Data: 06/04/2001 17:13
Da: global reflexion
A: office@...
Oggetto: Professor Mihailo Markovic on arrest of Milosevic
The Global Reflexion Foundation contributes, according to its ability,
to
the distribution of information on international issues that in the
media
does not recieve proper attention or is presented in a distorted way. We
receive information from different sources, that does not necessary
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*********************************************************
Friday, april 6, 2001
1. Professor Mihailo Markovic on arrest of Milosevic
2. Cuban Exile Group Says Milosevic Arrest Sends Message To Castro
3. Kosovo, the west's Chechnya
4. Croatian Army was the classic aggressor in the war in Bosnia
Herzegovina
**********************************************************
PROFESSOR MIHAILO MARKOVIC ON ARREST OF MILOSEVIC
Most important Yugoslav living philosopher, professor Mihailo Markovic,
member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, member of several
international scientific societies and visiting professor in many
foreign
universities, including in USA, made today the following statement on
the
arrest of president Milosevic:
Present Yugoslav authorities know that Slobodan Milosevic is not a war
criminal and yet they arrested him and intend to deliver him to the
Hague
tribunal the partiality of which is quite obvious. Its prosecutor,
notorious Carla Del Ponte declared in advance that for his "crimes"
Milosevic will get life imprisonment. He is guilty before anything was
proven, he is punished before the trial even started. In any truly legal
institution this lady would be fired and the case dismissed.
Unfortunately
the Hague tribunal is not a legal but a political institution fully
subordinated to the only-remaining word superpower.
It is common knowledge that multinational former Yugoslavia was not
broken
by former Yugoslav president but by separatist forces, supported from
outside. All evidence points out that the four wars in former Yugoslavia
were not produced by Milosevic but by paramilitary forces of
secessionists.
There were indeed appalling atrocities in those wars, as in every civil
war
in history. But they were committed by all parties. There was no
systematic
Serbian policy deserving to be characterized as genocide or crime
against
humanity. Besides, when similar crimes took place in some other wars
(for
example war in Vietnam) only those who committed them were held
responsible, not presidents of USA and other countries.
Certainly everyone, including Milosevic is responsible if he broke the
international low and the lows of his country. However, our entire
civilization and any truly legal system rest on the principle that guilt
must be proven and that each human being must be presumed innocent
before
trial begins. I am convinced that Milosevic would not have been arrested
had this not been demanded by the USA in order to absolve itself from
the
moral and legal responsibility for bombardment of Yugoslavia.
Mihailo Markovic, is member of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
********************************************
CUBAN EXILE GROUP SAYS MILOSEVIC ARREST SENDS MESSAGE TO CASTRO
By Jim Burns CNS Senior Staff Writer
April 05, 2001 - (CNSNews.com) - The Cuban American National Foundation
Wednesday congratulated the Yugoslavian government for arresting its
former
president, Slobodan Milosevic, saying Cuban leader Fidel Castro should
learn from Milosevic's experience.
"Milosevic's arrest sends an important message to tyrants everywhere:
You
can no longer commit gross human rights abuses and hide behind the
outdated
doctrine of executive privilege," CANF Executive Vice President Dennis
Hays
said in a statement.
"There is an emerging international consensus that dictators can and
should
be held accountable for their crimes," said Hays in a pointed reference
to
Castro.
In the case of Cuba, Hays noted, "It is a forgone conclusion that in a
democratic Cuba, Fidel Castro would be brought before the courts to
answer
for his crimes. This is one reason why Castro denies the Cuban people
any
free voice in their government."
Hays believes the international community should "bring Castro to
account
for his direct involvement in crimes against the citizens of other
nations,
such as his admitted culpability in the premeditated murder of four
individuals in the shoot down of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft."
Four Cuban exiles died on Feb. 24, 1996, when Cuban MIGs fired on planes
belonging to the Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based Cuban exile
group.
The brothers contend they were in international airspace over the
Florida
Straits.
CANF also congratulated the United States government and the
international
community for exerting "positive pressure" on Yugoslavia to undertake
Milosevic's arrest.
"The targeted use of economic sanctions clearly helped bring about this
important development. We call upon the international community to
continue
to press Yugoslavia to take the next step, Milosevic's extradition to
The
Hague to answer for his many crimes," Hays said.
*************************************
KOSOVO, THE WEST'S CHECHNYA
By Yuri Luzhkov
Nato has caused severe harm in the Balkans by believing that Albanian
desires for autonomy can be satisfied.
Two years have passed since Nato launched its military operation against
Yugoslavia. Under the guise of protecting Kosovar Albanians, Nato
inflicted
an exemplary punishment of bombings and blockades. Rarely were
dissenting
voices allowed to intrude on western public opinion.
At that time, I called Kosovo another Chechnya. I see now that if I
erred
it was in being over-optimistic. In 1999 there were already signs of
Kosovo's "Chechenisation". There was mass hostage-taking along ethnic
lines
and there was religious intolerance - the Kosovo Liberation Army was
even
forcing Catholic Albanians to leave. Serbian monasteries were destroyed
and
priests were kidnapped. Almost all the Serbian population has now been
expelled from the region of Kosovo. Almost all the historical monuments
have been ruined. We profess shock at the destruction of Buddhas in
Afghanistan but we have allowed history to be destroyed in the very
centre
of Europe.
Why is this cultural destruction occurring? Because it does not suit the
Kosovars to have evidence exposing them as relatively recent arrivals in
this land. In much the same way, Chechen rebels regularly destroy
evidence
that the plains of Chechnya were settled by the Cossacks of the north
Caucasus.
Macedonia is now becoming the victim of the very Albanians whom, until
recently, it had supported under pressure from Nato. Out of Nato's
bombs a
cancer has grown and it continues to spread.
Some people in Nato must have thought the Albanians could be easily
pacified. Their attitude must have been: they already have a state,
Albania
- let them annex to it all the territories where Albanians have settled.
They must also have thought: they have military forces - let them have
the
terrorists of the KLA as well. That will culminate in a Greater Albania.
True, it will be big and bloody - but it will still meet the legal norms
making it admissible to the United Nations.
That attitude is wrong - it will not be the end. Many rebellious
Albanians
will never settle for a peaceful life. Their country is the poorest in
Europe. Driven by political or economic forces, they will spread across
the
continent, forming a network of desperate sellers of arms and drugs. As
a
result, Europe will encounter its own clash of civilisations: a majority
operating by 21st-century legal and ethical standards will confront a
minority with far more ancient standards and yet with modern arms at
their
disposal.
To avoid a new battle of Poitiers, or of Vienna, Europe should analyse
the
situation in Pristina. In doing so, it may find Russia's sad experience
in
Chechnya to be of considerable help. The war in Chechnya began when some
former Russian leaders thought a tank regiment could solve a local
failure
in their nation-building. With Kosovo, Nato thought a bombing campaign
could rid them of one Serbian leader. An insignificant aim was pursued
with
enough force to shatter the calm of an entire region and leave
thousands of
dead and injured.
The Kosovars have taken the Chechen experience into account - and
reproduced it diligently. In Chechnya, the mono-ethnic path was clear by
the end of the Soviet period. A significant portion of the non-Chechen
population was forced out before the revolution led by Djohar Dudaev.
This
greatly assisted the second, outright separatist stage.
The same has happened in Kosovo: Serbs were already being squeezed out
during the peaceful times under Tito. But Kosovo has never belonged to
the
Albanians. Indeed, Tito invited many of them as part of his plan to
create
a Balkan federation.
It seems that now nobody is ready to resist the Kosovar brigands. At
least
when Yevgeny Primakov was prime minister of Russia, he turned his
aircraft
around in mid-flight, abandoning a trip to the US, to protest against
the
bombardment. But soon after that, Russia was not even prepared to
insist on
its own sector of control in Kosovo, which would have saved some of the
Serb population from exile.
With Serbia humiliated and Russia "contained", Nato alone must now
answer
for the Kosovo settlement. Perhaps that is why it has suddenly
remembered
the existence of the Yugoslav national army, which it was accusing of
all
possible sins just two years ago.
The Yugoslavs can bring real force to bear. Their motherland is at stake
and they alone must save it. There can be no hope of relying on a
transatlantic uncle. Russia has lived through this situation. Israel has
also lived through it. Now it is the turn of Yugoslavia. The rest of
Europe
must understand. As in medieval times, the question is not one of
comfort
but of survival.
The writer is mayor of Moscow
******************************************
CROATIAN ARMY WAS THE CLASSIC AGGRESSOR IN THE WAR IN BOSNIA
HERZEGOVINA
The Croatian newspaper Nacional is in possession of documentation and
witness testimonies that unquestionably prove that the Croatian Army was
the classic aggressor in the war in neighbouring Bosnia Herzegovina.
These
documents refer to the 175th Brigade which in the first half of 1994 was
sent to the "Uskoplje-Ram Battlefield", as military support for the
Convicts Brigade led by Mladen Naletilic Tuta, now a prisoner in the
Hague.
Formed by order of Gojko Susak, then Defense Minister, the 175th
Brigade is
a clear example of the so-called parallel military-political command
lines
which skirted the constitutional authority of the parliament, and also
the
HV General Staff.
The documents and evidence reached Nacional from military circles,
meaning
that within the Defense Ministry and General Staff archives are
certainly
many others like them. This proves that Vesna Pusic, HNS president, was
the
only person speaking the truth regarding the Croatian aggression on
Bosnia
Herzegovina. Also, the same documents show that the remaining
politicians
of the governing coalition, acting as though they have no idea, are
participating in covering up one of the greatest HDZ crimes: the misuse
of
entire units of the Croatian Army in a secret conquest on another
country's
territory.
Perfidious Lie
The lie is even more perfidious in that the leaders of the 175th Brigade
are even today in high ranking military functions in Croatia. The
Brigade
commander Franjo Primorac is employed at the Croatian Military Academy.
An
even more dramatic example is Miroslav Vidovic, who is currently the
right
hand to Military Chief of Staff Petar Stipetic. Vidovic was the chief of
security for the brigade, precisely at the time of its Bosnian
escapades,
and his headquarters were in Prozor.
Nacional is in possession of three key documents concerning the history
of
the 175th Brigade. One of these documents openly describes this brigade
as
a formation of the Croatian Army. In another, it is called the 175th
Brigade of HVO, and in the third it is not specified as to which
military
organization it belongs.
However, regardless of its name, it is evident that it was financed from
the Croatian national budget and that its members received their
salaries
as soldiers of the Croatian Armed Forces.
The first is a report regarding the "securing of the town Prozor by the
175th Brigade", dated January 1, 1994, and includes a blueprint of the
school building where the brigade's command center was.
The second document is dated February 4, 1994 and is signed by Major
Andrija Skoko, command assistant for logistics, and outlines the
organization scheme for the supply and medical assistance for the 1500
troops which made up the brigade. "The main storehouse facility of the
175th Brigade is in Zagreb, at the military base 'Croatia'�Facilitative
storehouse facilities, including technical and supplies, is in the
Prozor
High School, and the commander of the logistics company of the Brigade
is
responsible for it�Ammunition in Prozor is executed via the ZP
Tomislavgrad
IZM Prozor - storehouse Brana�", outlines Skoko in his supply scheme.
The third document is even more interesting. It is entitled: "Report on
the
life and work of a brigade from its formation to its transfer into the
reserves". Written on the official letterhead of the Croatian Defense
Ministry, the text was written on May 15, 1994 by the brigade's
commander,
Franjo Primorac. It testifies to the activities of the Croatian
military on
the other side of the Croatian border, and this report also tells of the
reasons for its military defeat: the lack of motive to fight in the
name of
the HDZ imperialistic ambitions.
"The formation of the brigade began based on an order by the Defense
Minister of the Republic of Croatia on December 14, 1993 for the
mobilization of RP 9804. The actual mobilization was executed in four
different phases�", begins the eight page report by Primorac which
outlines
the problems of training in Delnice and in Pozega, with the "numerous
activities" in Bosnia Herzegovina, outlines the troubles with armament
and
soldiers injuring themselves, and warns of the activities of the "yellow
media" in conjugation with the "foreign and domestic enemies".
Underhanded Mobilization
In short, from only three documents, it is possible to reconstruct the
way
in which HV became an instrument of the HDZ invasion on the territory of
the neighbouring country. However, the actual and much
greater Croatian aggression on BiH will become clear when the all of the
archives are opened one day. From the verbal stories which have been
passing around the military bases for years, it is obvious that the
175th
Brigade is not an isolated example and that numerous Croatian units
participated in the HDZ project to take command of territory within
Bosnia
Herzegovina.
According to Susak's order, the 175th Brigade was supposed to have been
composed of Croats from BiH which had fled to Croatia at the beginning
of
the Croat-Muslim war. Ivan Andabak, cofounder and leader of the
Convict's
Brigade, was unofficially in charge of executing the mobilization. Due
to
this task, he sat in the Defense Ministry for several weeks at the end
of
1993. As Primorac explicitly states in his report, the mobilization was
based on the unofficial thesis that those Croats who had moved to
Croatia
after January 1, 1992 could be treated as deserters.
This lead to the first difficulties in filling the 175th Brigade.
According
to Primorac's report, mobilized soldiers felt that it was unjust that
their
fellow Croats who had fled from BiH in December 1991 were exempt from
mandatory service, while those who had entered Croatia in 1992 were
mobilized as punishment for "deserting". As a consequence of the obvious
resistance to this recruitment action, almost 2000 men found a way,
through
connections in the recruitment committee, to obtain documents declaring
them unfit for military service. There was also a significant number of
men
who were militarily able who called upon the constitution, and refused
to
go to war on the territory of a neighbouring country.
Forced Volunteers
These men were separated into a separate brigade and spread about the
Zadar
region. Thus the mobilization was completed by bringing together men
without any real criteria, including Croatian citizens who for years had
not had any contact with Bosnia Herzegovina, outside of family
connections.
Due to the bad turnout, the brigade was thus composed of suspicious
foreigners, underaged boys and handicapped individuals. Recall that in
the
eyes of the public and the international community, these men were
presented as volunteers who had joined, with no pressures, and were
inspired by the very idea of Herceg-Bosna, and were making themselves
available to HVO.
"The mobilization began on New Years Day, 1994. Even though the majority
were against going into
Bosnia, they treated us as volunteers. The preparations lasted for ten
days. We left the Croatia military base by bus, divided into four
companies. They gave us HVO badges and classical infantry weaponry. At
the
Vran Mountain pass we got stuck in snow, and the UNPROFOR trailers had
to
pull us out. Prozor was empty and free; our brigade served as support
for
Naletilic's Convict's Brigade, and for the most part we just watched
over
the territory they had won. Naletilic's soldiers died in troops,
penetrating towards Donji Vakuf which was divided between the Croats and
the Muslims. UNPROFOR had a monitoring mission in the Vran Mountains and
were excellently informed in all the events," recalls a former member of
the 175th Brigade, 40 years old at the time, who had been born in
Tomislavgrad but had been living and working in Croatia for two decades
already. The Brigade was, therefore, sent into Bosnia in January 1994,
and
they were transported to the so-called South Battlefield in 170 busses.
They returned to Croatia in the same way in May of the same year. In the
Uskoplje-Ram region, they had taken the position of two HVO units which
had
been sent on leave: they substituted for the so-called Lasva Company and
the Matija Vlacic Company. Primorac's report also refers to the "HV
forces"
they came across there, which left after their arrival, but the name of
that formation is not given.
Smuggling Gangs
"According to the order by the Defense Ministry of Croatia, the brigade
was
militarily assigned in late 1993 to the South Battlefield, precisely to
the
Uskoplje-Ram battlefront. In the period from December 26 to 28, 1993 in
the
area of the future engagement of the brigade, a quarters scout was sent
to
the area to look over the battlefront area and the camp position, and to
conduct the logistical preparations for the arrival of the brigade. It
is
necessary to emphasize that at that time, the brigade had only two
terrain
vehicles, make and model 'Lada Niva', at its disposal and that all of
the
support in the transport segments were received from the transportation
sector of the Defense Ministry for the transfer of troops to Prozor,
while
further transport would be dependent on HVO," writes Primorac.
The report continues to state that they arrived to find total chaos in
the
field: a disorganized position without any protection from enemy fire, a
lack of information concerning Muslim forces, and HVO forces who were
small
in number, undisciplined and only lightly armed. The greatest problems
by
far were the showdowns among smuggling gangs, and that with the
blessing of
the local military police and the local HVO leaders. It is necessary to
add
the typical disorder of the logistical experts who had, for example,
sent
off the recoilless guns without enough grenades, sniper rifles without
bullets, rocket launchers without rockets, and grenades without the
appropriate launchers. Their repeated requests for obtain equipment and
weaponry from the HVO logistics center were responded to with demands
that
they first explain exactly which HVO region they belonged to. There were
also such trivial problems such as military boots, and Primorac began to
complain in his report that his 150 soldiers had walked for weeks in
boots
that were falling apart.
In such an atmosphere, already in the first days of its combat
expeditions
in Bosnia Herzegovina, the 175th Brigade experienced three cases of
self-injury and one injury caused by negligence.
Fatal Gun Cleaning
Just before the brigade pulled out of BiH, that statistic was increased
by
three deaths caused by negligence. One Croatian soldier was killed
while he
cleaned his gun, and two died in dangerous war games played in their
positions.
The first armed conflict of the 175th Brigade against Muslim forces took
place on February 24, 1994, one day prior to the cease-fire with Army
BiH.
Two of the brigade members were killed by Muslim shelling in the area of
Kicalj. The second encounter with the Muslim army took place at Zvisce
in
April 1994. As Primorac later informed Minister Susak with great pride,
that small offensive resulted in ten Muslim deaths and only two Croatian
causalities. The brigade imprisoned five Muslims who had crossed over
onto
Croatian territory by mistake, and all five were handed over to the
superior operative command center of HVO.
Fear of Reparations
In other words, the report by Franjo Primorac is, in a real
illustration of
the Croatian military as a so-called regional, Balkan force in Bosnia
Herzegovina during the HDZ regime: in direct conflicts with the enemy,
the
175th Brigade had fewer victims that in the their leisure time.
There are many reasons why the coalition government, in spite of
documents
and thousands of living witnesses, persistently deny the very active
involvement of the Croatian military in the war for Herceg Bosna. Some
deny
it for they fundamentally believe in the HDZ project of a Great Croatia
which should include at least Herzegovina. Many others, however, like
Zdravko Tomac (SDP) deny this out of the fear of potential financial
consequences of the unofficial, never publicly admitted aggression on
Bosnia Herzegovina. "If that becomes the official position of the
international community," announced Tomac during one conversation with
Nacional's journalist, "Sarajevo might then seek war reparations."
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Da: global reflexion
A: office@...
Oggetto: Professor Mihailo Markovic on arrest of Milosevic
The Global Reflexion Foundation contributes, according to its ability,
to
the distribution of information on international issues that in the
media
does not recieve proper attention or is presented in a distorted way. We
receive information from different sources, that does not necessary
reflect
our opinion. If you don't want to receive it, please send us an e-mail.
*********************************************************
Friday, april 6, 2001
1. Professor Mihailo Markovic on arrest of Milosevic
2. Cuban Exile Group Says Milosevic Arrest Sends Message To Castro
3. Kosovo, the west's Chechnya
4. Croatian Army was the classic aggressor in the war in Bosnia
Herzegovina
**********************************************************
PROFESSOR MIHAILO MARKOVIC ON ARREST OF MILOSEVIC
Most important Yugoslav living philosopher, professor Mihailo Markovic,
member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, member of several
international scientific societies and visiting professor in many
foreign
universities, including in USA, made today the following statement on
the
arrest of president Milosevic:
Present Yugoslav authorities know that Slobodan Milosevic is not a war
criminal and yet they arrested him and intend to deliver him to the
Hague
tribunal the partiality of which is quite obvious. Its prosecutor,
notorious Carla Del Ponte declared in advance that for his "crimes"
Milosevic will get life imprisonment. He is guilty before anything was
proven, he is punished before the trial even started. In any truly legal
institution this lady would be fired and the case dismissed.
Unfortunately
the Hague tribunal is not a legal but a political institution fully
subordinated to the only-remaining word superpower.
It is common knowledge that multinational former Yugoslavia was not
broken
by former Yugoslav president but by separatist forces, supported from
outside. All evidence points out that the four wars in former Yugoslavia
were not produced by Milosevic but by paramilitary forces of
secessionists.
There were indeed appalling atrocities in those wars, as in every civil
war
in history. But they were committed by all parties. There was no
systematic
Serbian policy deserving to be characterized as genocide or crime
against
humanity. Besides, when similar crimes took place in some other wars
(for
example war in Vietnam) only those who committed them were held
responsible, not presidents of USA and other countries.
Certainly everyone, including Milosevic is responsible if he broke the
international low and the lows of his country. However, our entire
civilization and any truly legal system rest on the principle that guilt
must be proven and that each human being must be presumed innocent
before
trial begins. I am convinced that Milosevic would not have been arrested
had this not been demanded by the USA in order to absolve itself from
the
moral and legal responsibility for bombardment of Yugoslavia.
Mihailo Markovic, is member of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
********************************************
CUBAN EXILE GROUP SAYS MILOSEVIC ARREST SENDS MESSAGE TO CASTRO
By Jim Burns CNS Senior Staff Writer
April 05, 2001 - (CNSNews.com) - The Cuban American National Foundation
Wednesday congratulated the Yugoslavian government for arresting its
former
president, Slobodan Milosevic, saying Cuban leader Fidel Castro should
learn from Milosevic's experience.
"Milosevic's arrest sends an important message to tyrants everywhere:
You
can no longer commit gross human rights abuses and hide behind the
outdated
doctrine of executive privilege," CANF Executive Vice President Dennis
Hays
said in a statement.
"There is an emerging international consensus that dictators can and
should
be held accountable for their crimes," said Hays in a pointed reference
to
Castro.
In the case of Cuba, Hays noted, "It is a forgone conclusion that in a
democratic Cuba, Fidel Castro would be brought before the courts to
answer
for his crimes. This is one reason why Castro denies the Cuban people
any
free voice in their government."
Hays believes the international community should "bring Castro to
account
for his direct involvement in crimes against the citizens of other
nations,
such as his admitted culpability in the premeditated murder of four
individuals in the shoot down of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft."
Four Cuban exiles died on Feb. 24, 1996, when Cuban MIGs fired on planes
belonging to the Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based Cuban exile
group.
The brothers contend they were in international airspace over the
Florida
Straits.
CANF also congratulated the United States government and the
international
community for exerting "positive pressure" on Yugoslavia to undertake
Milosevic's arrest.
"The targeted use of economic sanctions clearly helped bring about this
important development. We call upon the international community to
continue
to press Yugoslavia to take the next step, Milosevic's extradition to
The
Hague to answer for his many crimes," Hays said.
*************************************
KOSOVO, THE WEST'S CHECHNYA
By Yuri Luzhkov
Nato has caused severe harm in the Balkans by believing that Albanian
desires for autonomy can be satisfied.
Two years have passed since Nato launched its military operation against
Yugoslavia. Under the guise of protecting Kosovar Albanians, Nato
inflicted
an exemplary punishment of bombings and blockades. Rarely were
dissenting
voices allowed to intrude on western public opinion.
At that time, I called Kosovo another Chechnya. I see now that if I
erred
it was in being over-optimistic. In 1999 there were already signs of
Kosovo's "Chechenisation". There was mass hostage-taking along ethnic
lines
and there was religious intolerance - the Kosovo Liberation Army was
even
forcing Catholic Albanians to leave. Serbian monasteries were destroyed
and
priests were kidnapped. Almost all the Serbian population has now been
expelled from the region of Kosovo. Almost all the historical monuments
have been ruined. We profess shock at the destruction of Buddhas in
Afghanistan but we have allowed history to be destroyed in the very
centre
of Europe.
Why is this cultural destruction occurring? Because it does not suit the
Kosovars to have evidence exposing them as relatively recent arrivals in
this land. In much the same way, Chechen rebels regularly destroy
evidence
that the plains of Chechnya were settled by the Cossacks of the north
Caucasus.
Macedonia is now becoming the victim of the very Albanians whom, until
recently, it had supported under pressure from Nato. Out of Nato's
bombs a
cancer has grown and it continues to spread.
Some people in Nato must have thought the Albanians could be easily
pacified. Their attitude must have been: they already have a state,
Albania
- let them annex to it all the territories where Albanians have settled.
They must also have thought: they have military forces - let them have
the
terrorists of the KLA as well. That will culminate in a Greater Albania.
True, it will be big and bloody - but it will still meet the legal norms
making it admissible to the United Nations.
That attitude is wrong - it will not be the end. Many rebellious
Albanians
will never settle for a peaceful life. Their country is the poorest in
Europe. Driven by political or economic forces, they will spread across
the
continent, forming a network of desperate sellers of arms and drugs. As
a
result, Europe will encounter its own clash of civilisations: a majority
operating by 21st-century legal and ethical standards will confront a
minority with far more ancient standards and yet with modern arms at
their
disposal.
To avoid a new battle of Poitiers, or of Vienna, Europe should analyse
the
situation in Pristina. In doing so, it may find Russia's sad experience
in
Chechnya to be of considerable help. The war in Chechnya began when some
former Russian leaders thought a tank regiment could solve a local
failure
in their nation-building. With Kosovo, Nato thought a bombing campaign
could rid them of one Serbian leader. An insignificant aim was pursued
with
enough force to shatter the calm of an entire region and leave
thousands of
dead and injured.
The Kosovars have taken the Chechen experience into account - and
reproduced it diligently. In Chechnya, the mono-ethnic path was clear by
the end of the Soviet period. A significant portion of the non-Chechen
population was forced out before the revolution led by Djohar Dudaev.
This
greatly assisted the second, outright separatist stage.
The same has happened in Kosovo: Serbs were already being squeezed out
during the peaceful times under Tito. But Kosovo has never belonged to
the
Albanians. Indeed, Tito invited many of them as part of his plan to
create
a Balkan federation.
It seems that now nobody is ready to resist the Kosovar brigands. At
least
when Yevgeny Primakov was prime minister of Russia, he turned his
aircraft
around in mid-flight, abandoning a trip to the US, to protest against
the
bombardment. But soon after that, Russia was not even prepared to
insist on
its own sector of control in Kosovo, which would have saved some of the
Serb population from exile.
With Serbia humiliated and Russia "contained", Nato alone must now
answer
for the Kosovo settlement. Perhaps that is why it has suddenly
remembered
the existence of the Yugoslav national army, which it was accusing of
all
possible sins just two years ago.
The Yugoslavs can bring real force to bear. Their motherland is at stake
and they alone must save it. There can be no hope of relying on a
transatlantic uncle. Russia has lived through this situation. Israel has
also lived through it. Now it is the turn of Yugoslavia. The rest of
Europe
must understand. As in medieval times, the question is not one of
comfort
but of survival.
The writer is mayor of Moscow
******************************************
CROATIAN ARMY WAS THE CLASSIC AGGRESSOR IN THE WAR IN BOSNIA
HERZEGOVINA
The Croatian newspaper Nacional is in possession of documentation and
witness testimonies that unquestionably prove that the Croatian Army was
the classic aggressor in the war in neighbouring Bosnia Herzegovina.
These
documents refer to the 175th Brigade which in the first half of 1994 was
sent to the "Uskoplje-Ram Battlefield", as military support for the
Convicts Brigade led by Mladen Naletilic Tuta, now a prisoner in the
Hague.
Formed by order of Gojko Susak, then Defense Minister, the 175th
Brigade is
a clear example of the so-called parallel military-political command
lines
which skirted the constitutional authority of the parliament, and also
the
HV General Staff.
The documents and evidence reached Nacional from military circles,
meaning
that within the Defense Ministry and General Staff archives are
certainly
many others like them. This proves that Vesna Pusic, HNS president, was
the
only person speaking the truth regarding the Croatian aggression on
Bosnia
Herzegovina. Also, the same documents show that the remaining
politicians
of the governing coalition, acting as though they have no idea, are
participating in covering up one of the greatest HDZ crimes: the misuse
of
entire units of the Croatian Army in a secret conquest on another
country's
territory.
Perfidious Lie
The lie is even more perfidious in that the leaders of the 175th Brigade
are even today in high ranking military functions in Croatia. The
Brigade
commander Franjo Primorac is employed at the Croatian Military Academy.
An
even more dramatic example is Miroslav Vidovic, who is currently the
right
hand to Military Chief of Staff Petar Stipetic. Vidovic was the chief of
security for the brigade, precisely at the time of its Bosnian
escapades,
and his headquarters were in Prozor.
Nacional is in possession of three key documents concerning the history
of
the 175th Brigade. One of these documents openly describes this brigade
as
a formation of the Croatian Army. In another, it is called the 175th
Brigade of HVO, and in the third it is not specified as to which
military
organization it belongs.
However, regardless of its name, it is evident that it was financed from
the Croatian national budget and that its members received their
salaries
as soldiers of the Croatian Armed Forces.
The first is a report regarding the "securing of the town Prozor by the
175th Brigade", dated January 1, 1994, and includes a blueprint of the
school building where the brigade's command center was.
The second document is dated February 4, 1994 and is signed by Major
Andrija Skoko, command assistant for logistics, and outlines the
organization scheme for the supply and medical assistance for the 1500
troops which made up the brigade. "The main storehouse facility of the
175th Brigade is in Zagreb, at the military base 'Croatia'�Facilitative
storehouse facilities, including technical and supplies, is in the
Prozor
High School, and the commander of the logistics company of the Brigade
is
responsible for it�Ammunition in Prozor is executed via the ZP
Tomislavgrad
IZM Prozor - storehouse Brana�", outlines Skoko in his supply scheme.
The third document is even more interesting. It is entitled: "Report on
the
life and work of a brigade from its formation to its transfer into the
reserves". Written on the official letterhead of the Croatian Defense
Ministry, the text was written on May 15, 1994 by the brigade's
commander,
Franjo Primorac. It testifies to the activities of the Croatian
military on
the other side of the Croatian border, and this report also tells of the
reasons for its military defeat: the lack of motive to fight in the
name of
the HDZ imperialistic ambitions.
"The formation of the brigade began based on an order by the Defense
Minister of the Republic of Croatia on December 14, 1993 for the
mobilization of RP 9804. The actual mobilization was executed in four
different phases�", begins the eight page report by Primorac which
outlines
the problems of training in Delnice and in Pozega, with the "numerous
activities" in Bosnia Herzegovina, outlines the troubles with armament
and
soldiers injuring themselves, and warns of the activities of the "yellow
media" in conjugation with the "foreign and domestic enemies".
Underhanded Mobilization
In short, from only three documents, it is possible to reconstruct the
way
in which HV became an instrument of the HDZ invasion on the territory of
the neighbouring country. However, the actual and much
greater Croatian aggression on BiH will become clear when the all of the
archives are opened one day. From the verbal stories which have been
passing around the military bases for years, it is obvious that the
175th
Brigade is not an isolated example and that numerous Croatian units
participated in the HDZ project to take command of territory within
Bosnia
Herzegovina.
According to Susak's order, the 175th Brigade was supposed to have been
composed of Croats from BiH which had fled to Croatia at the beginning
of
the Croat-Muslim war. Ivan Andabak, cofounder and leader of the
Convict's
Brigade, was unofficially in charge of executing the mobilization. Due
to
this task, he sat in the Defense Ministry for several weeks at the end
of
1993. As Primorac explicitly states in his report, the mobilization was
based on the unofficial thesis that those Croats who had moved to
Croatia
after January 1, 1992 could be treated as deserters.
This lead to the first difficulties in filling the 175th Brigade.
According
to Primorac's report, mobilized soldiers felt that it was unjust that
their
fellow Croats who had fled from BiH in December 1991 were exempt from
mandatory service, while those who had entered Croatia in 1992 were
mobilized as punishment for "deserting". As a consequence of the obvious
resistance to this recruitment action, almost 2000 men found a way,
through
connections in the recruitment committee, to obtain documents declaring
them unfit for military service. There was also a significant number of
men
who were militarily able who called upon the constitution, and refused
to
go to war on the territory of a neighbouring country.
Forced Volunteers
These men were separated into a separate brigade and spread about the
Zadar
region. Thus the mobilization was completed by bringing together men
without any real criteria, including Croatian citizens who for years had
not had any contact with Bosnia Herzegovina, outside of family
connections.
Due to the bad turnout, the brigade was thus composed of suspicious
foreigners, underaged boys and handicapped individuals. Recall that in
the
eyes of the public and the international community, these men were
presented as volunteers who had joined, with no pressures, and were
inspired by the very idea of Herceg-Bosna, and were making themselves
available to HVO.
"The mobilization began on New Years Day, 1994. Even though the majority
were against going into
Bosnia, they treated us as volunteers. The preparations lasted for ten
days. We left the Croatia military base by bus, divided into four
companies. They gave us HVO badges and classical infantry weaponry. At
the
Vran Mountain pass we got stuck in snow, and the UNPROFOR trailers had
to
pull us out. Prozor was empty and free; our brigade served as support
for
Naletilic's Convict's Brigade, and for the most part we just watched
over
the territory they had won. Naletilic's soldiers died in troops,
penetrating towards Donji Vakuf which was divided between the Croats and
the Muslims. UNPROFOR had a monitoring mission in the Vran Mountains and
were excellently informed in all the events," recalls a former member of
the 175th Brigade, 40 years old at the time, who had been born in
Tomislavgrad but had been living and working in Croatia for two decades
already. The Brigade was, therefore, sent into Bosnia in January 1994,
and
they were transported to the so-called South Battlefield in 170 busses.
They returned to Croatia in the same way in May of the same year. In the
Uskoplje-Ram region, they had taken the position of two HVO units which
had
been sent on leave: they substituted for the so-called Lasva Company and
the Matija Vlacic Company. Primorac's report also refers to the "HV
forces"
they came across there, which left after their arrival, but the name of
that formation is not given.
Smuggling Gangs
"According to the order by the Defense Ministry of Croatia, the brigade
was
militarily assigned in late 1993 to the South Battlefield, precisely to
the
Uskoplje-Ram battlefront. In the period from December 26 to 28, 1993 in
the
area of the future engagement of the brigade, a quarters scout was sent
to
the area to look over the battlefront area and the camp position, and to
conduct the logistical preparations for the arrival of the brigade. It
is
necessary to emphasize that at that time, the brigade had only two
terrain
vehicles, make and model 'Lada Niva', at its disposal and that all of
the
support in the transport segments were received from the transportation
sector of the Defense Ministry for the transfer of troops to Prozor,
while
further transport would be dependent on HVO," writes Primorac.
The report continues to state that they arrived to find total chaos in
the
field: a disorganized position without any protection from enemy fire, a
lack of information concerning Muslim forces, and HVO forces who were
small
in number, undisciplined and only lightly armed. The greatest problems
by
far were the showdowns among smuggling gangs, and that with the
blessing of
the local military police and the local HVO leaders. It is necessary to
add
the typical disorder of the logistical experts who had, for example,
sent
off the recoilless guns without enough grenades, sniper rifles without
bullets, rocket launchers without rockets, and grenades without the
appropriate launchers. Their repeated requests for obtain equipment and
weaponry from the HVO logistics center were responded to with demands
that
they first explain exactly which HVO region they belonged to. There were
also such trivial problems such as military boots, and Primorac began to
complain in his report that his 150 soldiers had walked for weeks in
boots
that were falling apart.
In such an atmosphere, already in the first days of its combat
expeditions
in Bosnia Herzegovina, the 175th Brigade experienced three cases of
self-injury and one injury caused by negligence.
Fatal Gun Cleaning
Just before the brigade pulled out of BiH, that statistic was increased
by
three deaths caused by negligence. One Croatian soldier was killed
while he
cleaned his gun, and two died in dangerous war games played in their
positions.
The first armed conflict of the 175th Brigade against Muslim forces took
place on February 24, 1994, one day prior to the cease-fire with Army
BiH.
Two of the brigade members were killed by Muslim shelling in the area of
Kicalj. The second encounter with the Muslim army took place at Zvisce
in
April 1994. As Primorac later informed Minister Susak with great pride,
that small offensive resulted in ten Muslim deaths and only two Croatian
causalities. The brigade imprisoned five Muslims who had crossed over
onto
Croatian territory by mistake, and all five were handed over to the
superior operative command center of HVO.
Fear of Reparations
In other words, the report by Franjo Primorac is, in a real
illustration of
the Croatian military as a so-called regional, Balkan force in Bosnia
Herzegovina during the HDZ regime: in direct conflicts with the enemy,
the
175th Brigade had fewer victims that in the their leisure time.
There are many reasons why the coalition government, in spite of
documents
and thousands of living witnesses, persistently deny the very active
involvement of the Croatian military in the war for Herceg Bosna. Some
deny
it for they fundamentally believe in the HDZ project of a Great Croatia
which should include at least Herzegovina. Many others, however, like
Zdravko Tomac (SDP) deny this out of the fear of potential financial
consequences of the unofficial, never publicly admitted aggression on
Bosnia Herzegovina. "If that becomes the official position of the
international community," announced Tomac during one conversation with
Nacional's journalist, "Sarajevo might then seek war reparations."
Global Reflexion - Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Ph. ++ 31 20 615 1122 - Fax: ++ 31 20 615 1120
For more news on international affairs (dutch and englsih)
see TARGETS at: http://www.targets.org/
For news and special reports on Cuban affairs (english and spanish)
see CUBAN REVIEW at: http://www.globalreflexion.org/cubanrev/
Critical webside to expose media lies and US-policy
see THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHS at: http://emperors-clothes.com/
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