Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RavenCrazy who wrote (4399)	4/18/1999 7:39:00 PM
From: George Papadopoulos	Respond to of 17770

A review of the Greek newspapers headlines by Athens News in Athens (in English) Interesting...96% of the Greeks now are against the bombing (up from 93%)! PRESS WATCH with George Gilson ATHENS dailies only had eyes for Costas Simitis after the premier's blistering criticism of what he views as the failure of Nato's Yugoslavia campaign to achieve its humanitarian objectives. Ironically, a press that has uniformly condemned the air strikes almost devoured Simitis for daring to say that the government would employ Greek troops as it sees fit, which was interpreted as a suggestion that Greece might participate in a ground campaign against Yugoslavia. In fact, Simitis made the clearest appeal of any Nato ally to end the war immediately with a series of diplomatic proposals to forge lasting peace and prosperity in the troubled Balkans. The motivations are clear. For Greece, a protracted war could well prove devastating to summer tourism. But the new hard line against the campaign was intended as much to disarm an opposition lambasting the government for hypocritically playing the role of the dutiful child of Nato and the US, even as it vows not to participate militarily. Little surprise, given a poll published yesterday indicating that 96% of Greeks oppose the campaign. But President Clinton's executive order including the northern Ionian Sea in the theatre of operations caused an equally great brouhaha, with many papers suggesting a possible involvement of Greece in a broader war. Simitis' explosion and peace initiative was how To Vima reviewed the ÑÌ's impassioned statement in which, like France and Germany, he called for an active United Nations role in reaching a peace settlement. On the “Ionian question” the paper reported that Alternate Foreign Minister Yannos Kranidiotis called in US Ambassador Nicholas Burns for some answers, while Greek Ambassador to Washington Alexander Philon made a similar request of the US State Department. While Kranidiotis reportedly pointed out that a domestic decree is not internationally binding, Philon was told that the executive order aims to relieve US troops serving in the war zone (including the northern Ionian) from federal taxes. Simitis on Friday said that the decree was intended to protect the US military from damages claims in the area. Uninvolved on the one hand, with Nato on the other was Kathimerini's interpretation of the Greek stance, as outlined by the ÑÌ on Friday. It reported that while Athens strongly opposes a ground campaign, Simitis is jealously guarding the government's right to send Greek troops where it sees fit. That governmental prerogative did not sit well with papers like Athinaiki, which proclaimed that Simitis is leading us to war, quoting the ÑÌ as saying: “We'll send troops wherever we see fit”. And Mitsis' Adesmeftos Typos had Simitis saying as much in the first person: I will send troops wherever I like. The inclusion of part of Greece in Nato's theatre of operations was the lead story for Eleftheros Typos, which offered the “exclusive” headline Greece a war zone one day after Avyi broke the story. But Apoyevmatini also carried the banner headline Ionian a war zone, certainly unwelcome news in summer hot spots like Corfu hoping to bring home the bacon from tourism. It was no mistake! proclaimed Rizos' Adesmeftos Typos referring to the killing of dozens of Kosovar refugees this week in a Nato strike. It opined that Nato intentionally murdered the refugees in collaboration with extremist Kosovar separatists to prevent them from returning home. But on a more serious note, Exousia reported that Nato is demanding [use of] three airports: humanitarian aid the pretext. The facilities involved are in Kavala, Larissa and Corfu. And Ta Nea came to confirm what everybody already knew with a new poll: 96% say 'No' to Nato bombings. But 53 perrcent of Greeks believe Milosevic is violating the Kosovars' human rights.