Issue #11/66, June 3 - 17, 1999  

Excepting Western journalists, upper-middle-class baby-boomers and defense contractors, this war is so widely unpopular that it makes the Vietnam War look like the Homecoming Queen in comparison. It helps to remember that despite loud protests by the hippies (who rightfully feared for their own lives, as opposed to today's middle-class youth which fears only for its careers), the Vietnam War was actually supported, in numerous polls, by a majority of Americans right up until 1972--that is, eight years after combat began. There are anti-war protests every day and particularly over the weekends both in NATO countries (including in several cities across America) and beyond on a scale not seen in at least two decades. In spite of the fact that the media doesn't report this, support for the war is undeniably low and falling.

1. CNN/USA TODAY/Gallup poll published May 25th revealed that 82 percent of Americans "favor a temporary halt to the airstrikes while the U.S. and NATO attempted to resolve the matter through negotiations and other means." That's right: eighty-two percent favor the exact same thing that the Russians, Chinese, Indians, Italians, Greeks, and in fact most of the known (non-upper-middle-class-white-liberal) world support. Furthermore, a whopping 47 actually OPPOSE the air war, the highest since the bombing began, while 57 percent oppose sending ground troops even if the air war is a complete failure. Clinton's approval rating, now at 53 percent, is the lowest of his second term. It is crucial to understand that this is highly unusual: Americans almost reflexively rally around the President and his war cause in the early stages of war, particularly if casualties are non-existent.

2. The reason Americans are opposed to the war is because no matter how many PR firms and Holocaust allusions Clinton's people make, almost no one believes that Yugoslavia poses a threat. A Time-CNN poll published on May 30th showed that 46 percent of Americans saw China as a threat, while 34 percent perceived Iraq as a threat. Even lowly Russia was called a "serious threat" by 24 percent of Americans. Yugoslavia registered a paltry 16 percent, in spite of the fact that America is at war with them.

3. At least sixteen US Congressmen, all from President Clinton's Democrat Party, have defected into the anti-war camp. A May 27th article in the Chicago Tribune reported that 16 Democrats who had voted in favor of the air war last month, when Congress stunned the president with a mere 213-213 tie vote on the resolution, signed a letter to president Clinton asking him to pause the bombing of Yugoslavia and give negotiations a chance. The letter was sponsored by Reps. Bob Clement (D-Tenn.) and Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.), both of whom had previously supported the air war. This means, at best, if a vote were held today, Congress would vote against an air war resolution by 229-197!

4. According to the Irish Times, a recent poll revealed that 99.5 percent of NATO-member Greece's population opposes the war in Kosovo.

5. A poll published in the Hungarian newspaper "Magyar Hirlap" revealed that 72 percent of Hungarians, who recently joined NATO, oppose the NATO's air war.

6. According to an Economist article, Czechs, who joined NATO with the Hungarians, oppose the war by a three-to-two margin.

7. According to an opinion poll from earlier this month, a small majority of Germans in favour of stopping air strikes and starting peace talks. Also, Germany has totally ruled out any participation in a ground war due to lack of support.

8. Italy has taken the same position, but has been rocked by weekend street protests in the tens of thousands. According to an interview published in the Italian weekly "Panorama", as reported by STRATFOR, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said, "It would be a veritable invasion. Should this happen I am afraid Italy would have to dissociate itself from such actions. Such a decision would reduce to nothing the diplomatic and political work of 20 years. We believe the United States cannot count on the support of Germany and many other countries of the alliance, except for Great Britain."

9. The most recent issue of Newsweek reports that Macedonia's majority Slav population is overwhelmingly opposed to NATO's war. This is important because if NATO wants to launch a land invasion into Kosovo, nearly every military analyst agrees that it must be launched primarily from Macedonia. Thus far, the Macedonian government has categorically refused to agree to such a move.