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Kosovo: Revealing a New State's Dark Past
Compliments to Raja Karthikeya on a well-researched opinion piece (“The Hidden Danger In Kosovo,” THE HOYA, March 14, 2008, A3). I wish to comment solely on two sentences: “True, President Slobodan Milosevic was a despicable despot. It was fair for Europe and the United States to protect the Kosovars.”
Almost always, Milosevic receives the sole credit for being a “despicable despot.” Because of this, two other “despicable despots,” who were so instrumental in the breakup of Yugoslavia, go unscathed. They are Franjo Tudjman and Alija Izetbegovic. I won’t go into detail except to mention that Tudjman was the author of “Wastelands: Historical Truth,” and Izetbegovic was the author of “The Islamic Declaration.” With regard to Tudjman, it should be noted that (in death) he is finally being given more mention, but only as a defense tactic at the current trial of Ante Gotovina in The Hague.
And, regarding mention of “the Kosovars,” this term is almost always used with reference to the majority Albanian population in Kosovo. If they are the designated ‘Kosovars,’ then that somehow gives the impression that the Serbs and others are interlopers in Kosovo. That couldn’t be further from the truth. And regarding what was considered “fair” in 1999, NATO’s bombing of Serbia certainly was not in the “fair” category. In fact, it was downright illegal.
Liz Milanovich
Edmonton, Canada
March 15, 2008
This a study by Dr. Sabrina P. Ramet ttitled "Under the holy lime tree" a few pointers are as following:
Six pivotal themes in Serbian propaganda
1. Victimization, in which Serbs were constructed as collective victims first of the NDH, then of Tito’s Yugoslavia, and more specifically of Croats, Albanians, Bosnians, and other non-Serbs.
2. Dehumanization of designated ‘others’, in which Croats were depicted as ‘genocidal’ and as ‘Ustaše’, Bosnians were portrayed as ‘fanatical fundamentalists’, and Albanians were represented as not fully human. These processes of dehumanization effectively removed these designated ‘others’ from the moral field, sanctifying their murder or expulsion.
3. Belittlement, in which Serbia’s enemies were represented as
beneath contempt.
4. Conspiracy, in which Croats, Slovenes, Albanians, the Vatican,
Germany, Austria, and sometimes also the Bosnians as well as the U.S. and other foreign states, were seen as united in a conspiracy to break up the SFRY and hurt Serbia. In this way, the Belgrade regime’s obstinate disregard for the fundamental standards of international law was dressed up as heroic defiance of an anti-Serb conspiracy.
5. Entitlement, in which the Serbs were constructed as ‘entitled’ to create a Greater
Serbian state to which parts of Croatia and Bosnia would be attached, under the motto,’ All Serbs should live in one state.’
6. Superhuman powers and divine sanction. The Serbs were told that they were, in some sense, “super”. They were the best fighters on the planet, they could stand up to the entire world, and they were sanctioned by God himself, because of Tsar Lazar and the fact that Lazar had chosen the heavenly kingdom. Moreover, since Lazar had chosen the heavenly kingdom, the Serbs, encouraged to view themselves as Lazar’s heirs, were entitled to the earthly kingdom which Lazar had repudiated, as their patrimony.
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