Chomsky/Hitchens/Milosevic/Bush

[Michael Bailey]

I dunno, the Croats seem to be heavy into bad-assery:
http://de-construct.net/e-zine/?p=4869

In the exclusive interview, Franjo Tuđman's Internal Affairs Minister
Josip Boljkovac admitted Croat leadership carried out planned attacks
on Croatia Serbs in 1991, in order to start a war. "Tuđman wanted the
war at any cost, following the concept according to which Serbs must
disappear from Croatia," Boljkovac said.

Croat media censored reports from Boljkovac's testimony at the trial
against former Osijek mayor Branimir Glavaš, war criminal responsible
for horrific crimes against the local Serbs, concealing parts of his
testimony which charge Croatia with instigating the war.

"During the testimony, Glavaš accused me of persecuting him because he
destroyed the bridge on river Drava in Osijek [Croatia]. He claimed he
had destroyed the bridge to protect the town from JNA [Yugoslav
National Army] tanks, and I responded that, at the time, JNA was a
regular army of an internationally recognized state, while Croatia,
which was not recognized, was part of Yugoslavia. Then I explained who
started armed conflicts in that part of Slavonija," Boljkovac told
Frankfurt-based daily Vesti.

In a sensational interview published on February 12 and carried by the
several media outlets in Serbia, Croatia's war-time minister of police
said it was the Serbs and Yugoslavia who were being attacked in 1991,
and not Croatia.

"Back then, in 1991, Serbs and Yugoslavia were under attack, not
Croatia. Gojko Šušak, Branimir Glavaš and Vice Vukojević launched
antitank rockets on Borovo Selo in order to provoke a war. The bridge
in Osijek was destroyed for the same reason," Boljkovac said.

He explained Croat war-time leader Franjo Tudjman "wanted the war at any cost":

"The war was not a necessity -- it was an intention. According to
Tudjman's concept, Serbs had to disappear from Croatia," Boljkovac
stressed, adding he was against the war and didn't allow Serbs who
were serving in the police in Croatia to be fired which, in turn, made
him a target for assassination by Croat emigration.

Boljkovac believes there was a secret "deal" between former Yugoslav
and Serbian President Slobodan Milošević and Franjo Tuđman, Croatia's
war leader, "to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina and exchange the
population through ethnic cleansing." According to his theory, "Tuđman
handed over Bosnian Posavina to Milošević, and Milošević helped Tuđman
to get rid of Krajina Serbs".
Boljkovac Confirmed What Serbia has been Saying for the Past Two Decades

No one was particularly surprised in Serbia by Boljkovac's admission
that Croat leadership instigated a civil war by launching planned
attacks against Serbs in Croatia and Yugoslav Army.

Vladislav Jovanović, Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs from
1991-1995, told Glas Javnosti Boljkovac's statement about Croatia
bearing the exclusive responsibility for the war is absolutely
correct.

- His testimony only further confirms what was known from day one and
what Serbia has been pointing out for nearly two decades -- that there
was no "Serbian aggression" against Croatia; instead, Croatia Serbs
were forced to defend themselves. That is Boljkovac's hindsight for
the factual state of affairs. After the "Storm" and "Lightning", even
Tuđman admitted the war was imperative for Croatia to secede, -
Jovanović reminded.

On the other hand, Boljkovac's theory about the conspiracy and alleged
deal between Tuđman and Milošević is rejected as "pure speculation,
fairly common in the West and Croatia, even though it is entirely
unfounded".

- As far as I am aware, there was no such deal, - Jovanović stressed.

Asked why Serbia stood by during the Krajina pogrom (Operation Storm,
August 4-7, 1995), the single biggest act of ethnic cleansing during
the civil wars in 1990s, when over 250,000 Serbs were expelled from
Croatia, Jovanović said he believes late President Milošević was
issued an ultimatum by United States.

- The day before the attack on Krajina, Milošević was visited by an
American ambassador in Zagreb [Croatian capital], Peter Galbraith. I
did not attend the meeting, but I believe Galbraith had put a knife
under Milošević's throat, warning him against Serbia's involvement.
I'm sure a direct threat of bombardment of Serbia was also issued, in
order to prevent any Serbian military reaction, - Jovanović said.
Mixture of Facts and Fiction

Former head of Counter-Intelligence Service [Kontra-obavestajna
sluzba, KOS], general Aca Vasiljević warned that Boljkovac is "mixing
facts with fiction".

- When he was in power, Boljkovac was a loyal and obedient servant, he
was always eager to please, and he is now trying to justify his
actions. It is common knowledge that Milošević and Tuđman were
meeting, but it is entirely incorrect they had the kind of contacts
Boljkovac describes. Tuđman had stated long time ago: "If we didn't
want the war, there wouldn't have been any", while Boljkovac was a
proponent of the idea of an independent Croatia at any cost already
back in the 1970s, in MASPOK. In the 1990s, he participated in the
war, surrounded by the extremists, people who came from the terrorist
wing of Ustasha organization, like Gojko Šušak, - Vasiljević said.

Živadin Jovanović, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's last foreign
affairs minister, said it was good there is at least someone in
Croatia who speaks "partial truth."

- It is absolutely correct that was a civil war and there is no basis
for charges of "aggression on Croatia". I don't know Boljkovac
personally, but this wouldn't be the first time former government
members become wise after the fact. Hindsight wisdom is a trait of
impaired politicians, even though it can be useful to historians.
However, there is no basis for the claims civil war was a result of a
secret deal between two men. The sole purpose of such theories is to
cover up the essential fact, that Croatia's strategy was secession,
separatism and, as such, it enjoyed support of Germany, Austria,
Hungary and Vatican, - Živadin Jovanović said.
Part of President Milošević's Opening Statement in The Hague,
Regarding War in Croatia

...There is a fundamental historical fact one must proceed from, in
order to understand these events. This fact has been the source of
everything that took place on the territory of Yugoslavia since 1991
until the present day, and it is the fact that what took place is the
violent destruction of a European state -- Yugoslavia -- which was
derived from the statehood of Serbia, the only ally of the democratic
world in that whole region over the past two centuries.

There can be no doubt this fundamental historic fact is going to leave
an imprint on European history in the times to come.

A multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-confessional state that had its
historic and international legitimacy was destroyed in order to create
ethnically pure mini-states in its territory, according to the diktat
of Germany and Vatican, and assisted by the United States and the
European Community.

...At this time, during the most critical period, Yugoslavia was
presided by a representative from Croatia, Stjepan Mesić. Its Prime
Minister at the time was also from Croatia, Ante Marković, as well as
the Foreign Minister, also from Croatia, Budimir Lončar. In the entire
top echelons of the Army, of which we could also be informed here, out
of top 16 generals, only 2 were Serbs; most were Croats, Slovenians
and of other ethnic backgrounds.

This state had a strong and well organized armed forces at its
disposal [JNA], which could control the conflict and prevent the
catastrophe altogether. However, this government allowed paramilitary
formations, arms smugglers, criminals, even the narco-mafia--when we
look at the end of this process in Kosovo and Metohija--to take over
the terrain. But the said government acted in concert with the
European Community, most notably with Germany and Vatican.

As early as the end of June 1991, European Community demanded that the
legitimate armed forces must stay closed within the army barracks and
refrain from any action -- therefore, a voluntary transformation of a
state army into a detainee in their own country. Naturally, this
opened doors for the activities of the secessionists' paramilitary
formations.

...In Croatia, crimes against Serbs started even earlier, before the
announcement of secession, using the same methods and in the same
regions where the genocide against the Serbian nation started in 1941,
by the Ustasha units in the so-called Independent State of Croatia
[NDH, Hitler's ally during the WWII].

International experts who have researched genocides that took place in
different times and in different parts of the world, like Leo Cooper,
Peter Drost, Ted Gertz, Louis Horowitz, George Cram and the others,
arrived to a conclusion that genocide against one nation can be
committed only once. Every second attempt inevitably turns into a
civil war. This thesis has been confirmed in Croatia.

The genocide committed against the Serbs in Croatia in 1941, started
by comprising lists and inviting population in groups to submit
personal data. However, instead of submitting information, Serbs were
being killed or taken to concentration camps. This time around, Serbs
responded by resistance to similar invitations and similar actions,
feeling gravely manipulated by the politicians who, up until the day
before, spoke about protecting the ideals of brotherhood and unity,
and who were now calling to war in the name of nationalist ideals.

Old Ustasha formulas were resurrected within somewhat refurbished
packaging, along with the Ustasha symbols, and through the hurriedly
rewritten laws, Serbs have lost their status of a constitutive nation.
Without any prompting from the outside, without the Belgrade support,
without the protection of the army isolated in the barracks, Serbs in
Krajina were prepared to risk death through the struggle, but not a
new genocide.

Long before the 1991 secession, armed paramilitaries operated through
Croatia, the so-called "Voluntary units of the people's protection",
which acted within the HDZ frameworks, and under different names:
"Zebra", "Black Legion", "Vukovar Wolves" and so on.

On May 28, a month before the secession, a military parade was
organized in Zagreb. It showcased weapons received primarily from
Germany. These were the psychological preparations for what was to
follow. In those days, Croat paramilitary units were transfered to
Bosnia, since President Tudjman had announced renewal of "Croatia down
to [river] Drina".

After a decision to withdraw the JNA troops from Croatia was reached
on July 18, 1991, the armed actions by the Croat paramilitary
formations turned into a frontal war. From July 20 to August 4, 75
attacks against the JNA units were recorded, 23 attacks against the
Army barracks, 13 attacks against the planes, all using the most
advanced weapons from NATO arsenals.

Serbian houses were being torched and individual crimes against the
Serbs were replaced with mass executions. In the cornfield near the
village Jankovci 65 Serbs were slaughtered. They have all been
identified. In the village Svinjarevo, 25 Serbs were slaughtered, and
so on. The entire villages were destroyed in the regions of Papuk and
Slunj.

The most widespread form of terror against the Serbian population were
forced expulsions -- the strongest link between the years 1941 and
1991.

These activities begun in Western Slavonija right after the HDZ
victory in the elections. A psychosis of fear was created in order to
force people to move out. Various methods were being employed, like
orchestrated mocking of the Serbian children in schools, arresting
people and taking them to police stations, cutting off the telephone
lines, mass firing of Serbs from their jobs, dynamiting of their
homes...

On October 29, 1991, the Crisis Office in Slavonska Pozega issued an
order on eviction of the Serbian population from 24 villages:
Oblakovac, Orjača, Slatina and so on, and within the next 48 hours.
The order was made public via radio stations and press. Those who
refused to comply were taken to detention camps.

The first major exodus of Serbs from the regions of Podravska Slatina
and Daruvar took place. From July 1991 to August 1992, 193 villages
populated by Serbs were ethnically cleansed. Reliable documents
regarding all of this have been submitted to the European Community.