years ago: 51 firearm attacks, 11 plantings of explosive devices, 15 hand grenades and Molotov cocktails thrown, 25 churches attacked, 201 Orthodox cemeteries desecrated, 197 tombstones destroyed, 135 Serbian houses stoned, and 48 fires set to properties owned by the Serbs. Four Serbs were murdered, 245 were injured, and the Serb population was attacked 203 times a year, an attack every other day.  Even during these EU sponsored “negotiations” on February 4 a bomb was thrown at a 3-yr old boy and a 9-yr old girl. The Visoki Decani monastery was attacked in an attempt to wrap the ethnic cleansing and to remove evidence of Serbian existence. Fortunately the Italian KFOR contingent prevented the monastery from being torched down.

10,000 Serbian monuments, including Serbian cemeteries, south of the Ibar River have been eradicated. Even the 30m high pine tree planted in Narodimlje by Serbian Tsar Dusan was cut on its 663 birthday. The only explanation for this vandalism is the sick minds of Albanian nationalist “neighbors” which are committed to eradicating the Serbian presence in Kosovo over a millennium. In contrast the monuments in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, where the Serbs constitute the majority, they are untouched.

These acts of terrorism and vandalism against the Serbs in the presence of KFOR, UNMIK, and EULEX received no due attention in Washington, Berlin and Brussels. There is no precedent in Europe for such ethnocide. The US/EU moral authority has been reduced to its lowest level in recent history. Do the European standards apply to Serbs in so-called independent Kosovo? James George Jatras wrote: “Evidence of Islamic evidence and intolerance in Kosovo—and in the Balkans in general—is almost completely ignored, since acknowledging it would challenge the cozy myth of successful US/NATO ‘humanitarian intervention’ and limit the application to future adventures.”

Association (Community) of Serbian Municipalities

Given that Kosovo division was not an option, in late December the Belgrade media published a document termed the “platform,” believed to be composed by president Nikolic and his advisers, laying down the principles and guidelines for dialog with Pristina. The Serbian parliament passed the resolution on January 12, after 14 hours of discussion, paving the way for the consideration of high level territorial and political autonomy for Association or Community of Serbian Municipalities throughout  Kosovo where the Serbs constitute a majority, including the decisive role in the area of security, police and judiciary. This would require international guarantees and Serbia would have to adopt a constitutional law. The resolution fell short of recognizing Kosovo and was supported by the Kosovo Serbs.  Inclusion of Serbs south of Ibar represents some progress compared to the previous Serbian administration.

Brussels Dialog

In December the respective PMs of Serbia and Kosovo Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci met for the first time. The readers need to be reminded about Hashim Thaci’s background which is well known in Washington, Berlin and Brussels. Thaci, aka Snake, was a Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander, highly recognized Kosovo thug, a narco-terrorist accused by the Council of Europe for selling organs of kidnapped and subsequently murdered Serbs. As a KLA commander he was involved in murdering the Serbs and others but was never indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He enjoyed immunity as he served US Balkans interests. President Bush said on numerous occasions that he would never meet with terrorists but he met with Thaci at the White House below the portrait of George Washington.  Thaci has been regularly getting kisses from US Secretaries of State: Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. Everything goes in the Washington void of having any moral standards.

PMs Dacic and Thaci met seven times thus far with another session scheduled for April the 2nd. The EU has arranged for the Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic to meet with the Kosovo president Atifete Jahjaga on February 6. Hence, for all practical purposes Serbia has recognized the Pristina authorities. President Nikolic admitted during his visit to Egypt that the Serbian government was ready to recognize Kosovo institutions including the government, constitution, military and the police. However, he reiterated that: “Serbia has never, and never will recognize Kosovo…something created on injustice cannot be legal and just.”

The northern Kosovo area, bordering Serbia, has been under the control of so called parallel institutions funded by Belgrade including town councils, health authorities, schools and post-offices. These parallel institutions have been unacceptable not only to Pristina but to Washington and Berlin as well. Serbia’s position is that the proposed autonomy of Association of Serbian Municipalities would solve the problem. However, Pristina refused to consider providing the municipalities with any executive powers causing a serious stalemate in the dialog. Thaci has urged the US to support Pristina in its refusal to grant concessions to the Serbian minority in a February 27 letter to the US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.  The US dispatched assistant secretary of state Philip Reeker, who became available to meet with Dacic and Thaci in Brussels prior and after their sessions with Baroness Ashton. The US meddling will probably kill any agreement acceptable to Serbia. In parallel ambassador Kirby, speaking at the 20^th Kopaonik Business Forum, urged that Serbia should change its image, “rebrand itself” and show its qualities to the world. He added that he saw Serbia in Europe and that it was up to Serbia to find its way to the EU.  This represents American position that Serbia should forget about the nation’s birthplace and focus on its foggy future in European and Atlantic integrations, i.e. EU and NATO.

Baroness Ashton met with the Serbian leadership, President Nikolic, PM Dacic and VP Vucic, on March 11 to discuss the Serbian proposal to create the Association of Serb Municipalities. Asked by the Belgrade media about his “red line,” Nikolic stated that Serbia recognizes Kosovo as a specific territory compared to other parts of Serbia and was ready to accept some facts Kosovo has accomplished with assistance from the UN and the EU like the constitution, the president, the government and the parliament. However on that territory we will never recognize its independence – a big Serbian community exists which must be preserved and enabled to return. Dacic said that “nothing less than an Association of Serb Municipalities with executive powers would be acceptable” and that “no Serb would concede to more than that. The Serbian trio returned from Brussels and made optimistic statements that Pristina made concessions and that an agreement would be signed either on the 20th or the 28th, which exemplifies naivety of the Serbian leadership. Thaci quickly denied that concessions were made. Ashton visited Pristina on March the 14th and then flew to Belgrade. PM Dacic denied that Pristina made concessions and said that Serbia is still far from being in agreement with Pristina. “Only Washington can push Pristina into making concessions but decided not to do it despite the fact that the Ahtissari plan allows the creation of a decision-making body.”  The seventh session on March the 20th didn’t break the impasse leading to yet another session scheduled for April the 2nd.

Given Pristina’s failure to make concessions, an appropriate approach for the Serbian leadership would be to thank the EU for their mediation services and unambiguously state that they must protect the human rights of about 130,000 Kosovo Serbs by quoting the Albanian record briefly summarized above. This would stall the Brussels dialog and freeze the Kosovo conflict which is in Serbia’s national interest. It would then be up to the EU to grant Serbia the date for EU membership negotiations or not.

In April the European Parliament has scheduled a debate on Belgrade/Pristina dialog. The EU Commission is scheduled by April 16 to submit a report about the progress in negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina as the principal subject. Progress in judicial reforms, fight against corruption, minority protection, will also be addressed.  This report will be considered by all EU members at their semi-annual summit on June 28 and a decision made to provide the date to Serbia for membership negotiations or not.

Lies were told that Kosovo was ours: Serbian De Gaulle!

Dacic writing in the Belgrade weekly NIN on March 7 wrote that Serbs had been lied to that “Kosovo is ours” for a decade. “For 10 years, Kosovo was a taboo. No one could officially tell the truth. Tales were told, lies were told that Kosovo is ours.”  But “the Serbian president cannot go to Kosovo, nor the prime minister, nor ministers, nor the police or army. Serbs can only leave Kosovo. That’s how much Kosovo is ours and what does our constitution and laws mean there.” So called “second Serbia”  (viewed by many as anti-Serbs typically supported by western finances) jumped to praise Dacic. Ms. Vesna Pesic, co-leader of the 90-day 1996-97 winter demonstrations against Milosevic, compared Dacic to Churchill and De Gaulle! Well, Ms. Pesic might be right if Dacic can pull an equivalent of Republika Srpska into Kosovo by copying Milosevic’s accomplishment at Dayton, which doesn’t seem to be on the cards.

Agency Strategic Marketing found on March 6 that 63% of Serbian citizens accept that Kosovo is in practice an independent state and that Serbia can only hope to fight to secure the best deal for remaining Serbs in Kosovo. On the other hand, the same poll found out that 65% wouldn’t like to see Kosovo sacrificed for the sake of joining the EU. 61% thought that Dacic was doing a good job.

Dacic and Serbian citizens do not need to be reminded that the UN Security Council Resolution #1244 says that Kosovo remains part of Serbia. However, the US/NATO has bypassed this resolution. Hence, independent Kosovo represents a text-book example of an international grand-theft similar to piracy. The Tadic’s government acceptance of EULEX to replace UNMIK represented the initial part of the indigenous Serbian contribution to this grand-theft.  Ms. Pesic should remember that De Gaulle abandoned Algeria, but Algeria was a French colony and not the cradle of French civilization.

Serbia’s Dependence on EU

Serbia is willing to give up its territorial integrity in order to obtain the date for opening membership negotiations with the EU!! These negotiations may last 7-10 years or even longer. Why? The VP Vucic said that without the EU that Serbia’s economic survival would be threatened. As an EU candidate Serbia receives grants to the tune of 170 million euros per year. Vucic continues that obtaining a date would enable imports of key machines and the transfer of technology to Serbian factories as well as more financial and economic aid. Given the high unemployment rate of some 26.2% (comparable to that of Greece and Spain), 2% contraction of the economy in 2012, the budget deficit and the lowest income per capita in the region then this grant is obviously welcome. During the last 5 years the international debt of 8.4bn euros has grown to 17.7bn euros. The Economist has published an article titled: “Serbia is the Sickest Man of Europe.” Given these dismal statistics, Serbia must act fast to fix its economy.

The new administration must look elsewhere to attract foreign investment as opposed to propagating the myth of previous Tadic’s administration that joining the EU has no alternative. Recently they have obtained credit of 300 million euros from Russia and are negotiating with Russia for another loan to the tune of $500 million as a budgetary supplement. However, Serbia should remember that a country cannot live on loans as the unfolding Eurozone crisis has clearly demonstrated. In addition they seem to be successful at obtaining investments from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). About four years ago this writer has advocated that Serbia should explore joining the BRICs club (Brazil, Russia, India, China) as a long-term solution. Since then South Africa has joined. The club may or may not accept Serbia’s application but no effort was made to explore this option. Besides this BRIC countries have supported that Kosovo is Serbia.

At the above mentioned Kopaonik Forum, the Italian ambassador has pointed out that Italian companies can work with Serbian companies and that Serbia is a dynamic market, which has improved Serbia’s image in Italy. Trade between the two nations amounted to 2.3bn euros in 2012. The German ambassador said: “Most officials of German companies are satisfied with their businesses and treatment in Serbia.”  So Serbia seems to be doing reasonably well with these two key EU countries without being an EU member.

It appears that Vucic and the Serbian government is confusing pre-2009 EU with the one in 2013. Has the Serbian government examined the experience of a number of euro-zone members such as Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, which have received the IMF/EU bail-outs in exchange for severe austerity programs? Cyprus has requested a bailout of 17bn euros for their banks. Spain, Italy and Slovenia are other bailout candidates. The currency union has worked very well for German growth and wealth at the expense of countries mentioned.

Also, does Vucic see an analogy between the EU and the Soviet Union? Rigidity of German response to deal with the euro-zone crisis is a case in point: government overspending and excessive bank risks. Voters in member countries can change and have changed the governments but cannot change the economic policies designed in Berlin to protect the German taxpayers in particular prior to September general elections in Germany. Of particular interest to Serbia should be the experience of Orthodox countries: Greece and Cyprus as well as that of Slovenia, as a former Yugoslav republic. The experience of Bulgaria and Rumania, with their governments replaced, are also highly relevant.

Slovenia: German Colony

Slovenia was by far the richest state to emerge from the dissolution of Yugoslavia as a privileged republic in the market of 24 million people. Slovenia was the first former socialist country to adopt the euro. The economy grew on average by 4.4% annually between 1997 and 2008 thereby outperforming the Eurozone on economic growth. It was the region’s richest country with the GDP per capita greater to those of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary and Poland. It was a showcase for the benefits of EU membership.  However, the euro crisis caused three years of recession with the economy contracting at 8% in 2009 and even 2.4% in 2012. Currently, the unemployment rate exceeds 12% and the economy is expected to fall another 1.4% in 2013. Now, Slovenia might need a bail-out from its Eurozone partners. The German austerity model of cutting spending did not result in an economic revival. Slovenia had a problem with corporations financing operations through debt rather than equity. Slovenia’s banks are tottering under $9bn in non-performing loans, about 19% of GDP (higher than even Spain’s 16%). The government started implementing a bank bailout plan. Early in February 20,000 people protested against the austerity measures. PM Janez Jansa had to go and Alenka Bratusek became the new PM.

A Slovenian social scientist Rastko Mocnik said that Slovenia was now at the same level as other southern EU members like Greece, Portugal and Spain. It has become the Europe’s south. The EU operates on the principle of colonies with countries like Germany, France, and Scandinavian countries having privileged access to southern countries. Hence, Slovenia has become German’s colony with no political influence in the EU. Mocnik anticipates a conflict between developed capitalist countries with the surplus of capital and the undeveloped ones seeking that capital. The undeveloped ones, sooner or later, will be looking for alternatives. Asked if Serbia has an alternative to the EU, he recalled that after the demise of Yugoslavia, Slovenia was led to believe that the EU was the only way and that economically it wouldn’t survive. He thought that Serbia should integrate but not necessarily the same way as Slovenia. Mocnik was against the breakup of Yugoslavia and thinks that it was a great historic mistake.

Cyprus Drama

Eight months after the Cypriot government requested a bail-out to the tune of 17bn euros, bleary-eyed Eurozone finance ministers produced a contentious package on a Saturday the 16th. This crisis-mode of operation is EU’s modus operandi. The finance ministers demanded from Cyprus to extract 5.8bn euros from bank depositors in order to cut the size of the rescue package to 10bn euros. This was unprecedented. Peter Bofinger, a German economist, voiced the view that trying to make small savers pay to secure a European bailout of the Cypriot banking system is dangerous. “It will shake the trust of depositors across the Continent. Europe’s citizens now have to fear for their money. The Spaniards, Italians and Portuguese may not run for their money today or tomorrow, but as soon as the crisis intensifies in a Eurozone country, the bank customers will remember Cyprus. They will withdraw their money and, but doing so, intensify the crisis.”

In the bailouts of Portugal (78bn euros) and Ireland (67.5bn euros), it was those countries taxpayers and the Eurozone partners bearing the risk of lending money to them. In Greece (172.6bn euros), the Eurozone did the same but shared the pain with the country’s bondholders. With little Cyprus (population 800,000, GDP of 17bn euros, and 0.06% economic output), whose major banks suffered huge losses in Greek investments and souring real-estate market, the bank depositors had to suffer the pain. The Cypriot legislature rejected the deal with Chancellor Merkel reportedly outraged. Cyprus was “exhausting the patience of its euro partners.”  On the streets of Nicosia, like on the streets of Athens, she has been viewed as a hate figure with images of an SS guard or donning a Hitler moustache. On the other hand she continues to be popular at home as the Germans do not like their taxes to be used for bail-outs. Yuri Pyankykh, President of the Russian Business Association of Cyprus, blamed the Cyprus crisis on the German special services which reported that Cyprus banks were teaming with cash laundered by Russian oligarchs and that bailing out Cyprus means helping out those tycoons.

Another bleary-eyed session took place the morning of the 25th. The so called troika (IMF, ECB and EU) imposed their bail-out terms but secured the deal by bank restructuring which doesn’t need approval of the Cypriot Parliament. The deal shuts Cyprus’ second largest bank (Cyprus Popular Bank) imposing steep losses on deposits over 100,000 euros. The country’s largest bank, Bank of Cyprus, will be downsized aggressively with large depositors taking the hit. Russian PM Medvedev has characterized the deal as robbery. Russian and other foreign investors have been robbed. The troika will be in touch with the Russian government. The country faces a big recession that it may need more money to survive in the Eurozone. Economists predict a GDP decline of 10% this year and 8% in 2014. The banks will open on the 28th after 12 days of shutdown. During this period no electronic transactions were available with the ATP machines dispensing only 100 euros per day.

The bells should be ringing in Belgrade that the experiences of Cyprus, Greece and Slovenia are highly applicable and necessitate immediate re-examination of the Serbian government infatuation with the EU.

Kostunica Warnings

Vojislav Kostunica, former President of Yugoslavia, former PM of Serbia and now the President of the Democratic Party of Serbia, warned the Serbian government not to do what no previous governments had done. The EU is directly endangering not only the territorial integrity but also the national identity, culture, national self-respect and dignity, and economic interests of the country. The theft of the Serbian territory will resonate in younger generations with anger and will undermine stability of the country. The issues of provinces Vojvodina and Raska will be opened including the survival of Serbia as a country.

Kostunica has requested the session of the Serbian Parliament in order for the government to inform deputies regarding the EU demands and to reject the proposals of Brussels. Serbia would be the first nation to voluntarily hand over its territory. No state in Europe has done anything similar nor has anything similarly been requested from a nation state. It is expected from Serbia to kill its own statehood in order for independent Kosovo to be created. Every sovereign state must reject such a proposal. This writer cannot agree more with Kostunica.

Vojin Joksimovich is the author of three books and over one hundred articles.

The Revenge of the Prophet by Dr. Vojin Joksimovich is another classic book which gives great insight and knowledge about the Balkans, radical Islam, US foreign policy and other important areas. 

Dr. Vojin Joksimovich wrote an in depth book called Kosovo is Serbia and please check this athttp://www.gmbooks.com/product/Kosovo-GM.html – it  is a must read if you want deep knowledge about this complex topic.

Please check and buy these books if you care deeply about the Balkans and the plight of Serbs in Bosnia, Kosovo and throughout the former Yugoslavia.

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

International reports about the airstrike by Israel against Syria still remain shrouded in mystery because of misinformation and genuine lack of knowledge in many quarters. The government of Syria is adamant that Israel must be held accountable for violating international law because the attack is unjustifiable and violates all protocol. Despite this, and with many nations seeking answers from Israel, the political elites in Tel Aviv are saying nothing about the real reasons behind this attack.

Hillary Clinton, the departing US Secretary of State, stuck to the pro-Israel line while not indicating fully the reasons behind the attack against Syria. However, other officials at the White House indicated that the airstrike by Israel was aimed at a convoy of vehicles, which were going to supply Hezbollah with powerful weapons. Yet after the Libya debacle whereby senior figures within the Obama administration openly provided misinformation; then clearly many people are skeptical. Indeed, Hillary Clinton appears to be spinning her own comments on the attack by Israel because of ongoing issues related to Libya. Also, the White House issued a comment which contradicts what Hillary Clinton stated.

Not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton points the finger at Iran and the Russian Federation for supplying the government of Syria with military weapons and giving technical assistance. She states that Iran wants President Bashar al-Assad to remain in power therefore “We believe they have acted on that by sending in more personnel, not only to help Assad, but to support and advise military security forces.”

Hillary Clinton also stated that Iran was stepping up its support of the government of Syria because “Assad is using up his weaponry.”  However, Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser at the White House would appear to contradict this comment by Hillary Clinton. Ben Rhodes comments that “Syria should not further destabilize the region by transferring weaponry to Hezbollah” and this relates to the airstrike by Israel.

Therefore, on the one hand “Assad is using up his weaponry” but on the other hand Syria according to the White House is “destabilizing the region by transferring weaponry to Hezbollah.” Clearly these comments are contradictory to say the least. Also, it is known that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and various Islamist terrorist factions are especially obtaining military arms because of the role of Turkey in the destabilization of Syria. Of course, you have other rat lines in parts of Lebanon and the Libya connection is potent because of the vast quantities of military hardware which is swimming around this failed nation state. Meanwhile, the government of Iraq can’t control the vast border areas with Syria and the same applies to the internal Islamist terrorist threat which remains potent. Likewise, covert operatives have tried to manipulate Jordan in order to thin out the armed forces of Syria. Despite this, Turkey is the main conduit whereby funding from France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other nations in the Gulf, are sending financial and military assistance to the FSA and various Islamist terrorist factions. Alongside this, nations like America and the United Kingdom are involved in murky dealings.

According to the BBC a US official told them “that the target had been a convoy carrying SA-17 surface-to-air missiles bound for the Shia militant movement Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.” This appears to make little sense because Syria’s border area with Israel is not high on the list during the current destabilization of this nation. After all, the shipment of military equipment, covert operatives, terrorists, and anti-Syrian strategists, are mainly entering Syria through Turkey. After Turkey, then many rat lines are entering Syria by utilizing Lebanon in areas outside of the control of Hezbollah and whereby the Libya connection is also instrumental. The Libya connection applies to the supply of military hardware and the flow of terrorists from North African nations like Libya and Tunisia. Therefore, why would Syria be interested in supplying much needed military equipment to another party given the seriousness of the crisis in Syria? In the same vein of thinking, then why would Syria also open another front with a powerful neighbor at this moment in time given the ongoing crisis in this nation?

Surely, it is in the interest of Syria to reduce the rat lines by dealing directly with nations which are willing to listen. For example, apparently Jordan will take greater measures to stem certain channels from destabilizing Syria. Similarly, the government of Iraq is equally worried about Islamist terrorists using both Iraq and Syria respectively, in order to destabilize both nations. After all, it is clear that Sunni Islamist terrorists hate both the governments of Iraq and Syria because they are killing and slaughtering based on their sectarianism and Islamist agenda. This reality means that it makes no sense for Syria to trigger Israel into the internal crisis of this nation.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) the attack was directed towards the scientific researches in Jimraya in the Damascus countryside. Sana reports that the “Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense Fahd al-Freij, briefed the Cabinet on the nature of the terrorist attack by the warplanes of the Israeli enemy on Wednesday, saying that this heinous attack caused damages to the center and claimed the lives of two martyrs and the wounding of five persons.”

“The Minister linked between this attack and the aggressions of the armed groups, denying allegations of the Israeli foe that the reason of its raid was striking equipment and weapons prepared to be transformed to another place.”

It is known that FSA Islamist factions had targeted this facility in the past and video footage of Israelis moving freely with terrorist factions in Syria have also been witnessed. Of course, the motives still remain sketchy and with so much disinformation in all directions then it is complex to see beyond “the fog.” Yet the version reported by SANA is much more in line with the reality on the ground. After all, the government of Syria is already overstretched because of the array of enemies against this nation. Therefore, adding Israel to the list at this moment in time makes no sense. Similarly, why would the government of Syria want to dispose of powerful military hardware given the drastic situation it is faced with? This applies to both the internal FSA Islamist threat and the reality that Turkey had hoped to drag NATO into the conflict against independent Syria.

Major General Amir Eshel, the Commander of the Israeli Air Force, stated that “[t]he weakening governance in neighboring countries heralds greater exposure to hostile activity – Syria is the best example of that. We must deal with a wider array of enemies and adversaries than ever.” This comment is puzzling by itself because is he pointing the finger at other nations for destabilizing many nations throughout the Middle East and North Africa?

Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General, stated that “The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to prevent tensions or their escalation … and to strictly abide by international law, in particular in respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries in the region.” Given the fact that Israel violated the territorial integrity of Syria then clearly this comment must be aimed at Israel.

The Russian Federation issued a statement by the Foreign Ministry which stated that “If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.”

Hillary Clinton, however, proportioned the blame on the Russian Federation just like she did against Iran. She stated that “We have reason to believe that the Russians continue to supply financial and military assistance in the form of equipment” to Syria. Thereby, indicating that Iran and the Russian Federation are behind the instability of the Levant. This appears somewhat ironic – after all, the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and now Syria, is because of major NATO powers aligning themselves with nations in the Gulf. These destabilization policies have also created major problems for Mali and Pakistan respectively – and clearly terrorism always follows in the footsteps. Likewise, the recent terrorist hostage crisis in Algeria had a major Libya component and this applies to obtaining military hardware, terrorist camps in Libya and abusing the border area between Algeria and Libya. Therefore, leading NATO powers and nations in the Gulf need a reality check because it is these nations which are creating instability.

Despite the provocation of Israel, just like Turkey before; it is essential that the government of Syria isn’t distracted from defeating the FSA and various Islamist terrorist factions. After all, the government of Syria already faces many enemies and clearly some nations want to drag Syria into a protracted regional war. The government of Erdogan clearly tried to entrap Syria because he knows that NATO would take sides with a fellow NATO member. Yet Syria wisely did not respond to the many provocations of Turkey. Therefore, it is incumbent on nations which are friendly towards Syria and others which are neutral, that they do everything in their power to condemn the airstrike by Israel and to rebuke all nations involved in the destabilization of this country.  At the same time, the friends of Syria need to provide more economic and political assistance to this nation in order for genuine political dialogue to take place, whereby Syrians decide the future of their nation.

Currently, the “real reason” behind the airstrike by Israel remains shrouded in mystery. Irrespective of this, the Russian Foreign Ministry is correct by stating that “…we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.” Therefore, the recent airstrike by Israel, just like the countless Islamist terrorist attacks in Syria which are being aided by outside nations, is further evidence that international law is “being thrown out of the window.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21289219

http://sana.sy/eng/21/2013/02/01/464915.htm

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/01/israeli_reportedly_s.php#ixzz2Jf17frmw

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Boutros Hussein and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The Algerian Hostage crisis witnessed the deaths of many innocent workers and it is known that at least seven Japanese nationals were killed. The likely figure will probably rise to ten Japanese nationals being killed in this tragic terrorist incident because three individuals are still deemed to be missing. Therefore, it is essential that the Japanese government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should question the actions of so-called friends of Japan. This applies to how their collective actions in Libya and other nations, is creating a breeding ground for Islamist terrorism and Salafi indoctrination.

Of course, the mainstream media in Japan on the whole, just like in the West and Gulf, is not exactly known for digging deep when it comes to international relations and taking dangerous policies to task. Despite this, the Japanese people need to know why their nationals were killed and why you have so much instability in North Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and parts of the Balkans.

Japan for far too long appears to follow the Washington line even when it is detrimental to this nation. This applies to funding many economic operations after outside nations create mass instability in nations which include Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and an array of others. Therefore, it is imperative that Japan’s foreign policy changes direction in order to distance itself with the foreign policies of so-called friends, which keep on creating new nightmares throughout a vast geographical region.

It should be remembered that Japan supports many international institutions which are involved in “the goodness of humanity.” For example, Japan supports the United Nations heavily in order to create mechanisms to tackle serious issues throughout the world. Japan is involved in alleviating poverty throughout the world, providing greater educational opportunities and other vital areas like health. Sadly, this reality is often overlooked because Japan adopts a “quietist policy” but this nation is doing its upmost to help internationally.

However, while Japan is playing by the rules too many powerful nations are not abiding by international law. This notably applies to America, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey and many nations in the Gulf. After all, the Islamist switch is being “turned on” and “turned off” when power mechanisms enable this – while at other times the Islamist terrorist switch then turns on the “hands that fed it to grow.”

America, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations and international players turned on the Islamist terrorist switch in Afghanistan over 40 years ago. Alongside the support of Islamist terrorism came enormous funding of Islamist indoctrination throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The upshot of this was the destruction of the last vestiges of Buddhism, many pogroms against Shia Muslims, stoning women to death for adultery and the demise of all central institutions. This policy which was supported in the 1980s and 1990s created a breeding ground for Islamist terrorists, Islamist movements which hate diversity and ultimately helped in creating blowback with regards to September 11 and the destabilization of Pakistan. Therefore, this reality meant that the “Islamist switch” couldn’t be turned off because former allies are now fighting each other and clearly the 40 year policy of meddling is a disaster for Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively. Also, terrorist shockwaves have also been felt in India because of the policies of Pakistan.

Similarly, the destabilization of Libya meant that NATO powers, nations in the Gulf, mercenaries, Islamist terrorist organizations, internal insurgents, covert operatives and an array of other forces all united together in order to overthrow the Gaddafi government. The upshot of this is that Islamist terrorists have destabilized northern Mali and now Libya is yet another failed state, whereby central institutions have no power mechanisms to control the nation state. Alongside this, black African Islam in Mali is being threatened by Salafi Islamists and Sufi shrines and monuments have been destroyed in Libya and Mali.

Syria faces the same “axis of evil” whereby the same players will use any means possible in order to destabilize a sovereign nation given any opportunity. Of course, the repercussions of this can also be felt in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. Likewise, Turkey should worry because the Pakistan blowback reality is clear for all to see. Therefore, Salafists may desire to crush Muslim diversity in Turkey in the future if they manage to win in Syria. Ironically, the survival of secular Syria is in the interest of Muslim diversity in Turkey because Islamists will not stop at national borders that they don’t recognize.

Japan therefore must distance itself from the foreign policy objectives of nations which keep on creating new convulsions. The Japanese government needs to ask itself one simple question – this applies to was terrorism a threat to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria prior to America, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, the United Kingdom and other nations in the Gulf – began to meddle in these nations? After all, many Japanese nationals have just been killed because of the dangerous policies of their so-called friends. Therefore, surely Japan wants to seek real answers to why terrorism continues to flourish once their so-called friends keep on destabilizing nations and creating “a terrorist paradise.”

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Omar Abdullah Ismail and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The hostage crisis in Algeria is still ongoing and clearly many reports are conflicting with others. This means that the current number of deaths is still unknown and the same applies to the exact number of hostages which are still being held. However, it is shameful of some nations which have participated in the destabilization of others and created the Islamist nightmare – to suddenly comment on their concern about international terrorism.

CNN, which often propagates information which appears to follow the government line when important developments erupt, even stated that it appears that these Islamist terrorists had bases in Libya. Of course, when Gaddafi met his brutal death in Libya this was openly welcomed in America, France, the United Kingdom and in nations of the Gulf like Qatar which openly supported the demise of Gaddafi. However, modern day Libya is yet another failed state where various forces hold sway in certain parts of the country. Therefore, it will not surprise anyone that the same Islamist terrorists in Algeria have bases in “the new Libya.”

Since the early 1980s the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and other Gulf nations were involved in training and providing major military weapons to Islamist terrorists in Afghanistan. These Islamists in the 1980s equally hated the Shia minority in Afghanistan, desired to cover women up from head to toe, to kill apostates to Christianity, stone homosexuals to death, to kill people for adultery and other brutal realities. After the fall of the government of Najibullah in Afghanistan because of outside nations, then this country witnessed more terrorism, hatred and the enslavement of women.

Pakistan in turn managed to destabilize itself because their former Islamist terrorist friends now turned against the “infidel nation state.” Likewise, the same Islamists which were supported in Afghanistan and Bosnia would then turn their hands to September 11, the Madrid bombings and a host of other major terrorist attacks.  Yes, blowback came back to haunt innocent civilians who have suffered at the hands of devious governments which appear to learn zilch. After all, the same mistakes keep on being made and currently this can be seen by daily terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, and in other nations.

The simple reality is that terrorism was never a threat to the central states of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. However, once outside meddling started then new failed states were created and today all these nations can feel the convulsions of this reality. Of course, for Syria the daily terrorist reality is because of the brutal policies of America, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and other nations in the Gulf. This means that the “terrorist switch” was turned on in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. In Pakistan this nation helped to create its own terrorist threat alongside other nations which supported Islamists in Afghanistan. For Mali this nation is the victim of outside meddling because the destabilization of Libya triggered the current crisis in this nation. In Iraq the terrorist nightmare wasn’t planned but once many vacuums were opened then Islamists filled this easily and even today sectarianism, nationalism and terrorism are tearing Iraq apart. It would now appear that Algeria is going to feel the effects of outside meddling because the current hostage crisis may be replicated in the future. Either way, the convulsions of this crisis will create economic problems for Algeria because of the over reliance on the energy sector.

Outside meddling by major NATO nations, powers in the Gulf and Pakistan in Afghanistan – have created failed states, greater sectarianism, daily terrorism in many nations and the systematic persecution of minority religious groups. More than 50% of Christians fled Iraq once America and its allies took charge of this nation. Shabaks, Mandaeans and the Yazidi religious groups also felt the brute force of Islamist persecution and terrorism in Iraq. Similarly, the Shia have suffered massacre after massacre in Iraq and today this nation is nothing more than a failed state whereby terrorist strikes are only a moment away.

In Afghanistan the Shia were also killed in vast numbers and many fled the brutal carnage which erupted in this nation. At the same time women became shackled in the 1980s and 1990s once Islamists were trained to destabilize and conquer Afghanistan. Also, the Islamist terrorist angle in Afghanistan alongside religious indoctrination then began to target the Shia in Pakistan. Other minority groups also began to feel the usual blowback in Pakistan and this applies to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, Christians, Hindus and other minorities. In the last few weeks hundreds of Shia Muslims have been killed by Islamists in Pakistan.

In modern day Syria the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and a host of other Islamist terrorist groups continue to persecute the Alawites, Christians and others including the Shia. Mainstream Sunni Muslim religious leaders are also being killed and the same applies to any Syrian who is deemed to be pro-government in Syria irrespective of faith. Journalists are also openly murdered and daily car bombings and other forms of carnage is threatening the central state of this nation. Moderate Levant Islam, like black African Islam in Mali, is facing the real threat of Salafi Islamist hatred and indoctrination in Syria. Also, Sufi shrines are being destroyed in Libya and Mali by Islamists who hate culture and pluralism.

The current crisis in Mali was unintended just like in Pakistan but it is never that simple. After all, when central forces are destroyed then chaos will fill the void and with so many wealthy Islamists and organizations in the Gulf, then it doesn’t take long. Therefore, the government of Syria is pointing out to the enemies of this nation that the “Islamist switch” is extremely difficult to “switch off” once you support such dark forces.

Algeria Hostage Crisis

The current hostage crisis is still ongoing in Algeria but like CNN reports it does appear that these Islamist terrorists had training grounds in Libya. Yet given the promises of outside nations which destabilized Libya, then how could this happen on the watch of these nations and their friends in the government of Libya?

In The Long War Journal it is stated by Bill Roggio that “The jihadist assault team is said to have infiltrated Algeria from Niger, according to the Nouakchott News Agency. CNN reported that the attack was launched from Libya and and the fighters were trained at camps linked to al Qaeda.”

“The al-Mua’qi’oon Biddam assault unit was split into two teams, one that was led by Abu al-Bara’a al-Jaza’iri, who took hostages in the residential area of the facility, and another by al Nigeri himself, who targeted the factory and is also holding hostages there. Al Jaza’iri is reported to have been killed during the Algerian military assault. Al Nigeri claimed that the Algerian military killed 16 of his fighters and 35 hostages in an airstrike on vehicles that were transporting the hostages. Several foreign fighters, including a Frenchman, a Malian, two Tunisians, two Libyans, and three Egyptians are said to have been killed.”

Doubts still persist where these Islamists infiltrated from. Yet the Libya terrorist angle is a clear reality in Syria because many have entered from this nation and the same applies to other nations. Also, Islamist terrorist groups continue to gain from the destabilization of Libya therefore this nation will be part of the chain which led to the Algerian hostage crisis. Indeed, Al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist movements have much to be thankful for when it comes to the deeds of America, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Qatar, Turkey and other nations based in the Gulf region. After all, these collective forces (includes Pakistan when Afghanistan is included) have destabilized so many nations that now you have countless numbers of failed states. This reality is serving the Islamists well and the same applies to Salafi indoctrination from the Gulf region.

The BBC comments that “Algeria says the militants are taking orders from Mokhtar Belmokhtar, until last year a senior commander in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).”

A statement from the kidnappers said the assault on the gas plant was launched in retaliation for French intervention against Islamist groups, including AQIM, in neighbouring Mali.

About 30 foreigners remain unaccounted for, including about 10 from the UK.”

Leon Panetta, US Defence Secretary, states that “Al-Qaeda needs to know that they have no refuge – in Algeria, in Mali, anywhere – we are not going to allow them to have a hiding place from which to conduct these terrorist acts.” Sadly, this comment is almost comical because the friends of America are supporting Al Qaeda and other terrorists groups openly in Syria. Also, the Islamist terrorist angle wasn’t part of the Iraq and Mali equation until outside meddling created many vacuums. The same applies to other nations mentioned in this article.

Meanwhile the government of Algeria is adamant that you can’t cut deals with Islamist terrorist groups which seek to kidnap and murder in the name of “Islamic jihad.” Algeria knows what it is talking about because in history this nation fought bravely against French colonialism and then the threat of radical Islamists in more recent history. Therefore, Algeria doesn’t need any fingers to be pointed at this nation. After all, the destabilization of Libya which snowballed into Mali is based on the meddling of outside nations which also continue to destabilize modern day Syria. This means that until outside countries stop destabilizing other nations alongside manipulating terrorism for personal geopolitical interests, then future hostage and terrorist issues will materialize in the near future. Given this reality, it is time for America, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Qatar and other nations in the Gulf to stop destabilizing nations and spreading other dark realities.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/01/nigerien_jihadist_id.php

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The reality of modern day Syria and Mali says much about the schizophrenic approach to foreign policy in relationship to America, France and the United Kingdom. Gulf nations and Turkey are also the major linchpins which are uniting the Western and Sunni Islamic plotlines but in Mali these interests are clashing. Therefore, while the usual players conspired against Colonel Gaddafi in Libya just like they are conspiring against the government of Syria; the Mali crisis resembles the Islamist vacuum which entered parts of Pakistan.

Syria and Mali also share other common denominators. For example, moderate religious forces are being undermined by Salafi Islamists which seek to impose an “Islamist year zero” on the people of both nations. Likewise, terrorism, the rule of fear, massive indoctrination and the destruction of older positive cultural aspects are being attacked. Indeed, many Sufi shrines have been destroyed by Salafi Islamists in both Libya and Mali alongside other religious based architecture.

In Mali the political vacuum was filled by Islamist factions who had a free reign during the “manmade” crisis of Libya. Once the Gaddafi government fell to the forces of NATO, Islamist terrorist factions, mercenaries, covert operatives and internal insurgents – then the region became awash with military hardware. Equally important, all centralization aspects of Libya collapsed and Islamist indoctrination from the Gulf also filled the vacuum for many individuals.

France highlights the schizophrenic approach to international terrorist networks. After all, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande have equally been involved in this reality during the former period of Sarkozy and the current period under Hollande. Sarkozy had no qualms in bombing Libya and siding with terrorist Islamist networks in order to oust Gaddafi from power based on the self-interests of France. His mantle was taken over by Hollande who also manipulates the terrorist and mercenary rat lines in Libya in unison with the CIA, Turkey, Qatar, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia, in order to destabilize Syria. Yet, both French governments under Sarkozy and Hollande are opposed to the same Islamist factions taking over Mali and other friendly nations in the region. Therefore, “the rent a terrorist” methodology is both chaotic and callous to the full.

The Daily Telegraph (UK) stated in late 2011 that “Abdulhakim Belhadj, head of the Tripoli Military Council and the former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, “met with Free Syrian Army leaders in Istanbul and on the border with Turkey,” said a military official working with Mr Belhadj.”Mustafa Abdul Jalil (the interim Libyan president) sent him there.”

Of course, since this time it is clear that the rat lines have intensified against Syria. However, it does highlight the strong connection between the CIA, Libya, France, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom which have enabled countless different Islamist terrorist factions to spring up in Syria. Also, it is further evidence that outside nations have been involved in the crisis from the start and that they have instigated the horrendous bloodshed. Similarly, the growing strength of powerful Islamist factions is enabling many Al Qaeda splinter groups to grow in power. This means that just like in Iraq where Islamist terrorism was rare during the rule of Saddam Hussein – the same Islamist terrorist reality entered Syria just like it did in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s. Of course, each time this reality only emerged once the former leaders were toppled or during toppling them because prior to outside meddling the Islamist terrorist angle was minor in scale.

The New York Times commented in June 2012 that “A small number of C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers.”

“The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said.”

Meanwhile in Mali it was stated by Bill Roggio in The Long War Journal that “…the al Qaeda-linked Movement for Tawhid [Unity] and Jihad in West Africa, which controls Gao, announced the creation of the Abdullah Azzam, Al Zarqawi, and the Abu al Laith al Libi battalions, as well as the Martyrdom-Seekers Battalion. These battalions join the previously established Osama bin Laden Battalion.”

“As the Islamist alliance advances southward, the international community continues to sit on its hands. In mid-December, the UN approved the formation of an African military force called the African-led International Support Mission in Mali, or AFISMA, to retake northern Mali from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and allied Islamist groups. But the AFISMA force of about 3,300 troops is not expected to deploy until sometime in September 2013 and funding for AFISMA has not been established.”

This means that the crisis in northern Mali reached a new dimension after the demise of Gaddafi because various Islamist factions filled the vacuum. Yet while nations like America, France and the United Kingdom are opposed to these Islamist terrorist networks in northern Mali. The same nations are still manipulating and working together with many rat lines in Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and Turkey, in order to destabilize Syria. Yet just like the Afghanistan issue in the 1980s and 1990s continues to haunt parts of Pakistan and modern day Afghanistan; the very same nations appear to care little about blowback and utilizing terrorism despite not being able to contain this reality afterwards. It also implies that American and British troops are just fodder for respective American and British governments. After all, in Afghanistan they are fighting former allies meanwhile in Syria both governments are working on the same side with Islamist terrorist networks which killed thousands of allied troops in Iraq.

In an earlier article about Libya, Mali, and Syria by Modern Tokyo Times it was stated that “The ‘bomb democracy’ Western and Gulf policy in Libya brought on the massacres of black Africans, killing of Gaddafi loyalists and created a “new society” based on disorder which is currently ongoing. Indeed, the chaos which is engulfing Libya is now destabilizing Northern Mali and creating problems for Tunisia. This destabilization is based on vast quantities of military hardware being available and more dangerously the Salafi ideology is spreading because of money from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.”

“Turning back to Libya and Northern Mali then currently Salafist organizations are intent on destroying all Islamic thought patterns outside of their “blinkered monoculture,” which thrives on hatred and fear. Indeed, in Syria video evidence survives which makes it clear that the Western and Islamist “marriage of convenience” is now spreading this dangerous ideology within this country. Therefore, mainstream Islam and religious minorities have much to fear in Syria. However, like usual political leaders in London, Paris and Washington will support any form of barbarity providing it meets their geopolitical ambitions.”

Therefore, the intended Islamist terrorist network was openly installed into full play against Gaddafi in Libya. This meant that NATO, Islamist terrorist networks, insurgents, mercenaries, covert operatives and powerful media outlets in the West and Gulf region all worked together against Gaddafi. However, the unintended northern Mali happened just like the ongoing crisis in Pakistan and the failure to turn off the Islamist terrorist angle in Afghanistan, which had been supported in the 1980s and 1990s. In Iraq “a clash emerged within friends” because clearly Saudi Arabia disapproved of the loss of Sunni power. Given this reality, Saudi Arabian jihadists represented the highest figure of international jihadists who went to Iraq in order to kill American, British and other allied troops – alongside the usual carnage and terrorism which followed. Currently the destabilization of Syria is still ongoing whereby the usual forces have joined forces once more despite differences within the intended terrorist networks which should be supported.

Overall, the policy of supporting “intended” and “unintended” Islamist terrorist networks is sadly becoming all too familiar. Likewise, after more than 40 years of meddling in Afghanistan and spending trillions of dollars you still have mass chaos, persecution against women, daily terrorism, rampant corruption, narcotic issues and apostates face the death penalty. Similarly, this reality created a nightmare for Pakistan and greater militancy is zapping the energy of this nation state which can’t control its border areas. In Iraq the power vacuum enabled Islamist terrorist networks to flourish after untold numbers were killed by sanctions prior to the invasion. Today this nation faces daily terrorist attacks and is a failed state whereby sectarian issues and ethnic issues remain unsolved. Libya also is currently a failed state whereby various militias rule the roost and Sufi shrines are now fair game. Meanwhile, Mali is now being dragged into the endless failures of interventionist policies whereby Libya created a vacuum for Islamist terrorist networks. Also, the ongoing meddling in Syria means that this multi-religious and multi-cultural society is being destabilized by barbaric forces which support sectarianism, terrorism, sedition, and Islamist indoctrination. These collective realities mean more failed states, fresh opportunities for international terrorist networks, vast numbers of people being killed, the increasing marginalization of religious minorities and the deteriorating reality for women which face many heavy burdens following the Western and Gulf alliance of collective chaos.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2013/01/malian_jihadists_advance_south.php#ixzz2HZsiM7hL

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8919057/Leading-Libyan-Islamist-met-Free-Syrian-Army-opposition-group.html

http://moderntokyotimes.com/2012/12/22/mali-un-intervention-based-on-western-and-gulf-supported-chaos-libya-and-syria/

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com  

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Helmut Joachim Schmidt and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

President Bashar al-Assad addressed the Syrian people during very testing times whereby this independent nation continues to fight for its very existence. This reality can’t be underestimated because in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya you have “mere shadows” of illusionary nations which are now “failed states.” The reality behind this is the axis of America, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states which meddled collectively in Afghanistan and Iraq; while the same nations clashed covertly in Iraq. After all, the main forces of international jihadists in Iraq came from Saudi Arabia and clearly the political elites in Riyadh are peeved by a Shia dominated government in this nation.

Since outside nations began to meddle openly in Syria it is clear that the main conduit is Turkey which is highlighting the sham of NATO. This applies to the reality that a NATO power is enabling terrorists, Islamists, mercenaries and covert operatives to run riot in Syria once they obtain military hardware and intelligence information in Turkey. Also, you have pockets in Lebanon whereby Islamist terrorists are using this land in order to create new mayhem and chaos in Syria. Likewise, the powerful influence of America, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia on the political arena in Jordan means that many rat lines are also going through this nation. Iraq sadly is already a “failed state” and while the political leadership is against the bloodshed in Syria, it is abundantly clear that Islamist terrorist networks are also entering from this nation.

Therefore, Assad commented that “The one thing that is sure that those who we face today are those who carry the al-Qaeda ideology…There are those who seek to partition Syria and weaken it. But Syria is stronger and will remain sovereign. This is what upsets the West.”

The above comment is clearly vindicated because you have multitudes of videos and images which highlight the menace of al-Qaeda and other like minded Islamist terrorist networks. Indeed, given the reality that America lost over 4,000 soldiers to the same forces in Iraq, then it must be galling for many people in this nation to see politicians and allies involving themselves on the side of terrorism against Syria. Not only this, the brutal massacres of minorities by the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) and various Islamist terrorist networks is highlighting the brutal deeds of Western political elites in America, France, the United Kingdom, and other nations, which have joined forces with such evil terrorist organizations.

Indeed, the brutal murder of many Syrian journalists, countless beheadings, daily torture, car bombings, political assassinations, killing educated elites, and so forth – by forces being supported by America, Turkey, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom, and other Gulf States, is truly barbaric and a threat to international law. All sovereign nation states which are independent minded must be watching in disgust because the mass media in the West and the Gulf region are in full manipulation swing. At the same time, many Syrian opportunists residing abroad are allying with the enemies of Syria. Can these opportunists claim that Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq are stronger today and free from terrorism and chaos? Of course not because all and sundry know that these three above nation states have suffered from outside meddling. This applies to Western and Gulf powers and recently they have been joined by the Erdogan government in Turkey.

Assad also stated that “Regional and international countries must stop funding the armed men to allow those displaced to return to their homes. Right after that our military operations will cease.” Once more it must be stated that Syria took in millions of refugees from Iraq, Palestinians who became stateless and who lost their homes, Lebanese nationals who were caught up in regional intrigues and many others. The vast majority of these refugees were Sunni Muslims but others also moved to Syria including many Christians, Shia Muslims and people of other faiths. However, once outside nations began to support sectarianism, terrorism and sedition against Syria – then a refugee crisis emerged because of their primitive policies. Also, many Iraqi refugees returned to Iraq because the FSA and various Islamist terrorist networks began to kill and persecute them. Likewise, outside agitation is also trying to embroil chaos within the Palestinian community in Syria. Indeed, one barbaric image showed Islamist terrorists holding the beheaded head of a Palestinian who happened to be pro-government.

Assad also stated that “At the beginning they wanted it (to be) a fake revolution but the Syrian people rebelled against them, then they tried to impose it by money, media and arms secretly and when they failed, they moved to the second phase through dropping the masks of a “peaceful revolution” and unveiled the cover of the weapons they were using secretly to use them openly starting their attempts to occupy cities as to pounce upon other cities…their brutal behaviors didn’t deter our people, thanks to their awareness and steadfastness, to unveil their lies and reject them. Therefore they decided to take revenge on the people through spreading terrorism everywhere.”

It is abundantly clear that the FSA and various Islamist terrorist networks have entered many cities and other parts of Syria in order to create carnage, fear and to sabotage the economy. At the same time, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are spreading Salafi Islam by indoctrination and creating sectarianism in order to crush Syria. However, the majority of the armed forces of Syria are Sunni Muslim and they refuse to follow the sectarian agenda. Instead, these brave military personnel are fighting for all Syrians irrespective of religion and they are protecting mosques and churches irrespective of sect. Yet the enemies of Syria have destroyed many mosques and churches and killed Sunni Muslim religious leaders who support inclusiveness.

The president of Syria also stated that ”Because takfiri thought is alien to our country, they had to import it from abroad, whether in terrorists or thought…Thus, takfiris, terrorists, Qaeda members calling themselves Jihadis streamed from everywhere to command the combat operations on the ground…The gunmen, having failed, retreated to the backlines as aides in acts of kidnapping, pillaging and sabotage…Servants, and at best, guides who spy on their fellow citizens to serve criminals takfiris who only speak the language of slaughtering and mangling.”

Assad further commented that ”Syria has always been, and will remain, a free and sovereign country that won’t accept submission and guardianship, which has been a nuisance for the West, so they sought to take advantage of internal events to drive Syria out of the political equation in the region to get rid of this irksome problem and to strike the culture of resistance and turn us into inferiors…But the West is not the entire international community, as there are world countries, namely Russia and China, and many others which won’t agree to meddling in the internal affairs of countries and destabilizing the region.”

His words were eagerly awaited in Syria and internationally. Clearly he didn’t disappoint because it is clear that outside nations are supporting terrorism, sectarianism and sedition against this independent nation. The (http://www.sana-syria.com/eng/21/2013/01/06/460536.htm) Syrian Arab News Agency in the link provided gives full details of what Assad stated. It is hoped that friendly nations will do more to support the Syrian people against the meddling of outside forces which are violating all the rules of international law.

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

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Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

The Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, was rebuked strongly by Rafie al-Issawi who is the Finance Minister. Issawi belongs to the Sunni Muslim faith unlike Maliki who follows the Shia Muslim religion. Under Saddam Hussein the Shia suffered terribly alongside the Kurdish community. However, the power mechanisms changed unintentionally after the invasion of Iraq by America and allied forces. Therefore, the Shia elites emerged in a powerful position irrespective if many political leaders don’t adhere to religious affiliated political blocks.

Issawi commented strongly after approximately one-hundred-and-fifty members of staff and personal bodyguards were arrested by Iraqi security forces. Clearly this will lead to tensions with the political block called al-Iraqiyya. This action was taken by Iraqi security forces and Issawi is incensed by this action because he states that “They arrested all the employees and guards… Is this the behavior of a government, or the work of gangs?”

He also clarified that this was “a deliberate and premeditated act” and that it was “an illegal action.” Issawi continued his attack against Maliki by stating that he is a man “who does not believe in partnership and does not respect the law and the constitution.”

After the US led invasion of Iraq it soon became apparent that radical Sunni Islamism entered the vacuum. This would lead to thousands of allied soldiers being killed and enormous numbers of innocent civilians who were either targeted in terrorist attacks, or were caught up in the deadly carnage of the conflict. Therefore, while the death total and carnage isn’t like it was during the height of the crisis, it is still apparent that terrorism is a major issue in Iraq. Likewise, Sunni-Shia tensions remain; ethnic issues related to the Kurds are extremely problematic and delicate; energy issues; and more recently the convulsions in Syria are enabling Islamists, terrorists and powerful forces to once more threaten the central state.

Saban Kardas commented in The Jamestown Foundation that “In the wake of the withdrawal of US forces, Maliki has moved to consolidate his power, threatening to undermine the delicate balance between various sectarian and ethnic groups. Maliki, who assumed his current post following a 2010 power sharing agreement, has failed to work toward national reconciliation. On the contrary, in this already fractured country, he has even undermined the governing coalition and also put Iraq on a collision course. His campaign against Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who took refuge in Northern Iraq fearing for his life, crystallized the power struggle. The dispute grew into an impasse, with the increasingly harsher tone of the parties, engulfing Turkey (EDM, January 18). After spending some time in Kurdistan, Hashemi visited Saudi Arabia and Doha and later came to Turkey, effectively beginning his days in “exile.” Calling openly for Ankara’s support, Hashimi also furthered its involvement in his country’s affairs (Anadolu Ajansi, April 10).”

The above comment by Saban Kardas appears to be pinning the blame on Maliki but the interesting aspect of this comment is the linkage of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. After all, these three nations are destabilizing Syria and supporting the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and various Islamist terrorist factions in this nation. Therefore, rather than pinning the blame on Maliki, it could be stated that he is alert to the real agenda of Ankara, Doha and Riyadh. Also, this brings into play the covert nature of America, the United Kingdom and France within the internal affairs of Syria.

In the last few months it is clear that more Sunni Islamists are entering Syria from Iraq and this reality spells danger for Baghdad. After all, Pakistan ironically destabilized itself by supporting Islamic terrorism in Afghanistan. Maliki therefore is in full knowledge of the pitfalls of supporting Sunni Islamists in Syria because he knows that blowback is a reality. Given this fact, it could well be stated that the recent spat between Maliki and Issawi is based on a bigger geopolitical issue, which is outside of the internal mechanisms of the political system within Iraq.

It is clear that meddling in Syria related to international terrorism, sectarianism and sedition are being employed against this secular nation. Yet this could back-fire big time? After all, the mosaic of Lebanon is being threatened by sectarianism which is being funded by outside powers in order to support the FSA, Al-Qaeda and various Islamist factions against secular Syria. Meanwhile, major issues persist in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, and other nations, which have been hit by the so-called “Arab Spring.” However, if Syria unravels then the patchwork of the Levant and the Middle East may suffer from the consequences – and this notably relates to the “failed state domino system” which swallowed up Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations after outside meddling.

Of course, the main political tensions in Iraq may not involve the bigger picture internally. Yet given the strong ripples which infringe on other nations in this part of the world then clearly the danger signs are growing in Iraq.

An official at the US State Department told the New York Times that “We have been actively engaged with Iraqi political leaders on this matter….We have urged the Iraqi government to uphold their commitments to due process and the rule of law as enshrined in their constitution.”

The former Sunni Vice-President, Hashemi, was accused of being involved in death squads related to sectarianism. Hashemi denies these allegations and currently he remains in Turkey to the dismay of Maliki. This relates to the interference of Turkey within the affairs of sovereign Iraq.

In Lebanon some Sunni Muslim political leaders are also implicated in supporting the destabilization of Syria and like usual you have many rat-lines leading to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Of course, major Western nations like America, the United Kingdom and France are also destabilizing Syria. Therefore, the actions of Maliki are deemed negatively within the many circles which support the destabilization of Syria. However, in the murky world of covert agencies it could also be that negative political forces are being reigned in because of the increasing chaos in Syria.

At the same time, the internal angle also exists within Iraq. This reality means that many political convulsions will continue to hit the region. Of course, some of these convulsions are self-made and this notably relates to outside nations supporting the destabilization of Syria. Yet other factors run very deep internally and this reality means that many nations in the Middle East face ample serious issues.

Therefore, for Syria it is about preserving the independence of this nation and crushing international terrorism and the covert nature of the current crisis. In Iraq, it is based on the fragile nature of this country which is still coming to terms with the forces that were unleashed by the US led invasion. Also, Iraq is also being caught up in powerful geopolitical games which are being unleashed by the same culprits which are creating carnage in Syria.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20808769

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com

Vojin Joksimovich, PhD

Modern Tokyo Times

On November the 16th  the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) outrageously reversed convictions, acquitted and ordered immediate release of the Croatian Colonel General Ante Gotovina, commander of  a military offensive known as Operation Storm (Oluja in Serbian), and Colonel General Mladen Markac, Operation Commander of the Special Police in Croatia. Gotovina was on the run until 2005, when he was arrested in Spain and transferred to the ICTY. Needless to say the acquitted generals returned to Zagreb to a hero’s welcome with the 100,000 large crowd chanting “Victory, Victory.” In Belgrade there was a fury in denouncing the verdict as a scandalous injustice towards those Serbs ethnically cleansed. The Serbs have always viewed the ICTY as a political and not a legal body.

The Appeals Chamber ruled on 3:2 decision that the original chamber had “erred” in finding the existence of a Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE) whose purpose was the permanent and forcible removal of Serbian civilians from the Krajina region in today’s Croatia, where the Serbs had lived for some 500 years. Last year Gotovina and Markac were sentenced to 24 and 18 years respectively. The Majority judges, without the benefit of hearing all the evidence as the Trial judges did, were: the American judge Theodor Meron, the Jamaican judge Patrick Robinson and the Turkish judge Mehmet Guney.

Operation Storm

Operation Storm took place during August 1995 and it was the largest European land offensive since WWII, involving 150,000 Croatian troops, and resulted in the largest single movement of refugees in Europe since the Hungarian uprising which erupted in 1956. About 2,000 Serbian civilians were murdered (1,922 according to the Veritas Documentation and Information Center and between 200,000 and 250,000 were ethnically cleansed in a matter of 84 hours. The UNHCR quotes lower figures of hundreds of civilians killed and 200,000 displaced. While passing through the hostile Croatian territory Serbs were dragged from their carts and beaten to death. NATO planes participated on the side of Croatia. Retired US four-star generals (MPRI) trained and directed the Croatian army. While the 50th anniversaries of V – E Day celebrations were taking place in Europe in May 1995, Croatia committed another genocide over the UN cease-fire lines against the Serbian population of Western Slavonia in the vicinity of Jasenovac, the largest genocide per unit of territory during WWII. About 1,500 were slaughtered. In one village alone, Bela Stena, 500 women and children were the victims. Hence, the extermination of Serbs continued after 50 years in full view and support from the democratic and human rights advocates in the West. It should also be noted that Rahim Adeni, Kosovo Albanian and the Croatian Army general was acquitted by the Zagreb District Court for well documented war crimes by the Canadian UN contingent in the Medak Pocket in Krajina. Another Croatian Army general, Ivan Cermak, was also acquitted last year by the Tribunal for his Operation Storm crimes.

Dissenting Judges

The two dissenting judges were: the Italian judge Fausto Pocar and the Maltese judge Carmel Agius. Agius in his 30 page dissenting opinion said: “I respectfully but strongly disagree with almost all of the conclusions reached by the Majority.” He added that he was “distancing himself”  from the decision to acquit and together with judge Pocar expressed his concern at the way fellow judges handled the appeal. Pocar in his 20 page dissenting opinion disagreed with the verdict “which contradicts any sense of justice” and stated: “Given the sheer volume of errors and misconstructions in the Majority reasoning and the fact that the Appeals judgment misrepresents the Trial Chamber analysis, I will not discuss everything in detail—only three most fatal errors: 200m standard, artillery attacks of four towns and the JCE.”

It was mind-boggling how the Majority could credibly deny the “existence of the JCE whose purpose was the permanent and forcible removal of Serb civilians from the Krajina region” when they had the President of Croatia on record saying: “We have to inflict such blows that the Serbs will to all practical purposes disappear” and when they had a videotape of the Croatian Defense minister saying that “Serbs in Croatia will never be there again for as long as we are there.” On September 12, 1993, the Croatian President Tudjman told his cabinet that “Croatia must resolve the Krajina problem by war, contrary to international norms, meaning by ethnically cleansing the Serbs from Croatia.”

Former Chief Prosecutor

Former chief ICTY prosecutor from 1999 to 2008 and the author of Madame Prosecutor: Confrontations with Humanity’s Worst Criminals and the Culture of Impunity, Carla Del Ponte, in an interview with Belgrade’s Blic said that she was shocked, surprised and stunned. “It was not justice. Unbelievable. I cannot accept it. I feel complete solidarity with the Serb victims of the crimes we proved with evidence.” I assume that “the facts were reinterpreted.” Del Ponte agreed with everything she heard on the Serbian TV because it was obvious that crimes were committed and now the question remains who committed them. It should be noted that Del Ponte, while in office, was viewed as a Serb-hater and never concealed her dislike of Serbia. “I expect that a verdict will be brought in the Ramush Haradinaj case within 15 days and there is a danger that the same thing occurs. I am very disappointed.” Haradinaj is a Kosovo Albanian, former Prime Minister of Kosovo, indicted on 37 charges for actions while regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) including mounting a “widespread and systematic campaign to abuse, kill and expel Serbs and other minorities.” Nine witnesses linked to the Haradinaj case have been killed, while the main witness was shot during the investigation. He was found not guilty on all counts and released in 2007, but partial re-trial was ordered in 2010.

It is of interest that Serge Brammertz, Del Ponte’s successor as the chief ICTY prosecutor, was also very disappointed. He indicated that the prosecution will consider reexamination of the verdict. The New York Times characterized the decision as the most dramatic in the Tribunal’s 19-year history. The Times expects that, given the role Croatia played in the war as well as sharp criticism of the two dissenting judges, the verdict will be studied by attorneys and war historians.

Perspectives of this Writer

This writer was not surprised by the ICTY Appeals Chamber decision because for the purposes of his books he had researched modus operandi of the ICTY for over a decade and had even compared the ICTY trials with the Stalinist Moscow 1936-1938 trials. The people who pay for the Tribunal and support it were themselves complicit in the crimes that were part of the ICTY charter. In particular I came to the conclusion that another miscarriage of justice would take place after I had learned that General Gotovina was preparing the Operation Storm with the deputy CIA director George Tenet in the military base Sepurine near Zadar. After the so called “Srebrenica Massacre” President Clinton, concerned about his reelection, decided to intervene militarily against the Serbs and offered an alliance to the Croatian leadership under president Tudjman. My speculation is that the American judge acted upon the State Department instructions and swayed opinions of the other two judges. Judge Meron is probably the most influential ICTY judge having served two terms as the president. He joined the Tribunal in 2003 after serving in the US State Department. His anti-Serb bias has been well known. There are numerous examples when he violated human and process rights of the Serbian inductees’ and those of Vojislav Seselj’s in particular. He banned even his telephone communications and visits. He was a member of the Appeals Chamber, which freed thuggish Naser Oric, who as a Muslim commander of Srebrenica, was responsible for the murder of 1,300 Serbs and who boasted for his crimes in an interview with the Toronto Star in 1995.

From the perspectives of this writer, the most significant outcome of the Appeals Chamber decision is that nobody will be responsible for the war crimes committed not only in the Operation Storm but throughout the civil wars in Croatia. Hence, ethnic cleansing committed by the sides in the conflict favored by the US/NATO is not a war crime. No Croat from Croatia was sentenced by the ICTY (Croatian General Mirko Norac was sentenced by the Zagreb District Court to 7 years imprisonment). Only 12 Bosnian Croats were sentenced with 6 still at trials. All of those Croats were sentenced or indicted for the crimes against the Bosnian Muslims, not the Serbs. The Court’s decision will undoubtedly reopen the wounds as indicated by the Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic, which is contrary to the Court’s often stated principle of promoting reconciliation between former warring parties. It is obvious that the South African style Truth and Reconciliation Commission would have much better served that purpose but it was unacceptable as it didn’t serve the US/NATO objectives.

Most alarming from the international justice aspect as well as that of the western civilization in general, which takes pride in the rule of law, this will be the second time since WWII that nobody was found accountable for the Croatian war crimes over the Serbs and hence those genocides will be concealed from the history. Evil continues to win against justice. Croatia, which has been a NATO member since 2009, can enter the EU on July 1, 2013 with its legal state clear.

ICTY Modus Operandi

The ICTY was established by the UN Security Council in 1993. The Tribunal is of dubious legality as the UN Charter does not give the Security Council the authority to create a body with supranational powers to prosecute individuals. Michael Mandel, professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law, York University in Toronto, in his remarkable book How America Gets Away with Murder, provides an excellent account of how the ICTY was born. Lawrence Eagleburger, US Secretary of State, and presidential candidate Clinton had publicly launched the idea in August 1992 as a way of opposing the peace process in Bosnia and to justify the military solution they favored. Eagleburger even named ten individuals: seven of them were low level (four Serbs, two Croats. and one Muslim), but there were also big names: Milosevic, Karadzic and Mladic. This practically dictated the Tribunal agenda. In other words, the proposal was used by the Americans to justify its intention to go to war by branding their adversaries as post-WWII Nazis. This conspiracy killed the Vance-Owen peace plan, which depended on the involvement of the leaders named, and thus unnecessarily prolonged the war.

The ICTY is the best first test of the outcome of post-WWII politics – the Nuremberg Doctrine, which makes individuals liable to international prosecution for actions committed during a war. The Nuremberg trials of German major war criminals introduced judicial legitimacy – a tribunal with a panel of judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys. Initially, mostly US appointees staffed the Tribunal. In 1994, in the Office of Prosecutor there were 22 from the US, four from the Netherlands, two from Germany, two from Denmark, two from Norway, two from Sweden, two from Zimbabwe, and one from Great Britain. With the exception of Zimbabwe all were from NATO countries. NATO was the aggressor first in the civil/religious war in Bosnia and subsequently in the KLA insurrection from Northern Albania into Kosovo. It was immediately assailed as a NATO political instrument. It has been a rogue court with rigged rules and scandalous protocol to achieve the political objective to convict. John Laughland wrote: “It is not victor’s justice; it is no justice at all.”

The court indicted 161 people: 94 Serbs, 29 Croats, 9 Albanians, 9 Bosnian Muslims, 2 Macedonians and 2 Montenegrins. There are no indictees remaining at large. 126 cases have been completed. 13 defendants were transferred to local courts with 11 being convicted. Fifty Serbs have been sentenced thus far to over 700 years in jail. Six Serbs died in the Hague jail, including the Serbian President Milosevic, without being convicted. Canada’s best-known criminal lawyer, Edward Greenspan, writing in the National Post, pronounced the Milosevic trial as “lynching,” a ”show trial,” and a “kangaroo court.” The British lawyers attending the opening sessions stated that 80% of charges were hearsay, as such would be inadmissible in British courts. The Milosevic trial lasted over four years. It ended in March, 2006, when he was found dead in his cell. It was known that he was a sick man when he arrived in The Hague. However, the Court denied his request for provisional release in order to have heart surgery at the Bakoulev Center in Moscow despites guarantees from the Russian government. His basic human rights were grossly violated.

Not only was Milosevic indicted, but also his top civilian and military leaders. On the other hand, the court waited for the Croatian President Tudjman and the Bosnian Muslim President Izetbegovic to die and then issued statements that they were about to be indicted. The civilian and military leaders of the Bosnian Serbs, i.e. Dr. Karadzic and General Mladic, have been indicted and deported to the Hague by the Serbian authorities as they were hiding in Serbia. Their trials are in progress. They are indicted among other charges for the “Srebrenica genocide.” The legal definition of genocide is the systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group—what the Nazis did to the Jews and Croatian Ustashi to the Serbs, Jews and Roma at Jasenovac during WWII. This definition was violated by the ICTY in order to appease the Islamic world as they wanted to have an equivalent of the Holocaust.

The track record very briefly summarized above clearly shows that it is not a court of justice but a political servant of the US/NATO political interests. Serbian president Milosevic was indicted when the NATO bombs were falling on his country making collecting real evidence impossible. Of course, the US/NATO could have been accused of war crimes against the Serbs for the naked aggression which took place. However, the NATO aggression, which was a supreme international crime, was declared “a law-enforcement mission against war criminals who were right then perpetrating unspeakable acts, Nazis in fact, and the ICTY drove this point home at every opportunity.”  Prof. Mendel wrote the following in his book: “But the role the ICTY was born to play came in the Kosovo war. This has nothing with trying and punishing criminals, and everything to do with lending crucial credibility to NATO’s cause. Starting in the fall of 1998, the ICTY became a virtual press office for NATO, issuing press releases containing official statements that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) as an outlaw state whose leaders were inveterate war criminals up to their old tricks in Kosovo. There was an exclusive concentration on the Serbs as criminal non-compliers with international law, to the complete neglect of similar behavior by the KLA, Bosnian Muslims and Croats, and ultimately NATO itself.”

UN General Assembly Debate

The Appeals Chamber decision was met with outrage in many parts of the world resulting in damage to the prestige of the UN. Former Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic, who serves as the UN General Assembly president for this year, has been successful in scheduling a debate for April 10, 2013 with regard to the role of ad-hoc criminal tribunals in accomplishing justice and reconciliation between nations. His initiative was supported by Russia and China but opposed by the US, Britain and France. Jeremic stated that the debate is important so that nobody should think that committing war crimes is acceptable if a superpower provides the green light. Somebody might think that the same recipe can be applied to the situation in northern Kosovo.

Vojin Joksimovich, PhD is the author of three books and over 100 articles on the subjects of World Affairs

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