“All the NewsrnUnfit to Print” ignsJ of tJie CtmesJrnVol. 2 No. 7 July 2000rnWhile we yield to no one when it comesrnto disdain for Fidel Castro and contemptrnfor Bill Clinton, we also believe in the mlernof law and in the right of parents to takerncare of their children. From the notionrnthat parents’ rights depend on a child’srn”best interest” as determined by a governmentrnagency, it is but a short step tornmandatory foster homes for the childrenrnof homeschoolers, evangelical Christians,rnand social and cultural traditionalists. ArnNew York Press editorial (April 27) providedrnan important postscript to the ElianrnGonzalez affair:rnwhat’s more notable at thisrnpoint is the orgy of shamelessnessrnand dishonesty that thernadministration’s actions . . .rnhave generated among p o l i t i ­cians.rnRudolph Giuliani . . .rnopined that the governmentrnshould have stayed i t s hand andrnexhausted a l l legal optionsrnbefore launching a raid. Herern. . . i s a mayor whose policernforce has been authorized tornsearch and harass citizens atrnw i l l – a mayor who’s reflexivelyrnh o s t i l e to c i v i l l i b e r t i e s andrnalmost neurotically enamoredrnof s t a t e power-criticizingrnFederal agents.rnThe so-called left has been just as mendacious.rnJesse Jackson and other “civilrnrights” activists who scream bloody murderrnevery time a New York police officerrnso much as looks cross-eyed at a thug ofrncolor have suddenly become supporters ofrnlaw enforcement and militant defenders ofrnfamily values:rnFor the ” l e f t , ” violence i s n ‘ trnviolence when i t f u l f i l l s thernagenda of i t s yuppie-authoritrna r i a n friends in power. Andrnfor the right, government savagery’srnto be denounced forrngain in the short-term, even asrnconservatives’ punitive lawand-rnorder agenda foments thatrnviolence the rest of the year.rnMaybe, under the circumstances,rnElian . . . would bernb e t t e r off in Cuba after a l l .rnThe same hypocrisy evident in domesticrnissues extends to this administration’srnforeign policy, particularly on nuclearrnweapons. The Hindustan Times (Aprilrn29) expressed dismay at the U.S. desire tornupgrade its own nuclear weapons whilernviolating treaties by setting up a NationalrnMissile Defense (NMD) system, even asrnthe administration lectures other nationsrnabout the dangers of these weapons:rnI t passes comprehension whyrnthe US, with two oceans on e i ­therrnside, should feel the needrnto have a defence shield tornprotect i t from unnamed roguerns t a t e s when i t cannot see thernthreat which India faces withrntwo collaborating nuclear powersrnon i t s borders. . . . ThernUS may disingenuously claimrnthat i t is frustrated at thernlack of progress towards a nucrnl e a r – f r e e world . . . but i t srncontribution towards l e g i t ­imisingrnthese dooirisday weaponsrnby giving them an aura of powerrnand prestige is enormous.rnThe price tag for NMD is likely to reachrnsome $60 billion by 2015, four times thernoriginal estimate, according to the nonpartisanrnCongressional Budget Office. Theirrnreport also warned that any country capablernof developing long-range missilesrncould use simple countenneasures to renderrnNMD useless.rnThere’s a juicy story here for an investigativernjournalist—exposing the manyrntechnical and legal flaws in the NMD, exploringrnthe links between the arms procurementrnlobby, the White House, andrnsome key congressmen . . . But joumalistsrnknow that they win Pulitzers by panderingrnto the received wisdom of the ruling elite,rnwhile really interesting news remains unfitrnto print. Take the story of the mines inrnKosovo, worth many billions of dollars,rnwhich the “international community”rnwants to steal from the Serbs. Accordingrnto a KFOR press release (March 25):rnKFOR was allowed to play a partrnin the reconstruction of thernStari Trg Mine j u s t east ofrnMitrovica. KFOR Polish soldiersrnwere able to provide miningrnuniforms with hard hats andrnother safety equipment . . . tornthe director of the Stari TrgrnMine, Mr. Burhan Kavaja[, who]rnhas 250 men working for him . . .rnAt the moment, UNMIK has thernadministrative responsibilityrn[for] all the mining resourcesrnin Kosovo, and when there isrnprofit from the mines, thernprofit will stay in Kosovo tornbe a valuable asset to the reconstructionrnof the region.rnWhat the press release does not say isrnthat Kavaja is an ethnic Albanian who illegallyrntook over the mine after his 250 menrnkilled or cleansed every last Serb from thernStari Trg area. Nor does it say that thernmine is owned by the Serbs, who have arnjoint venture agreement with a Greek miningrnfirm to develop the mine.rnAlmost two years ago, Chris Hedgesrnpublished an article in the New Yorii Timesrnin which he pointed out that the real issuernin Kosovo was control of the Trepca/StarirnTrg mining complex. Hedges quotedrn”Burhan Kavaja, an Albanian,” as declaringrnthat the Kosovo conflict would onlyrnend “with [Albanian] independence.”rn”There is over 30 percent leadrnand zinc in the ore,” said NovakrnBjelic, the mine’s beefyrnd i r e c t o r . “The war in Kosovorni s about the mines, nothingrne l s e . This is Serbia’s Kuwaitthernheart of Kosovo. . . . Andrnin addition to a l l this Kosovornhas 17 b i l l i o n tons of coal reserves.rnNaturally, the Albaniansrnwant a l l this for themselvesrn. . . “rnA month before the KFOR-supervisedrn22/CHRONICLESrnrnrn