Tanjug
Namely, abusing the fact that he was conscripted this autumn, that pretentious but spiritually empty young man and a group of his ideological supporters organized on September 8 in Knez Mihajlova St. in the very center of Belgrade, a farce that was supposed to be a celebration of Marovic's departure to the Army. This farce included all the elements of provincialism and kitsch and tried to ridicule what has been and remains a glorious event in the tradition of the Serb people. The mandatory military service has always been an honor for every decent family and at the same time a test of maturity of the young conscript and an undeniable confirmation of his readiness and capability to face the coming challenges in life.
What, however, can be expected from a young man who does not know and therefore cannot respect the Serb tradition, nor how to protect the holly traditions of the history of the Serb people, having in mind that "Otpor" member Ivan Marovic is a Croat, born in FRY, which demands loyalty to the state in which he lives?
Who would, in the context of that revelation, be surprised by a bad show with actors who can only deserve contempt?
Especially if one knows that Marovic is one of the members "Otpor" with the most exposure in the media. This organization with very few members is supposedly a student organization and is financed by Washington. Their activists have recently attended special training courses in American embassies in Sofia and Bucharest where they have been trained for the organization of violent demonstrations all over Serbia in the period after the elections. Isn't the circus show in Knez Mihajlova St. only an unimaginative attempt to justify the money invested in them by the State Department?
Having all that in mind, it is not surprising that the street commotion in which many lost all the restraints, if they did have them to start with, was similar to an extremist political rally from which one could hear many tasteless slogans, such as the one: "Be a soldier of peace, not Mira's soldier". [peace = mir in Serbocroatian, Mira = Mirjana Markovic, Slobodan Milosevic's wife]
They shouted slogans and messages that will perhaps, make them feel ashamed (if not them, then definitely their loved ones) once they sober up, since even "Otpor" members know very well that the Yugoslav Army is not nor can it be someone's private property. On the contrary, it is an institution of the people, made up of all those who live on the soil of our common state, regardless of their ethnicity and religious beliefs. That is most clearly indicated by the massive response of the young men to the mandatory military service call up, which has topped 110 percent this autumn.
Because of all that, the farce in Knez Mihajlova St. should not be given any special importance. The scenario of the "show" of "Otpor" members in the center of the capital is easily recognizable. Under direction of the opposition, during the last few years, it could have been seen on numerous occasions. True, as time went by, those shows, which had less and less audience, were only harmful for its organizers and participants, because even their supporters do not trust them any more.