NATO leaders forced to step back from bombing

The "bomb Yugoslavia tomorrow" threats which have been repeatedly voiced 
by NATO leaders these last few weeks have been thwarted at least for the 
time being. The principled refusal of the Yugoslav Government to sacrifice 
their country's sovereignty, Russia's strong stand against the use of force 
and the reluctance of some west European countries to go along with 
bombing, all helped to force the gung-ho US and British leaders, in 
particular, to back-off. This is an important victory for peace in Europe 
which, however, remains seriously threatened by the attempted eastward 
expansion of NATO.

The full story of the Machiavellian policies implemented by the US leaders 
who have systematically encouraged the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo to take 
up arms and provided them with arms and money, has yet to be told but it 
will eventually come to light.

The objective was and remains the complete dismemberment of Yugoslavia. The 
first break came with the separation of Croatia from the Yugoslav 
Federation. The long and bloody war in Bosnia was the next step. Then came 
the separation of Macedonia and the promotion of separatism in Kosovo.

The deliberate promotion of ethnic and religious differences is the weapon 
repeatedly used to set citizen against citizen with catastrophic results 
for all the ethnic groups which made up the Federation of Yugoslavia.

From the very beginning the aggressive western powers led by the US and 
Britain have taken a consistently anti-Serbian stand.

Their spleen has been especially vented on the Yugoslav President Slobodan 
Milosevic who refused to bend the knee to the many war-mongering threats 
made against his country.

The commitment of the western powers to recognise and respect the 
boundaries of European countries which were agreed to following World War 
II has come to mean nothing.

Nor do they accept the Charter of the United Nations which specifically 
outlaws the use and threatened use of force against another member of the 
United Nations.

Forced retreat

The forced retreat of NATO over Kosovo follows the refusal of many 
countries to join the United States and Britain in a renewed war against 
Iraq last year.

These developments signal increased resistance to the aggressive NATO plans 
and their repeated threat to use military force against other countries.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and British Foreign Secretary 
Robyn Cooke are at the forefront of the campaign to use force. French, 
Italian and even German leaders are more restrained and can be credited 
with having helped to stay the hand of the reckless bombers.

However, the Balkan powder-keg will remain a happy hunting ground for those 
who want to establish their political and economic domination over the 
region and are prepared to start a new war in Europe to achieve their ends.

Bosnia and Macedonia have become, in effect, occupied countries. The US has 
military and air bases in many European countries.

The military-fascist Turkish Government, a strong ally of the United States 
and Israel, is making repeated threats against Greece and has carried out 
numerous acts of aggression against Iraq using the excuse of pursuing 
Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) "terrorists" onto Iraqi territory. Israel 
continues to occupy southern Lebanon.

Any one of these centres of aggression could be blown up into a larger 
conflict.

It is to be hoped that the stronger stand by the Russian Government against 
NATO's eastward expansion is more than a passing phase.

It is time that more determined steps be taken to end the trade sanctions 
imposed on Iraq and Yugoslavia and that the flagrant misuse of the United 
Nations Security Council by the western powers be ended.

The governments and people of Yugoslavia and Cuba have shown that it is 
possible to stand up to bullies. These countries are entitled to receive 
the strong support of peace-loving people everywhere.