Coeverage of Serbia and Kosovo

     Endeavoring to follow international affairs, I subscribe to numerous magazines and follow a number of on-line sources. Sometimes it is clear who is financing them, other times it is obscure. One must always discount ex-parte sources.
     It is significant that almost 100% of vocal Serbian Americans support Serbia uncritically, showing that their allegiance is fundamentally to Serbia. Perhaps the silent majority have doubts. An impartial news source should obviously weigh this.
     When the Washington Times and its weekly Insight first appeared, they were harshly condemned as the tools of the Rev. Moon. They admitted that Moon financed them but said he did not influence their editorial policy. It is true that both they and Moon are strongly anti-communist. I said at the time that they were excellent news sources, and they still are.
     For a long time, Insight has spent much of its energy bashing Clinton relentlessy. This is just part of American politics. However, it becomes unacceptable when it leads to uncritically bashing his Serbian policy.
     The latest issue (4/11) opens with a letter from "an American of Yugoslav (read Serb) origin" denouncing "NATO aggression in Yugoslavia." It looks as though Serb loyalty lives through generations. The letter, published prominently, says Insight and a professor unknown to me are "the only sources of truth" about the crisis. This is nonsense. Many sources are giving honest, detailed, and balanced accounts of the war. An accompanying editorial accuses Clinton of wrapping himself in the American flag.
     Be it noted that all this has nothing to do with the efficicacy and wisdom of NATO (not Clinton) policy, which was defended today in excellent speeches by European leaders, including French President Chirac. &A The Belgrade apparatus is closely tied to Moscow. The Rev. Moon and the newspapers are strongly opposed to Communism, but it seems that they hate Clinton more than Communism. This is scarcely what one would expect of loudly patriotic newspapers. Even hatred of Clinton should be balanced.

Ronald Hilton - 05/04/99