NY Times Coverage of Milosevic

For some generations now, American diplomacy has attempted to focus on human rights. Now, there is a dearth of outstanding American diplomats and a public which has other interests on their mind. For example, while much of the European press spends column after column on the Balkans, and now the genocide trials in The Hague, as far as the American press is concerned, he current problems of human rights, in Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia and now at the International Court at the Hague, are limited to a few sound bites, and some human interest stories of horror, survivors, and the desire for revenge in that region. It is therefore up to the nation's leading newspapers, like the New York TIMES, to provide more details and consistent coverage for the few who are truly interested and involved. In following some stories about Slobodan Milosevic and the entire genocide problems in the Balkan regions in the New York TIMES one can come to grips with the fact that American involvement is, at best peripheral (aside from troops sent to keep peace in Kosovo many months ago). It is obvious in reading a number of articles in the TIMES that the concern featured in the vast majority of stories is with the leaders, like Milosevic and others, and not their followers who are as guilty of murder and human rights violations as the leaders they followed. In a sense, the American public is not vitally concerned, since there is at least a wide expanse of

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. Of course, eventually the American peace keepers will leave, and then the revenge carnage could begin. The TIMES does provide some insight into Milosevic's eventual defense. "Even before he decides on his tactics, Mr. Milosevic's broad approach appeared clear today., His allusion to the NATO bombing was consistent with a line that Mira Markovic, his wife, has urged on him: seek to portray the true criminal in Kosovo as NATO, which bombed Mr. Milosevic into submission in 1999." (Cohen 2001 A1) Just as in the Nurnberg trials there was little attention paid, or publicity given to the judges and the lawyers involved, so the tribunal's chief judge, Richard May, a Briton, and the prosecution teams get little attention. In a TIMES story, Judge May, 62, is identified as someone "who started to work at the United Nations Tribunal here in 1997, and has a reputation for keeping tight control of his courtroom." (Cohen 2001 A1) At the time this story was published, Milosevic had refused any legal help, expecting to defend himself against what he continues to contend is an illegal tribunal and trial. The black-robed prosecution team is "led by Carla Del Ponte, a Swiss lawyer who has accused Mr. Milosevic of three counts of crimes
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2748
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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