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Bombing the Baby with the Bath Water

[From an article by Veran Matic, editor-in-chief of Belgrade's banned Radio B92, as quoted in Sam Smith's Progressive Review]

My friends in the West keep asking me why there is no rebellion. Where are the people who poured onto the streets every day for three months in 1996 to demand democracy and human rights? Zoran Zivkovic, the opposition mayor of the city of Nis answered that last week: "Twenty minutes ago my city was bombed. The people who live here are the same people who voted for democracy in 1996, the same people who protested for a hundred days after the authorities tried to deny them their victory in the elections. They voted for the same democracy that exists in Europe and the US. Today my city was bombed by the democratic states of the USA, Britain, France, Germany and Canada! Is there any sense in this?"

Most of these people feel betrayed by the countries which were their models. Only today a missile landed in the yard of our correspondent in Sombor. It didn't explode, fortunately, but many others have in many other people's yards.

... With these attacks, it seems to me, the West has washed its hands of the people, Albanians, Serbs and others, living in the region. Thus the sins of the government have been visited on the people. The free media in Serbia has for years opposed nationalism, hatred and war. As a representative of those media, and as a man who has more than once faced the consequences of my political beliefs, I call on President Bill Clinton to put a stop to NATO's attack on my country. I call on him to begin negotiations which aim at securing the right to a peaceful life and democracy for all the people in Yugoslavia, regardless of their ethnic background.

More on Radio B92

Although banned in Yugoslavia, Radio B92 is still live on the web, with
breaking news in English. A group in the Netherlands called Help B92 is is raising money to send money and equipment to B92 and other independent radio stations in Serbia and Kosovo. For further information check out the site or email: helpb92@xs4all.nl. See also the archive of B92 news stories in text and in audio