Salon Newsreal | Postcards from Yugoslavia

A L S O+T O D A Y

Endgame?
By Jeff Stein
As the crisis spirals out of control, everybody scrambles for a quick solution. Everybody but Milosevic
A raft of refugees
Reports of genocide, political assassinations and a Serbian "scorched-earth policy" punctuated the sixth day of allied bombing in Yugoslavia

T A B L E+T A L K
Has Larry Flynt delivered dynamite revelations or dirty laundry leftovers? Dissect the Flynt Report in the Politics area of Table Talk

___________________
Want to know more about the history of baseball? Find it at barnesandnoble.com
___________________

R E C E N T L Y
Calling Kosovo
By Laura Rozen
Serbs and ethnic Albanians are united -- in misery -- as the bombing and the terror continue
(03/29/99)
The empires strike back
By Jeff Stein
As the world focuses on the Balkans, the return of Germany and Japan to military action barely made news
(03/29/99)
Play béisbol!
By Steve Kettmann
A report from Havana on the historic Cuba-Orioles game
(03/29/99)
Outlaw nation?
By Laura Rozen
Even Serbs who hate Milosevic are outraged at NATO bombing
(03/27/99)
Verdict on Starr's witness
By Murray S. Waas and Suzi Parker
Whitewater figure David Hale is found guilty on Arkansas state criminal charges.
(03/27/99)
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Postcards from Yugoslavia
E-MAIL LETS ORDINARY CITIZENS GET THEIR STORY OUT TO THE WORLD.

EDITED BY ANTHONY YORK | With few Western journalists inside Yugoslavia, e-mail from residents has become a lifeline for anyone seeking on-the-ground accounts of the NATO airstrikes and the reaction to them. Salon has received e-mail from readers and others who are bent on ensuring that Americans see what's going on inside their country. Some of the dispatches below may repeat Serbian disinformation received from state media; some may contain eyewitness accounts unavailable to date in the West. We have changed the names of those who might be endangered by their writing. Postcards from Yugoslavia will run periodically in Salon during the Kosovo crisis.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From Dusan Djordjevich, a Serbian-American Ph.D. candidate in history at Stanford University. He is currently in Belgrade doing research for his dissertation.
Saturday evening, March 27
Air-raid sirens have just sounded in Belgrade, marking the fourth night of NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia. There were two waves earlier today of 2-3 hours each, the last one ending with an all-clear signal around 4:30 p.m. (One quickly learns to distinguish the two signals with the help of civil defense bulletins on TV and brochures stuffed this morning into mailboxes.)
For the moment, most who live and work in Belgrade's central districts don't fear direct airstrikes. In the outskirts and across the Save River in the high-rises of the post-WWII settlement "New Belgrade" -- from where residents hear, see and feel explosions against nearby targets -- people feel much less secure. Many spend the evenings in shelters and basements.
Daytime is calmer, a chance to relax a bit, try to catch up on lost sleep and gather news of the previous night's attacks. Evenings (for those not in shelters) are spent on the phone to family and friends, and listening to the news. For those who have them, satellite dishes and short-wave radios provide news from West European stations to complement the local reporting. There's also the Internet, of course, but very few people have access to it. Even with various sources available, it is sometimes hard to get an accurate picture of events; both Western and domestic coverage is taken with a grain of salt.
It is hard to relax and escape even briefly from the pressure of the situation. Already on Tuesday, the day before the bombing began, those who wanted to watch the Schwarzenegger comedy "Twins" on TV were greeted instead with the historical drama "The Battle of Kosovo." Other shows are preempted by old Partisan vs. German WWII movies or by classical music concerts. On Friday night there was a surprise broadcast of "Wag the Dog," with an introductory reminder about its current relevance.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From Tijana Mirovic, a psychology student at the University of Belgrade and a volunteer at the First Children's Embassy, a humanitarian organization based in the Yugoslav capital.
Saturday, March 27
This has gone too far! It is an unbelievable outrage! Yesterday we were sitting in our shelters listening to bombs destroying our city and our people. For those of you who still don't know what to think about these aggressions I will share some of the information that we got:

Yesterday they bombed 17 spots in Belgrade! Among them : a hospital, four schools and a factory with toxic material (which got spilled and jeopardized the lives of all civilians living in that area).
In Kosovo their bomb damaged a 6-centuries-old (and UNESCO protected) monastery, Gracanica.
In Nis their bombs destroyed a hospital.
In Kragujevac they bombed the car industry (that produces Yugo) which feeds 35.000 families. As response to that, workers have decided to form a 24-hour "wall of people" which would surround the factory and protect it with their and their families' lives. They have sent the precise position of the factories both to NATO and media and a note saying that at least 1,000 people will always be in or around the factory, so if they want to bomb they will have to get ready to kill some people too.

What military objects are these? What is this going to do for world peace?
Sunday, March 28
I am ashamed of the things members of "my people" did to Albanians in Kosovo and Muslims in Bosnia and for that reason I am doing everything I can to help misfortuned and terrorized people now. But I also know that it is not the whole nation who did it and that we have to go past this hate and blame and to put all of our efforts in trying to live together again. That is why this bombing hurts so much!
I strongly believe that this bombing has started something that can never be repaired. I seriously doubt that after this we will ever be able to live peacefully and in love in this one country. I also believe (and have witnessed) that we have grown a hostility toward many more nations now and that Europe is never again going to be a friendly place. In times like these, I thank God for giving me so many great friends in the U.S. because I fear that I would have fallen in this "hate and everybody is an enemy" ordeal myself. People in the U.S. do not see it, but this is destroying any chance we ever had of working things out peacefully! This is destroying any chance for us [young and educated people] to get our say and to peacefully pull Milosevic off the scene. Now we will be [labeled] traitors of the country. He has emerged way stronger and he has now became a symbol of our dignity, strength and freedom.
I just wish more Americans could see the difference between "us" and "him"!
N E X T+P A G E+| "False news of refugees"

A L S O+T O D A Y Endgame? By Jeff Stein As the crisis spirals out of control, everybody scrambles for a quick solution. Everybody but Milosevic A raft of refugees Reports of genocide, political assassinations and a Serbian "scorched-earth policy" punctuated the sixth day of allied bombing in Yugoslavia T A B L E+T A L K Has Larry Flynt delivered dynamite revelations or dirty laundry leftovers? Dissect the Flynt Report in the Politics area of Table Talk ___________________ Want to know more about the history of baseball? Find it at barnesandnoble.com ___________________ R E C E N T L Y Calling Kosovo By Laura Rozen Serbs and ethnic Albanians are united -- in misery -- as the bombing and the terror continue (03/29/99) The empires strike back By Jeff Stein As the world focuses on the Balkans, the return of Germany and Japan to military action barely made news (03/29/99) Play béisbol! By Steve Kettmann A report from Havana on the historic Cuba-Orioles game (03/29/99) Outlaw nation? By Laura Rozen Even Serbs who hate Milosevic are outraged at NATO bombing (03/27/99) Verdict on Starr's witness By Murray S. Waas and Suzi Parker Whitewater figure David Hale is found guilty on Arkansas state criminal charges. (03/27/99) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		Postcards from Yugoslavia E-MAIL LETS ORDINARY CITIZENS GET THEIR STORY OUT TO THE WORLD. EDITED BY ANTHONY YORK \| With few Western journalists inside Yugoslavia, e-mail from residents has become a lifeline for anyone seeking on-the-ground accounts of the NATO airstrikes and the reaction to them. Salon has received e-mail from readers and others who are bent on ensuring that Americans see what's going on inside their country. Some of the dispatches below may repeat Serbian disinformation received from state media; some may contain eyewitness accounts unavailable to date in the West. We have changed the names of those who might be endangered by their writing. Postcards from Yugoslavia will run periodically in Salon during the Kosovo crisis. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From Dusan Djordjevich, a Serbian-American Ph.D. candidate in history at Stanford University. He is currently in Belgrade doing research for his dissertation. Saturday evening, March 27 Air-raid sirens have just sounded in Belgrade, marking the fourth night of NATO's bombing campaign in Yugoslavia. There were two waves earlier today of 2-3 hours each, the last one ending with an all-clear signal around 4:30 p.m. (One quickly learns to distinguish the two signals with the help of civil defense bulletins on TV and brochures stuffed this morning into mailboxes.) For the moment, most who live and work in Belgrade's central districts don't fear direct airstrikes. In the outskirts and across the Save River in the high-rises of the post-WWII settlement "New Belgrade" -- from where residents hear, see and feel explosions against nearby targets -- people feel much less secure. Many spend the evenings in shelters and basements. Daytime is calmer, a chance to relax a bit, try to catch up on lost sleep and gather news of the previous night's attacks. Evenings (for those not in shelters) are spent on the phone to family and friends, and listening to the news. For those who have them, satellite dishes and short-wave radios provide news from West European stations to complement the local reporting. There's also the Internet, of course, but very few people have access to it. Even with various sources available, it is sometimes hard to get an accurate picture of events; both Western and domestic coverage is taken with a grain of salt. It is hard to relax and escape even briefly from the pressure of the situation. Already on Tuesday, the day before the bombing began, those who wanted to watch the Schwarzenegger comedy "Twins" on TV were greeted instead with the historical drama "The Battle of Kosovo." Other shows are preempted by old Partisan vs. German WWII movies or by classical music concerts. On Friday night there was a surprise broadcast of "Wag the Dog," with an introductory reminder about its current relevance. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From Tijana Mirovic, a psychology student at the University of Belgrade and a volunteer at the First Children's Embassy, a humanitarian organization based in the Yugoslav capital. Saturday, March 27 This has gone too far! It is an unbelievable outrage! Yesterday we were sitting in our shelters listening to bombs destroying our city and our people. For those of you who still don't know what to think about these aggressions I will share some of the information that we got: Yesterday they bombed 17 spots in Belgrade! Among them : a hospital, four schools and a factory with toxic material (which got spilled and jeopardized the lives of all civilians living in that area). In Kosovo their bomb damaged a 6-centuries-old (and UNESCO protected) monastery, Gracanica. In Nis their bombs destroyed a hospital. In Kragujevac they bombed the car industry (that produces Yugo) which feeds 35.000 families. As response to that, workers have decided to form a 24-hour "wall of people" which would surround the factory and protect it with their and their families' lives. They have sent the precise position of the factories both to NATO and media and a note saying that at least 1,000 people will always be in or around the factory, so if they want to bomb they will have to get ready to kill some people too. What military objects are these? What is this going to do for world peace? Sunday, March 28 I am ashamed of the things members of "my people" did to Albanians in Kosovo and Muslims in Bosnia and for that reason I am doing everything I can to help misfortuned and terrorized people now. But I also know that it is not the whole nation who did it and that we have to go past this hate and blame and to put all of our efforts in trying to live together again. That is why this bombing hurts so much! I strongly believe that this bombing has started something that can never be repaired. I seriously doubt that after this we will ever be able to live peacefully and in love in this one country. I also believe (and have witnessed) that we have grown a hostility toward many more nations now and that Europe is never again going to be a friendly place. In times like these, I thank God for giving me so many great friends in the U.S. because I fear that I would have fallen in this "hate and everybody is an enemy" ordeal myself. People in the U.S. do not see it, but this is destroying any chance we ever had of working things out peacefully! This is destroying any chance for us [young and educated people] to get our say and to peacefully pull Milosevic off the scene. Now we will be [labeled] traitors of the country. He has emerged way stronger and he has now became a symbol of our dignity, strength and freedom. I just wish more Americans could see the difference between "us" and "him"! N E X T+P A G E+\| "False news of refugees"