1. Aviano, London, Prague, Bratislava... Protests
PHOENIX, June 8 - Who would have thought it? As reports poured into TiM
from all over about the various weekend protests around the world, guess
where the most violent demonstrations took place? In Prague, a
nouveau-NATO country!
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of anti-war protesters also marched this
weekend at NATO's Aviano base in Italy and in London, England.
Here are some excerpts from the reports by the TiM correspondents and
participants in these rallies:
PRAGUE, June 6 - Hundreds of demonstrators chanting anti-NATO slogans threw
stones at the U.S. Embassy late Saturday, breaking windows and injuring
several policemen.
The crowd marched to the embassy in downtown Prague after gathering in
another part of the capital to protest the impact of multinational
corporations' on the environment. Police spokesman Josef Sulcek said 34
demonstrators had been detained.
AVIANO, June 6 - We received the following report from a TiM reader in
Croatia, whose name we're withholding considering the last sentence in this
report. You may also check out a photo posted at our Web site from the
Aviano protest about which this TiM reader and participant in the anti-NATO
demonstration is writing:
"This is just a short note to let you know that I enjoyed your Special
Bulletin on the June 5 protest at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC.
Bravo-bravissimo for another good and effective speech to the 30,000
Americans who were present.
At this end here, the very next day (Sunday, June 6) the biggest protest so
far against NATO was held in Aviano. So, my friends and I got into two cars
and were off to Italy on that hot and sunny Sunday (35 degrees Celsius), to
help the wonderful Italian people that came out to express their feelings
and opinions about the beastly bombings of Yugoslavia.
The march from the town of Aviano (where we had to leave our cars) to the
NATO air base is some 7 or 8 kilometers. The road that goes to the air base
soon turned into a river of people, mostly young. I don't know the exact
number, but I'm certain that there were more than 10,000 people attending,
plus the 5,000 heavily armed police with their guns and shields and
vehicles. (another participant in the Aviano rally told TiM that over
25,000 marched in protest).
This time, the NATO NAZI'S set up huge concrete blocks of cement behind the
fence that encircles the airport, so that the planes that sow death could
not be seen. And probably as an additional protective shield (just in case
things get out of hand).
In any case, the protest was a bracing and encouraging experience
especially in light of the fact that the vast majority of the protesters
were Italians. They had come here from all parts of Italy. It was good to
see that there were also quite a few Slovenians.
As far as we know, we were the only small and private group from Croatia,
apart from Mr. Stipe Suvar who was present with some of his own friends
from Zagreb. Stipe's head was still bandaged from the recent assassination
attempt that took place on Thursday in the center of Zagreb!"
LONDON, June 6 - We received the following report from a TiM reader in
Manchester, England, who traveled to London to participate in this weekend
protest against the NATO war on Serbia:
"Half a dozen buses left for London from various parts of Manchester at
7AM. Ditto re. the buses from the various other British cities, such as
Birmingham, Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol...
We arrived in London an hour earlier than planned, which gave us a chance
to visit with the protesters at 10 Downing Street (the seat of the British
Prime Minister). They confirmed to us that there are several hundred
people outside Tony Blair's official residence - day or night, rain or
shine - protesting Britain's bombing of Serbia. And that they have kept it
up 24 hours a day.
Meanwhile, the BBC, just like CNN (see
http://www.truthinmedia.org/Kosovo/day74.html), tried to played down the
significance of the anti-war movement in Britain. The country's national
TV network reported that "3,700 people" took part in the protest.
By contrast, our sources report that a column of London demonstrators was
2.5km (1.6 miles) long. Assuming 10 people abreast at about a meter's
distance between the rows, that's 25,000 people," the TiM correspondent
reasoned.
2. A n American B-2A Shot Down over Serbia?
BELGRADE, June 1 - When we first received a report from Belgrade about a
supposed downing of an American B-2A Spirit strategic stealth bomber in
which its crew perished, we chose not to report it, figuring it was another
case of the Serb war propaganda.
Now, we have received a second, independent confirmation of the hit which
apparently took place on May 20, 1999 at about 1PM local time, near
Belgrade's civilian airport, Surcin. Our second source, evidently familiar
with the U.S. Air Force markings, thinks that the Serbs may have shot down
the AV-8 88-0329 - Spirit of Missouri.
Here is what this source said:
"The aircraft crashed near the village of Dec (Detch), Pecinci county (in
the field between Simanovci and Kupinovo; map 1; map2; map 3). The flight
of three B-2As (normally B-2A fly in pairs, one acting as a backup for
another) entered Yugoslavian airspace from the northwest and was escorted
by several fighter aircraft (B-2As are usually escorted over Yugoslavia by
F-15C fighters and F-16CJ fighter/bombers in SEAD role; every mission of
B-2As requires about 50 escort and support aircraft). The B-2As were
detected by long-wave early-warning radars. The bombers reduced altitude
and attacked its targets in Belgrade. One of the B-2As was hit by a SAM in
the area of the cockpit and crashed shortly after. Crew was killed in the
crash. The incident was reported by Ilustrovana Politika magazine on 06-01-99."
TiM Ed.: So take it, or leave it... Either way, at least now you know some
of the things our Draftdodger-in-Chief and his armchair "generals," like
Madeleine Albright, may have been withholding from us.
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