akritas
10-28-2007, 08:48 AM
The below are responces to the Mr. Koloski's Propagandistics Allegations that publish here (http://washingtontimes.com/article/20071014/COMMENTARY/110140012/1012)
Twisting history on Macedonia
I understand the U.S. government's decision favoring the so-called Republic of Macedonia over Greece in the Macedonian name dispute because the former helped the United States by being part of the coalition in Iraq. The "Republic of Macedonia" has become a U.S. ally, while Greece and its media have joined the majority of Western Europeans, their media, the U.S. media and the U.S. liberal politicians in condemning military action in Iraq. However, in his letter to the editor, Dragi Stojkovski, president of United Macedonians Organization of Canada has used this alliance to twist history ("Macedonia's right to its name," Oct. 12).
Mr. Stojkovski claims that in 1913, Greece occupied the Greek province of Macedonia for the first time. Though it is true that in the 20th century, Macedonia was part of a country officially called Greece, it also is true that all the provinces in Greece became part of a country called Greece for the first time from 1821 to the first half of the 20th century. He fails to mention that Macedonia, Sparta, Athens, Thebes, Korinthos, Ithaca and the rest of the states in the region were separate Greek states. They were all Greek-speaking and had a Greek identity.
The truth is that ancient Macedonians, like the people in the rest of the Greek city-states, spoke Greek; were educated as Greeks; were taught Greek history and philosophy; believed in the Greek gods; and had Greek heroes such as Achilles, Hercules and King Leonidas of Sparta. As a matter of fact, Alexander the Great's sacking of the Greek state of Thebes was caused in part by King Phillip's and son Alexander's belief that the city-state of Thebes was a traitor to the idea of a unified Greek confederation with Macedonia at the helm.
The people of the modern Republic of Macedonia have no connection with the people of ancient Macedonia or their descendants. They have Slavic origins — not Greek or ancient Macedonian. Whether they call themselves Spartans, Romans, Germans, Macedonians or Ninja Turtles, these Slavic people in the Republic of Macedonia have no historic connection to ancient Macedonians or any other ancient Greek peoples.
JOHN N. MYSEROS
Centreville
Letters to the editorÂ*-Â*-Â*The Washington Times, America's Newspaper (http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071025/EDITORIAL/110250007/1013)
I have read Metodija A. Koloski's column "Name dispute or ethnic misdeeds?" (Commentary, Oct. 14), and unfortunately, my fears were confirmed. Even if somebody believed that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) government did not apply irredentist policy against Greece and other Balkan countries, the harsh style and the content of the column confirm exactly the opposite.
Neither Greece nor history is to blame for the fact that Alexander the Great spoke the Greek language, had as a teacher the Greek philosopher Aristotle, promoted Greek culture and unified all the Greek cities, although that could not be convenient for Mr. Koloski. Neither Greece nor history is to blame because the first Slav tribes, including those of the Skopje region, came from the north to the Balkans around 1,000 years later.
It is true that history cannot be rewritten. Nevertheless, it would be extremely interesting if Mr. Koloski could tell us whether or not — in all of FYROM's schools and universities, in the military academy of Skopje, or in its public institutions — a full irredentist propaganda is developed, promoting maps and claims not only against Greece but also against other Balkan countries.
Mr. Koloski is right when he refers to the Greek intransigence. Despite FYROM's irredentist policy, Greece had the "intransigence" to proceed with the signing of an interim agreement, has supported FYROM's stability, participates with FYROM in international forums and has become the first foreign investor in FYROM, creating more than 20,000 new jobs.
The very message of Mr. Koloski's column is that he cannot afford Greece as it exists. The content and the style of Mr. Koloski's commentary is certainly offensive toward Greece. Above all, it seriously undermines FYROM's credentials. Such commentaries are very useful to reinforce Greece's arguments.
On the other hand, Greece's stabilizing role in the Balkans has been recognized by the United States and the European Union.
Under this scope, one wonders what could be the "neighborly perspectives" FYROM wants to set up with Greece, a U.S. ally for more than a century. Furthermore, it is worrisome that such a hostile stance comes from a state that has aspirations to join Euro-Atlantic organizations.
NINA GATZOULIS
Supreme president
Pan-Macedonian Association
Dover, N.H.
Say no to LOST
Is the U.S. Senate about to wreck our ship of state on the rocks of Lilliput?
Recall the classic tale by Jonathan Swift and the peril Gulliver encountered at Lilliput. After his shipwreck, a horde of unfriendly Lilliputians just 6 inches tall swarmed all over him and tied him down on his back, leaving him immobilized by an intricate web of strings and ribbon-tapes. Any benefits to the United States from UNCLOS (the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, aka the Law of the Sea Treaty or LOST) are superfluous, considering our strong Navy. However, a web of taxation and regulation, imposed by a super-government entity that overrides our Constitution, run by the United Nations' foreign bureaucrats, many of them corrupt, jealous and hostile to U.S. interests, poses unacceptable threats to American sovereignty ("LOST justice," Commentary, Oct. 16).
Claiming to be a benefit for use of the world's seas, LOST also purports to control pollution everywhere, whether in the sea, on land or in the air. This is because pollutants can drain into rivers that eventually flow to the sea and because the atmosphere circulates everywhere as well. Such pollutants could involve fertilizers and pesticides used on U.S. farms and lawns, effluents from our sewer treatment plants, etc. The treaty also imposes a dangerous backdoor entanglement with the Kyoto Protocol through a dogmatic claim that any rise in CO2 levels in the air will dissolve in seawater, raising its acidity and temperature, affecting fish, coral, mangrove trees, etc. throughout the world. The devil is in the details.
How adversely would Senate ratification of LOST impact our homeland — our land use, auto emissions, electric power generation, our entire economy? Would aggressive foreign lawyers (perhaps funded by corrupt Marxist dictators now ruling Cuba and Venezuela, or by radical Islamic mullahs controlling Iran) try to subvert our economy through a U.N. treaty that overrides pollution limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency? Senators who carefully read those devilish details in LOST will again reject the siren call to ratify it and will steer clear of entangling us in that U.N. Lilliputian trap, a sure loser for the United States.
M. ROBERT PAGLEE
Moorestown, N.J.
A columnist's 'death wish'
Nat Hentoff is puzzled by the failure of the Supreme Court, including its most liberal member, Justice John Paul Stevens, to challenge the "state secrets doctrine" he attributes to the Bush administration ("Bush's legal club: 'state secrets,' " Op-Ed, Monday). Mr. Hentoff may not know that early in Justice Stevens' life, he was on the staff of Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of U.S. armed forces in the Central Pacific during World War II. The epic accomplishment of Adm. Nimitz's command was victory at the Battle of Midway, where four of Japan's six aircraft carriers, all of which had taken part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, were sunk. That victory turned the tide of war against Japan.
The Midway victory was made possible because American naval intelligence had broken the Japanese admiral's secret code, JN25, which enabled our fleet to ambush Japan's near Midway Island. No one who served on Adm. Nimitz's staff in World War II is likely to trifle with intelligence matters as Mr. Hentoff and the American Civil Liberties Union are so willing to do.
Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee have gone along recently with many of the Bush administration's proposals to permanently amend the foreign intelligence surveillance act (FISA). Fortunately, those Democrats and the Supreme Court have not acquired the death wish for our government that Mr. Hentoff and the ACLU apparently have acquired.
SEYMOUR KLEIMAN
Baltimore
Letters to the editorÂ*-Â*-Â*The Washington Times, America's Newspaper (http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071025/EDITORIAL/110250007/1013&template=nextpage)
Twisting history on Macedonia
I understand the U.S. government's decision favoring the so-called Republic of Macedonia over Greece in the Macedonian name dispute because the former helped the United States by being part of the coalition in Iraq. The "Republic of Macedonia" has become a U.S. ally, while Greece and its media have joined the majority of Western Europeans, their media, the U.S. media and the U.S. liberal politicians in condemning military action in Iraq. However, in his letter to the editor, Dragi Stojkovski, president of United Macedonians Organization of Canada has used this alliance to twist history ("Macedonia's right to its name," Oct. 12).
Mr. Stojkovski claims that in 1913, Greece occupied the Greek province of Macedonia for the first time. Though it is true that in the 20th century, Macedonia was part of a country officially called Greece, it also is true that all the provinces in Greece became part of a country called Greece for the first time from 1821 to the first half of the 20th century. He fails to mention that Macedonia, Sparta, Athens, Thebes, Korinthos, Ithaca and the rest of the states in the region were separate Greek states. They were all Greek-speaking and had a Greek identity.
The truth is that ancient Macedonians, like the people in the rest of the Greek city-states, spoke Greek; were educated as Greeks; were taught Greek history and philosophy; believed in the Greek gods; and had Greek heroes such as Achilles, Hercules and King Leonidas of Sparta. As a matter of fact, Alexander the Great's sacking of the Greek state of Thebes was caused in part by King Phillip's and son Alexander's belief that the city-state of Thebes was a traitor to the idea of a unified Greek confederation with Macedonia at the helm.
The people of the modern Republic of Macedonia have no connection with the people of ancient Macedonia or their descendants. They have Slavic origins — not Greek or ancient Macedonian. Whether they call themselves Spartans, Romans, Germans, Macedonians or Ninja Turtles, these Slavic people in the Republic of Macedonia have no historic connection to ancient Macedonians or any other ancient Greek peoples.
JOHN N. MYSEROS
Centreville
Letters to the editorÂ*-Â*-Â*The Washington Times, America's Newspaper (http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071025/EDITORIAL/110250007/1013)
I have read Metodija A. Koloski's column "Name dispute or ethnic misdeeds?" (Commentary, Oct. 14), and unfortunately, my fears were confirmed. Even if somebody believed that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) government did not apply irredentist policy against Greece and other Balkan countries, the harsh style and the content of the column confirm exactly the opposite.
Neither Greece nor history is to blame for the fact that Alexander the Great spoke the Greek language, had as a teacher the Greek philosopher Aristotle, promoted Greek culture and unified all the Greek cities, although that could not be convenient for Mr. Koloski. Neither Greece nor history is to blame because the first Slav tribes, including those of the Skopje region, came from the north to the Balkans around 1,000 years later.
It is true that history cannot be rewritten. Nevertheless, it would be extremely interesting if Mr. Koloski could tell us whether or not — in all of FYROM's schools and universities, in the military academy of Skopje, or in its public institutions — a full irredentist propaganda is developed, promoting maps and claims not only against Greece but also against other Balkan countries.
Mr. Koloski is right when he refers to the Greek intransigence. Despite FYROM's irredentist policy, Greece had the "intransigence" to proceed with the signing of an interim agreement, has supported FYROM's stability, participates with FYROM in international forums and has become the first foreign investor in FYROM, creating more than 20,000 new jobs.
The very message of Mr. Koloski's column is that he cannot afford Greece as it exists. The content and the style of Mr. Koloski's commentary is certainly offensive toward Greece. Above all, it seriously undermines FYROM's credentials. Such commentaries are very useful to reinforce Greece's arguments.
On the other hand, Greece's stabilizing role in the Balkans has been recognized by the United States and the European Union.
Under this scope, one wonders what could be the "neighborly perspectives" FYROM wants to set up with Greece, a U.S. ally for more than a century. Furthermore, it is worrisome that such a hostile stance comes from a state that has aspirations to join Euro-Atlantic organizations.
NINA GATZOULIS
Supreme president
Pan-Macedonian Association
Dover, N.H.
Say no to LOST
Is the U.S. Senate about to wreck our ship of state on the rocks of Lilliput?
Recall the classic tale by Jonathan Swift and the peril Gulliver encountered at Lilliput. After his shipwreck, a horde of unfriendly Lilliputians just 6 inches tall swarmed all over him and tied him down on his back, leaving him immobilized by an intricate web of strings and ribbon-tapes. Any benefits to the United States from UNCLOS (the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, aka the Law of the Sea Treaty or LOST) are superfluous, considering our strong Navy. However, a web of taxation and regulation, imposed by a super-government entity that overrides our Constitution, run by the United Nations' foreign bureaucrats, many of them corrupt, jealous and hostile to U.S. interests, poses unacceptable threats to American sovereignty ("LOST justice," Commentary, Oct. 16).
Claiming to be a benefit for use of the world's seas, LOST also purports to control pollution everywhere, whether in the sea, on land or in the air. This is because pollutants can drain into rivers that eventually flow to the sea and because the atmosphere circulates everywhere as well. Such pollutants could involve fertilizers and pesticides used on U.S. farms and lawns, effluents from our sewer treatment plants, etc. The treaty also imposes a dangerous backdoor entanglement with the Kyoto Protocol through a dogmatic claim that any rise in CO2 levels in the air will dissolve in seawater, raising its acidity and temperature, affecting fish, coral, mangrove trees, etc. throughout the world. The devil is in the details.
How adversely would Senate ratification of LOST impact our homeland — our land use, auto emissions, electric power generation, our entire economy? Would aggressive foreign lawyers (perhaps funded by corrupt Marxist dictators now ruling Cuba and Venezuela, or by radical Islamic mullahs controlling Iran) try to subvert our economy through a U.N. treaty that overrides pollution limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency? Senators who carefully read those devilish details in LOST will again reject the siren call to ratify it and will steer clear of entangling us in that U.N. Lilliputian trap, a sure loser for the United States.
M. ROBERT PAGLEE
Moorestown, N.J.
A columnist's 'death wish'
Nat Hentoff is puzzled by the failure of the Supreme Court, including its most liberal member, Justice John Paul Stevens, to challenge the "state secrets doctrine" he attributes to the Bush administration ("Bush's legal club: 'state secrets,' " Op-Ed, Monday). Mr. Hentoff may not know that early in Justice Stevens' life, he was on the staff of Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of U.S. armed forces in the Central Pacific during World War II. The epic accomplishment of Adm. Nimitz's command was victory at the Battle of Midway, where four of Japan's six aircraft carriers, all of which had taken part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, were sunk. That victory turned the tide of war against Japan.
The Midway victory was made possible because American naval intelligence had broken the Japanese admiral's secret code, JN25, which enabled our fleet to ambush Japan's near Midway Island. No one who served on Adm. Nimitz's staff in World War II is likely to trifle with intelligence matters as Mr. Hentoff and the American Civil Liberties Union are so willing to do.
Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee have gone along recently with many of the Bush administration's proposals to permanently amend the foreign intelligence surveillance act (FISA). Fortunately, those Democrats and the Supreme Court have not acquired the death wish for our government that Mr. Hentoff and the ACLU apparently have acquired.
SEYMOUR KLEIMAN
Baltimore
Letters to the editorÂ*-Â*-Â*The Washington Times, America's Newspaper (http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071025/EDITORIAL/110250007/1013&template=nextpage)