War crimes hearing nails Clinton, Blair
By Nancy
Mitchell
San Francisco
On Nov. 13, 250 people attended the San Francisco Hearing of
the International War Crimes Tribunal on the U.S./NATO War
Against Yugoslavia for a full day of educational workshops,
video and plenaries about what really happened during the
war.
Researchers and activists discussed the violations of
international law by the U.S. and NATO, damage to the Yugoslav
civilian infrastructure and the environment, the role of the
media as a tool of the war, the historical background of
Yugoslavia's anti-imperialist resistance, and the real
objectives of the U.S.
Speakers drew connections between U.S. imperialism in many
struggles, from Iraq to Angola to the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
The hearing equipped activists with the education and tools to
continue building the anti-war movement.
Ramsey Clark opened the day, covering the indictments of the
tribunal and setting an anti-imperialist tone. "NATO ought to
be abolished! NATO is a threat to peace on the planet! NATO is
a lawless instrumentality!"
Ana Nevenic, a Yugoslav-American activist who recently
returned from Yugoslavia, said, "NATO selected their targets
and bombed without any moral dilemma or human consideration.
... Every major industrial sector, hospitals, schools,
government buildings, historic monuments were bombed. Everybody
and everyone was a target."
Richard Becker, who was part of an IAC delegation to
hearings in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, spoke about the nature of
U.S. war crimes. "We knew from the beginning, because this is
not the first war we have seen, that Clinton, Albright, Blair,
Clark and the rest use `human rights' as a pretext. After all,
in reality the number one violator of human rights in the world
is the U.S. government."
Professor George Wright of California State University at
Chico, spok e about the similarities of U.S. foreign policy
toward Yugoslavia and Angola. "Since 1945, U.S. foreign policy
has been designed to maintain hegemony over the world
capitalist system. The central obstacle to U.S. hegemony is
perceieved to be nationalist governments which pursue
self-determination and redistributive economic policies."
Author and activist Michael Parenti said, "One of the things
we've been facing in this Yugoslavia campaign is that a number
of liberals and even some who call themselves progressives have
bought into the bourgeois line, the NATO/U.S. line. Part of
this is because, lacking a class analysis, an analysis of how
U.S. policy is imperialist. ... how it con sistently watched
out for the welfare of the 1 or 2% who own most of the world,
liberals are perpetually decontextualizing the issue."
Other speakers and panelists included: Professor Michel
Chossudovsky, the University of Ottawa and author of The
Globalization of Poverty ; Karen Talbot, International
Center for Peace and Justice; Milos Petrovic, Yugoslav-American
student activist with the IAC; Ruba Fakhoury, International
Action Center; Dennis Bernstein, Host of KPFA's
Flashpoints; Ivanka Besevic Boreli, journalist from
Belgrade; Shani Rifati, Voice of the Roma from Pristina,
Kosovo; and other activists from the International Action
Center.
Gloria La Riva, West Coast co-coordinator of the
International Action Center, closed the day with a tribute to
those who put in many hours preparing for the historic
tribunal, and a motivational appeal to continue the work.
"Today's event is a powerful antidote to all the hysteria
against Serbian people and Yugoslavia. We give a big hand to
those who have stuck with the work!"
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