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Отправлено klm 08:43:51 29/09/1999:

 
Spanish experts see no Serbian genocide in Kosovo 
by Pablo Ordaz 
 
commentary by Jared Israel (revised 9-27-99) 
 
[The website http://www.emperors-clothes.com encourages everyone to reproduce  
the following report in full including this note.] 
 
The following article from El Pais (The Country), a mainstream Spanish  
magazine, is most important. For months we've been barraged with stories  
claiming Serbs killed thousands of ethnic Albanians and dumped them in mass  
graves in Kosovo. Recently I did an internet search for newspaper articles,  
appearing in the past 90 days, and including the words 'Kosovo' and 'mass  
grave.' The report came back: 'More than 1000 — too many to list.' I had to  
limit the search to articles in the NY Times and even then came up with 80,  
nearly one a day. 
 
It has been a giant air balloon of anti-Serbian publicity, but now comes the  
pin: Spanish forensic experts, just back from Northern Kosovo where, they  
were told, they would have to inspect the worst Serbian atrocities, found no  
mass graves and no evidence of torture.  
 
We received this article at 11 PM on 9/23 and had a translation the next  
morning thanks to Herb Foerstal in the U.S. The translation was then checked  
for accuracy, again on no notice and within a few hours, thanks to Julio  
FernАndez Baraiba in Argentina.  
 
Below is the article from El Pais, followed by a commentary. 
 
El Pais * 23 septiembre 1999 — N╨ 1238 
by PABLO ORDAZ in Madrid 
 
Spanish police and forensic experts have not found proof of Genocide in the  
North of Kosovo. 
 
Crimes of War — yes, Genocide — no. This was definitely shown yesterday by  
the group of Spanish experts formed by officials from the Scientific Police  
and Civilian Forensics that has just returned from Istok, the Zone in the  
North of Kosovo under the control of the Legion. {Spanish Legion?} 187  
cadavers found and analyzed in 9 villages were buried in individual graves,  
oriented for the most part toward Mecca out of respect for the religious  
beliefs of the Albanian Kosovars and without sign of torture. "There were no  
mass graves. For the most part the Serbs are not as bad as they have been  
painted," reflected the forensic official Emilio PИrez Pujo. 
 
That was not the only irony. Also questioned were the successive counts that  
are being offered by the "allies" on the tragedy of Kosovo. "I have been  
reading the data from UN," said PИrez Pujol, Director of the Forensic  
Anatomical Institute of Cartagena. "And they began with 44,000 deaths. Then  
they lowered it to 22,000. And now they're going with 11,000. I look forward  
to seeing what the final count will really be." The Spanish Mission which  
should now submit a report to the International War Crimes Tribunal in The  
Hague, left from Madrid in the beginning of the month of the August with the  
feeling that they were going on a road to hell. "They told us that we were  
going to the worst zone of Kosovo. That we should prepare ourselves to  
perform more than 2000 autopsies. That we would have to work until the end of  
November. The result is very different. We only found 187 cadavers and now we  
are going to return," explained the chief inspector, Juan LСpez Palafox,  
responsible for the Office of Anthropology and Scientific Police. 
 
The forensic people, as well as the police, applied their experience in  
Rwanda in order to determine what occurred in Kosovo at least in that section  
assigned to the Spanish detachment and they were not able to find evidence of  
genocide. 
 
"In the former Yugoslavia," said LСpez Palafox, "crimes were committed, some  
no doubt horrible, but they derived from the war. In Rwanda we saw 450  
corpses of women and children, one on top of another, all with their heads  
broken open." The Chief Inspector added that in Kosovo, on the contrary, they  
had found many isolated corpses. "It gives the impression that the Serbs gave  
a choice to the families to leave their homes. If some member of the clan,  
for whatever reason, decided to remain, upon returning they were found dead  
from a shot or by whatever other method." {our emphasis} 
 
One of the members of the Spanish mission shed light on events in the Istok  
prison, bombed at the end of May by NATO planes. The work, directed by LСpez  
Palafox and PИrez Pujol was aimed at solving the following mystery: who  
killed the more than 100 prisoners — the bombs of NATO or the bullets of  
Serbian soldiers? The answer, according to the preliminary studies, is clear.  
Some of the cadavers analyzed had shrapnel wounds and therefore clearly  
appeared to have been killed by the bombardment. But others died of clear  
clean bullet wounds, perhaps from the bullets of machine guns. The most  
likely thesis is that after the bombardment, the prison inmates tried to flee  
and were shot by Serbian guards.  
 
*** 
 
Commentary 
by Jared Israel 
 
I've been reading mass grave stories in the New York Times for most of a day.  
I hope to do a detailed analysis soon. Meanwhile, here are a few observations: 
 
* You would expect these stories to be horrifying. What is surprising is that  
they are so repetitious — using the same phrases — that reading them is  
exhausting. 
 
* The articles are often written in semi-fictional style, as in "A cap lay on  
the ground, stained bright red. 'Who would believe the Serbs would do this?'  
asked the gaunt Albanian. A tear trickled down the old man's cheek." This  
kind of writing encourages the reader to suspend disbelief, as one does when  
reading a short story, to accept emotionally charged statements as true.  
 
* Evidence, if any, is anecdotal; sources are vague. 
 
* The discovery or even the rumor of a grave is cited (often in a press  
conference by some authority figure) as proof of Serbian atrocities.  
 
These 'atrocities' are then discussed in great, though entirely speculative,  
detail. Trial by media. It is enough to make you gaga, especially when you  
read such 'news' for hours at a time. The mental equivalent of smog. 
 
* Arguments are circular. A supposed mass grave is discovered. Assumptions  
are (publicly and loudly) made about the unopened grave: the dead bodies will  
be Albanians; they will be civilians; they will turn out to have been killed  
by Serbs; the Serbs will have been soldiers or policemen. There is no  
systematic follow-up, no testing of these predictions against fact. Rather,  
such speculations, once uttered, become part of the record, to be cited in  
later articles as if proven. 
 
The Spanish experts were told they would find 2000 bodies. They found 187.  
That is about 10%. Many of the 187 died when NATO bombed a prison or,  
apparently. afterwards, trying to escape. The war crime involved here is  
NATO's: it is a crime of war to bomb any nonmilitary target, let alone a  
prison, the ultimate sitting duck.  
 
Let me dwell on this point for a moment. NATO of course knew that the U.S.  
Air Force had bombed the prison at Istok; it was publicly reported at the  
time and anyway, the U.S. Air Force leads NATO, so, as a teenange American  
would say, 'like, du-uh.' It was also no mystery that these bombs killed  
people, prisoners and guards — that's what bombs do. Obviously if the term  
'war crime' has any meaning, bombing a prison is a war crime. 
 
Then why, may I ask, were the Spanish forensic scientists told to look for  
evidence of Serbian war crimes at Istok? Given that a massive war crime (the  
bombing of a prison) was publicly known to have been committed by the U.S.  
Air Force, why weren't the forensic scientists instructed to look for a U.S.  
war crime? Why is it necessary for them now to give a press conference to  
reveal the STARTLING news that when the U.S. Air Force bombs a prison to  
smithereens — it is not an act of Serbian genocide??  
 
The Spanish scientists and policemen are correctly perceived as heroic for  
standing up and saying: the bombing of a prison by the U.S. Air Force is not  
a Serbian war crime. Doesn't the fact that this is indeed an act of heroism  
tell us something about the present international climate? 
 
DOWN TO 5% 
 
The Spanish forensic scientists speculate that the remaining cadavers were  
Albanian civilians killed by Serbian troops or police. If these speculations  
are correct, these people could be victims of Serbian war crimes. That's  
about 100 people, 5% of the promised 2000. 
 
In considering this 5%, I suggest we adopt a cautious approach. 
 
"IMPRESSIONS" 
 
Every official in a NATO country is under pressure to parrot the NATO line.  
Nevertheless these Spanish experts aired their reservations publicly. Note  
that when they discussed the individuals with bullet wounds they made clear  
they were speculating: 
 
"It gives the IMPRESSION that the Serbs gave a choice to the families to  
leave their homes. If some member of the clan, for whatever reason, decided  
to remain, upon returning they were found dead." 
 
Of course, one can only get the "impression" that these people were shot by  
"the Serbs" for refusing to leave their homes if one accepts that they were  
members of families whom "the Serbs" had ordered to leave. But how could the  
scientists know this? They could only 'know it' from witnesses.  
 
The El Pais story says nothing about witnesses, so now we must speculate;  
fortunately we do know a few things. 
 
First, Kosovo is under a reign of terror by the Kosovo Liberation Army, with  
NATO's blessing. At the end of this commentary we list a few articles  
documenting that reign of terror, including first hand accounts. (See note 1  
at end) 
 
Second, both NATO and the KLA have a strong interest in proving that the  
Serbian government had a policy of genocide against Albanians. NATO needs to  
prove this because the existence of Serbian genocide was NATO's justification  
for bombing Yugoslavia for 78 days. The KLA needs to prove it because Serbian  
genocide is the KLA's justification for driving Serbs and "Gypsies" out of  
Kosovo. As CLinton adviser Sandy Berger put it, speaking for NATO and the KLA: 
 
"All across Kosovo, we see reminders that America and our allies did the  
right thing in taking a stand against ethnic cleansing┘. The Serb forces  
responsible for the violence are gone┘But there is also tremendous sadness —  
from the pain of remembering and the devastation left behind by Milosevic's  
campaign of hate. And in many victims there is rage, a desire for justice,  
and sometimes revenge. (Foreign Policy Adviser Sandy Berger, "Remarks to  
Council on Foreign Relations", July 26, 1999)  
 
In this remarkable speech Mr. Berger is a) giving the KLA the green light to  
attack Serbs because it's all quite understandable considering the  
"tremendous sadness" and "victims" consumed with "rage" and b) making the  
purpose of the war crimes investigations perfectly clear. That purpose is NOT  
to discover the truth. Discovery is unnecessary; Mr. Berger has discovered  
the truth in advance. Rather the purpose of investigation is to provide  
"reminders that America and our allies did the right thing."  
 
Thus the investigation is controlled by two highly interested parties, NATO  
and the KLA. Their control includes not only the handling of evidence but the  
recruitment and preparation of witnesses. Obviously such witnesses can be  
either agents of the KLA or under KLA domination. Any witness providing  
testimony disliked by the KLA would be risking his or her life. And as a  
recent story in the mainstream media suggests, the KLA considers lying a  
perfectly legitimate weapon in winning international support. (See note 2 at  
end) So much for the witnesses. 
 
BIGOTS WITH A HEART 
 
And then there is the problem of the graves. The Spanish experts say the  
cadavers were found in individual graves, not mass graves. That is thoughtful  
of the Serbs. And even more thoughtful: the graves were "oriented for the  
most part toward Mecca out of respect for the religious beliefs of the  
Albanian Kosovars┘"  
 
This is curious. I have read many newspaper articles which argue that Serbs  
are hostile to Albanians because the Albanians are (mostly) Muslims. This  
supposed hostility was supposedly the motivation for alleged anti-Albanian  
atrocities.  The Serbs say they don't hate anybody, that they have been  
fighting to preserve a multiethnic society against a terrorist assault by a  
racist faction among ethnic Albanians — a faction backed by the U.S. and  
Germany. 
 
Let's assume the newspapers are right and the Serbs are mistaken. So first  
Serbian troops murdered these 100 Albanians out of religious hatred — and  
then they buried the Albanians facing Mecca out of religious respect. Isn't  
this rather strange behavior? 
 
Perhaps the Spanish experts were lied to. Perhaps they were shown the bodies  
of KLA troops who died fighting the Yugoslav army; hence the bullet wounds  
(inflicted in battle) and the respectful burial (performed by the KLA army).  
That at least would make sense.  
 
There are many graves in Kosovo, too many. For a year and a half a fierce war  
raged between KLA terrorists and the Yugoslav Army and police. Aside from  
those who died in the fighting, we have credible evidence that the KLA  
executed many pro-Yugoslav Albanians, as well as non-Albanians (who do not  
necessarily differ from Albanians in appearance) not to mention Yugoslav  
soldiers and policemen. 
 
So, thousands of people died and were buried. The KLA has had a free hand in  
Kosovo since early June, plenty of time to move bodies around, to dress dead  
soldiers as civilians and to tutor 'grieving relatives' until their stories  
sound believable. And despite all that the Spanish scientists, sent to the  
zone of the worst Serbian atrocities, came back virtually empty-handed. 
 
INVESTIGATION OR INQUISITION? 
 
Some people ask: are you saying Serbs are incapable of committing atrocities?  
No, as with all populations, some Serbian people are probably capable of  
committing atrocities. But to go from this general possibility to the charge  
that the Serbian armed forces systematically killed Albanian civilians (while  
publicly arguing for multi-ethnic unity and indeed arming many Albanians  
against the KLA) is to go quite a distance. Traversing it requires something:  
proof. 
 
American legal theory says a person is innocent until proven guilty. Implicit  
in this approach is the notion that criminal investigation should be  
conducted by disinterested parties with a goal of finding out if there has  
been a crime and discovering the truth, not in proving a case to destroy some  
enemy. 
 
Aside from whether this standard is actually applied in the U.S. legal system  
(a HIGHLY debatable point) shouldn't we apply it when dealing with alleged  
mass crimes possibly implicating a government and an entire people? Or should  
such  investigations be launched only as needed to justify NATO policy?  
Should guilt then be decided by a hostile US press with government officials  
making prejudicial statements before the fact? Should the evidence be the  
testimony of 'witnesses' supplied by the US side in a vicious war,  
'witnesses' who testify in secret, 'witnesses' who are never cross-examined  
by the accused? 
 
The use of these Inquisitorial methods of proof rebounds, proving that NATO  
(that is, the US government) and the media are trying to railroad the Serbian  
people.  
 
Every time an accusation is made, two parties go on trial: the accused and  
the accuser. For if an accusation can be shown to be false, then the question  
must be asked: was it made with malicious intent? Was it perhaps cooked up to  
divert attention from and/or justify some other crime, some greater crime,  
some crime by the accuser?   
 
The Spanish forensic scientists and policemen quoted in El Pais have done us  
all a service. By denying NATO's charges they have indicted NATO. In doing so  
they have risked NATO's wrath — and their careers — to tell the truth. Their  
decency gives one hope. 
 
(For analyses of specific instances in which NATO can be shown to have  
cooked the evidence of 'Serbian war crimes' see note 3 at end) 
 
*** 
 
NOTES 
 
Note 1: First hand reports of KLA terror 
 
* For an interview with the leader of the Jewish community in Pristina,  
Kosovo, go to: http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/ceda.htm or if on  
AOL  Click  
here 
 
*For an eye-opening report on a recent 2 week trip through Kosovo, go to:  
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/Articles/zoran/&back.htm or if on AOL  HREF="http://www.emperors-clothes.com/Articles/zoran/&back.htm">Click  
here  
 
* For an interview with Kosovo Albanians who led opposition to the KLA and  
have been forced out of Kosovo by threat of death, go to:  
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/alban.htm or if on AOL  HREF="http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/alban.htm">Click here 
 
Note 2: KLA Woman's Story Exposed as Lie 
 
Go to: * http://www.emperors-clothes.com/news/cbclie.htm or if on AOL  HREF="http://www.emperors-clothes.com/news/cbclie.htm">Click here 
 
Note 3: Analysis of NATO 'mass grave' and 'atrocity' claims 
* For 'Racak — The Impossible Massacre,' by Diana Johnstone go to:  
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/analysis/racak.htm or if on AOL  HREF="http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/Johnstone/Recak.htm">Click  
here 
 
* For 'Were NATO's mass grave pictures faked?' by Jared Israel go to:  
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/misc/graves.htm or if on AOL  HREF="http://www.emperors-clothes.com/misc/graves.htm">Click here 
 
For a detailed look at (and refutation of) NATO's most important massacre  
story, 'Srebrenica: Three years and still waiting,' go to: 
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/Articles/george%20pumphrey/Srebrenica.htm or  
if on AOL  HREF="http://www.emperors-clothes.com/Articles/george%20pumphrey/Srebrenica.ht 
m">Click here 
 
If you're reading this article in a site other than Emperors-Clothes.com and  
would like to see other articles, please go to:  
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/splash.htm  
or if on AOL Click  
here  
 
Пришла по мылу, от AOL. Перевод от моего Сократа не привожу, поскольку полная ахинея. Но смысл более-менее понятен и так... Кто в состоянии, переведите. 
 
 
Sergey Klimov — klm


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