TO:
UN SECRETARY GENERAL KOFI ANNAN, SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS:
AMBASSADORS TO FRANCE JEAN-MARC DE LA SABLIERE, USA MR. JOHN
NEGROPONTE, UK SIR JEREMY GREENSTOCK AND GERMANY MR. GUNTER PLEUGER
To
Mr. Romano Prodi,
President, European Commission
By Hilda M. Foley
Mr.
Romano Prodi
President
European
Commission
Rue de
la Loi 200
B1049
Bruxelles, Belgique
Excellency:
As Croatians
in the Diaspora we follow closely the political and economic
developments in Croatia. Especially of interest to us is to see
Croatia admitted as an equal partner to the EU and NATO in the
near future. Therefore we find it very disappointing to read your
recent speech in the Croatian Parliament in which you mentioned
"years" before Croatia would be eligible for EU membership. The
majority of the Croatian population approves of Croatia's entering
into the EU and we find the conditions which you mentioned in
order to be accepted inconsistent with ones' other countries were
required to meet.
You mention
for example "the return of refugees". As you must realize, Croatia
has only recently come out of a brutal war of aggression by
Serbia, in which these Croatian Serb refugees were the ones who
rebelled against Croatia and with the help of the Yugoslav/Serb
army killed some twelve thousand and "ethnically cleansed" several
hundred thousand Croatians in their own country, destroying and
plundering their homes and properties.
No other
country in the world has been forced to forgive and forget so soon
what has been done to it. May I remind you that the Czech
Republic, which is accepted into the EU, has not allowed its
Sudeten German refugees to return or compensate them for their
material losses even after more than fifty years. This was not a
requirement by the EU for the Czech Republic. Therefore, is it not
obvious that the EU stand in regard to Croatia and the refugee
situation is quite unfair and inconsistent. Furthermore, one has
to realize that it was first the Croatians who were driven out by
the Serbs (1991-1995), years before in 1995 Croatia liberated its
Krajina territory and the Serbs left on the orders of their own
leadership.
Consequently,
the returning long-time Croatian refugees must have preference for
housing. Since Serbs destroyed most of Croatians' homes, out of
necessity Croatians have been settling in some of the Serb ones'.
Croatia after the ravages of war simply does not have the money to
build homes for all the refugees, Croatian or Serb. This problem
should be understood by the EU and not held against Croatia.
The other
great inconsistency is the requirement for Croatia to open its
borders without visa requirement to Serbia/Montenegro and
Bosnia-Herzegovina. If the EU wishes open borders between nations,
why has Slovenia, next in line for EU membership admittance, been
allowed to seal its borders with Croatia while Croatia must open
its borders to its recent aggressor Serbia? Certainly the EU
leadership must know about the huge criminal element in Serbia,
Bosnia and Albania, with drugs, white slavery and people smuggling
among other criminal activities in addition of providing easy
access to terrorists and Islamic fundamentalists. Just why would
then the EU require Croatia to freely open its borders to be
inundated with such undesirables? Croatia does not want them or
need them any more than any other European country. Obviously,
such an EU demand of Croatia is totally unfair and detrimental.
Last but not
least, Slovenia was part of former Yugoslavia and will be accepted
into the EU, on what grounds is Croatia less eligible? Slovenia
was never in history a state, while Croatia was one of the oldest
European kingdoms centuries ago. Croatia was never part of the
Balkans as the border was between Croatia and Serbia. It divided
the Western culture and Christianity from the Eastern Orthodox,
Byzantine and Muslim culture and religion. Croatia only became
part of the Balkans when, without the privilege of a vote, it was
united with Serbia and Slovenia into Yugoslavia in 1918.
Croatians are simply not Balkan people, they are Central and
Mediterranean Europeans, historically and culturally.
Excellency,
please consider these facts and do not let the EU push Croatia
into these Balkan associations to which it does not belong any
more than does Slovenia and which goes against the wishes of the
Croatian people.
I am the attorney for General Ante Gotovina, the subject of an editorialpublished in today's National Post titled, "Fair Play in the Balkans."I wish to correct the record on behalf of my client because youreditorial contains numerous factual errors.
Contrary to the assertion made in your editorial, Croatian soldiers didnot "force 200,000 Serbs from their homes in Croatia [in] the largestethnic cleansing in the Balkan wars." It is virtually uncontested thatmost of the 200,000 Serbs in Croatia left their homes on orders fromtheir own Croatian Serb leadership. Testimony introduced by
prosecutorsin the Hague in the case of Slobodan Milosevic indicates that Milosevicand the Croatian Serb leadership purposely evacuated 200,000 Serbs fromCroatia in an effort to cement the results of ethnic cleansing byresettling these civilians in areas like Srebrenica, which had beenethnically cleansed by Milosevic, Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic andforces under their control only three weeks earlier. U.S. Ambassador
toCroatia Peter Galbraith testified last month before the InternationalTribunal that Croatian forces did NOT ethnically cleanse the Serbpopulation from Croatia. Accordingly, your allegation is inaccurate.
It is true that Canadian military officers, including Col. AndrewLeslie, have made various accusations against General Gotovina-includingthat the town of Knin had been "excessively shelled" and that forcesunder General Gotovina's command had intentionally shelled the hospitalin Knin, all in an alleged effort to scare the civilian population intofleeing. Col. Leslie further claimed that there were a "large number ofbodies in the streets." However, absent from your editorial is anymention of the fact that Col. Leslie's testimony has been largelydiscredited by members of the international media who confirmed that UNclaims of high civilian casualties and excessive shelling of Knin werein fact exaggerated. The claim that the Knin hospital had been shelledhas in fact been proven false. Human Rights Watch reported in 1996
thatthe claims of the Canadian officers were exaggerated and may haveresulted from the fact that "U.N. military and civilian personnel hadbeen confined to their barracks or bases by Croatian soldiers and thuswere unable to witness many events directly." Canadian militarypersonnel throughout its deployment as peacekeepers in the Balkans wasnotorious for its slanted, pro-Serb reporting of events on the ground.Indeed, Canadian Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, in charge of U.N. peacekeeping inBosnia in 1992, is infamous for his claim that the beseiged BosnianMuslims were "shelling themselves" in Sarajevo in an effort to garnerinternational sympathy. After his retirement from the Canadian
military, General MacKenzie went to work as a paid lobbyist in NorthAmerica for Serb sympathizers. Why this pro-Serb bias existed in theCanadian military is a subject that will be explored at the appropriatetime and in the appropriate forum.
Much evidence has come to light in recent weeks proving that Gen.Gotovina was falsely charged by the Hague Prosecutor, including thetestimony of Mr. Galbraith. If Gen. Gotovina is in fact innocent, thenthe Prosecutor has an ethical obligation to withdraw the indictment.Should the Serb leadership claim bias (as your editorial suggests), sucha claim can be easily rebutted by this fact: the Hague Tribunal haswithdrawn sixteen indictments against individuals who had never beenarrested or brought to the Tribunal. All sixteen of these individualswere Serbs. Thus, if anyone can claim bias on the part of the HagueTribunal, it is the Croats and not the Serbs.
Sincerely,
Luka S. Misetic, Esq.
Chicago, IL USA
Enclosed is the article:
National Post (Canada) July 28, 2003 Monday National Edition
Copyright 2003 National Post, All Rights Reserved
National Post (Canada)
July 28, 2003 Monday National Edition
SECTION: Editorials; Pg. A11
LENGTH: 458 words
HEADLINE: Fair play in the Balkans
SOURCE: National Post
BODY:
Eight years ago, Canadian peacekeepers witnessed one of the late 20thcentury's most brutal attempts at ethnic cleansing. In August, 1995, over aspan of just 64 hours, Croatian soldiers forced 200,000 Serbs from theirhomes in Croatia -- the largest single act of ethnic cleansing of all theBalkan wars between 1991 and 1995. The military action -- dubbed OperationStorm -- involved the Croats' entire 100,000-man army. Canadian soldiersstationed in the area documented the Croats' efficiency. Colonel AndrewLeslie, for example, reported that of the 40,000 people who lived in theSerb stronghold of Knin, barely 1,000 remained once the operation ended.
It took some time, but two years ago, the UN's International CriminalTribunal (ICT) began seriously looking into claims regarding war crimescommitted during Operation Storm. In 2001, the ICT issued an indictmentagainst Ante Gotovina, a Croatian general with an allegedly central role inthe operation. But Gen. Gotovina promptly went underground. Lawyers workingon his behalf say he is willing to answer questions from the ICT -- but onlyif it first drops its indictment.
Unfortunately, the Croatian government has failed to fully co-operate inbringing Gen. Gotovina to justice. Though the Croatian Interior Ministry hasissued a warrant for his arrest (and a bounty of $80,000 for informationleading to his arrest), authorities have done little to apprehend him. Onereason for this is that ultra-nationalist Croats see the general as a hero.In May, Gen. Gotovina even had the audacity to send an official message ofsupport to a gathering of 15,000 Croatian nationalists. They had met tomourn the death of Janko Bobetko, another general who defied an ICT order toanswer questions about his own involvement in possible crimes againsthumanity by Croatian forces.
The case of Gen. Gotovina is important not only as a matter of justice, butof politics as well. The Croats and Serbs have had their share of murderousfeuds, and the Serbs would be understandably outraged if the world communityaggressively prosecuted allegations of Serb atrocities while passing overthose in which Serbs were victims. In 2001, the ICT formally demanded thatthe Serbs force former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to appear fortrial on charges of war crimes. NATO member states, including Canada and theUnited States, put a full-court press on the Serbs to hand Mr. Milosevicover -- and even made his handover a condition of economic aid. As a result,Mr. Milosevic's successor, Vojislav Kostunica, duly served him up to TheHague.
Those same NATO states should make a similar effort to get Croatia to secureGen. Gotovina. He's been allowed to run free long enough.
It was quite astonishing that you would feature the
article "Croatian Atrocities Being Forgotten:Cdn. Officers" without verifying
the claims made by these former UN Canadian officers. Their claims are egregious
falsehoods and exaggerations. If you would have investigated, these facts would
have become obvious to you:
Croatia was recognized as an independent, sovereign
state in Jan. 1992 by the EU countries and by Spring 1992 by some 53 other
nations. At that time Croatia, which signed a cease fire with its aggressor
Serbia, asked for the presence of UN troops to protect Croatia from further
aggression and to help with the peaceful reintegration of its occupied
territories, held by the Croatian Serbs, Serb paramilitary and the Yugoslav/Serb
army.
In October of 1992 the UN official for civilian affairs
Cedric Thornberry accused the Serb rebels in this phantom, self-styled state
they called the Republic of Serb Krajina, "of undermining peace efforts". The
deadline for disarming illegal paramilitary forces passed and quote, "there
isn't the slightest sign of demobilization" of gunmen waging a campaign of
terror in those areas of Croatia ostensibly under UN control. "The people are
committing terrorism that is driving increasing numbers of non-Serbs from their
homes." (Los Angeles Times, 10/16/92) This was just the beginning. By 1995,
these Serbs massacred thousands of Croats, looted and burned their homes and
ethnically cleansed several hundred thousand.
At the same time they continuously shelled Croatia's
cities and villages, inland and on the coast.
The UN soldiers not only did not stop them, they
actually helped in the removal of the Croatian population, old and young,
because "otherwise the Serbs would have killed them". How commendable! Question:
Where was these Canadian officers' criticism then? Evidently they were too busy
helping with the removal and fraternizing with the Serbs. This brings up a very
prominent Canadian officer, the serbophile Major General MacKenzie, who while
serving as the UN commander in Bosnia allowed his soldiers to frequent a brothel
in Serb-held Bosnia, where Bosnian women were held as sex slaves and raped
nightly, some even killed. (Reader's Digest, Oct. 1995). MacKenzie established
great credibility, no doubt also among the Canadian UN contingent in Croatia.
After ending his duties in Bosnia he became a lobbyist and was paid hefty fees
by the Serb-American propaganda net while meeting with media and government
officials.
This should give you a little background about some of
the Canadian UN troops in Croatia and Bosnia. While many were no doubt honorable
men, one would assume that these accusing Canadian officers would rather keep
quiet about their time in Croatia, their abetting with the ethnic cleansing by
the Serbs and their incompetence to peacefully restore Croatia's territory.
Instead, they still take Serbia's side by accusing Croatia's army of massive
atrocities during the liberation of Croatian territories in August 1995.
But these are the facts:
1) There was no ethnic cleansing. Some 140,000 Serbs
left on orders of their own leadership, before the Croatian army's arrival, as
testifying at the Milosevic trial in the Hague now confirms.
2) Croatia has not denied that some 100-200 Serb
civilians were killed (including armed ones) by individual revenge-takers, and
several such individuals have been tried in Croatian courts. It most certainly
was not the Croatian government's or Croatian army's policy. The number of
killed civilians you quote is a unscrupulous exaggeration that cannot be
tolerated by unbiased readers. One has to wonder just what is behind your
article and the Canadian officers' agenda for writing it.
I am simply fascinated as to how completely
pro-Serbian the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) is, and to what
lengths they will go to spin ANY news into a 'positive' for Serbia. The
latest one is so tragicomical, I had to bring it to your attention - as you
have no doubt heard, Bosnian Serb Milomir Stakic (former Mayor of Prijedor)
was convicted at ICTY on various war crimes and crimes against humanity
charges, but was found not guilty on charges of Genocide. He was sentenced
to life imprisonment, the toughest sentence handed out to date at the Hague.
The illustrious CBC reported this on their 24 hour TV news channel as:
"Bosnian Serb acquitted of Genocide". That's it...no further information
available, no clarification, no indication that he was convicted of numerous
other horrible crimes, no mention of his life sentence - nothing! At first
glance, and especially to the general public that do not follow ICTY
proceedings, they have made it appear that the scum-bag walked away as an
innocent, free man, while not exactly lying about it!
Please note that I have written to the CBC on
numerous occasions with regards to their one-sided (100% pro-Serbian)
reporting, and have NEVER even received the courtesy of a reply, let alone
had any effect on the quality of their news. I wonder if, perhaps, a mass
writing campaign, especially from Croatians here in Canada, would help? As
it stands, the CBC is nothing more than an English version of "Srpska Mreza".
Your four page
spread about today's Croatia was very interesting and
informative. There was one report though by Neil MacDonald,
that would need a few corrections or explanations. The
article mentions that Croatians believe Marco Polo was born in
the town Korcula on the island of the same name in Croatia.
His being born
there, or certainly his family coming from there, is based on
solid research of the Polo
Croatian family
roots, by looking into the Italian, (then Venetian) historical
records of the time, with a
number of
the researchers being British and Italian.
Records show that
Marco Polo's father Nicolo and uncle Maffeo Pilic were rich
merchants from
Sibenik in Dalmatia,
then under Venetian rule, who went to Venice as established
businessmen. All of
the merchant and
nobility class of that time used the Italian version of their
names, so Pilic, which is Croatian for chicken, became Polo in
Italian.The Pilic/Polo family coat
of arms shows
a crown and four
chickens. (The reporter mentions out of the blue that the name
Polo was "Slavicized"
into "Pavelic"!!)
The medieval
archives of Venice are among the best in Europe, yet there is
no mention of Marco Polo's birth, only as citizen of Venice
and his date of death. There is a quay in Venice near the
Duke's Palace
still called
Schiavoni "Slavoni" as Croatians/Dalmatians were called at
that time, where many Croatian seamen and merchants arrived
from Dalmatia. The Polo family lived in this Schiavoni section
of Venice
were the
Croatians had their churches, school and Guild Hall. Today
there are still Croatian families named Polo, de Polo and
Pilic in Croatia, but according to Italian sources there are
no Polo's is Italy.
It is indeed strange
to read that the tourist director of Korcula is annoyed at the
Croatian national
tourist brochures
mentioning Croatia as the homeland of Marco Polo. Perhaps
foreign reporters
should keep in mind
that in today's Croatia there is still a certain segment of
the population that hankers
for communist
Yugoslavia and will denigrate anything that brings Croatia
favorable attention.
(Read also two among many
replies sent to CNN; Updated April 11, 2005)
Manda Krpan, April 9, 2005: Fr. Damir Stojic's
Letter
I received this in
an email from Fra. Damir today. I ask that you PLEASE READ,
RESPOND, FORWARD IT!! Our voices MUST be heard!!! --
Manda Krpan
Dear parishoners,
I am sure that you
have all been following the funeral of Pope John Paul II. As
millions have gathered around his lifeless body in Rome, one
can not but dwell on the fact that he is speaking louder now
from heaven than he did while alive! He is truly a saint!
Unfortunately, this morning during the funeral liturgy many
Croatians and other people of goodwill were shocked by the
remarks made by CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour. While
acknowledging the Pope's greatness, she mentioned how this
Pope will also be remembered for the various controversies
surrounding his papacy, especially the "beatification of the
Nazi collaborator Alojzije Cardinal Stepinac." One wonders
whose or which agenda she is promoting by mentioning
Stepinac during the Pope's funeral, while millions of
viewers are watching? One wonders where this professional
reporter does her (historical) research? Does she not know
that Stepinac saved the lives of many and that he defended
the dignity of the human person regardless of race, religion
or nationality? Does she not know that Stepinac was
persecuted by the Nazis and the communists and that he was
imprisoned and poisoned by the latter? Pope John Paul II had
the courage to come to Marija Bistrica, Croatia in 1998 to
beatify Stepinac and to say the truth! Millions of pilgrims
came to Rome today to say farewell to this man who spoke the
truth! Let us stand together and proclaim the truth. I ask
you all to take 5 minutes to send a protest letter to
Christiane Amanpour on the following link:
Subject: Christiane Amanpour statement about
Cardinal Stepinac
Director
CNN International News
Dear Sir:
Watching the funeral of Pope John Paul II we
were shocked to hear your reporter Ms. Christiane Amanpour
making a remark about "the Pope's controversial decision of
beatifying Croatia's Nazi-collaborator Cardinal Stepinac". It is
appalling to hear such a false statement from a CNN reporter,
made at the funeral of a beloved and respected Pope and heard by
millions of people.
Where does Ms. Amanpour come off to insult
not only Cardinal Stepinac and by it the whole Croatian nation,
but also the very integrity of the Holy Father, who never would
have considered for a moment declaring a man worthy of
sainthood, if there were even a grain of doubt in his mind about
the saintliness and martyrdom of Cardinal Stepinac.
Even while some in the Catholic Church might
not have done enough to help stop Hitler's "Final solution" of
the "Jewish question", Cardinal Stepinac courageously opposed
the German Nazis and Croatia's puppet regime at his own peril,
personally saving many Jews by hiding them on the Church's
estate and publicly speaking from the pulpit of the Zagreb
cathedral against racism of any kind. He believed in the dignity
of the human person, regardless of race, religion or
nationality. Here are just a few excerpts from his statements in
letters to Croatia's WWII puppet state leader Pavelic:
"I implore you in the name of humanity, which
our people have always valued so highly, that you do not permit
any of the remaining citizens of our state to suffer unjustly.
In the collection camps there are many who are innocent or who
do not deserve so severe a punishment... do not permit
irresponsible and uninvited elements to sin against the true
good of our nation". - March 6, 1943.
"This is a shameful stain and a crime which
cries out for revenge, just as the whole camp of Jasenovac is a
shameful stain upon the NDH. As a priest and bishop I say
together with Christ on the cross: Father forgive them, for they
know not what they do!... Be assured that it is not hatred, but
love of truth and of the Croatian nation which compels me to
write this letter." - Feb. 24. 1943
In spite of the Cardinal's open opposition to
the actions of the Germans and the Pavelic regime, he was tried
on false charges and imprisoned by Tito's communist Yugoslavia,
but, interestingly, only after he refused to make Croatia's
Catholic Church independent of the Papacy in Rome. After release
from prison he died under house arrest several years later,
evidently having been slowly poisoned.
We expect an apology from Ms. Amanpour and
CNN for her irresponsible and damaging statements. This is not
the first time Ms. Amanpour has tried to defame Croatia, as
several years ago she seemed to be looking for a needle in a
haystack by reporting a "Nazi graffiti" somewhere in Zagreb. Of
course the fact that such Neo-Nazi graffiti can be found all
over Europe and even here in America, does not seem to hinder
her for singling out Croatia - again! One has to wonder - just
what is her agenda? Listening to too much Serb propaganda?
Sincerely,
Hilda M. Foley
National Federation of Croatian Americans
13272 Orange Knoll
Santa Ana, CA 92705
714 832-0289
__________________
VoC, April 9, 2005
Dear CNN,
CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour said The Pope John Paul II
Pope would also be remembered for the various controversies
surrounding his papacy, especially the "beatification of the
Nazi collaborator Alojzije Cardinal Stepinac." Amanpour
proves to have little faith and
knowledge regarding “greatness” that she admits to the Pope,
and declines to his Cardinal Stepinac. Cardinal Stepinac was
tortured equally by Nazis and Yugoslav
communists, the only
difference being that he had a fate to survive the former,
but not the latter. But this is about the Pope, for whom
Rabbi Moshe Shulman (Canada) said
he was “a friend of
the Jewish people” (National Post, April 6, 2005). Does
Amanpour think a friend of the Jewish people would agree to
the beatification of a Nazi collaborator? Her fashion of
forcible 'nazification' of Croats
(via Cardinal Stepinac) – something CNN or
Croats would never have wished for
– is truly unashamed and outmoded, old-Yugoslav
propaganda.
We hope CNN will sanction inappropriate comments in the
future, both regarding Cardinal Stepinac and Croats.
As a Rabbi, I am
often called upon to guide people in life, and in death. As
a religious leader, Pope John Paul II stood before the world
to uphold religious values and principles of life and death,
many of which are shared by all faiths, including Judaism.
This includes principles such as the infinite value of human
life, the inadmissibility of the "quality of life" as a
factor in medical ethics, the courage to face death as a
prelude to an eternal spiritual life, the commitment to the
sanctity of marriage between man and woman, and many more.
Pope John Paul II
challenged Jew, Christian, Muslim and members of all faiths
to work together to find common ground, and advance the
cause of humanity.
As a Jew, I feel
Pope John Paul II was a man who reached out on behalf of the
Church to help end Church sponsored anti-Semitic doctrine.
He was the first Pope to publicly acknowledge the horrors of
the Holocaust, and the role of Christian anti-Semitism in
aiding and abetting that dark period of history.
His unique
relationship with the Jewish people is encapsulated in the
following story. In 1942, a Jewish couple in Poland's Krakow
ghetto entrusted their son to a childless Catholic couple in
order to save him from the Germans. When the war was over
the boy's adoptive parents brought him to a young priest to
be baptized. When the young priest learned that the orphan's
parents had asked that he be returned to the Jewish people,
the priest refused to baptize the boy. That priest was Karol
Wojtyla, known today as Pope John Paul II.
We remember him as
one who forever remained a friend of the Jewish people.
On March 26, 2000,
Pope John Paul II came to Jerusalem, and prayed at the
Western Wall. At the time, he placed a prayer in the Wall
which read:
God of our
fathers, You chose Abraham and his descendants to bring Your
name to the nations; We are deeply saddened by the behaviour
of those who in the course of history have caused these
children of Yours to suffer.
And in asking Your
forgiveness, we wish to commit ourselves to genuine
brotherhood with the people of the Covenant.
He became the
first pope in the history of the Church to officially
recognize that the Jewish people remain the people of the
Covenant. He was also the first pope to recognize the state
of Israel.
As a human being,
one could not help but be inspired by his calling for all
humanity, and his devotion to the cause of peace for all
mankind.
Many popes before
him used their power and influence to strengthen the Church
at the expense of humanity. Pope John Paul II fought for
humanity, sometimes at the expense of the Church.
Today, the world
is better off because of his work.
People of all
faiths can benefit from his strength, courage, and dignity,
from the way he faced the challenges of life, and the
dignity with which he faced death. Certainly between Judaism
and Christianity there are fundamental, even irreconcilable
differences in theology.
Certainly between
the Jewish people and Pope John Paul II there were some
disagreements over the years.
But he was a man
who brought honour and dignity not only to his faith, but to
all faiths, not only to his people, but to all people. And
no nation on earth benefitted more from his embrace than we.
May God bless his
soul.
Rabbi Moshe
Shulman is the spiritual leader at Shaarei Shomayim
Congregation in Toronto. This is an edited version of a
sermon delivered to the congregation on April 2.
Sarah Ludford’s March 11, 2005 letter in The Guardian
applauding Foreign Office minister Denis MacShanes firm
stand against Croatia’s membership bid into the EU because
of its refusal to hand over General Gotovina to the Hague
was a blessing in disguise. MacShanes did Croatia a favor
because joining the EU would be an economic disaster for
Croatia. The EU would have had access to
the Croatian market
but it wouldn’t be a reciprocal arrangement.
The Croatia’s
government has done its best to demonstrate that Gotovina
is not in its jurisdiction. Croatia even imposed a draconian
method against the entire Gotovina clan, which even Ms
Ledford would find abhorrent. They froze all the family’s
assets until he is arrested and extradited. How the family
will survive to look after their basic needs, such as buying
food, is another question.
MacShanes,
despite being Foreign Office minister, and Ms Ludford
apparently are not aware that their government entered an
agreement with Croatia in May 2004 that gave MI6 carte
blanche to operate and access all of Croatia’s secret
files--as well as a license to ‘reform’ Croatia’s secret
service. If the highly venerable MI6 couldn’t find General
Gotovina after they were allowed free reign in Croatia, then
obviously he cannot be there.
Instead the EC and
Mr MacShane would rather believe a Hague prosecutor who
espouses unsubstantiated accusations over a President of a
sovereign state and the stellar MI6.
The Hague
Criminal Court indictment against former Croatian general
Ante Gotovina, who has been wrongfully accused, is an
indictment against the tradition of western justice.
The tone and language of the 2001 Del Ponte indictment makes
a mockery of the legal tradition we live by today in the
west, that which separates our modern world from
totalitarianism or feudalism. The perspective of this
indictment, which was created out of the UN resolutions 713
to 762, etc. on the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, is
available for public scrutiny on the internet. One of the
consistent tenets of these resolutions was the continued UN
arms embargo, which in effect punished unarmed Croatian
civilians and not the belligerent Serbian-led Yugoslav Army,
the third best equipped in Europe. The political
division of the Europeans and the international community
behind the scenes, in the creation and application of this
indictment, is less understood by the public.
The EU is
pressuring Zagreb for the extradition of the fugitive general, as a condition
of entry into Europe.
Recently, the EU’s current president, Jean-Claude Juncker,
reiterated the accusation to former Croatian General Ante
Gotovina that he should understand, “he is holding millions
of Croats as hostages” by failing to surrender to the
Hague’s prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte. The un-constituted
European Union appears to have forgotten that it was the
Serbian/Yugoslav leadership which held hostage the citizens
of the former Yugoslavia, and members of the UNPROFOR. The
EU has made it clear that without Gotovina, Croatia’s EU
entry negotiations will not proceed. But, for the rest of
the western world, there are bigger issues at stake than
Croatia’s EU membership. It is not for nothing that the
American government pressures for the ad hoc Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia to close its chambers.
Internationalist politics and old European rivalries are
reflected in the text of the ad hoc indictment against the
former Croatian general. In addition Del Ponte herself must
be keen for a victory, as she jealously watches her
predecessors move up the ladder following their successful
convictions at the Hague.
Former Canadian prosecutor at the Hague Louise Arbour is now
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; and former
prosecutor Richard Prosper is the newly created US
Ambassador to the Office of War Crimes Issues. Following
the defeat of the Democrats, President Bush had been
pressured into doing something about the Hague court,
against his better judgment, so the above-mentioned new
position was devised, and Ambassador Prosper subsequently
issued rewards for Hague indictees. But it is not America
which pressures Croatia today for Gotovina’s extradition, it
is the un-constituted European Union.
The only
conclusion that one can reach after examining the issues
surrounding the Gotovina indictment is that it is Europe that is holding Croatia
hostage. Del Ponte is actually from Lugano, Switzerland.
But LakeLugano
is a pocket of Italy
inside Switzerland, and was once headquarters and place of
refuge to Mazzini or Mussolini. It’s not difficult to
imagine that an Italian lobby would be pressuring Del Ponte
for an arrest. Interestingly, in 2001 a few months after
the Gotovina indictment was issued, the Italian president
Ciampi announced that a WWII fascist award would be bestowed
on Zadar for the Italian fascists who were bombed out of
Zadar in WWII. (“the flag of the last Italian civil
administration of Zadar”)
Gotovina
himself is from the Zadar region, and it is in Zadar-Knin
County that the Serbian-led Yugoslav Army and Mladic began
their campaign, until Croatia’s Operation Storm five years
later, when at last the bombing stopped and Croatian
civilians could sleep in peace again. Then, began the yet
unfinished process of clearing Serbian-planted landmines,
one of which was on display in the CanadianWarMuseum.
The Serbian-led Yugoslav National Army had bombed Zadar in
the early 1990s from the Sea, Air, and Land, and
deliberately cut-off its unarmed civilians from water and
electric supply and from the rest of Croatia. Having lost
this prize piece of real estate, now it would appear that
pressure is on from Italy to gain through the EU, what
Serbia could not gain through the Yugoslav Army.
For two
millennium Zadar has been the object of attack, occupation,
‘sale’ or barter, by Romans, Venetians, and Italians,
Hungarians, and Serbs, but the continued Croatian
resistance has always been a thorn in the side of
Europeans. The Venetian Doge in the 9th century slandered
the Croatian ruler Domagoj as the ‘worst duke’ after Domagoj
beat the Franks and spoiled Venetian ambitions. Gotovina is
today’s Domagoj. Little appears to have changed when we
look at the bigger picture.
European
attacks on Croatia
go back over two millennia. It is in Croatia that eastern
ambition meets western rivalry. The twentieth century was
one of the worst for Croatian people, evidenced by their
long term demographic decline in comparison to the rest of
continental European countries, to the east and west. For
example, in 1928, European diplomats had advised Croatian
politicians to go to Belgrade to find a political solution
to the economic exploitation of Croatia by the Serbian
monarchy. Even Pribitchevic, one of the original
‘Yugoslav/Serbian’ politicians subsequently regretted the
creation of the state. In 1928, the Croatian leader,
Stjepan Radic and four other Croatian front benchers were
assassinated inside a session of parliament by a Serbian
MP. This incident has left an indelible wound on the
Croatian psyche until this day. In 1945, after surrendering
arms, the defeated Croatian army and up to half a million
Croatian civilians were massacred under Belgrade’s
orders. Hundreds of thousands of Croats subsequently
escaped Yugoslav borders. This Bleiburg genocide is a
matter of public record, published books, and television
documentaries.
In 1991,
after the bombardment of Croatian cities, such as Dubrovnik,
Osijek, Karlovac, etc. and Vukovar, the remaining wounded
Croats were marched away from the satellite television
cameras at Vukovar, and massacred and hidden in mass graves
at Ovcar. Ovcar is Croatia’s ‘Srebenica’; as is ‘Jazovka’
after WWII, where the remains of 40,000 Croats were
discovered, along with canes, and old bandages, etc. The
total obliteration of Vukovar is the Dresden-like scene
which prompted the UN into action. Other Croatian cities,
towns, villages, hospitals, ancient churches, cultural
monuments, and their civilians were bombarded, tortured,
murdered and otherwise ethnically-cleansed from one third of
Croatia. Subsequently two million people were cleansed from
both Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, including Croats, half
a million of whom never returned to their homes. Yet, in
spite of the above Serbian terrorism, all documented on
public record, in the media headlines, and on television,
and not just a matter of propaganda, Europe is asking that Gotovina surrender!
Croatia’s
defensive operations, led by Gotovina, between 1992 and 1995
expressed their legitimate and inherent right under the
United Nations Charter of self-defence. Croatian operations
were authorized only after the publicly-acknowledged failure
of a much scorned and humiliated UNPROFOR to demilitarize
Sectors North or South or adjacent Pink Zones (eg,
Resolution 762 ), thus failing to prevent over four years of
bombardment and the death of thousands of Croats. Lester B.
Pearson, the former Canadian PM who received the Nobel Prize
for his concept of UN peacekeeping must have turned in his
grave.
Sectors
South and North were areas where Serbs had terrorized and
ethnically cleansed and murdered Croats from inside
one-third of Croatia, during 1990 and 1991. Many planned
massacres occurred there under the command of Chief of
Staff, Ratko Mladic of the Yugoslav Army’s 9th Corps. Do
the victims of Mladic in Bosnia deserve respect and closure,
but not in Croatian towns such as Skabrnje, Brusko, or
Nadin? Apparently not, as the Gotovina indictment refers to
the period in question as ‘inter-communal tensions’. Is
Gotovina acceptable to the international community as a
soldier in the French Foreign Legion in a foreign country,
but not acceptable in the defence of his own country?
The
unprovoked aggression ordered from Belgrade should be put
into a proper political context also. Whilst the rest of
newly liberated Eastern Europe was enjoying multiparty elections after 1989, or a so-called
‘Velvet Revolution’, Croats were being bombed,
ethnically-cleansed, interned in concentration camps, and
massacred, following their own free elections. The de jure
international recognition of Croatia
during this bombing had already been scrutinized by the
Badinter Commission in a three-month moratorium. This
European commission issued a set of unworkable conditions
which the EEC member nations themselves did not comply with,
and recognition of Croatia and Slovenia went ahead. The
facts as outlined in the Gotovina indictment bear no
resemblance to all these events, especially within a legal
context.
This is
because the indictment has adopted the vague non-committal
language of the UN resolutions about the crisis in the
former Yugoslavia, which led to the so-called Vance Plan.
The language of the indictment reflects a new legal concept
of equal guilt of ‘all parties’, as did the growing number
of UN resolutions, which appeased the opposing sides in the
EEC, or at the UN. A dilemma about how to handle Serbian
aggression and Serbian ceasefire violations threatened to
de-rail European unity at Maastricht.
But old European rivalry and competition in the Balkans is
not the only issue reflected in the indictment and UN
resolutions.
Clearly, an
anti-American lobby is emerging through this court, a lobby
which has obviously caused a gap in traditional western
solidarity and NATO. This anti-American foreign policy is
nowhere more transparent than in Canada’s input into
UNPROFOR, which ultimately caused international
embarrassment and failure, and its main leaders’ pro-Serbian
affiliations were later exposed. Both the former Canadian
PM Mulroney, whose wife is Serbian, and UNPROFOR’s first
commander, General MacKenzie, have adopted a pro-Serbian
posture after their retirements.
In trying to
make amends through an ad hoc court, the original UNPROFOR
mandates were adopted as its cornerstone, thereby adding
insult to injury in the Croatian indictments. An article in
‘Canadian Foreign Policy’ by Cohen and Moens acknowledged
that sharp divisions over the Balkan issue in North America
and Europe served “as an early opportunity for Ottawa to
re-conceptualize the manner in which Canada and like-minded
states should address governmental breakdown, wars and
humanitarian crises in disintegrating countries”. Thus, it
has evolved that a series of UN resolutions and Hague
indictments about Croatia have put the so-called Krajina, a
self-declared Serbian terrorist state within Croatia; on an
equal footing with the de jure recognized Croatian
government. How precarious now are the issues of safety,
human rights, right of self-defence and the western system
of justice, if this indictment is given any legitimacy.
The
accusations against Gotovina are unwarranted, unjust, and in
contravention of international charters. Rather, the key
issue here is the bias and failure of UNPROFOR to provide
peace and security to Croatian civilians over a five year
period, and to deny Croatian people the right of
self-defence, their human rights or their fundamental
freedoms. The Gotovina indictment represents an attempt to
cover-up the UNPROFOR failure as the Croatian people’s
exercise of self-defence is referred to as a ‘criminal
enterprise’ or an attack on ‘Krajina’, a document which
appears to respect more the rights of Serbian terrorists,
many of whom have already been sentenced at the Hague, than
the rights of Croatian victims. If this international
criminal court is allowed to set such a dangerous precedent,
civilians in Europe will no longer trust the law, as
totalitarianism justice rules.
In 1930s, Joseph
Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili Stalin was the presiding judge,
jury and prosecutor to hundred thousands secret trials of
his political enemies.
The ICTY Court in the Haag, thanks
to testimonies of protected witness, sentenced Croat general
Tihomir Blaskic to 45
years in prison. After 7
years in prison, without apology or any compensation,
General Tihomir Blaskic was set free, because the charges
were false and prosecution was found to be wrong.
Now, the same ICTY Court has
ordered Croatian weekly to stop publication of these
erroneous statements and testimonies made by this same
protected witness? What kind of a Court is this ICTY Court
in the Haag? What is true agenda of this ICTY Court? Justice or rewriting the
history, where through
judicial system the victim becomes a villain and villain
becomes a victim? When
everything else must be transparent, so must be Court
proceedings as ell.
Very concerned citizen of this so
called Free World,
Bob Markic, Toronto
PS. We need a court which will punish
those who abused Croatia's secret documents, by falsifying
them and submitting them, by illegal channels and manners,
to controversial parties in the ICTY's courtyard. IA
ZAGREB, Dec 2
(Hina) - The Hague war crimes tribunal ordered the Croatian
weekly Hrvatsko Slovo to stop publication of statements and
testimonies of a protected witness who had appeared in the
trial of Bosnian Croat general Tihomir Blaskic, and of any
other protected witness.
Anyone violating
this order may be subject to punishment of up to seven
years' imprisonment or a fine of up to 100,000 euros, the
tribunal said in a statement.
Judge Alphons Orie
ordered "the relevant authorities of the Republic of Croatia
to serve this order without delay on HKZ-Hrvatsko Slovo
d.o.o., Stjepan Seselj and Domagoj Margetic and to provide a
written report confirming such service or describing the
efforts made to do so".
He further called
upon "the authorities of the Republic of Croatia to provide
the Tribunal with any information regarding the identity of
those potentially responsible for the illegal disclosure of
the transcripts and violations of the related orders and
decisions of the Tribunal regarding the protection of
witnesses".
The statement said
that on November 26, 2004, Hrvatsko Slovo published excerpts
of what it claimed was the testimony of a protected witness
in the Blaskic case. It added that on December 1, 2004, the
Prosecution at the ICTY filed an ex parte and confidential
"Urgent Motion for an Order for the Immediate Cessation of
Violations of Protective Measures".
Judge Orie took
into account the fact that the witness had testified in
closed session and had been granted protective measures. He
concluded that those responsible for the publication of the
transcripts in Hrvatsko Slovo were aware at the time of the
publication that the transcripts were confidential documents
that were not to be disclosed.
In Peter
Warthington’s “Mysteries
at The Hague” (Aug 25, 2004) the filmmaker Garth
Pritchard, who’s to appear as a
witness in The Hague against the 1995 Croats’ Operation Storm
(Knin), swindles every reality of the facts.
During
Croatian 1995 Operation Strom Croatia liberated Serb occupied
Krajina that had served as the main stronghold of Belgrade
controlled Serbian paramilitary forces from 1990-1995.
The statement
that the “Croats – re-armed by the Germans – occupied Krajina”
has been double-forged by the author.
On May 9 1995
Florence Hartmman (Le Monde)
stated that “the new mandate of the UN in this country,
recognized in its international borders, consists in replacing
of their interposition forces deployed in 1992 by the limited
forces charged with physical reestablishment of the sovereignty
of Croatia on its entire territory, of which 20% is being
occupied by the independent Serbian militia.”
Yet the UN
failed to deter Milosevic’s project of “Greater Serbia.”
Next, the
liberating Croatian troupes had rather been US assisted.
Mr.
Pritchard’s hero Maj.-Gen. Alain Fourand would agree as said by
CBC of July 21 2003: “’I don't think it was the Croats
themselves that did that,’ said Maj.-Gen. Alain Fourand, who
commanded UN forces in the area of Operation Storm, adding he
suspected it was MPRI.”
[Military
Professional Resources Inc. is the US contract agency generally
considered to be an extension of Pentagon and CIA. Indeed they
were there before and after Operation in “Krajina.” “The CIA's
Tier 1 UAV program overcame technical delays and is now
conducting flights through January with two General Atomics Gnat
750s and a Schweitzer two-man RG-8 data relay aircraft from a
new base on Brac Island, Croatia.” (“U.S. military to boost
tactical recon in '95,” Aviation Week & Space Technology on
January 9, 1995)]
While
Maj.-Gen. Fourand’s claim of saving 800 Serbs and Mr Pritchard’s
concern about 82 found bodies in Knin are remarkable, 180,000
ethnically cleansed and nearly 20,000 killed Croats previous to
US-Croat Operation Storm and preventing Srebrenica genre
slaughter in Bosnia and Herzegovina were not to be ignored.
(“Facing
reality at the ICTY,” by Jeffrey T. Kuhner, The Washington
Times, August 5, 2003)
During that operation 174 Croats had been reportedly killed and
1,430 wounded. Wartime Croatian Serb leader Milan
Babic pleaded
guilty in The Hague (Jan 26, 2004) for more than 78,000 Croats
had been ethnically cleansed from “Krajina” in 1991. His case
contradicted the accusations of Croat commander Gen Ante
Gotovina as to ethnic cleansing of the Serbs – it had been
ordered by the Serbian authorities.
Following the
Operation, "Croats investigating Croat war crimes in Knin?
They've got to be kidding. It smells of coverup," says Mr.
Prichard.
Indeed. But
Gen Gotovina ordered the investigation, and 3,558 Croats have
been sentenced to prison terms for isolated atrocities. He had
evidently previously instructed his troupes of 100,000-150,000
that liberated 11,000 of acres of occupied territory to respect
the international laws. It is all too mysterious that he’s been
accused of war crimes for command responsibility thereupon.
Mr
Pritchard’s version of Knin events blanks the above facts at a
test of both his and The Hague’s sincerity in exposing
"Croatian war crimes in Knin."
“Attention
focused on the Medak pocket where Canadians came under Croat
fire.” The CBC report of July 27, 2001 recorded a precise
outcome: “Col. Jim Calvin of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light
Infantry lost two men dead and 20 wounded in Croatia. In Medak
in 1993, his men killed 27 Croats.” (CBC, July 27 2001)
All smells of
death, until Operation Storm had stabilized the region. What
then justice should be like in The Hague?
In Peter
Warthington's "Mysteries at the Hague, (Aug 25) filmmaker Garth
Pritchard has much to say about war crimes allegedly committed
by Croatians during their liberation of Serb-held Croatian
territory in 1995. One has to wonder where he was between 1991
and 1995 when one third of Croatia, including the so- called
Krajina he refers to, was occupied by rebel Serbs.
These Serbs
brutally "ethnically cleansed" that one third of Croatia of the
whole Croatian and non-Serb population, that amounted to several
hundred thousand people, committing horrific atrocities of the
kind Mr. Pritchard is now accusing the Croatians. These rebel
Serbs and their paramilitary mutilated and massacred an untold
number of men, women and children. About one thousand Croatians
are still unaccounted for, as many were thrown into wells or
burned in their homes. Their homes and possessions were looted
and everything stolen that could be carried off.
Mr. Pritchard
said that the UN was there to protect the Serbs - what irony!
The UN "Peacekeepers" were supposed to restore peacefully the
territory back to Croatia, instead they were helping the Serbs
with the ethnic cleansing. When asked why they were doing it,
their answer was that if they did not "evacuate" the Croatians,
the Serbs would have continued with their killings! Neither did
the UN stop the Serbs' continuing shelling, from the UN
"protected area", of Croatian cities and villages on the coast
and inland. Nor have they stopped the Serbs flying from the
Udbina airport to support Serbia's war in Bosnia, even sending
rockets against NATO planes flying over Bosnia.
So these were
the so called Peacekeepers Mr. Pritchard was part of? Nothing to
brag about! And let us not forget Major General MacKenzie, who
while serving as the UN commander in Bosnia allowed his soldiers
to frequent a brothel in Serb-held Bosnia, where Bosnian Croat
and Muslim women were held as sex slaves and repeatedly raped
nightly, some even killed. (Reader's Digest, Oct. 1995). No
doubt MacKenzie also established great credibility among the
Canadian UN contingent in Croatia. After the end of his duty in
Bosnia, Mr. MacKenzie became a lobbyist for the Serb-American
propaganda net getting paid hefty fees.
Thank you for Helle Dale's Op-Ed column "Balkan ghosts"
(Wednesday).I agree with much of Mrs. Dale's argument, but at the same
time take exception to two points.
Like many other foreign policy analysts, she has used the
following cookie-cutter statement: "horrendous war crimes
committed by all sides."
This simple statement detracts from the validity of her
work. It is a cardinal rule of effective journalism not to paint
all groups with the same brush. By referring to "all sides," she
could be seen to be allocating war crimes equally among the
three main ethnic groups, even though it may not be her
intention to do so. For the unaware reader, Mrs. Dale is
painting a misleading picture.
It may be true that both the English and Germans committed
war crimes in World War II, but it must be stressed that what
the Germans did from 1939 to 1945 was incomparable in terms of
numbers of victims, horror and brutality.
Therefore, as a responsible journalist, Mrs. Dale owes it to
your readers to mention that according to the International
Criminal Tribunal, more than 90 percent of the murders, rapes
and tortures were committed by Serbian forces. This was also
noted by the CIA.
As for Mrs. Dale's argument that Croats forced the ethnic
Serbian minority to flee: This, too, is disputed by fact.
Serbian leader Milan Martic ordered his residents to leave
before the Croatian push for liberation.
Helle Dale claims that Croatian troops forced tens of
thousands of Serbian civilians out of Croatia ("Balkan
ghosts," Op-Ed, Wednesday). This claim — also made by the
International Criminal Tribunal — is untrue. The Croatian Serb
leadership publicly admitted that it ordered and coerced its
people to leave Croatia ahead of the Croatian offensives. The
U.S.-backed Croatian actions recovered Serbian-occupied
territory that had been conquered on the back of ethnic
cleansing. The U.S.-Croatian actions also saved Bosnia, saving
untold thousands of lives.
Mrs. Dale should take a closer look at the tribunal she says
should be supported. One of the top Serbian officials involved
in the occupation of Croatia, Savo Strbac, far from being
investigated, is a top associate of the U.N. prosecutors. He is
helping them prosecute the very Croatian generals who, with
vital American support, stopped Slobodan Milosevic in his
tracks. They will not get a fair trial.
The United Nations will smear the United States for helping
the Croats stop Mr. Milosevic, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic
— a "crime" in the eyes of many at the United Nations who were
happy to indulge the Serbian rampage across Croatia and Bosnia.
BRIAN GALLAGHER
London
•
While reading the Op-Ed column "Balkan
ghosts" by Helle Dale, I found two statements disturbing
because they do not represent the truth.
Mrs. Dale writes, "Croatian troops swept through the
Serb-controlled region of Krajina, forcing tens of thousands of
Croatian Serbs to flee." The fact is that it is not only the
Vukovar region that Serbs destroyed, but these ethnic Serbs in
Croatia's Krajina region also occupied, with the help of the
Serbian-Yugoslav army and paramilitary, one-third of Croatia
after their aggression started in 1991.
They "ethnically cleansed" the Croatian population, looting
and destroying their homes and committing untold atrocities.
When the Croatian army finally liberated its territory in August
1995, these Serbs were not "driven out," as the article states,
but were ordered by their own leadership to leave before the
arrival of the Croatian army. Testimony to that fact was given
in Politika, a Serbian newspaper, in August 1995 in Belgrade by
the Serb Krajina leadership. Anything else is a revision of
history.
In addition, only Serbia and the so-called Serbian republic
in Bosnia have dragged their feet and not cooperated with the
International Criminal Tribunal, according to the tribunal's
Judge Theodor Meron, while the tribunal is pleased with
Croatia's cooperation.
HILDA M. FOLEY
National Federation of Croatian
Americans
Santa Ana, Calif.
His Excellency Kofi AnnanSecretary General of the UNUnited Nations PlazaNew York, N.Y. 10017
Excellency:
We are taking the liberty to send this very
important report to you regarding the close working association
of the ICTY Chief Prosecutor Madame Del Ponte with Savo Strbac,
head of the "Veritas" organization. Mr. Strbac was the "Government
Secretary" of the Serb-occupied so-called "Republika Srpska
Krajina" an illegal para-state in Croatia that ethnically
cleansed the whole Croatian population while looting and burning
their homes and committing terrible atrocities. To this day Mr.
Strbac still advocates a "Greater Serbia" wherever Serbs live,
no matter that, as in Croatia, such land was never part of
Serbia. We cannot understand that Madame Del Ponte could
actually give any credence to such a person and much less even
to cooperate with him. Why was Mr. Strbac and his role in ethnic
cleansing and killing never investigated? We believe that it is
of the utmost importance that this cooperation with Mr. Strbac
and his Veritas organization at the ICTY Prosecutor's office and
he himself are investigated.
Madame Del Ponte is now busy indicting more
Croatian generals, presumably to even out the number with the
Serb indictees. Notwithstanding that Croatia never attacked one
inch of Serbian soil, notwithstanding that up to now 139 mass
graves of Croatian victims massacred by Serbs have been
discovered in Croatia and that during the UNPROFOR mandate in
Serb occupied Croatia Serbs killed far more Croatians than the
combined number of alleged Serb victims for which the Croatian
generals now standaccused.
Very truly yours,
Hilda M. FoleyNational Federation of Croatian Americans
13272 Orange KnollSanta Ana, Ca. 92705
In his criticism of
Jeffrey T. Kuhner's commentary on Bosnia ("Redrawing
Bosnian borders," Oct. 1), High Representative Paddy
Ashdown ("One for all," Letters, Wednesday) shows that he has a
remarkable talent for condescension even when the obvious facts
do not support his lordship's sense of superiority.Mr. Ashdown
says that, contrary to Mr. Kuhner's assertions, the Dayton
Accords have led Bosnia-Herzegovina toward economic and
political recovery [more]
Integrating Global Security Factor: Croatian General Ante Gotovina
Dear Editor(s):
I read with interest the
Comment by Mr. Jeffrey Kuhner implicitly calling to
rebuff The Hague`s indictment against Croatian General Ante Gotovina as per
`command responsibility` in the Operation Storm (The Gazette, Monday, July 22)
Simultaneously, The Jerusalem Post sets itself in defense of Croatian General
(there they know that the operation he led ended the war!) as Israel finds its
own rationale to reject the ratification of the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court.
Gen Gotovina`s persecution wanted by The Hague Tribunal seems to irritate The
Washington Times, The Washington Post, and many other media powers as well.
Instead of snooping into the separate interests of the interested parties and
the official politics behind this global calling, I will - in the light of Mr.
Kuhner`s synthesis - propose an integrating thesis.
The General Ante Gotovina`s case becomes the global security issue, and it is
not a surprise: many analysts agree today that he contributed to the stability
in the region, given that with the Operation Storm were defeated the
imperialistic and militant policies of the country which started up four (4)
wars.
Perhaps, the case of Croatian war hero warns us all not to miss this just
perfectly created room for the equilibrium amongst the global security
objectives and specific national freedom causes. Lately, we hear many complaints
worldwide in regard to the discrepancy between global and national concerns;
here, we could have the integration and stabilization of the both, should
military diplomacy know better, and set this special man to his right place: to
set him free and let him do his job. Now is the time.
What Croatia`s Anica Kostelic means for the winter sports, and Goran Ivanisevic
for the tennis, etc. - General Ante Gotovina could easily mean for the global
security. Or, he already does?