American Soldiers set Free

Belgrade Awarded by Severest Bombing So Far

AIM Podgorica, 6 May, 1999

(By AIM correspondent from Belgrade)

President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) Slobodan Milosevic decided in the midst of the severest NATO bombing so far to set free three American soldiers taken prisoners at the Yugoslav-Macedonian border in the beginning of the war and to hand them over to American priest and fighter for peace Jesse Jackson. Except for Vuk Draskovic, former leader of Serb opposition and until recently the deputy federal prime minister (dismissed from the post during the conflict with NATO because he criticised the regime) who called Milosevic's gesture "humane and courageous", other advantages Yugoslav president might have gained by liberating the soldiers are highly questionable. None of the other political parties in Serbia have publicly commented on this decision of president Milosevic.

Jesse Jackson who has on previous occasions already managed to liberate prisoners in Syria, on Cuba, in Kuwait and Iraq, arrived in Belgrade, in the evening of 29 April, with a group of 18 religious leaders, one congressman and eight journalists. Although this visit was organized without interference of official Washington, the American delegation probably did not hope that NATO would honour Belgrade with the severest bombing since the beginning of the war at the very moment they had arrived in Yugoslav capital.

That night, the buildings of the Army General Staff were demolished, the building of the ministry of internal affairs was shot at once again (all in Kneza Milosa street), and "by mistake" a restaurant called the Golden Ram the outcome of which were human victims and great material destruction in the vicinity. In the following two days, Jackson met with Milosevic (the conversation lasted for three hours), with leaders of religious communities in Serbia and others - and then during his visit to Tanjug, he declared that the three soldiers, after 32 days in prison, would be set free because "they are not the enemy, but victims of war and militarism". This statement has hardly been read on the few radio and tv stations in Serbia when in Luzani, twenty kilometres from Pristina, on that 1 May, NATO shot at a civilian bus and killed 40, that is 60 people (depending on the sources), wounded another forty odd persons and on top of everything else hit an ambulance which was hurrying to the scene of the crash.

NATO bragged that on that 38th day of bombing it was the "most active so far" and that more than 70 targets were shot at, seven transmitters and seven bridges inclusive. On that day, the new export embargo of the USA was introduced against Serbia aimed at preventing inflow of every drop of oil. David Leavy, spokesman of American Council of National Security declared that "the USA will continue to tighten the screws until the goals are achieved". Looking from the Yugoslav aspect - one could say that that this was not an exceptionally successful deal, especially when one has in mind that American president Bill Clinton declared that "while we are welcoming our soldiers, our thoughts turn to one million Kosovo Albanians who cannot go home due to the policy of the regime in Belgrade", and that "strikes will continue until Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic agrees to withdraw troops" from Kosovo (and on 3 May a civilian bus was shot at, this time in Savine vode, on the border between Serbia and Montenegro. Result: 20 persons killed).

Nevertheless, the act of releasing three American soldiers and its consequences may be observed from a different angle. For the first time two pictures, one after the other, were broadcast on American and other western television stations; they shed a somewhat different light on odious Serbs than before: one of smiling released soldiers and the other showing dead civilian passengers of the bus in Luzani. Colonel Sharon De Rullo who examined the soldiers in the military base Ramstein in Germany after release said that they "look well and feel well", and they themselves said after release that they were treated well in prison. One of the soldiers, Christopher Stone, even left a letter to his guards in which he thanked them from kindness - especially for cigarettes and said that he would pray for peace in Yugoslavia. NATO did not deny authenticity of the letter.

Jesse Jackson declared in Belgrade that this Milosevic's move "should not be left without response", at least that the possibility of releasing two imprisoned Yugoslav soldiers should be considered. After return to the USA, Jackson talked with Bill Clinton (to whom he brought Milosevic's personal letter), and he declared to journalists that he appealled on NATO leaders to begin negotiations with the president of FRY. "We have the power to bomb. Do we have the strength to negotiate?" asked Jackson, adding that bombing "is not succeeding in stopping banishment of ethnic Albanians, in their repatriation, nor in bringing multinational peace forces in Kosovo".

He also sent word that Yugoslavs will not easily "break", that bombs increase their will to fight, and not to succumb. It is also interesting what Jackson, according to American sources, said to Milosevic: "Do a greater thing than fight - think. Do more than to express readiness to die - express readiness to live". This is nice, although there are no guarantees that Jackson was heard by any of the warring parties.

Bombs thrown on the centre of Belgrade, civilian buses and Novi Sad television were not the end. Since three days ago, Voivodina and the biggest part of Serbia are without water and electric power supply. This time, as its leaders said, NATO decided to exert psychological pressure by throwing the so-called graphite bombs on electric power installations. Belgrade occasionally gets power and water supply, while Novi Sad is without them for days. Queues for bread in the capital of Yugoslavia are growing longer because bakeries have neither power nor water supply, and queues for cigarettes have already become a normal sight.

Spomenka Lazic

(AIM)