Milosevic took the papers and asked, “What will happen if I do not sign?” In answer, “Ahtisaari made a gesture on the table,” and then moved aside the flower centerpiece. Then Ahtisaari said, “Belgrade will be like this table. We will immediately begin carpet-bombing Belgrade.” Repeating the gesture of sweeping the table, Ahtisaari threatened, “This is what we will do to Belgrade.” A moment of silence passed, and then he added, “There will be half a million dead within a week.” Chernomyrdin’s silence confirmed that the Russian government would do nothing to discourage carpet-bombing.
The ‘Ahtisaari’ that Gregory Elich refers to in this wonderful article for Counterpunch is Martii Ahtisaari. Does the name ring any bells?
Ahtisaari- the charming individual who threatened the carpet bombing of Belgrade in 1999- and the killing of a half a million civilians in the former Yugoslavia was the Finnish politician who last week- to a chorus of approval in the western media- was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Not only was Ahtisaari on the side of the warmongers in 1999, he also lined up alongside the Shock and Awe brigade four years later. He strongly defended the US-led aggression against Iraq, saying that he would have supported the military action regardless of the WMD arguments: "Since I know that about a million people have been killed by the government of Iraq, I do not need much those weapons of mass destruction".
By honouring a warmonger like Ahtisaari- a man who despite acting as an UN special envoy has shown contempt for the UN Charter- and international law- by backing the blatantly illegal wars of aggression against Yugoslavia and Iraq- the Nobel Committee have lost all credibility.
A Nobel Peace prize for Martii Ahtisaari? What will the Nobel Committee come up with next year I wonder? - a Peace Prize for Tony Blair?
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