MoJo Wire Kosovo Coverage

A complete rundown of articles published to date

Articles:

August 9, 1999
Tony Blair is an Alien!
Their confidence broken, Serbs are looking increasingly to the paranormal for comfort. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

August 4, 1999
The Symbolism of Destruction
How building -- and bombing -- places of worship has become the language of war in the Balkans.

July 30, 1999
Mystery Surrounds Gracko Massacre
Fourteen Serb farmers were brutally executed as they harvested their crops just outside the village of Gracko in Kosovo on July 23. Was it Albanian revenge or Serb police subterfuge? And can KFOR really keep any kind of peace?

July 17, 1999
Srebenica: The Lost City
Four years after the Dayton Accords, Srebrenica is still in despair. Its Serbian residents don't want to stay, and its former Muslim citizens don't want to return.

July 1, 1999
Under the Black Rain
Ecologists say the authorities in Serbia are concealing the extent of the ecological and health threats caused by NATO bombing.

June 24, 1999
Interview: Venton Surroi -- The Costs of Democracy
Why the Serbs must be invited to 'share the risks of building a future democracy' in Kosovo. And who do you call to fix the water in Pristina? IWPR director Anthony Borden interviews Kosovo's top independent journalist.

June 23, 1999
Belgrade Rejects Serb Refugees from Kosovo
Serb refugees on the move out of Kosovo are being directed away from Belgrade, for fear that their presence might upset the state's preferred image of victory over the 'NATO aggressors.'

June 18, 1999
Reality Check: DU, The Invisible Threat
NATO used depleted uranium munitions in Kosovo. Now, critics are concerned that DU contamination may cause serious health problems for returning refugees.

Kosovo Rape Victims Suffer Twice
The use of rape as a weapon of war was widespread in Kosovo. But the scale of the atrocities has been hidden by Albanian communities to hide their shame from the outside world.

June 17, 1999
The Price of Milosevic
Economists estimate that it will take Serbia 40 years to recover from the costs of the NATO bombing and return to the level achieved before Milosevic came to power. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

June 15, 1999
Clampdown in Southern Serbia
Journalists, human-rights activists, and opposition politicians in southern Serbia have been jailed or drafted into the Yugoslav military during NATO's bombing campaign, and the repression seems likely to continue. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

A New Vision of the Balkans
Commentary: The end of the war should mark the beginning of a decisive new policy for building democracy, development and real peace throughout the region. That means supporting The Hague, and providing humanitarian aid to Serbia, and abandoning the vacillating diplomacy which marks the West's past dealings in the Balkans. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

June 11, 1999
A Robust Resolution
The U.N. has long been a diplomatic fudge factory, but its resolution on Kosovo makes few concessions for Russia and China; instead, it firmly reflects the terms dictated by NATO. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

Waiting for the Saviors
Albanian residents nervously watched the Serbian celebrations from behind their curtains, but everyone in Kosovo is just happy to have survived. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

June 10, 1999
The NATO Coup That Failed
None of the terms in the cease-fire are new. So what changed? NATO finally decided to negotiate.

Dispatch From Belgrade: Pax, In Nomine Domini
Alex hopes that the world won't 'change the channel' now that the violence is over. In peace, he says, there will be drama enough to follow, if history is any guide.

June 8, 1999
Email the Experts: Peace Deal For Real?
A peace deal is in the works, but negotiations continue behind closed doors. We asked a few knowledgeable Kosovo watchers for their impressions of the talks' progress, what Milosevic really wants, and some possible ending scenarios.

Shoring Up At Home
Belgrade has accepted defeat over Kosovo. Now it is playing for the domestic propaganda -- rebuilding political alliances, and securing Milosevic's position in power. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

The Next Purge
The political demise of two of Milosevic's closest associates in the days before a peace agreement may herald the latest political cleansing. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

June 3, 1999
Fine Print on Peace Deal
Balkans expert Christopher Bennett dissects the peace plan approved by the Serb leadership and finds it imprecise, at best. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting. But Milosevic and the Russians have capitulated on some major terms.

The Other Province
Kosovo and Montenegro have both struggled for some degree of autonomy from the Yugoslav government in Belgrade. Vojvodina, the other province of Serbia, also has its share of ethnic tensions, but rumors of separatist movements in the area may have been planted by Serbia to intimidate the minority groups, or to foment another civil war. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

June 1, 1999
Arbour's Pre-emptive Strike
the International War Crimes Tribunal hastily cobbled together an indictment against Milosevic expressly to head off any diplomatic actions which may have provided the Serb leader with immunity. But the case may be shaky down the road. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

May 28, 1999
Reality Check: Cluster Bombs
Kids often think the unexploded remnants of cluster bombs are toys -- until they blow up in their faces. That's one of the reasons human rights groups want the weapons banned under the international landmines treaty.

Compassion With Teeth
Leading liberal thinker Michael Lerner says there are times when force is the only morally justifiable course. But there are better ways than NATO's method, he says.

May 27, 1999
Marshall Plan of the Mind
Since NATO launched its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, democracy has become a dirty word in Serbia. If stability and justice are to return to the Balkans that must change, says one liberal Serb activist. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

May 21, 1999
War Criminal, Ally, or Both?
Agim Ceku has been linked to some of the worst incidents of ethnic-cleansing in Yugoslav history. So why is NATO making excuses for him?

May 20, 1999
Deadline Belgrade
One independent journalist is dead, and now the Serb-controlled media in Belgrade have their sights on other key opposition leaders they have branded "traitors" and NATO coconspirators. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

May 18, 1999
The Nonviolent Movement in Kosov@ and Yugoslavia
The international community and the media largely ignored the efforts of peace activists in Yugoslavia until the war became inevitable. Here's what you probably missed.

May 18, 1999
Sideshow: A Card in Every Foxhole
The MoJo Wire offers a tongue-in-cheek solution to the CIA's little map problem.

May 17, 1999
Before the Deluge: Agani's Last Interview
Fehmi Agani, one of the last moderate Kosovar Albanian leaders, granted this interview just days before the Rambouillet accord collapsed. He was assassinated May 6. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

May 14, 1999
Reality Check:Genocide
Early on in the Kosovo conflict, Western politicians peppered their rallying cries with the word "genocide," yet the State Department's new report on Kosovo never even uses the word. What's up with that?

May 14, 1999
Survival Instincts
To stay alive in Kosovo, Albanians are resorting to ingenious measures, boring holes in the walls, scurrying into attics, and relying on the spirit of children. Still, many are lost. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

May 13, 1999
The China Syndrome?
Loral says the U.S. embargo obliges it to sever Yugoslavia's Internet satellite feeds. But is there a China missle-secrets connection?

May 12, 1999
Creeping Serb Coup Feared in Montenegro
Pressure on the second republic grows as the Yugoslav army moves against the Montenegrin economy. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

May 11, 1999
A Carrot for Kosovo
Peace activist David Hartsough says the warring sides have to listen to the pacifists for a change. He offers a real-life solution to the conflict.

May 7, 1999
Divided behind Milosevic
Serbian political parties are united only in opposition to NATO. Their inability to elaborate any coherent alternative positions leaves Milosevic, as ever, in full control. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

April 29, 1999
The Television War
Independent journalists from Belgrade report on the battle over public information. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

April 21, 1999
Catching Pilots, Losing Your Mind
Guest columnist Gordana Igric reflects on Belgrade's contagious bunker mentality. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

April 20, 1999
The Balkan Tribe (A MoJo Classic)
A 1993 Mother Jones magazine article from international reporter Frank Viviano observes how the people of the Balkans look forward to the millenium with the eyes of the fourteenth century.

April 8, 1999
Pristina in Exile
Our Kosovar Albanian correspondent says the spirit of Pristina is mostly alive and well, albeit in a different country. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

April 8, 1999
The Crime Syndicate Behind the KLA
Ken Layne examines the organized crime syndicate behind the KLA and the insatiable nationalism of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

April 7, 1999
The Wretched of the Earth: Kosovo's Mafia (A MoJo Classic)
An excerpt from a prescient 1995 Mother Jones magazine article describing how ethnic tensions long ago helped make Kosovo the European capital of the illicit arms and drug trade.

April 5, 1999
Escape from Pristina
A Kosovar journalist tells of a harrowing escape from her hometown. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

April 5, 1999
Milosevic's Best Weapon: Fear
A Serbian Milosevic critic says dissidents like himself are keeping quiet. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting. for fear of internal reprisals.

March 31,1999
"God, I Want to Get Out of Here"
An ethnic Albanian reporter's diary of a terrifying week in Pristina. From the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

March 26, 1999
No Easy Answer
Guest columnist Ken Layne, a former Yugoslavian correspondent, offers his take on the events leading up to the NATO bombings.