Take a sheet of paper and attempt to write an essay on the following topic:

"The history of Yugoslavia and the origins of the Balkan War of 1999."

See how far you get, and then ask yourself whether you really know anything other than what you have seen on network news or read in the newspapers. You might also ask yourself whether you really know enough to distinguish truth from propaganda.

Has it ever occurred to you to undertake an examination of the political background of the war? Of the events that gave rise to the breakdown of Yugoslavia (a state that had existed since 1918)? Of the responsibility of the United States-politically and economically-for that breakdown?

Of the implications of the Yugoslav collapse for minority ethnic groups (Croat, Muslim, and Serb) which suddenly found themselves living in new states controlled by right-wing parties based on the majority ethnic group in that particular region?

Have you asked yourself why the United States supported the ethnic cleansing of somewhere between 250,000 and 400,000 Serbs from their ancestral homes in the Krajina province in 1995? (This support included playing a key role in the planning of the military offensive that achieved the expulsion of the entire Serb population in several days.)

Have you ever asked yourself why the United States supports the Turkish government, which is engaged in perhaps the largest on-going project of ethnic cleansing in the world-against its Kurdish minority? Thousands of villages have been destroyed over the last 15 years and up to 2,000,000 people have been displaced. Any complaints from the Clinton administration?

Have you looked into the possibility that there are other strategic and economic interests, not widely discussed in the media, that underlie the expansion of NATO and the attack on Yugoslavia?