used without permission, for "fair use" only

Experiment in the Balkans

by Dr. Veselin Sanjevic

Politika, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, 3/23/98

A murder of several policemen from an ambush is everywhere in the world referred to as a crime or a terrorist act. Albanian terrorists in Drenica have from ambush attacked and killed several policemen... The police struck back, organized a manhunt and in a direct clash eliminated the terrorists in their hideout. In the clash between the police and terrorists there were casualties among the relatives of the terrorists. Now the USA and EU condemn the "brutality of the Serbian police", send ultimatums to Yugoslavia but do not condemn the terrorists who, defending themselves, sacrificed their closest relations: children, women, elderly...

Of course, one cannot expect humanism from the terrorists, not even toward their loved ones. It is hard to wake up their humanism but they are easily induced to commit disgusting acts toward other people and nations; they are ready to commit a crime without any trace of conscience nor moral scruples! However, all this in Kosovo and Metohija has been organized and caused by the application of methods, techniques and means for manipulation by those who had for years been waging a war in the former Yugoslavia [the USA and EU]. They encouraged the terrorists giving them a false hope that they could murder policemen shooting from their own homes without fatal consequences for themselves and their closest relatives.

In similar circumstances, every police force, anywhere in the world, would react in the same way as the Serbian police. But every violent death is unfortunate and deserves sympathy. Of course, both Serbs and Albanians share blame for these deaths, although the Albanians bear a much heavier burden (than the Serbian police) because they didn't know, could, or wanted to confront manipulations...

"Guards" and "Prisoners"

Political leaderships in the USA and EU, by manipulating with people skillfully and ruthlessly continue towards their goal: with their "peace making" policy they want to cause a conflict between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, to break up Serbia and abolish Yugoslavia! With exceptionally aggressive policy towards Serbs and "protectionist" attitude with respect to the Albanians, they encourage the Albanians to start a conflict and declare a war to the Serbs by secession. To our sorrow they have managed to produce in Kosovo and Metohija a state similar to the experiment by Philip Zimbardo "Stanford Simulation of a Prison". Serbs were given the role of guards and Albanians of prisoners. It should be emphasized that it has been proven by experiments in social psychology (in USA) that people are prepared to commit crimes when other people encourage and incite them to do so, when they are made anonymous, when their identity and values are replaced by given roles and functions. When they start to avoid and bypass each other...

In the mentioned experiment which simulated life in prison, 24 students were chosen as participants; they were randomly divided into two equal groups of 12 "guards" and 12 "prisoners". The students were selected for the participation in the experiment among those who replied to an advertisement which read: "Volunteers for an experiment in connection with prison life sought, $15 per day. Experiment will last two weeks." A battery of psychological tests was used to select average, normal, and intelligent young people among the applicants. One day, the police arrested the "prisoners" and the experiment began. Soon, the simulated prison life turned into a real hell. Because of the pathology due to cruel and sadistic behavior of "guards" and experienced emotional breakdown in half of "prisoners", the experiment had to be interrupted after six days, although it was originally supposed to last two weeks. None of the 24 participants, regardless of everything that happened to them, left the experiment, although they were allowed to do so, at will, but instead asked for assistance by physicians, lawyers, priests... Also, none of the professors, parents, or students who were allowed to follow the experiment asked that the experiment be interrupted...

When normal young people so easily "fill" their given roles in an experiment, what can be expected from frustrated Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija? They were also allocated roles of "guards" and "prisoners", were issued arms and they want to observe what will happen in the "experiment". Something similar has already occurred in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina... What can be done to stop the "experiment" in Kosovo and Metohija to prevent self destruction of those things which had for centuries been built in common life of Albanians, Serbs and others.

Manipulation of Masses

Social psychologists have maintained in experiments that when normal people are placed in bad situations then evil triumphs over good. Many are today trying to set up bad situations, to make sure some sort of madness takes over in this region. Today, it is difficult to distinguish what out of the events in Kosovo and Metohija is normal and what madness... (...)

Leaders of the USA and EU are obviously encouraging secessionists in Kosovo and Metohija, encouraging them to attack Serbia, stirring in that way irrational forces in people and thus negating all those characteristics and deeply ingrained values which Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija have developed together in the process of socialization in common life. The Albanian secessionists are supported and encouraged in their collective euphoria, militant euphoria, to decide for the model of war, instead of the model of peace. Unfortunately, it seems that "models of war are less enticing that models of peace" (...). With manipulation of the masses, people can often end up with cognitive hallucinations and frequently fail to notice that which is real, realistic, and possible...

Unfortunately, in science, it has been established that a punishment for committed crimes doesn't always reach the criminal but often those who have revealed crimes and are in a way taking their revenge on the criminals.(...) Thus frequently a community which wishes to avoid blame (consciously or subconsciously) for crimes committed by its members lashes out at those who have discovered the crimes instead of at those who have committed them.

The governments of the USA and EU, in order to hide their own guilt for the committed crime often offer Serbs, Serbia and Yugoslavia as a scapegoat to the world... They send ultimatums to the Serbs and Yugoslavia! How long will the world tolerate that? Both in the experiments and real life, it has been established that people are prepared to commit crimes at the urging and instigation of others, without any justification and significant reasons and interests. With all that in mind, one must wonder how long are the governments of the USA and EU prepared to continue to encourage and instigate Albanian secessionists in Kosovo and Metohija to terrorism and clashes.

Both Serbs and Albanians, and especially Albanians, must decide for negotiations and resolution of all problems within Serbia. Everything else is an invitation to a war and crimes. Those who do not support either Serbs or Albanians have come up with a new cynical joke: "Because of Albanians in Kosovo, NATO will absolutely destroy Serbs, but Albanians won't see that?!" It is a fact that a war can only result in mutual extermination of Serbs and Albanians.


The author is a sociologist from Belgrade

Translated on 7/8/98


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