"Our American government also withholds the necessary chemicals to purify the water system in Serbia, guaranteeing that Serbian victims will die more rapidly from dysentery and typhoid."
 |
Memoirs of a Serbian-American Dissident by William Dorich GM Books
book review by John E. Roper
Most educated adults are aware that truly objective journalism is a myth. Just as every individual views the world through the lens of their own personal beliefs, so, too, do media agencies and governments reflect a collection of biases when they communicate to the people they serve. The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s will be remembered as one of the worst periods of ethnic cleansing in the 20th century. But were the Serbs truly as villainous as many in the West made them out to be, or were they instead the scapegoats in a vast conspiracy of misinformation? The author argues that the latter is the case in his newest book.
Predominantly comprised of letters to various editors, writers, celebrities, and politicians along with reprinted articles by the author and like-minded others, Dorich's book attacks what could be described as the systematic prejudice against the Serbian people and their cause in the Balkans and calls into question the supposed "facts" of the wars. For example, the book cites instances where the media showed images of victims that reporters labeled as Muslims and Croats killed by Serbs when allegedly the pictures were of dead Serbs. It also graphically describes the atrocities committed by other ethnic groups in the wars on the Serbian people that, according to Dorich, were rarely if ever mentioned in the American press.
Although filled with disturbing photographs of brutalized war victims and angry rhetoric aimed at those Dorich believes undermined the Serbs through political action and misinformation, the author's book is nonetheless highly thought-provoking and an important reminder to seek out more than one perspective on world events.