Covert Action Quarterly
Spring/Summer 2000
BRINGING DEMOCRACY TO BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
By Gregory Elich.
In the popular imagination, the Western
presence in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina is seen as a
selfless humanitarian effort. NATO's mission, it is
believed, is to inculcate democratic values in an
uncivilized and irrational people. Behind the façade
of Western peacekeeping in the Balkans, though, lies a
darker reality. The benevolence of a Western
civilizing mission in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina is
never questioned. Yet an examination of NATO's
peacekeeping operation reveals a process of
colonization as deep and thoroughgoing as any seen
in the 19th century. As NATO continues to destabilize
Yugoslavia, the last stubborn holdout in
Eastern Europe against subordination to Western
domination, NATO has succeeded in expanding its
colonization to Yugoslavia's Kosovo region, at
enormous cost to the people of the Balkans. NATO's
occupation of Bosnia provides the model for many
aspects of the colonization of Kosovo.
> Establishing Western Values.
Few question the assertion that Western intervention
is bringing democracy to the people of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, but what is the real nature of
this intervention, which has assumed many forms, both
direct and indirect? Under terms of the Dayton peace
agreement, Bosnia-Herzegovina consists of two
entities, the (Bosnian Serb) Republika Srpska and the
Muslim-Croatian Federation. Throughout the civil
war, the Muslim-Croatian Federation was seen as a
client state, and indeed, the Federation itself was
a result of an agreement forged under Western
pressure. More direct intervention, though, was
necessary to place the Republika Srpska under
Western control.
The first task the West faced following the war was
the dismantling of the existing governing structure in
the Republika Srpska, and in this task the West found
a pliant partner in that entity's President, Biljana
Plavsic, a right-wing monarchist. In November 1996,
Plavsic, who had frequently complained that the
Republika Srpska Army was riddled with "reds", issued
a
decree dismissing over 100 leftist officers.
Western officials were heavily involved in selecting
the officers who would be dismissed and those who
would be promoted in their place. Prior to the
decree, Colonel Milovan Milutinovic warned that "some
of our generals are being visited by foreign
representatives, at the request of our state organs,
and offered leading positions in the army." (1) When
the dismissed officers balked at their removal,
Interior Ministry special police units blockaded army
barracks, some army buildings had their water and
electricity turned off, and the progressive army-run
Radio Krajina was closed down.
Army Headquarters responded with a statement
denouncing these moves, saying they were "carried
out by the Interior Ministry against the army on
orders from foreign mentors," and pointing out that "a
NATO spokesman publicly said that anything that
weakens the unity of the Republika Srpska Army's Main
Headquarters and the army itself is in NATO's
interest." (2) Combined pressure from the Interior
Ministry and NATO eventually forced the resignation of
these officers on November 28.
Plavsic next turned on the civilian governing
structure. In January 1997, after weeks of failed
efforts to obtain approval from the People's
Assembly for her choice of prime minister, Plavsic
waited until opposition deputies walked out of an
Assembly session to push through her surprise
nomination of another man, Milorad Dodik, for the
post. Carlos Westendorp, chief of Western civilian
operations in Bosnia, immediately hailed Dodik's
appointment, and NATO troops were dispatched to
surround the Interior Ministry in a belligerent show
of support.
The selection of Dodik was an interesting one, as his
party held only two seats in the Assembly. How did a
man whose party was barely represented in the Assembly
gain the nomination? The instantaneous Western show
of
support for the last-minute appointment hints that the
selection may not have been entirely Plavsic's.
Several months beforehand, a report in the Bosnian
Serb press alleged that Dodik "is under the direct
control of the U.S. intelligence service, the CIA,"
and that some deputies "say that he has already
travelled abroad several times for consultations and
direct instructions." (3) The effusive praise Western
leaders have since lavished on Dodik lends support to
that accusation.
On June 28, 1997, Plavsic dismissed Interior Minister
Dragan Kijac. Five days later, in violation of the
constitution, she dissolved the People's Assembly.
Western officials were quick to back Plavsic, and
David Foley, a spokesman for the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announced
that the Assembly "no longer exists." A diplomatic
source in Sarajevo admitted, "The Americans have
probably pushed Plavsic to act in such a way." (4)
The matter was referred to the Constitutional Court,
which ruled against Plavsic. The court's ruling was
simply brushed aside, as U.S. State Department
spokesman James Rubin asserted that "challenges to
[Plavsic's] actions are not legally valid," and that
Serbs who fail to comply with Western demands are
"stupid." (5) A report in the Yugoslav press alleged
that three weeks prior to the crisis, "$5 million of
the promised $30 million" were deposited into a Swiss
bank account in Plavsic's name. "The funds were
transferred from the United States," according to
"top-level civilian and military security sources" in
the Republika Srpska.
The report claimed that "the transaction is directly
linked to Biljana Plavsic's recent political
activities." Many of the people Plavsic appointed to
work in her office came from abroad, "most of whom are
supporters of the royalist movement" the report added.
( 6 )
The Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed that it had
"announced our plan to take legal measures" against
one of these employees, Aleksandr Pavic, "on the
well-founded grounds that he was working for a
foreign intelligence service," and that the Ministry
had warned Plavsic on "several of occasions"
"intelligence activities" by members of her
staff. (7)
In the first of many such actions, on August 20, 1997,
NATO troops, supported by U.S. Apache helicopter
gunships, seized police stations in Banja Luka,
ejecting police officers. (8)NATO directly hired new
policemen, who then attended training courses run by
Western police instructors. (9) UN police spokesman
Liam McDowall said of the training classes, "We
basically let them know what is expected of a normal
police force; not a socialist police force, not a
wartime police force, but a police force of a normal
democratic society." (10) Evidently, police forces in
"normal democratic societies" are dismissed,
recruited, and trained by foreign powers.
Four days later, NATO began its campaign to impose
censorship on media in the Republika Srpska. A
transmitter near Banja Luka was reprogrammed to turn
the signal over to Plavsic's control, and two days
later NATO troops seized a Serb Radio-TV transmitter
near Bijeljina.
As NATO forces surrounded Bijeljina and blocked all
access roads to the city, thousands of citizens turned
out in a mass demonstration. Low-flying NATO
helicopters harassed the demonstrators. The next day,
NATO forces took another transmitter near Doboj and
arrested its staff.
Each of the seized transmitters was turned over to
Plavsic's control. At 4:00 AM on August 28, NATO
troops moved into the town of Brcko. Air raid sirens
sounded an alert, and thousands turned out in a mass
demonstration. Demonstrators fought NATO troops with
sticks and rocks, while NATO troops fired tear-gas
canisters and warning shots. Tanks and armored
vehicles were sent into the town, but were eventually
forced to withdraw after seventy of them were
damaged. (11) Infuriated, NATO Secretary-General
Javier Solana warned that NATO "will not hesitate to
take the necessary measures, including the use of
force, against media networks or programs" that
denounced Western occupation. (12) Further threats and
pressure constrained opposition, and by the end of
November, NATO had completed its systematic seizure of
Serb radio and television transmitters and police
stations.
In April 1998, Western officials announced the
creation of a tribunal to monitor and govern media in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. The tribunal not only arrogated to
itself the power to shut down radio, television and
newspapers that voice criticism of NATO's occupation
of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, but also the authority to write
laws regulating broadcasting. Simon Haselock,spokesman
for Western civilian operations in Bosnia claimed,
"It's not about censorship," but what else is it when
foreign powers dictate what media can and cannot say,
and revoke the licenses of media which present
alternative viewpoints? What else is it when elected
representatives are not permitted to write laws
regulating broadcasting in their own nation, but must
have these laws written and submitted by foreign
powers?
Was it not censorship when the tribunal ordered
Television Kanal S in the Republika Srpska to
"immediately cease broadcasting" on April 14, 1999?
According to the tribunal, Television Kanal S did not
carry Western news programs, and committed "a serious
violation" when it broadcast a message from Sarajevo
University students in which citizens of the Republika
Srpska "were invited to join the students in a
peaceful protest" against NATO's bombing of
Yugoslavia. (13)
Western policy in ruling Bosnia-Herzegovina is direct
and heavy-handed.
On December 17, 1997, Westendorp simply imposed a new
citizenship law after the Bosnia-Herzegovina
parliament failed to meet his arbitrary 48-hour
deadline for passage of the law. (14) Similarly, he
unilaterally imposed a new Western-designed flag and
Western-designed and produced currency, the
"convertible mark". Political candidates have been
stricken from election lists, based on the flimsiest
excuses. In the November 1997 election, the OSCE
election commission eliminated three candidates of the
Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) because posters of
former Republika Srpska president Radovan Karadzic had
appeared. The SDS was not permitted to replace these
candidates. The following year, nine candidates of
the Serbian Radical Party were deleted from election
lists because a television station in neighboring
Yugoslavia broadcast an interview with the party's
presidential candidate, Nikola Poplasen. During the
same election, two SDS assembly candidates were
disqualified because, as a spokeswoman for the OSCE
said, "twice at [an election rally] an SDS supporter
held up a portrait of Karadzic." The OSCE also
eliminated four assembly candidates of the Croatian
Democratic Union and the mayor of Orasje because of
"biased" television reports in neighboring Croatia.
It is curious logic to assert that television reports
in an adjacent nation result in a biased election,
and that the solution is for foreign powers to dictate
whom voters may or may not vote for. (15) Western
officials reacted angrily when Nikola Poplasen
unseated Plavsic in the September 1998 presidential
election in Republika Srpska, and immediately began to
pressure him to appoint Dodik as his Prime Minister.
According to Poplasen, Western officials "demanded"
the appointment of Dodik "unconditionally." They
also pressured Poplasen to "break off relations" with
Yugoslavia and in effect treat it as an "enemy
nation", and his refusal to bow to either demand
evoked tremendous Western hostility. (16) Such
disobedience brought a swift response, and on March 5,
1999, Westendorp issued a statement declaring the
removal of Poplasen from office "with immediate
effect." (17) The primary justification given was
Poplasen's insistence that he had a constitutional
right to choose whom he would nominate for the post of
Prime Minister.
This coup d'etat by decree deposed the legally elected
president of the Republika Srpska. Since Poplasen's
removal, the Republika Srpska government has operated
under the sole leadership of Dodik, backed by NATO
troops.
However, Dodik's term ended with the electoral defeat
of Plavsic, and there is no legal basis for his
continuing to hold office. The removal of the legally
elected government in the Republika Srpska was not
sufficient, though. There was still the risk that
Republika Srpska citizens might freely exercise their
right to vote in upcoming elections, so Western
officials began to dismantle Poplasen's party, the
Serbian Radical Party (SRS).
On October 5, 1999, the Office of the High
Representative and the OSCE jointly sent a letter to
the Serbian Radical Party, demanding the removal of
Poplasen and two other officials from leadership
positions in the party because they had criticized
NATO. "Failure to remove these persons from leadership
positions in the SRS," the letter said, "will result
in not allowing the SRS to participate in the
municipal elections in April 2000." (18) They were as
good as their word. Twenty days later, the OSCE's
Provisional Election Commission ruled that neither the
Serbian Radical Party, nor a smaller party, "will be
registered for the municipal elections in 2000 and
will not have candidates competing for local offices."
(19) The outright banning of a major political party
passed without comment in the Western press.
No pretense of democracy is made. Western dictate is
"democratic," simply by virtue of being Western.
On the same day that saw Poplasen's removal as
president, Robert Owen, Western arbitrator for the
status of the town of Brcko, announced a decision
that effectively split asunder the Republika Srpska.
The two halves of the Republika Srpska were held
together by a narrow three-mile wide strip, in which
lies Brcko. The decree removed Brcko from the
Republika Srpska and created a special district to be
held jointly by the Republika Srpska and the
Muslim-Croatian Federation. Under terms of the
decree, Bosnian Serb armed forces cannot move from one
half of their territory to the other without
permission of NATO. The decree also specifies that
Brcko may at any
time be transferred from a "non-complying entity"
and placed "within the exclusive control of the
other." (20) The decision was met by universal
Bosnian Serb rejection and US envoy Robert Gelbard
wasted no time in wielding the heavy club of
discipline, declaring that "the territory of Brcko
could still revert to the entity which is in
compliance." (21)
Following Dodik's resignation over the Brcko decision,
Western officials scrambled to talk him out of it. As
Gelbard explained it, progress on plans to privatize
state assets "is really due to Dodik's leadership."
(22) It was not long before Dodik withdrew his
resignation and announced his acceptance of the Brcko
decision. Dodik's resignation was merely play-acting,
a bow to local public opinion. He has shown no
reluctance to carry out every order, and on October 2,
1999, following his return from meeting with American
officials in the United States, he dutifully called
for the overthrow of the Yugoslav government. (23)
>Wild West Justice.
The International War Crimes Tribunal has proved to be
a useful political tool for NATO, enabling it to
seize, or even murder political enemies. On January
30, 1996, two leading Bosnian Serb generals, Djordje
Djukic and Aleksa Ksrmanovic, were invited to meet
with Western civilian and NATO officials in Ilidza, at
that time, a Serbian suburb of Sarajevo. The meeting
was a ruse. A trap had been set, and both men were
seized and imprisoned by Bosnian Muslim soldiers.
According to a British officer, the kidnapping was a
result of NATO passing information to Bosnian Muslim
forces. A high-ranking Western European intelligence
source revealed that the U.S. Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) was behind the seizure. "The DIA took a
fantastic quantity of bugging and surveillance
equipment there," he said. "The vehicle in which the
Serb officers were travelling was followed from the
air." The DIA, he added, expected the generals to be
"the most valuable sources of information. Also do
not forget that a not at all negligible number of The
Hague investigators are CIA and DIA members." (24)
Two weeks later, the men were transferred to The
Hague, where they were subjected to repeated
interrogations and pressured to accuse other Bosnian
Serb officials and officers of crimes.
Djukic's lawyer said, "It was suggested to Djukic that
the court would have a better understanding for him in
the future if he testified," and tribunal spokesman
Christian Chartier said that the fate of the men "very
much depends on what they might tell us." (25)
Both men refused to talk, however, and punishment was
swift in coming. On March 1, Djukic was charged with
the "crime against humanity" of being "assistant
commander for logistics," including such heinous acts
as "proposing appointments of personnel" and "issuing
orders relating to the supply of materiel for units of
the Bosnian Serb Army." In a pique, chief prosecutor
Richard Goldstone said he indicted Djukic because of
his refusal to talk. (26) Not even as flimsy a charge
as this could be concocted against Krsmanovic, who was
held without charge for several more weeks of
interrogations. At the time, Djukic was suffering
from an advanced case of pancreatic cancer. Despite
his pain, interrogation sessions continued unabated,
but he refused to talk to the end.
In late April he was released to return to his family,
where he died on May 19.
On July 10, 1997, a joint American-British operation
swooped down on two Bosnian Serbs, despite the lack of
a public indictment against either man. Four NATO
members gained entrance to the Prijedor Medical Center
by claiming to deliver a Red Cross package, and
arrested the hospital's director, Milan Kovacevic.
The arrest provoked an angry demonstration by 400 of
the hospital's medical staff and several hundred
citizens.
Former Prijedor security chief Simo Drljaca was less
fortunate. Shortly after he returned from fishing,
still dressed in a bathing suit, to enjoy breakfast
with family and friends, NATO troops burst into his
yard. A witness recounts, "Music was playing. I was
sitting. Then suddenly I heard screams: 'Simo, Simo!'
I turned around. Soldiers were armed.I saw Simo
getting up. At that moment, I heard bullets being
fired and they fired at him. Then I saw Simo laying
down on sand near a beach. He was laying on his side
and shaking. Then a soldier came close to him and
fired another bullet at him and finished him off."
(27)
Another NATO ambush took place on January 10,
1999, targeting a car occupied by Dragan Gagovic and
five children from his karate class. One of the
children, Sonja Bjelovic, described the ambush: "We
ran across iron bars on the road. Dragan braked to
stop the vehicle, because we could not pass.then we
heard shots. Our coach said, 'down, you can be hit.'
He tried to protect us and pass around the iron bars.
However the car was hit, tires went flat and it
overturned. I saw our coach covered with blood."
Another child, Milica Dzokovic, reported, "When the
coach told us to go down I hid under the seat and
closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes I saw the coach
covered with blood and [NATO soldiers'] gun-barrels
pointed at us." (28)
On July 6, 1999, Radislav Brdjanin, leader of the
People's Party, was kidnapped from his home in Banja
Luka and flown to The Hague, where he was imprisoned.
A month and a half later, on August 25, Republika
Srpska Chief of Staff General Momir Talic, who had
been invited to a conference in Austria, was arrested
there and flown to The Hague.
Neither man had been publicly indicted.The arrest of
these men under "secret indictments" is an effective
recipe for silencing free speech.
Inevitably, people will feel a reluctance to speak out
against NATO occupation, lest they make a target of
themselves.
Stanislav Galic's mistake was in accepting an
appointment as military advisor to Poplasen. While
Galic was driving his car on December 20, 1999,
several vehicles suddenly blocked his path. NATO
soldiers sprang out and smashed Galic's car window,
roughly dragged him out and placed a hood over his
head. Galic was flown to The Hague, where he was
imprisoned.
High Commissioner Carlos Westendorp revealed much
about the imperial attitude as he delivered his last
speech before turning over the reins to his successor,
Wolfgang Petritsch. Westendorp expressed his "wish to
quote from another famous historical figure, who said
not just that much could be achieved with a kind word,
but a kind word and a gun. This figure was Al Capone.
Joke! I've been here too long. I actually
prefer Teddy Roosevelt's 'Walk softly and carry a big
stick'. The gun or stick in this context is the
continuing presence of SFOR [NATO Stabilization Force]
and the International Community." (29)
>Covert Involvement and Military Aid.<
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, "The
CIA station in Bosnia is now reputed to be one of the
largest in the region." (30). By early 1996, the
total number of CIA operatives active in the region
had
risen to 2,500, almost half of whom were stationed at
the agency's regional headquarters in Tuzla. (31) The
DIA is also very active in the region, working in
close cooperation with the CIA. These agencies not
only engage in intelligence gathering, but also shape
events, both directly and indirectly. Most of the
international organizations present in Bosnia are
dominated and run by American officials. Local news
reports are "reshaped", that is, censored, by American
officials, and compliant media receive Western
financing, largely through the US Agency for
International Development (USAID). A report in the
Yugoslav press claims that in 1996, approximately half
a million dollars were funnelled to media in both of
Bosnia's entities. (32)
The implementation of the US Train and Equip plan has
pumped more arms into the region, posing a risk to
peace. Under the plan, the US has already supplied
Federation forces with tens of thousands of M-16
assault rifles, over 100 armored personnel carriers,
several dozen tanks, over 100 155-mm howitzers,
communications equipment, helicopters, and myriad
other
weapons.
Arms supplies from other nations have also been
arranged by US officials, and one shipment alone,
from the United Arab Emirates, consisted of 50 French
AMX-30 tanks and 41 armored vehicles.(33)The plan also
provides for American and Turkish training of
Federation forces. The Pentagon has contracted with
Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI) to
conduct training. MPRI had earlier successfully
trained the Croatian Army in preparation for its
brutal invasion of Krajina, in which over 200,000
Serbs were driven from their homes in a matter of
days.
Training sessions include the use of advanced battle
simulation computer software, as was used in
preparation for Desert Storm. Funding was also
provided to open arms factories in the Federation.In
all, eight Federation arms factories operate under
NATO
supervision, and a Federation defense ministry
spokesman announced that half of these factories
produce 122mm howitzers for its army. (34)
Officially, American officials assert the dubious
proposition that Train and Equip is necessary to
ensure peace. Quietly, they know exactly what they are
doing. Asked by a Bosnian Muslim journalist about the
Western reaction were the Federation to invade the
Republika Srpska, a "high-ranking Western diplomat"
admitted, "We would officially condemn, but we would
understand and we would probably not undertake any
efficient steps. This is exactly what we expect." (35)
"The question no longer is if the Muslims will attack
the Bosnian Serbs," warned a European NATO
commander, "but when."
Alarmed at the extent of the Federation military
buildup, Russian commanders passed NATO satellite
photos of Muslim training camps to Bosnian Serb
generals. According to information received by a
Western diplomat, "The Bosnian Serb generals were
stunned. The mood in the room was very black."
In the event of an attack, a high-ranking NATO
commander said, "We also expect most all of the Serbs
[in the Republika Srpska] to be driven into Serbia..."
(36) The threat posed by the Train and Equip plan
appears to be primarily motivated by its utility as a
means for dictating policy to the Republika Srpska.
However, if Republika Srpska officials ever display
too
much independence and recalcitrance in response to
NATO's demands, then there is little doubt that the
Muslim-Croatian Federation would receive the go-ahead
for an invasion. The Train and Equip plan can be a
two-edged sword, though, and in April 1999, US envoy
Robert Gelbard temporarily suspended the program for
four months in order to force a reorganization of
the Federation Army along lines demanded by Western
officials.
> Reshaping the Economy<
The heart of Western policy in the region is the
promotion of Western corporate interests. In late
1996, a "peace implementation conference" was held in
London, during which much of Bosnia-Herzegovina's
future was forged.
According to a report by the Press Association, the
conference "won a commitment from the Bosnian leaders
to reconstruct the shattered economy along free market
economy lines, including significant privatization and
close cooperation with the World Bank." (37) Laws
are penned and imposed by Western officials. Less
than one year after the conference, Haris Silajdzic,
co-chair of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Council of
Ministers, announced that "US Finance Secretary David
Lipton will come here bringing draft laws on
privatization at the state level" to be submitted to
the Assembly for vote. Existing draft laws on
property
relations and privatization, he said, "will be
modified according to regulations the US finance
secretary will bring." (38).
On July 2 1998, Westendorp founded a commission to
manage the privatization process in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Each privatization, including
prior actions, is subject to review and approval by
Western commission officials. (39)
An earlier law on privatization in the Republika
Srpska had previously been implemented. On December
4, 1997, Robert Farrand, of the Office of the High
Representative, issued an "Order on Privatization," in
which he mandated a "delay" of the Republika Srpska
privatization process, "so that international
assistance could be provided to make it a credible
process leading to successful transition to a free
market economy," adding that "current RS [Republika
Srpska] legislation on privatization lacks a sound
technical framework and in its current form can lead
only to large scale fraud." (40) Looking beyond the
vague nature of the complaint, and ostensible concern
about "fraud," what actually motivated the order
suspending the law? Documents from the American
Embassy in Sarajevo paint a more honest picture: "The
privatization framework is being overhauled and will
create more opportunities for involvement of potential
foreign investors," adding that a "fundamental flaw"
of the previous process "was the allocation of 47
percent of companies' shares to seven
government-managed funds."
Clearly, the "fraud" that concerned Western officials
was that Western corporations could not dominate the
process and seize the best assets. The embassy's
documents reassure investors that "The new RS
government has pledged to overhaul the privatization
framework and annulled all previous privatization
laws.
Assistance is now being provided by the World Bank and
USAID to develop new laws similar to those adopted by
the Federation." Western officials are shaping
privatization in the Republika Srpska, as they do in
the Muslim-Croatian Federation, to favor the interests
of Western investors.
The Foreign Investment Law, effective on March 1998,
and applicable to both entities, "establishes the
policy standards of promoting foreign investment and
protecting foreign investor's rights," an embassy
document declares. "The Entities will amend existing
foreign investment laws to conform to the state-level
legislation." Western officials were thorough in
ensuring their interests. The law "is progressive in
terms of its final aim which is to promote foreign
direct investment."
It is stated that the law "protects the rights of
foreign investors..there are no restrictions on>
foreign investment" except armaments and media, and
"the entities are directed to establish progressive
and favorable tax conditions that encourage foreign
investment." Furthermore, the law "expressly forbids
expropriation or nationalization actions against
foreign investments." (41)
And what role is envisioned for the people of Bosnia?
The American embassy has an answer for that,
too. "Foreign investors can utilize low-cost labor
(the lowest in the CEE [Central and Eastern Europe])
while gaining proximity and access to important
markets in the EU [European Union] and the CEE."
Bosnian people will have the privilege of joining the
Third World. Because Bosnia-Herzegovina is
essentially
land-locked, access to the Adriatic Sea is an
important prerequisite for exploiting this "low-cost
labor." Despite strong Bosnian Muslim reservations
concerning certain provisions, an agreement on special
relations was signed with neighboring Croatia, in
which the Federation was given free transit to and
use of the Croatian port of Ploce. According to a
report in the Croatian press, agreement from the
Bosnian Muslim delegation came "as a result of
pressure
from the United States." (42) In preparation for
the expansion of trade through Ploce, the World Bank
has financed a $22 million project for the
reconstruction of the main pier, and Sealand has won
a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency to
perform "a feasibility study on the development of
container terminal facilities and the corridor from
Ploce to Sarajevo (and eventually the Sava River)."
(43)
Following the removal of Brcko from the Republika
Srpska, Brcko Supervisor Robert Farrand signed an
agreement for the U.S Trade and Development Agency
to solicit bids from American firms to conduct a
six-month feasibility study of the Brcko port on the
Sava River. (44)
When deemed necessary, Western officials have readily
wielded threats in order to achieve their goals. A
Western diplomatic source revealed that "in diplomatic
talks behind closed doors, we are, sort of,
intimidating [Republika Srpska] politicians" with the
possibility of invasion by Federation troops. "The
tendency is to stimulate and open up economically"
the Republika Srpska, he added. "When, in some
diplomatic efforts, we try to 'soften' their stances,
we always hint at their possible war defeat. We
always use the illustration of Krajina." (45)
Threats against the Federation are less aggressive, if
no less effective. On November 10, 1998, the Contact
Group, which oversees policy in Bosnia, and is chaired
by the US, issued a statement threatening a cutoff of
millions of dollars in aid to the Federation. An
American spokesman bluntly stated that "the time
has come and, in fact, is overdue for the governments
of Bosnia to be making the transition - and [they]
should be making it rapidly - to a sustainable market
economy. We are prepared to cut off projects,programs,
anything to get their attention." The spokesman
demanded "much more progress on privatization" and
foreign investment. (46)
NATO is establishing a permanent presence in the
Balkans. NATO's savage bombing of Yugoslavia was
motivated solely by the desire to establish a NATO-run
colony in Kosovo. The Yugoslav government consistently
called for return of all refugees, greater autonomy in
Kosovo, and an international presence in Kosovo. The
only divisive issue was the nature of that presence,
with NATO insisting on its control of the province.
NATO bases are being constructed in Zadar and
Slavonski Brod, Croatia, and NATO is providing funds
for Bulgaria to upgrade three military airfields to
"NATO standards," although these airfields are
currently adequate for Bulgaria's aircraft. (47) Whose
planes, then, are these upgrades intended for, if not
Bulgaria's? A poor Bosnian Serb, Radoslav Skrba,
wonders, "How is it that all these Western armies now
have bases here? Could it be that it was their
strategy all along? During the Communist time we were
warned that the West wanted to come here and now here
they are." (48)
NOTES
1. Colonel Milovan Milutinovic, "Loss of Supreme
Command," Nin (Belgrade),
November 1, 1996.
2. "Don't Push Us Into a Fratricidal War!", Blic
(Belgrade), November 13,
1996.
3. Nikola Zeklic, "Dancing to the CIA's Rhythm,"
Oslobodjenje (Sarajevo -
Bosnian Serb), April 4, 1996.
4. "OSCE Says Pale Assembly 'No Longer Exists,"
Agence France-Presse
(Paris), July 4, 1997.
5. "U.S. Supports Bosnian Serb President in Court
Case," Reuters, August 15,
1997.
6. "U.S. Allegedly to Deposit $30 Million in Plavsic
Account," Beta
(Belgrade), July 1, 1997.
7. "Plavsic Aides Accused as Spies," SRNA (Pale),
August 24, 1997.
8. Colin Soloway, "NATO Forces Seize Police Stations
in Bosnian City,"
Washington Post, August 21, 1997.
9. Chris Stephen, "IPTF Screens, Retrains Police in
RS," Agence
France-Presse (Paris), August 22, 1997. "IPTF
Trains Republika Srpska
Police Officers," Tanjug (Belgrade), August 26,
1997.
10. Srecko Latal, "Bosnian Serb Military Warns
President Against Dividing
Bosnian Serb Territory," Associated Press, August
22, 1997.
11. Edward Cody, "Bosnian Serb's Backers Stone
American Troops," Washington
Post, August 29, 1997. Misha Savic, "Serbs Force
U.N. Team to Withdraw,"
Associated Press, August 29, 1997.
12. Misha Savic, "NATO Commander Warns Bosnia
Media," Associated Press,
August 30, 1997.
13. "Media Monitoring Commission Shuts Down Kanal S
TV," BETA (Belgrade),
April 14, 1999
14. "Westendorp Proclaims Citizenship Law," B92 Open
Serbia (Belgrade),
December 17, 1997.
15. "OSCE Strikes 3 Serb Candidates Off SDS Election
List," SRNA (Pale),
November 21, 1997.
"Bosnia Serb Party Sanctioned for Karadzic Picture,"
Agence France-Presse,
September 1, 1998.
"Nine Delisted for Bosnian Serb's TV Interview,"
Agence France-Presse,
September 21, 1998.
"Bosnian Croat Candidates Disqualified by TV
Bias," Reuters,
September 4, 1998.
16. "Poplasen Defends Actions While in Office," SRNA
(Pale), March 7, 1999.
Interview with Nikola Poplasen, by Branislav
Radivojsa, "Poplasen: Assembly
Must Oppose Unconstitutional Behavior of Dodik's
Government," Politika
(Belgrade), September 3, 1999.
17. Office of the High Representative, "Removal From
Office of Nikola
Poplasen," OHR Press Release (Sarajevo), March 5,
1999.
18. Joint OHR/OSCE Press Release, "SRS Must Refile
Application for Party
Registration," October 5, 1999.
19. OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina Press
Release, "PEC Denies
Certification for Serb Radical and SRSS Parties for
Municipal Elections
2000," Sarajevo, October 25, 1999.
20. "Final Award, Arbitral Tribunal for Dispute
Over Inter-Entity Boundary
in Brcko Area." March 5, 1999.
21. "Mediators Warn Bosnia Serbs to Comply with
Brcko Ruling." Agence
France-Presse (Paris), March 19, 1999.
22. "US Envoy Hopes Moderate Bosnia Serb PM Will
Stay." Reuters (London),
March 10, 1999.
23. "Dodik Returns from US, Backs Anti-Milosevic
Rallies," BETA (Belgrade),
October 2, 1999.
24. Vesna Hadzivukovic, "Americans Preparing New
Kidnappings," Telegraf
(Belgrade), February 14, 1996.
25. "Serb Officers Might be Witnesses in The Hague,"
Associated Press,
February 23, 1996.
26. The Prosecutor of the Tribunal, CASE No
IT-96-20-I, "Against Dorde Dukic
(sic) Indictment."
27. Broadcast, Srpksa Televizija (Pale), July 10,
1997.
28. "Children Describe Gagovic's 'Brutal Murder',"
Tanjug (Belgrade),
January 10, 1999.
29. Office of the High Representative, "Speech of
the High Representative
Carlos Westendorp at the Stability Pact Dinner,"
Sarajevo, July 29, 1999.
30. Tracy Wilkinson, "In Bosnia, U.S. Creeps Deeper,
Los Angeles Times,
November 11, 1997.
31. "From the Jungle to the Balkans," Politika
Ekspres (Belgrade), January
22, 1996.
32. "Daily Criticizes USAID Funding of B-H
Independent Media," Beta
(Belgrade), April 29, 1997.
33. "New Weapons Shipments for Bosnia's US-LEF
Rearmament Programme," Agence
France-Presse
(Paris), October 13, 1997.
A Prlenda, "Weapons for Peace and
Stabilization," Oslobodjenje
(Bosnian Muslim), November 22,
1996.
Nick Gowing, "Return to War," The Sunday
Telegraph (London),
December 1, 1996.
"Arms Shipment from Turkey Arrives in Ploce
Port," HINA (Zagreb),
July 26, 1997.
Srecko Latal, "United States Helping Rearm
Muslim-Croat Army: Allies
Object," Associated Press,
May 23, 1996.
34. James Drake, "Old GIs Fade Away - to Bosnia,"
Baltimore Sun, November
12, 1997.
Nedim Dervisbegovic, "Bosnian Firms Produce
Artillery with U.S. Aid,"
Reuters, October 17, 1997.
"U.S. Envoy Visits U.S-Aided Bosnian Army Factory,"
Agence France-Presse
(Paris), September 5, 1997.
35. Edina Becirevic, "If the Refugees Do Not Return
Next Year, the World
Will Tolerate That as Well!",
Slobodna Bosna (Sarajevo), September 21, 1997.
36. Chris Hedges, "Bosnian Muslims Said to Intensify
Efforts to Rearm in
Secret," New York Times,
October 3, 1997.
37. Charles Miller, "Tough Action Agreed to in Hunt
for Bosnia's War
Criminals," Press Association
(London), December 5, 1996.
38. A Pilav, "Draft Laws Arriving from the US!",
Dnevi Avaz (Sarajevo),
October 7, 1997.
39. Sead Numanovic, "Westendorp Forms a Commission,"
Dnevi Avaz (Sarajevo),
July 2, 1998.
40. Office of the High Representative, "Order on
Privatization," December 4,
1997.
41. American Embassy, Sarajevo, "The Commercial
Guide to Bosnia and
Herzegovina," June, 1998.
42. "Croatia, Federation Sign Special Relations
Agreement," HINA (Zagreb),
November 22, 1998.
"Bosnia, Croatia Form Special Relations," UPI,
November 22, 1998.
"Croatia Opens Up Key Port to Bosnia in Thawing of
Relations," Agence
France-Presse, November 22, 1998.
43. American Embassy, Sarajevo, "The Commercial
Guide to Bosnia and
Herzegovina," June, 1998.
44. OHR Press Release, "Brcko Port Feasibility Study
Agreement Signed," June
4, 1999.
45. Edina Becirevic, "If the Refugees Do Not Return
Next Year, the World
Will Tolerate That as Well!",
Slobodna Bosna (Sarajevo), September 21, 1997.
46. Carol Giacomo, "U.S. and Allies May Turn Off Aid
Tap," Reuters, November
9, 1998.
"U.S. Threatens Aid Cut," UPI, November 9, 1998.
"Contact Group Signals It Wants to Cut Bosnian Aid,"
Reuters, November 10,
1998.
47. Marko Barisic, "Referendum for NATO bases?"
Vjesnik (Zagreb), February
10, 1998. Emanuil Manev, "NATO
is Promoting its Own
Interest," Kontinent (Sofia), October 17, 1998.
48. Mike O'Connor, "Bosnian Serbs, Unhappy in Serb
Republic, Fear Return to
Bosnia," New York Times, September 18, 1998.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Spring/Summer 2000
BRINGING DEMOCRACY TO BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
By Gregory Elich.
In the popular imagination, the Western
presence in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina is seen as a
selfless humanitarian effort. NATO's mission, it is
believed, is to inculcate democratic values in an
uncivilized and irrational people. Behind the façade
of Western peacekeeping in the Balkans, though, lies a
darker reality. The benevolence of a Western
civilizing mission in post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina is
never questioned. Yet an examination of NATO's
peacekeeping operation reveals a process of
colonization as deep and thoroughgoing as any seen
in the 19th century. As NATO continues to destabilize
Yugoslavia, the last stubborn holdout in
Eastern Europe against subordination to Western
domination, NATO has succeeded in expanding its
colonization to Yugoslavia's Kosovo region, at
enormous cost to the people of the Balkans. NATO's
occupation of Bosnia provides the model for many
aspects of the colonization of Kosovo.
> Establishing Western Values.
Few question the assertion that Western intervention
is bringing democracy to the people of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, but what is the real nature of
this intervention, which has assumed many forms, both
direct and indirect? Under terms of the Dayton peace
agreement, Bosnia-Herzegovina consists of two
entities, the (Bosnian Serb) Republika Srpska and the
Muslim-Croatian Federation. Throughout the civil
war, the Muslim-Croatian Federation was seen as a
client state, and indeed, the Federation itself was
a result of an agreement forged under Western
pressure. More direct intervention, though, was
necessary to place the Republika Srpska under
Western control.
The first task the West faced following the war was
the dismantling of the existing governing structure in
the Republika Srpska, and in this task the West found
a pliant partner in that entity's President, Biljana
Plavsic, a right-wing monarchist. In November 1996,
Plavsic, who had frequently complained that the
Republika Srpska Army was riddled with "reds", issued
a
decree dismissing over 100 leftist officers.
Western officials were heavily involved in selecting
the officers who would be dismissed and those who
would be promoted in their place. Prior to the
decree, Colonel Milovan Milutinovic warned that "some
of our generals are being visited by foreign
representatives, at the request of our state organs,
and offered leading positions in the army." (1) When
the dismissed officers balked at their removal,
Interior Ministry special police units blockaded army
barracks, some army buildings had their water and
electricity turned off, and the progressive army-run
Radio Krajina was closed down.
Army Headquarters responded with a statement
denouncing these moves, saying they were "carried
out by the Interior Ministry against the army on
orders from foreign mentors," and pointing out that "a
NATO spokesman publicly said that anything that
weakens the unity of the Republika Srpska Army's Main
Headquarters and the army itself is in NATO's
interest." (2) Combined pressure from the Interior
Ministry and NATO eventually forced the resignation of
these officers on November 28.
Plavsic next turned on the civilian governing
structure. In January 1997, after weeks of failed
efforts to obtain approval from the People's
Assembly for her choice of prime minister, Plavsic
waited until opposition deputies walked out of an
Assembly session to push through her surprise
nomination of another man, Milorad Dodik, for the
post. Carlos Westendorp, chief of Western civilian
operations in Bosnia, immediately hailed Dodik's
appointment, and NATO troops were dispatched to
surround the Interior Ministry in a belligerent show
of support.
The selection of Dodik was an interesting one, as his
party held only two seats in the Assembly. How did a
man whose party was barely represented in the Assembly
gain the nomination? The instantaneous Western show
of
support for the last-minute appointment hints that the
selection may not have been entirely Plavsic's.
Several months beforehand, a report in the Bosnian
Serb press alleged that Dodik "is under the direct
control of the U.S. intelligence service, the CIA,"
and that some deputies "say that he has already
travelled abroad several times for consultations and
direct instructions." (3) The effusive praise Western
leaders have since lavished on Dodik lends support to
that accusation.
On June 28, 1997, Plavsic dismissed Interior Minister
Dragan Kijac. Five days later, in violation of the
constitution, she dissolved the People's Assembly.
Western officials were quick to back Plavsic, and
David Foley, a spokesman for the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announced
that the Assembly "no longer exists." A diplomatic
source in Sarajevo admitted, "The Americans have
probably pushed Plavsic to act in such a way." (4)
The matter was referred to the Constitutional Court,
which ruled against Plavsic. The court's ruling was
simply brushed aside, as U.S. State Department
spokesman James Rubin asserted that "challenges to
[Plavsic's] actions are not legally valid," and that
Serbs who fail to comply with Western demands are
"stupid." (5) A report in the Yugoslav press alleged
that three weeks prior to the crisis, "$5 million of
the promised $30 million" were deposited into a Swiss
bank account in Plavsic's name. "The funds were
transferred from the United States," according to
"top-level civilian and military security sources" in
the Republika Srpska.
The report claimed that "the transaction is directly
linked to Biljana Plavsic's recent political
activities." Many of the people Plavsic appointed to
work in her office came from abroad, "most of whom are
supporters of the royalist movement" the report added.
( 6 )
The Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed that it had
"announced our plan to take legal measures" against
one of these employees, Aleksandr Pavic, "on the
well-founded grounds that he was working for a
foreign intelligence service," and that the Ministry
had warned Plavsic on "several of occasions"
"intelligence activities" by members of her
staff. (7)
In the first of many such actions, on August 20, 1997,
NATO troops, supported by U.S. Apache helicopter
gunships, seized police stations in Banja Luka,
ejecting police officers. (8)NATO directly hired new
policemen, who then attended training courses run by
Western police instructors. (9) UN police spokesman
Liam McDowall said of the training classes, "We
basically let them know what is expected of a normal
police force; not a socialist police force, not a
wartime police force, but a police force of a normal
democratic society." (10) Evidently, police forces in
"normal democratic societies" are dismissed,
recruited, and trained by foreign powers.
Four days later, NATO began its campaign to impose
censorship on media in the Republika Srpska. A
transmitter near Banja Luka was reprogrammed to turn
the signal over to Plavsic's control, and two days
later NATO troops seized a Serb Radio-TV transmitter
near Bijeljina.
As NATO forces surrounded Bijeljina and blocked all
access roads to the city, thousands of citizens turned
out in a mass demonstration. Low-flying NATO
helicopters harassed the demonstrators. The next day,
NATO forces took another transmitter near Doboj and
arrested its staff.
Each of the seized transmitters was turned over to
Plavsic's control. At 4:00 AM on August 28, NATO
troops moved into the town of Brcko. Air raid sirens
sounded an alert, and thousands turned out in a mass
demonstration. Demonstrators fought NATO troops with
sticks and rocks, while NATO troops fired tear-gas
canisters and warning shots. Tanks and armored
vehicles were sent into the town, but were eventually
forced to withdraw after seventy of them were
damaged. (11) Infuriated, NATO Secretary-General
Javier Solana warned that NATO "will not hesitate to
take the necessary measures, including the use of
force, against media networks or programs" that
denounced Western occupation. (12) Further threats and
pressure constrained opposition, and by the end of
November, NATO had completed its systematic seizure of
Serb radio and television transmitters and police
stations.
In April 1998, Western officials announced the
creation of a tribunal to monitor and govern media in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. The tribunal not only arrogated to
itself the power to shut down radio, television and
newspapers that voice criticism of NATO's occupation
of
Bosnia-Herzegovina, but also the authority to write
laws regulating broadcasting. Simon Haselock,spokesman
for Western civilian operations in Bosnia claimed,
"It's not about censorship," but what else is it when
foreign powers dictate what media can and cannot say,
and revoke the licenses of media which present
alternative viewpoints? What else is it when elected
representatives are not permitted to write laws
regulating broadcasting in their own nation, but must
have these laws written and submitted by foreign
powers?
Was it not censorship when the tribunal ordered
Television Kanal S in the Republika Srpska to
"immediately cease broadcasting" on April 14, 1999?
According to the tribunal, Television Kanal S did not
carry Western news programs, and committed "a serious
violation" when it broadcast a message from Sarajevo
University students in which citizens of the Republika
Srpska "were invited to join the students in a
peaceful protest" against NATO's bombing of
Yugoslavia. (13)
Western policy in ruling Bosnia-Herzegovina is direct
and heavy-handed.
On December 17, 1997, Westendorp simply imposed a new
citizenship law after the Bosnia-Herzegovina
parliament failed to meet his arbitrary 48-hour
deadline for passage of the law. (14) Similarly, he
unilaterally imposed a new Western-designed flag and
Western-designed and produced currency, the
"convertible mark". Political candidates have been
stricken from election lists, based on the flimsiest
excuses. In the November 1997 election, the OSCE
election commission eliminated three candidates of the
Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) because posters of
former Republika Srpska president Radovan Karadzic had
appeared. The SDS was not permitted to replace these
candidates. The following year, nine candidates of
the Serbian Radical Party were deleted from election
lists because a television station in neighboring
Yugoslavia broadcast an interview with the party's
presidential candidate, Nikola Poplasen. During the
same election, two SDS assembly candidates were
disqualified because, as a spokeswoman for the OSCE
said, "twice at [an election rally] an SDS supporter
held up a portrait of Karadzic." The OSCE also
eliminated four assembly candidates of the Croatian
Democratic Union and the mayor of Orasje because of
"biased" television reports in neighboring Croatia.
It is curious logic to assert that television reports
in an adjacent nation result in a biased election,
and that the solution is for foreign powers to dictate
whom voters may or may not vote for. (15) Western
officials reacted angrily when Nikola Poplasen
unseated Plavsic in the September 1998 presidential
election in Republika Srpska, and immediately began to
pressure him to appoint Dodik as his Prime Minister.
According to Poplasen, Western officials "demanded"
the appointment of Dodik "unconditionally." They
also pressured Poplasen to "break off relations" with
Yugoslavia and in effect treat it as an "enemy
nation", and his refusal to bow to either demand
evoked tremendous Western hostility. (16) Such
disobedience brought a swift response, and on March 5,
1999, Westendorp issued a statement declaring the
removal of Poplasen from office "with immediate
effect." (17) The primary justification given was
Poplasen's insistence that he had a constitutional
right to choose whom he would nominate for the post of
Prime Minister.
This coup d'etat by decree deposed the legally elected
president of the Republika Srpska. Since Poplasen's
removal, the Republika Srpska government has operated
under the sole leadership of Dodik, backed by NATO
troops.
However, Dodik's term ended with the electoral defeat
of Plavsic, and there is no legal basis for his
continuing to hold office. The removal of the legally
elected government in the Republika Srpska was not
sufficient, though. There was still the risk that
Republika Srpska citizens might freely exercise their
right to vote in upcoming elections, so Western
officials began to dismantle Poplasen's party, the
Serbian Radical Party (SRS).
On October 5, 1999, the Office of the High
Representative and the OSCE jointly sent a letter to
the Serbian Radical Party, demanding the removal of
Poplasen and two other officials from leadership
positions in the party because they had criticized
NATO. "Failure to remove these persons from leadership
positions in the SRS," the letter said, "will result
in not allowing the SRS to participate in the
municipal elections in April 2000." (18) They were as
good as their word. Twenty days later, the OSCE's
Provisional Election Commission ruled that neither the
Serbian Radical Party, nor a smaller party, "will be
registered for the municipal elections in 2000 and
will not have candidates competing for local offices."
(19) The outright banning of a major political party
passed without comment in the Western press.
No pretense of democracy is made. Western dictate is
"democratic," simply by virtue of being Western.
On the same day that saw Poplasen's removal as
president, Robert Owen, Western arbitrator for the
status of the town of Brcko, announced a decision
that effectively split asunder the Republika Srpska.
The two halves of the Republika Srpska were held
together by a narrow three-mile wide strip, in which
lies Brcko. The decree removed Brcko from the
Republika Srpska and created a special district to be
held jointly by the Republika Srpska and the
Muslim-Croatian Federation. Under terms of the
decree, Bosnian Serb armed forces cannot move from one
half of their territory to the other without
permission of NATO. The decree also specifies that
Brcko may at any
time be transferred from a "non-complying entity"
and placed "within the exclusive control of the
other." (20) The decision was met by universal
Bosnian Serb rejection and US envoy Robert Gelbard
wasted no time in wielding the heavy club of
discipline, declaring that "the territory of Brcko
could still revert to the entity which is in
compliance." (21)
Following Dodik's resignation over the Brcko decision,
Western officials scrambled to talk him out of it. As
Gelbard explained it, progress on plans to privatize
state assets "is really due to Dodik's leadership."
(22) It was not long before Dodik withdrew his
resignation and announced his acceptance of the Brcko
decision. Dodik's resignation was merely play-acting,
a bow to local public opinion. He has shown no
reluctance to carry out every order, and on October 2,
1999, following his return from meeting with American
officials in the United States, he dutifully called
for the overthrow of the Yugoslav government. (23)
>Wild West Justice.
The International War Crimes Tribunal has proved to be
a useful political tool for NATO, enabling it to
seize, or even murder political enemies. On January
30, 1996, two leading Bosnian Serb generals, Djordje
Djukic and Aleksa Ksrmanovic, were invited to meet
with Western civilian and NATO officials in Ilidza, at
that time, a Serbian suburb of Sarajevo. The meeting
was a ruse. A trap had been set, and both men were
seized and imprisoned by Bosnian Muslim soldiers.
According to a British officer, the kidnapping was a
result of NATO passing information to Bosnian Muslim
forces. A high-ranking Western European intelligence
source revealed that the U.S. Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) was behind the seizure. "The DIA took a
fantastic quantity of bugging and surveillance
equipment there," he said. "The vehicle in which the
Serb officers were travelling was followed from the
air." The DIA, he added, expected the generals to be
"the most valuable sources of information. Also do
not forget that a not at all negligible number of The
Hague investigators are CIA and DIA members." (24)
Two weeks later, the men were transferred to The
Hague, where they were subjected to repeated
interrogations and pressured to accuse other Bosnian
Serb officials and officers of crimes.
Djukic's lawyer said, "It was suggested to Djukic that
the court would have a better understanding for him in
the future if he testified," and tribunal spokesman
Christian Chartier said that the fate of the men "very
much depends on what they might tell us." (25)
Both men refused to talk, however, and punishment was
swift in coming. On March 1, Djukic was charged with
the "crime against humanity" of being "assistant
commander for logistics," including such heinous acts
as "proposing appointments of personnel" and "issuing
orders relating to the supply of materiel for units of
the Bosnian Serb Army." In a pique, chief prosecutor
Richard Goldstone said he indicted Djukic because of
his refusal to talk. (26) Not even as flimsy a charge
as this could be concocted against Krsmanovic, who was
held without charge for several more weeks of
interrogations. At the time, Djukic was suffering
from an advanced case of pancreatic cancer. Despite
his pain, interrogation sessions continued unabated,
but he refused to talk to the end.
In late April he was released to return to his family,
where he died on May 19.
On July 10, 1997, a joint American-British operation
swooped down on two Bosnian Serbs, despite the lack of
a public indictment against either man. Four NATO
members gained entrance to the Prijedor Medical Center
by claiming to deliver a Red Cross package, and
arrested the hospital's director, Milan Kovacevic.
The arrest provoked an angry demonstration by 400 of
the hospital's medical staff and several hundred
citizens.
Former Prijedor security chief Simo Drljaca was less
fortunate. Shortly after he returned from fishing,
still dressed in a bathing suit, to enjoy breakfast
with family and friends, NATO troops burst into his
yard. A witness recounts, "Music was playing. I was
sitting. Then suddenly I heard screams: 'Simo, Simo!'
I turned around. Soldiers were armed.I saw Simo
getting up. At that moment, I heard bullets being
fired and they fired at him. Then I saw Simo laying
down on sand near a beach. He was laying on his side
and shaking. Then a soldier came close to him and
fired another bullet at him and finished him off."
(27)
Another NATO ambush took place on January 10,
1999, targeting a car occupied by Dragan Gagovic and
five children from his karate class. One of the
children, Sonja Bjelovic, described the ambush: "We
ran across iron bars on the road. Dragan braked to
stop the vehicle, because we could not pass.then we
heard shots. Our coach said, 'down, you can be hit.'
He tried to protect us and pass around the iron bars.
However the car was hit, tires went flat and it
overturned. I saw our coach covered with blood."
Another child, Milica Dzokovic, reported, "When the
coach told us to go down I hid under the seat and
closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes I saw the coach
covered with blood and [NATO soldiers'] gun-barrels
pointed at us." (28)
On July 6, 1999, Radislav Brdjanin, leader of the
People's Party, was kidnapped from his home in Banja
Luka and flown to The Hague, where he was imprisoned.
A month and a half later, on August 25, Republika
Srpska Chief of Staff General Momir Talic, who had
been invited to a conference in Austria, was arrested
there and flown to The Hague.
Neither man had been publicly indicted.The arrest of
these men under "secret indictments" is an effective
recipe for silencing free speech.
Inevitably, people will feel a reluctance to speak out
against NATO occupation, lest they make a target of
themselves.
Stanislav Galic's mistake was in accepting an
appointment as military advisor to Poplasen. While
Galic was driving his car on December 20, 1999,
several vehicles suddenly blocked his path. NATO
soldiers sprang out and smashed Galic's car window,
roughly dragged him out and placed a hood over his
head. Galic was flown to The Hague, where he was
imprisoned.
High Commissioner Carlos Westendorp revealed much
about the imperial attitude as he delivered his last
speech before turning over the reins to his successor,
Wolfgang Petritsch. Westendorp expressed his "wish to
quote from another famous historical figure, who said
not just that much could be achieved with a kind word,
but a kind word and a gun. This figure was Al Capone.
Joke! I've been here too long. I actually
prefer Teddy Roosevelt's 'Walk softly and carry a big
stick'. The gun or stick in this context is the
continuing presence of SFOR [NATO Stabilization Force]
and the International Community." (29)
>Covert Involvement and Military Aid.<
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, "The
CIA station in Bosnia is now reputed to be one of the
largest in the region." (30). By early 1996, the
total number of CIA operatives active in the region
had
risen to 2,500, almost half of whom were stationed at
the agency's regional headquarters in Tuzla. (31) The
DIA is also very active in the region, working in
close cooperation with the CIA. These agencies not
only engage in intelligence gathering, but also shape
events, both directly and indirectly. Most of the
international organizations present in Bosnia are
dominated and run by American officials. Local news
reports are "reshaped", that is, censored, by American
officials, and compliant media receive Western
financing, largely through the US Agency for
International Development (USAID). A report in the
Yugoslav press claims that in 1996, approximately half
a million dollars were funnelled to media in both of
Bosnia's entities. (32)
The implementation of the US Train and Equip plan has
pumped more arms into the region, posing a risk to
peace. Under the plan, the US has already supplied
Federation forces with tens of thousands of M-16
assault rifles, over 100 armored personnel carriers,
several dozen tanks, over 100 155-mm howitzers,
communications equipment, helicopters, and myriad
other
weapons.
Arms supplies from other nations have also been
arranged by US officials, and one shipment alone,
from the United Arab Emirates, consisted of 50 French
AMX-30 tanks and 41 armored vehicles.(33)The plan also
provides for American and Turkish training of
Federation forces. The Pentagon has contracted with
Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI) to
conduct training. MPRI had earlier successfully
trained the Croatian Army in preparation for its
brutal invasion of Krajina, in which over 200,000
Serbs were driven from their homes in a matter of
days.
Training sessions include the use of advanced battle
simulation computer software, as was used in
preparation for Desert Storm. Funding was also
provided to open arms factories in the Federation.In
all, eight Federation arms factories operate under
NATO
supervision, and a Federation defense ministry
spokesman announced that half of these factories
produce 122mm howitzers for its army. (34)
Officially, American officials assert the dubious
proposition that Train and Equip is necessary to
ensure peace. Quietly, they know exactly what they are
doing. Asked by a Bosnian Muslim journalist about the
Western reaction were the Federation to invade the
Republika Srpska, a "high-ranking Western diplomat"
admitted, "We would officially condemn, but we would
understand and we would probably not undertake any
efficient steps. This is exactly what we expect." (35)
"The question no longer is if the Muslims will attack
the Bosnian Serbs," warned a European NATO
commander, "but when."
Alarmed at the extent of the Federation military
buildup, Russian commanders passed NATO satellite
photos of Muslim training camps to Bosnian Serb
generals. According to information received by a
Western diplomat, "The Bosnian Serb generals were
stunned. The mood in the room was very black."
In the event of an attack, a high-ranking NATO
commander said, "We also expect most all of the Serbs
[in the Republika Srpska] to be driven into Serbia..."
(36) The threat posed by the Train and Equip plan
appears to be primarily motivated by its utility as a
means for dictating policy to the Republika Srpska.
However, if Republika Srpska officials ever display
too
much independence and recalcitrance in response to
NATO's demands, then there is little doubt that the
Muslim-Croatian Federation would receive the go-ahead
for an invasion. The Train and Equip plan can be a
two-edged sword, though, and in April 1999, US envoy
Robert Gelbard temporarily suspended the program for
four months in order to force a reorganization of
the Federation Army along lines demanded by Western
officials.
> Reshaping the Economy<
The heart of Western policy in the region is the
promotion of Western corporate interests. In late
1996, a "peace implementation conference" was held in
London, during which much of Bosnia-Herzegovina's
future was forged.
According to a report by the Press Association, the
conference "won a commitment from the Bosnian leaders
to reconstruct the shattered economy along free market
economy lines, including significant privatization and
close cooperation with the World Bank." (37) Laws
are penned and imposed by Western officials. Less
than one year after the conference, Haris Silajdzic,
co-chair of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Council of
Ministers, announced that "US Finance Secretary David
Lipton will come here bringing draft laws on
privatization at the state level" to be submitted to
the Assembly for vote. Existing draft laws on
property
relations and privatization, he said, "will be
modified according to regulations the US finance
secretary will bring." (38).
On July 2 1998, Westendorp founded a commission to
manage the privatization process in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Each privatization, including
prior actions, is subject to review and approval by
Western commission officials. (39)
An earlier law on privatization in the Republika
Srpska had previously been implemented. On December
4, 1997, Robert Farrand, of the Office of the High
Representative, issued an "Order on Privatization," in
which he mandated a "delay" of the Republika Srpska
privatization process, "so that international
assistance could be provided to make it a credible
process leading to successful transition to a free
market economy," adding that "current RS [Republika
Srpska] legislation on privatization lacks a sound
technical framework and in its current form can lead
only to large scale fraud." (40) Looking beyond the
vague nature of the complaint, and ostensible concern
about "fraud," what actually motivated the order
suspending the law? Documents from the American
Embassy in Sarajevo paint a more honest picture: "The
privatization framework is being overhauled and will
create more opportunities for involvement of potential
foreign investors," adding that a "fundamental flaw"
of the previous process "was the allocation of 47
percent of companies' shares to seven
government-managed funds."
Clearly, the "fraud" that concerned Western officials
was that Western corporations could not dominate the
process and seize the best assets. The embassy's
documents reassure investors that "The new RS
government has pledged to overhaul the privatization
framework and annulled all previous privatization
laws.
Assistance is now being provided by the World Bank and
USAID to develop new laws similar to those adopted by
the Federation." Western officials are shaping
privatization in the Republika Srpska, as they do in
the Muslim-Croatian Federation, to favor the interests
of Western investors.
The Foreign Investment Law, effective on March 1998,
and applicable to both entities, "establishes the
policy standards of promoting foreign investment and
protecting foreign investor's rights," an embassy
document declares. "The Entities will amend existing
foreign investment laws to conform to the state-level
legislation." Western officials were thorough in
ensuring their interests. The law "is progressive in
terms of its final aim which is to promote foreign
direct investment."
It is stated that the law "protects the rights of
foreign investors..there are no restrictions on>
foreign investment" except armaments and media, and
"the entities are directed to establish progressive
and favorable tax conditions that encourage foreign
investment." Furthermore, the law "expressly forbids
expropriation or nationalization actions against
foreign investments." (41)
And what role is envisioned for the people of Bosnia?
The American embassy has an answer for that,
too. "Foreign investors can utilize low-cost labor
(the lowest in the CEE [Central and Eastern Europe])
while gaining proximity and access to important
markets in the EU [European Union] and the CEE."
Bosnian people will have the privilege of joining the
Third World. Because Bosnia-Herzegovina is
essentially
land-locked, access to the Adriatic Sea is an
important prerequisite for exploiting this "low-cost
labor." Despite strong Bosnian Muslim reservations
concerning certain provisions, an agreement on special
relations was signed with neighboring Croatia, in
which the Federation was given free transit to and
use of the Croatian port of Ploce. According to a
report in the Croatian press, agreement from the
Bosnian Muslim delegation came "as a result of
pressure
from the United States." (42) In preparation for
the expansion of trade through Ploce, the World Bank
has financed a $22 million project for the
reconstruction of the main pier, and Sealand has won
a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency to
perform "a feasibility study on the development of
container terminal facilities and the corridor from
Ploce to Sarajevo (and eventually the Sava River)."
(43)
Following the removal of Brcko from the Republika
Srpska, Brcko Supervisor Robert Farrand signed an
agreement for the U.S Trade and Development Agency
to solicit bids from American firms to conduct a
six-month feasibility study of the Brcko port on the
Sava River. (44)
When deemed necessary, Western officials have readily
wielded threats in order to achieve their goals. A
Western diplomatic source revealed that "in diplomatic
talks behind closed doors, we are, sort of,
intimidating [Republika Srpska] politicians" with the
possibility of invasion by Federation troops. "The
tendency is to stimulate and open up economically"
the Republika Srpska, he added. "When, in some
diplomatic efforts, we try to 'soften' their stances,
we always hint at their possible war defeat. We
always use the illustration of Krajina." (45)
Threats against the Federation are less aggressive, if
no less effective. On November 10, 1998, the Contact
Group, which oversees policy in Bosnia, and is chaired
by the US, issued a statement threatening a cutoff of
millions of dollars in aid to the Federation. An
American spokesman bluntly stated that "the time
has come and, in fact, is overdue for the governments
of Bosnia to be making the transition - and [they]
should be making it rapidly - to a sustainable market
economy. We are prepared to cut off projects,programs,
anything to get their attention." The spokesman
demanded "much more progress on privatization" and
foreign investment. (46)
NATO is establishing a permanent presence in the
Balkans. NATO's savage bombing of Yugoslavia was
motivated solely by the desire to establish a NATO-run
colony in Kosovo. The Yugoslav government consistently
called for return of all refugees, greater autonomy in
Kosovo, and an international presence in Kosovo. The
only divisive issue was the nature of that presence,
with NATO insisting on its control of the province.
NATO bases are being constructed in Zadar and
Slavonski Brod, Croatia, and NATO is providing funds
for Bulgaria to upgrade three military airfields to
"NATO standards," although these airfields are
currently adequate for Bulgaria's aircraft. (47) Whose
planes, then, are these upgrades intended for, if not
Bulgaria's? A poor Bosnian Serb, Radoslav Skrba,
wonders, "How is it that all these Western armies now
have bases here? Could it be that it was their
strategy all along? During the Communist time we were
warned that the West wanted to come here and now here
they are." (48)
NOTES
1. Colonel Milovan Milutinovic, "Loss of Supreme
Command," Nin (Belgrade),
November 1, 1996.
2. "Don't Push Us Into a Fratricidal War!", Blic
(Belgrade), November 13,
1996.
3. Nikola Zeklic, "Dancing to the CIA's Rhythm,"
Oslobodjenje (Sarajevo -
Bosnian Serb), April 4, 1996.
4. "OSCE Says Pale Assembly 'No Longer Exists,"
Agence France-Presse
(Paris), July 4, 1997.
5. "U.S. Supports Bosnian Serb President in Court
Case," Reuters, August 15,
1997.
6. "U.S. Allegedly to Deposit $30 Million in Plavsic
Account," Beta
(Belgrade), July 1, 1997.
7. "Plavsic Aides Accused as Spies," SRNA (Pale),
August 24, 1997.
8. Colin Soloway, "NATO Forces Seize Police Stations
in Bosnian City,"
Washington Post, August 21, 1997.
9. Chris Stephen, "IPTF Screens, Retrains Police in
RS," Agence
France-Presse (Paris), August 22, 1997. "IPTF
Trains Republika Srpska
Police Officers," Tanjug (Belgrade), August 26,
1997.
10. Srecko Latal, "Bosnian Serb Military Warns
President Against Dividing
Bosnian Serb Territory," Associated Press, August
22, 1997.
11. Edward Cody, "Bosnian Serb's Backers Stone
American Troops," Washington
Post, August 29, 1997. Misha Savic, "Serbs Force
U.N. Team to Withdraw,"
Associated Press, August 29, 1997.
12. Misha Savic, "NATO Commander Warns Bosnia
Media," Associated Press,
August 30, 1997.
13. "Media Monitoring Commission Shuts Down Kanal S
TV," BETA (Belgrade),
April 14, 1999
14. "Westendorp Proclaims Citizenship Law," B92 Open
Serbia (Belgrade),
December 17, 1997.
15. "OSCE Strikes 3 Serb Candidates Off SDS Election
List," SRNA (Pale),
November 21, 1997.
"Bosnia Serb Party Sanctioned for Karadzic Picture,"
Agence France-Presse,
September 1, 1998.
"Nine Delisted for Bosnian Serb's TV Interview,"
Agence France-Presse,
September 21, 1998.
"Bosnian Croat Candidates Disqualified by TV
Bias," Reuters,
September 4, 1998.
16. "Poplasen Defends Actions While in Office," SRNA
(Pale), March 7, 1999.
Interview with Nikola Poplasen, by Branislav
Radivojsa, "Poplasen: Assembly
Must Oppose Unconstitutional Behavior of Dodik's
Government," Politika
(Belgrade), September 3, 1999.
17. Office of the High Representative, "Removal From
Office of Nikola
Poplasen," OHR Press Release (Sarajevo), March 5,
1999.
18. Joint OHR/OSCE Press Release, "SRS Must Refile
Application for Party
Registration," October 5, 1999.
19. OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina Press
Release, "PEC Denies
Certification for Serb Radical and SRSS Parties for
Municipal Elections
2000," Sarajevo, October 25, 1999.
20. "Final Award, Arbitral Tribunal for Dispute
Over Inter-Entity Boundary
in Brcko Area." March 5, 1999.
21. "Mediators Warn Bosnia Serbs to Comply with
Brcko Ruling." Agence
France-Presse (Paris), March 19, 1999.
22. "US Envoy Hopes Moderate Bosnia Serb PM Will
Stay." Reuters (London),
March 10, 1999.
23. "Dodik Returns from US, Backs Anti-Milosevic
Rallies," BETA (Belgrade),
October 2, 1999.
24. Vesna Hadzivukovic, "Americans Preparing New
Kidnappings," Telegraf
(Belgrade), February 14, 1996.
25. "Serb Officers Might be Witnesses in The Hague,"
Associated Press,
February 23, 1996.
26. The Prosecutor of the Tribunal, CASE No
IT-96-20-I, "Against Dorde Dukic
(sic) Indictment."
27. Broadcast, Srpksa Televizija (Pale), July 10,
1997.
28. "Children Describe Gagovic's 'Brutal Murder',"
Tanjug (Belgrade),
January 10, 1999.
29. Office of the High Representative, "Speech of
the High Representative
Carlos Westendorp at the Stability Pact Dinner,"
Sarajevo, July 29, 1999.
30. Tracy Wilkinson, "In Bosnia, U.S. Creeps Deeper,
Los Angeles Times,
November 11, 1997.
31. "From the Jungle to the Balkans," Politika
Ekspres (Belgrade), January
22, 1996.
32. "Daily Criticizes USAID Funding of B-H
Independent Media," Beta
(Belgrade), April 29, 1997.
33. "New Weapons Shipments for Bosnia's US-LEF
Rearmament Programme," Agence
France-Presse
(Paris), October 13, 1997.
A Prlenda, "Weapons for Peace and
Stabilization," Oslobodjenje
(Bosnian Muslim), November 22,
1996.
Nick Gowing, "Return to War," The Sunday
Telegraph (London),
December 1, 1996.
"Arms Shipment from Turkey Arrives in Ploce
Port," HINA (Zagreb),
July 26, 1997.
Srecko Latal, "United States Helping Rearm
Muslim-Croat Army: Allies
Object," Associated Press,
May 23, 1996.
34. James Drake, "Old GIs Fade Away - to Bosnia,"
Baltimore Sun, November
12, 1997.
Nedim Dervisbegovic, "Bosnian Firms Produce
Artillery with U.S. Aid,"
Reuters, October 17, 1997.
"U.S. Envoy Visits U.S-Aided Bosnian Army Factory,"
Agence France-Presse
(Paris), September 5, 1997.
35. Edina Becirevic, "If the Refugees Do Not Return
Next Year, the World
Will Tolerate That as Well!",
Slobodna Bosna (Sarajevo), September 21, 1997.
36. Chris Hedges, "Bosnian Muslims Said to Intensify
Efforts to Rearm in
Secret," New York Times,
October 3, 1997.
37. Charles Miller, "Tough Action Agreed to in Hunt
for Bosnia's War
Criminals," Press Association
(London), December 5, 1996.
38. A Pilav, "Draft Laws Arriving from the US!",
Dnevi Avaz (Sarajevo),
October 7, 1997.
39. Sead Numanovic, "Westendorp Forms a Commission,"
Dnevi Avaz (Sarajevo),
July 2, 1998.
40. Office of the High Representative, "Order on
Privatization," December 4,
1997.
41. American Embassy, Sarajevo, "The Commercial
Guide to Bosnia and
Herzegovina," June, 1998.
42. "Croatia, Federation Sign Special Relations
Agreement," HINA (Zagreb),
November 22, 1998.
"Bosnia, Croatia Form Special Relations," UPI,
November 22, 1998.
"Croatia Opens Up Key Port to Bosnia in Thawing of
Relations," Agence
France-Presse, November 22, 1998.
43. American Embassy, Sarajevo, "The Commercial
Guide to Bosnia and
Herzegovina," June, 1998.
44. OHR Press Release, "Brcko Port Feasibility Study
Agreement Signed," June
4, 1999.
45. Edina Becirevic, "If the Refugees Do Not Return
Next Year, the World
Will Tolerate That as Well!",
Slobodna Bosna (Sarajevo), September 21, 1997.
46. Carol Giacomo, "U.S. and Allies May Turn Off Aid
Tap," Reuters, November
9, 1998.
"U.S. Threatens Aid Cut," UPI, November 9, 1998.
"Contact Group Signals It Wants to Cut Bosnian Aid,"
Reuters, November 10,
1998.
47. Marko Barisic, "Referendum for NATO bases?"
Vjesnik (Zagreb), February
10, 1998. Emanuil Manev, "NATO
is Promoting its Own
Interest," Kontinent (Sofia), October 17, 1998.
48. Mike O'Connor, "Bosnian Serbs, Unhappy in Serb
Republic, Fear Return to
Bosnia," New York Times, September 18, 1998.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------