Anthropophagy

 “Strategy of Deception,” by Paul Virilio, 2000

This is a theoretical book puncturing holes in the ‘humanitarian war’ ideology promoted by the Clinton administration in its military intervention in Yugoslavia and Kosovo.  This war was the first land war since World War II on the European mainland, promoted by Germany and later, the U.S., to further unravel the old Yugoslav state and allow the increased penetration of western European capital.  It succeeded in its purpose.

Virilio focuses on the use of air and space-wars in the modern era, enabled by ‘precision’ – or at least digital - technology.  Kosovo / Serbia / former Yugoslavia was one of the first to be conducted by the imperial countries mostly by air.  “War” is now seemingly absent humans – at least from the perspective of the power attacking from the air.  This campaign became a template for later interventions.  50 satellites and 20 different space stations above the Balkans kept the U.S. and other militaries informed about all physical movements in this central/southern European ‘battlespace.’ This is part of “the revolution in military affairs / network centric warfare” approach also discussed by Mike Davis in his 2007 book In Praise of Barbarians (reviewed below).     

Virilio writes with seemingly elegant turns of phrase and new usages, which is the style of certain political writers.  Sometimes it pays off with an actual insight.  One of his best quips is that ethnic cleansing was replaced by “ethical cleansing.”   He was actually quite prescient, as this was written in 2000, not 2021. Virilio finds in this military action a U.S. attempt at real hegemony  -  over its allies, over the U.N., over most of NATO, over every nation it can control from the sky.  In this way, 'nationalism' becomes outmoded from above.  Kosovo and Yugoslavia were examples of the new extended battlefield – in space, above the ground, in the realm of information and in the network of civilian utilities.  Among other things, the U.S. bombing campaign hit the Chinese embassy (with ‘smart’ bombs!); blew up Belgrade’s television station and destroyed/blacked out the electrical grid in all of Yugoslavia.  They even sent 5 Cruise missiles into Sofia, Bulgaria. (!)

This military campaign was run by the Atlantic Council, a group of cold-warriors dominated by the U.S. – which consulted with Germany, France and the U.K. but acted unilaterally, not as a real coalition, with ‘silence’ the response from the rest of NATO.  If you want to be up-to-date on their opinions, listen to NPR - National Government Radio.

Bombed Belgrade, which hurt anti-Milosevic forces.  

Viriolio’s points:  (Remember, this is 2000)

*War has become a “tela-war,” ‘the panopticon,’ a new Cyclops, an “areo-spatial” war. 

*In April 1999 the Pentagon claimed that Yugoslavia had a ‘chemical weapons capability.” (This is prior to the 2003 2^nd Iraq bombing and invasion over fake  “weapons of mass destruction”).  The Pentagon claimed they had a “duty to intervene,” which he dubs a “secular holy war.”

*The “revolution in military affairs” promoted by the Clinton administration is assigned to the “tragi-comic infantilization of this century’s end.”

*The use of airpower, satellites and drones makes the U.S. a “weightless nation” in combat. 

*Part of the tactic is to interfere in any rational or knowledgeable understanding of what is going on by civilians on both sides.  He calls this a “logic bomb,” a part of “global information dominance.” The U.S. flew propaganda hardware and operators out of Fort Bragg (named after a Confederate general) into the battle zones to broadcast locally.  Then there was our own ‘independent’ private/government media.  Part of the plan is to control all images out of the war zone, which is coordinated through a government organization called NIMA.  This anticipates the 'embedding' of the 2nd Iraq War.

*The Pentagon called this a “human-rights war.” (Orwell just rolled over.)

*55K TV channels and FM radio stations, if tapped in, provide a web of data that allows surveillance of airspace over 2 continents.

*Accidents are an inevitable part of warfare, hence taking advantage of ‘accidents’ whitewashes a war - as if the warmkers were not responsible.  He calls it “a jackpot of accidents.”

*Over-information, the saturation of unconnected factoids, is a method of disinformation.

*Essentially, air and space superiority abolish nations.  It is the imperialist form of ‘internationalism.’

*Capitalism has created a world of shanty-towns, favelas, ghettos, townships, sink estates – essentially an “urban wasteland.” These “zone of uselessness” are populated and ruled by criminal gangs, becoming a “war against civilians” which results in “anthropophagy” (eating humans.)  Which is one reason why massive population transfers are happening all over the globe. 

*The Kosovo/Yugoslav war was illegal – contravening the UN Charter and the Charter of the Atlantic Alliance.  So NATO convened a tiny “judicial laboratory” called the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to spruce things up.

*Kosovo was a “globalist putsch.”

*Lastly, Francis Fukuyama, who falsely predicted “the end of history” predicted, in 2010, the abolishment “of humans as such.”  Hmmmm… quite a turn - but perhaps not.

Virilio was not a supporter of Milosevic or Serbian ethnic cleansing, seeing the wars from a broader perspective.  This book serves as a good insight into modern conflict.  

Prior reviews on this subject, use blog search box, upper left, to investigate our 14 year archive, using these terms:  “Yugoslavia – Peace, War & Dissolution” (Chomsky); “Welcome to the Desert of Post-Socialism,” “Quo Vadis, Aida?”  “WR:  Mysteries of the Organism,” “War With Russia” (Cohen); “Living in the End Times”(Zizek); “The Paper/Novine” or the name "Orban." 

And I bought it at May Day Books!

Red Frog

December 4, 2021