The US-NATO War against Yugoslavia,

The Globalization of War

by

Michel Chossudovsky

Belgrade Forum.

Commemoration Conference,

23-24 March 2024, Belgrade

Introduction

People of Serbia. Our thoughts are with you. We are in solidarity. I am much indebted to the Belgrade Forum.

We must commemorate as well as take this opportunity to act decisively against the US-NATO military agenda, which is supported by powerful financial interests. 

The world is currently at the crossroads of the most serious crisis in modern history.

The US has embarked on a military adventure, “a long war”, which threatens the future of humanity”

That long war was initiated in the 1990s at the outset of the post Cold War Era. 

The war on Yugoslavia was a “Dress Rehearsal” for all subsequent US-NATO wars.

It was marked by military and intelligence operations, the destabilization of the Yugoslav economy, regime changes, the fracturing of an entire sovereign Nation State into a panoply of small countries which are largely led by proxy regimes.

 

Twenty-five years ago in the early hours of March 24, 1999, NATO began the bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. “The operation was code-named “Allied Force ”.  

When Belgrade was bombed, the children’s hospital was the object of air attacks. It had been singled out by military planners as a strategic target. I visited that hospital a year later in March 2000. 

A historical review confirms that children have routinely been the target in ALL U.S. military operations from the Second World War to the present.

On March 25 1999, I initiated my research. NATO’s ruthless bombing of Belgrade and Pristina was tagged in chorus by the media as a humanitarian operation. Responsabiity to Protect (R2P)

Segments of the U.S. and European “Left” Support the KLA

The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was upheld by segments of the European Left (several of which were supported by George Soros) as a self-respecting nationalist movement struggling for the rights of ethnic Albanians. 

What nonsense:  The KLA was sustained by organised crime with the tacit approval of the United States and its allies. It was involved in money laundering,  It had ties with Al Qaeda, which was controlled by the CIA. 

In the U.S, Stephen Shalom, in an article on ZNet states:

“I am sympathetic to the argument that says that if people want to fight for their rights, if they are not asking others to do it for them, then they ought to be provided with the weapons to help them succeed. Such an argument seemed to me persuasive with respect to Bosnia.”

In that same article, I was personally accused of having “discredited the KLA”. I accept the criticism. That was my objective through careful documentation and analysis:

“Michel Chossudovsky, a professor of economics at the University of Ottawa, has set out the most meticulous frame-up in a piece entitled “Freedom Fighters Financed by Organised Crime”, which has been doing the internet circuit. Full of half-truths, assumptions and innuendoes about the KLA’s alleged use of drug money, Chossudovsky’s article seeks to discredit the KLA as a genuine liberation movement representing the aspirations of the oppressed Albanian majority. …

Chossudovsky claims that “the KLA is sustained by organised crime … the links of the Kosovo Liberation Army to criminal syndicates in Albania, Turkey and the European Union have been known to Western governments and intelligence agencies since the mid-1990s.”

Before considering Chossudovsky’s evidence, it needs to be asked: is it that unusual for cash-starved liberation movements to raise some of their funds from illegal sources, even drug money?” 

Listen to the report of Democracy Now with Amy Goodman on the KLA and the alleged links to the Drug Trade (June 2, 1999) (which includes a representative of the KLA)

These so-called “half truths and innuendos” were the object of my article written in April 1999 at the height of the NATO bombings.

With regard to the Indictment of Hashim Thaci: He was “a paid killer” acting on behalf of his sponsors. The KLA led by Hashim Thaci was relentlessly supported by NATO and the US military.

Acts of Censorship

I had been writing on a regular basis for Le Monde diplomatique. I had investigated the matter: the leader of the KLA Hashim Thaci had a criminal record with Interpol. That was a factual statement. But it was not mentioned by the Mainstream Media nor the Independent Media.

Unspoken truth. Total Censorship and propaganda. My article on the KLA Freedom Fighters –which is a chapter in my book– was never published by Le Monde diplo.

Ironically 21 years later on April 24, 2020, the former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) Hashim Thaci who in the wake of the NATO-led war had become “Prime Minister” and subsequently “President” of Kosovo was indicted for crimes against humanity.

The Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office At The Hague filed an indictment against Hashim Thaci on April 24, 2020 ” 

“for a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture.”

21 Years later: 2 Decades of “Investigation”

M. Albright and Hashim Thaci, 1998

 

Oops:  ALL that was known in March 1999. It took them 21 years to complete their criminal investigation.

Hashim Thaci is on trial at the ICTY at The Hague. He has pleaded “Not Guilty” on charges of war crimes.

The Imprisonment of Slobodan Milosevic

Slobodan Milosevic, a man of courage and commitment was prevented from undertaking his own defense.

He had ample evidence of the KLA’s links to both organized crime and Al Qaeda, which is a CIA intelligence asset created in the early 1980s

Milosevic  was poisoned in his prison cell under the auspices of the ICTY Tribunal in The Hague. It was an outright extra-judicial political assassination.

The Destabilization of Yugoslavia’s Economy 

The war on Yugoslavia did not commence in March 1999. It was initiated almost 20 years earlier, in the 1980s.

Multi-ethnic, socialist Yugoslavia was once a regional industrial power and economic success story: In the two decades before 1980, annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaged 6.1 percent, medical care was free, the rate of literacy was 91 percent, and life expectancy was 72 years.

The objective of the US-NATO led war in liaison with Wall Street and the Bretton Woods institutions was to destroy Yugoslavia’s model of market socialism while destroying the Welfare State and undermining its economic and social achievements

1980 marked the passing of President Josip Bros Tito. As of the early 1980s, acts of economic warfare were launched by Belgrade’s creditors:

Strong “economic medicine”was imposed by the IMF and the World Bank, which was  followed in the late 1980s by the imposition of an all encompassing bankruptcy program which resulted in mass poverty and unemployment.

As revealed in an internal WB document (provided to me by a Yugoslav diplomat), the World Bank’s so-called “trigger mechanism” (under the Financial Operations Act) was conducive to the lay off of 614,000 workers (out of a total industrial workforce of the order of 2.7 million).

These economic measures were followed by the IMF “Shock therapy” launched in January 1990.

The budget cuts requiring the redirection of federal revenues towards debt servicing, were conducive to the suspension of transfer payments by Belgrade to the governments of the Republics and Autonomous Provinces.

In one fell swoop, the reformers had engineered the final collapse of Yugoslavia’s federal fiscal structure and mortally wounded its federal political institutions.

By cutting the financial arteries between Belgrade and the republics, the reforms fueled secessionist tendencies that fed on economic factors as well as ethnic divisions, virtually ensuring the de facto secession of the republics.

The IMF-induced budgetary crisis created an economic fait accompli that paved the way for Croatia’s and Slovenia’s formal secession in June 1991

Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo: The Insidious Role of General Michael Jackson

The U.K had dispatched Sir General Michael Jackson to Yugoslavia. Who is General Michael Jackson?

Jackson was Captain of  Britain’s First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment and second in command in the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry Northern Ireland in January 1972.

Jackson was responsible for ordering the soldiers under his command to open fire against Irish civilians involved in a peaceful protest movement.

Captain Jackson –who had links to the British Army’s Intelligence Corps– was allegedly also instrumental in the cover-up of the killings.

He was never investigated for the crimes committed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1972.

Quite the opposite. Jackson was rewarded and promoted. In 2003, he was promoted to the highest rank of the British Armed Forces: Chief of the General Staff.

In Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, Sir General Michael Jackson actively collaborated with the Commander Agim Ceku who led the Croatian forces involved in the Krajina massacre under “Operation Storm”.

Ceku was also commander of the KLA.

Jackson was allegedly responsible for the repatriation of Krajina Serbs, under UN auspices. He was subsequently appointed to lead the KFOR Mission.

In turn, Military Professional Resources Inc (MPRI), a mercenary outfit on contract to the Pentagon was responsible for advising the Croatian HVO forces in the planning of “Operation Storm”.

The same mercenary outfit was subsequently put in charge of the military training of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) largely integrated by former KLA operatives.

1999 War Criminals Join Hands (Kosovo 1999).

From Left to Right:

Hashim Thaci, Head of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which had links to Al Qaeda and organized crime. Hashim Thaci had ordered political assassinations directed against the Party of Ibrahim Rugova. Thaci was a protégé of Madeleine Albright. [Later became President of Kosovo, still on the Interpol wanted list]

Bernard Kouchner, Head of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in Kosovo (July 1999- January 2001), instrumental in elevating the KLA to UN status through the formation of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC).

General Michael Jackson, Commander of KFOR Troops in Kosovo.

General Agim Ceku, Military Commander of the KLA and the KPC, investigated by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) “for alleged war crimes committed against ethnic Serbs in Croatia between 1993 and 1995.” ( AFP 13 Oct 1999)

General Wesley Clark, NATO Supreme Commander.

While General Michael Jackson during his tenure as KFOR Commander in Kosovo (1999-2000) displayed token efforts to protect Serb and Roma civilians; those who fled Kosovo during his mandate were not encouraged to return under UN protection.

In post-war Kosovo, the massacres of civilians were carried out by the KLA (and subsequently by the KPC). Both NATO and the UN turned a blind eye to the KLA’s targeted assassinations.

“The Globalization of War”

As mentioned above Yugoslavia was in many regards a “Dress Rehearsal”.

The various phases which characterized  the war on Yugoslavia are part of a broader process which is now unfolding Worldwide.

• economic warfare, strong economic medicine, sanctions
• the fragmenting and breaking up of entire countries,
• the imposition of regime change, the instatement of proxy politicians.
• extensive bombings of civilians,
• the bombing of children’s hospitals as well as the killing of journalists, ongoing,
• the use of depleted uranium ammunition which causes cancer,
• military occupation, the establishment of military bases, the presence of foreign troops under a fake “humanitarian mandate”
• media disinformation and war propaganda

It is part of a continuum since the 1990s, in the aftermath of the September 11 2001 attacks,

What is at stake is the globalization of war, namely America’s “Long War” against humanity on behalf of  powerful financial interests.

America’s hegemonic agenda consists in waging war –including economic warfare– against all major regions of the World, including the European Union.

This process is undertaken by destabilizing the nation state.

The NeoCons’ agenda is not to “win the war” but to engineer the breakup of sovereign nation states, destroy their culture and national identity, derogate fundamental values and human rights, and appropriate its resources.

The strategic objective is to trigger political and social chaos, engineer the collapse of national economies, appropriate the countries’ wealth and resources, impoverish the entire planet including the EU member states and the American Homeland.

It’s a mesh of weapons of mass destruction, covert intelligence operations, propaganda and “strong economic medicine”. The criminality of the US/NATO hegemonic agenda is beyond description.

What we are witnessing is the outright “criminalization of the state apparatus” whereby politicians, members of parliament, senior government officials are routinely bribed, coopted or threatened to abide by a diabolical project which is literally destroying people’s lives Worldwide.

The UN-WEF-NATO Triad

A strategic partnership was signed in 2019 at a meeting held at UN headquarters between UN Secretary-General António Guterres and WEF Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab “to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

What this signifies is that the United Nations system has virtually been privatized. 

Signing of the WEF-UN Partnership

In turn, NATO has become increasingly embedded in the UN system, allegedly endorsing “peace support and crisis management”.

Concurrently, a UN-NATO agreement was reached in 2023 resulting in what might be described as the UN-WEF-NATO Triad, largely responding to the quest for global governance.

Modern Economic Warfare. The Bretton Woods Institutions are Obsolete?

While the dollar denominated external debt remains the instrument of economic subservience, “Aligning financial systems” is intent upon opening the door to privatization on a large scale affecting entire sectors and regions of both developing countries and the West.

The large portfolio investment funds including BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard (coupled with Wall Street’s banking cartels) are the driving force. “Their holdings are colossal. BlackRock manages nearly $10 trillion in investments. Vanguard has $8 trillion, and State Street has $4 trillion” (NYT)

BlackRock Owns Ukraine 

Flashback in History. Who Supported Nazi Germany? 

Why does US-NATO Endorse the Kiev Nazi Regime?

 

From World War I to the Present: Dollar denominated debt has been the driving force behind all US led wars.

Today, Wall Street creditors are the main actors behind the Kiev Neo-Nazi regime

These same Wall Street creditors including the Federal Reserve were firmly behind Nazi Germany. They financed Operation Barbarossa and the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941:

“On January 4th, 1932, a meeting was held between British financier Montagu Norman (Governor of the Bank of England), Adolf Hitler and Franz Von Papen (who became Chancellor a few months later in May 1932)

At this meeting, an agreement on the financing of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP or Nazi Party) was reached.

This meeting was also attended by US policy-makers and the Dulles brothers, something which their biographers do not like to mention.

A year later, on January 14th, 1933, another meeting was held between Adolph Hitler, Germany’s Financier Baron Kurt von Schroeder, Chancellor Franz von Papen and Hitler’s Economic Advisor Wilhelm Keppler took place, where Hitler’s program was fully approved.” (Y. Rubtsov, text below)

Upon the accession of Adolph Hitler as Chancellor in March 1933, a massive privatization program was initiated which bears the finger-prints of Wall Street.

This is the same Big Money Financial establishment, which is behind ALL US-NATO wars.

The proceeds of the privatization program were used to repay outstanding debts as well as fund Nazi Germany’s buoyant military industrial complex.

The Third Reich’s Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union was generously financed by Wall Street with Standard Oil of New Jersey (EXXON) owned by Rockefellers, providing Germany’s Wehrmacht with petrol up until 1945.

The export of oil to Nazi Germany was intent upon destroying the Soviet Union.

Up until Pearl Harbor (December 1941), Wall Street was trading with Germany.

In the wake of Pearl Harbor (1941-1945), Standard Oil “was trading with the enemy” selling oil to Nazi Germany through the intermediation of so-called “neutral countries” including Venezuela and Argentina.

Without the U.S. supply of oil to Nazi Germany instrumented by Standard Oil of New Jersey, the Third Reich would not have been able to invade the Soviet Union. 

What this means is that Wall Street was firmly behind the conduct of World War II. 

The Nature of Modern Warfare

In recent developments there has been a major shift in the nature of modern warfare

In this regard the corona crisis has played a key role in actions directed simultaneously against 190 countries, member state of the United Nations.

The Lockdown initiated in March 2020 required:

“Confining the Labour Force” and “Freezing the Work Place”. 

What we are dealing with is an act of economic warfare directed against humanity, resulting in bankruptcies, economic and social collapse, poverty and despair at the level of the entire planet.

The mRNA “vaccine”

The mRNA Vaccine launched in December 2020, implemented in 190 countries is also an instrument of warfare resulting in an upward trend in mortality and morbidity.  (For details see Michel Chossudovsky)

Action against War

The 25th Commemoration of the US-NATO led war against Yugoslavia should provide us with an opportunity to address the realties affecting Serbia, as well the broader Worldwide war agenda which is threatening the future of humanity.

 

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References 

 The US-NATO War of Aggression against Yugoslavia 

(published in Serbian and English)

By Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

 

Why America Needs War, The Project for The New American Century (PNAC)

By Dr. Jacques R. Pauwels and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, April 01, 2023

 

History: Adolph Hitler was Financed by Wall Street, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England

By Yuri Rubtsov and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, January 07, 2024

 

“Preemptive Nuclear War”: The Historic Battle for Peace and Democracy. A Third World War Threatens the Future of Humanity

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, February 05, 2024

 

Kosovo Liberation Army Leader Hashim Thaçi on Trial for War Crimes

By Peter Schwarz and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, April 19, 2023