Some of the falsehoods presented as fact about what was happening in Yugoslavia in the 1990s in order to justify foreign intervention have been long known, but they remain unacknowledged by the mainstream media. A recent German TV program about Rudolf Scharping, (l.) former German defence minister, is a notable exception.
The Sarajevo market bomb was not set by Serbs but by Bosnian Muslims, as the UN later confirmed. The skeletal “Serb concentration camp” victim was a nonsense, as the BBC’s John Simpson confirmed and the “10,000 deaths in Kosovo” were proved to be a complete myth. The Commander of the OSCE’s Kosovo Verification Mission in 1999 (just before Yugoslavia was attacked), Roland Keith, and the former Canadian Ambassador in Belgrade James Bissett have both condemned the war and defended the Yugoslav Government. Bissett said that the 1999 attack was a “put up job” and quotes the most revealing admission by the former British Defense Minister, Lord Gilbert, who told the British House of Commons in July 2000 that the terms that NATO sought to force upon Milosevic at Rambouillet were deliberately designed to provoke war. Commander Keith described the KLA as a terrorist organisation which had a grip on most villages in Kosovo. He had direct experience of the lies told by villagers about ethnic cleansing and he said he never saw the Yugoslav Army mistreat anyone in Kosovo.
Now we have a respected German Television program “Time Travel” broadcast in January 2012 providing clear proof of the fraud practiced by the German Government to justify to their public an attack on Yugoslavia in 1999. It is the equivalent of the “dodgy dossier” of that other great “builder of Europe” Tony Blair, and shows the lies told by the then German Foreign Minister Rudolf Scharping to the press. The proof came from a German policeman who actually took the photographs used by Scharping but who knew there had in fact been no “massacre” of “civilians” but a battle between armed Kosovo terrorists and Serb forces.
This is a translation of the Time Travel program:
Newsreader: “We will now show you some pictures that are difficult to watch. They were made during the war in Kosovo. They are important because 13 years ago they were presented to the German public as a justification for the war against Serbia. However, those pictures were misused. This at least is the claim by the man who took them with the help of a colleague. He is from the state of Schleswig-Holstein.”
Narrator: “Henning Hensch, who is from Lutenburg, has done a great deal of thinking these last 13 years, ever since he became a part of the story of Kosovo, which had moved all Germans – the story, he claims, that fooled Germany.”
HH: “For me, Rugovo represents an example of the use of information for political ends.”
Narrator: “As a policeman, Hensch had seen a great deal, but nothing like what he saw in the Kosovan village of Rugovo on 29. January 1999. More important, Hensch could not believe the way in which the event was exploited a couple of months later. The then Minister of Defence Rudolf Scharping used the photos as evidence that the Serbs had committed a massacre against the innocent unarmed Kosovo Albanians.”
Rudolf Scharping: “These photos clearly show the massacre perpetrated on 29. January in the vicinity of Rugovo, confirming that the plan for the expulsion of the “Kosovars” was put into action.”
Narrator: “However, according to Hensch [bottom left] who took the photos, they represented evidence of a fire fight - not a massacre. On 29 January 1999, Hensch was asked to come to Rugovo. At that time he was an OSCE observer in Kosovo.”
HH: “When we got there, we saw a red van [above]. As far as I can remember, there were 11 corpses, neatly stacked. Evidence of shooting could be seen on the front of the van. It was clear that it was a battle… and nothing else.”
Narrator: “A battle between the UCK rebels and Serbian forces. Three months after the event, Rudolf Scharping unveiled the photos as evidence that a massacre had been carried out on civilians.”
Scharping: “This makes it clear that the army and the special police forces and later… gangs of released convicts and others… took part in these murders. These images are shocking…”
Narrator: “The pictures from Rugovo purported to show what the German public desperately needed - a proof that NATO air strikes against Serbia were necessary.”
HH: “I was having breakfast in Skopje when I heard Scharping [above] express his shock at what the Serbian “bad guys” had done to the “unarmed” Albanians.”
Interviewer: “What were your thoughts?”
HH: “That he must be off his rocker.”
Narrator: These are the photos that Rudolf Scharping didn’t show. He didn’t show the Albanians’ weapons, their UCK badges and membership cards and their ammunition. He didn’t show the clear evidence of fighting.”
HH: “There can be no talk of a massacre. However inconvenient this might sound, these were military battles.”
Narrator: “The photos showed by Scharping were taken after the official investigation had been completed and the bodies removed by the Serbian police. Despite the fact that journalists and cameras were present, Scharping stated three months later that the photos were secretly taken and brought to Germany by a German officer.”
Rudolf Scharping: “I would very much like to introduce the lieutenant to you, but he is currently undergoing treatment as a consequence of taking these photos and the trauma they caused…”
Narrator: “We inquired at the Federal Defence Ministry if a German officer was in Rugovo at that time and if he had taken photos. After a three-week enquiry, we received the following reply: ‘To the best of our knowledge, no German officer taking photos was in Rugovo on 29. January 1999.’
Balkan experts have suspected Scharping for a long time. One of them, Konrad Clewing (left), has no doubt that the German government sought evidence in order to persuade the public of the need for a war in Kosovo.”
Konrad Clewing: “The Socialist/Green coalition government had just come to power in the autumn of 1998 and was desperate to prove its loyalty and ability to its doubting partners.”
Narrator: “The manoeuver was a success. German media believed Scharping’s story of the Rugovo ‘massacre’. The message was: ‘This is why we are fighting!’ but it was propaganda according to Clewing.”
Konrad Clewing: “The propaganda strategy was further developed and primed during that week against the background of public concern.”
HH: “I remember that the public support for military action against Serbia was falling, so they had to pressure the public… which they did using our pictures.”
Narrator: “However horrific, the photos were misused according to Henning Hensch to justify a war he considered unsupportable from the very beginning. This has made him suspicious and somewhat embittered.”
Newsreader: “We have tried several times to contact Rudolf Scharping… without success.”
[Source: www.freenations.freeuk.com [1] February 19, 2012]
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In the Meantime, in Washington…
“On behalf of the American people, I congratulate you with the fourth anniversary of your independence”, President Barack Obama said in the telegram sent to Kosovo’s “head of state” on February 17. According to Obama, since Kosovo’s declaration of independence the country has made significant advancement in the building of a multiethnic, pluralist and tolerant society in the heart of the Balkan area.
“In the light of your efforts to achieve European integration as the continuation of the reforms you are carrying out in the fields of politics, the economy and the rule of law, I am convinced that Kosovo will succeed in securing its full integration in the North-Atlantic community.” The United States, Obama concluded, will remain one of Kosovo’s strongest partners and Kosovo can count on the ongoing support of the United States in building a better future.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, also sent a letter of congratulations to Kosovo’s leadership:
“Kosovo may be a young country, but you hold a promising future, and the United States is committed to supporting an independent, sovereign, multiethnic Kosovo. I commend Kosovo’s elected leaders for their dedication to the aspirations of the citizens of Kosovo through stronger democratic institutions, greater economic opportunities, and promoting the rule of law. This path will lead the citizens of Kosovo to full Euro-Atlantic integration, and to lasting stability and prosperity for your country. The United States is a friend and partner, and we stand with you as we work together for a more secure, peaceful, and prosperous Kosovo. I wish all the people of Kosovo a joyous celebration and best wishes for the year to come.”