Statement from the Anti-Intervention Network (AIN)
"This is the most precise, effective and collateral damage-free air operation that has ever been conducted." - General Wesley Clark (Commander of NATO War on Yugoslavia)
Every day another atrocity committed by the U.S./NATO shreds the lie of 'minimal casualties in the service of humanitarian intervention.' Each incident is met by the bombers with cynical apologies, phony attempts to blame the Serbs, and real calls to escalate - knowing full well thousands more will die. This is a war on the entire population. It is up to the anti-war movement to expose this truth in all its dimensions. The AIN calls on people to step up protest and opposition to this criminal war! The lives of many people are at stake.
So far, over 1,200 people have been killed and thousands wounded. People have been ripped apart in markets, hospitals, homes, schools, embassies, prisons, and in buses, trains, even the refugee convoys the U.S./NATO claims to be 'saving.' They are dropping cluster bombs, anti-personnel weapons, and destroying the country's infrastructure that the people depend on for their lives. Attacks on chemical factories, the destruction of oil facilities, and the use of depleted uranium weapons are causing an environmental disaster, reports the World Wildlife Federation. The scope of the devastation will almost certainly turn Yugoslavia into another Iraq-where over a million people have died of preventable diseases and starvation. U.S./U.N.-imposed sanctions make it impossible for Iraq to rebuild its infrastructure and clean up the poisoned environment in order to provide the Iraqi people with necessities such as clean water and basic healthcare. It's our moral imperative to oppose the war on Yugoslavia, as we continue to struggle against the sanctions on Iraq. On May 27th, the same day that the UN indicted Milosevic for crimes against humanity, NATO conducted a record number of air strikes-741 sorties in 24 hours. The Anti-Intervention Network condemns the gross hypocrisy of the U.S., the UN and NATO.
This is not a war 'about Kosovo.' This war is a major power grab by the U.S. and NATO. It is about consolidating NATO as an alliance that can impose its will on other countries. It is about stabilizing the whole Balkan region so that the U.S. and its allies can press forward their plans in neighboring regions-including systematically seizing the most valuable pieces of the former Soviet empire, such as the oil fields of the Caspian Sea. It is about the U.S. sending a message to the rest of the world: 'We're in charge, and our idea of negotiation is brute force that will only intensify without your total submission.'
The refugee crisis is real. But the U.S./NATO attacks are only making things worse as more people, Serb and Kosovar alike, flee the bombing. People's hearts go out to the Kosovar Albanian refugees. We also want to ease the suffering of all the people under attack by U.S./NATO bombs. Let us be clear. The best way to help right now is to oppose the U.S./NATO war. This is our main responsibility as people living in the U.S.-to get our government off the backs of the people. Who knows what the region would be like today, if big powers like the U.S., Russia and Germany hadn't carved up the land and pitted the interests of different peoples against each other? And who knows what levels of resistance could develop from inside the region if we fulfill our duty as global citizens and demand U.S./NATO out. Only then will oppressed people in the Balkans be free to develop resistance in whatever forms they choose. Furthermore, we reject all attempts to demonize our Serbian sisters and brothers and will unite with them in protest against the bombing of their homes and the murder of their families.
Now NATO plans to send 50,000 more troops to the Kosovo border (as of 6/1/99). These 'peacekeepers' are meant to be NATO's enforcers, and possibly the core of a larger invasion force. We must escalate our opposition. Tens of thousands have protested in China against the war and the missile attack on the Chinese embassy. Tens of thousands more have been in the streets of Europe, Australia, Canada, the U.S., and other parts of the world. There is a growing sense of distrust about U.S./NATO motives among the people in the U.S. that has the potential of being transformed into determined opposition. It's crucial that the anti-war movement broadly expose the reality of this war for millions more to see, and challenge people to act.
The U.S. has bombed four different countries in the last six months. We won't accept this! It is up to us to stop the U.S. global cop from bullying the people of any nation it chooses. To Hell with their "New World Order!" Build the anti-intervention movement!
No U.S. Troops Anywhere, Anytime!
The People of the World are Not Our Enemy; They are Our Sisters & Brothers!
Support GI Resistance!
Sanctions are an Act of War; End All Sanctions Now!
The Anti-Intervention Network wants YOU!
E-mail us at ain@oz.net. Phone/Fax us at 206.374.2215. Write us c/o VVAW AI at PO Box 21604, Seattle, WA 98111-3604
To join the Network, visit our website at http://www.oz.net/~vvawai/ain-home.html
[posted Sat, Jun 5, 1999]
Contact Refuse
& Resist!
305 Madison Ave., Suite 1166, New York, NY 10165
Phone: 212-713-5657
email: info@refuseandresist.org