Balkan politics and EU values | 39 comments (39 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Balkan politics and EU values (none / 1)

There you go again with your Serb bashing. I'd like to point out that throughout our exchanges over the past couple of days I have only heard criticism of Serbs. Once of Croats (above) and never of Bosnian Muslims. It's either the result of personal bias or, more likely, of the constant media barrage you have been enduring for the past 20 years now, about the Evil Serbs.

The Turks are in denial about their role in the Armenian genocide (not to mention the Greek genocide), yet that doesn't stop your country's government from having a cozy relationship with Ankara, nor from promoting their entry into the EU at every available forum. Could that be an example of double standards?

Out of the "war criminals" indicted by Del Ponte's Kangaroo Court (financed in large part by the US and Saudi Arabia) the overwhelming majority are Serbian who were delivered to The Hague by the Serb government. Also, a number of top government officials in both Serbia and Republika Srpska publicly apologized to the Croats and the Muslims for atrocities committed by Serb forces. In my books, that's about as contrary to denial as a national government can go.

But to people like you, that's not enough. It's never enough. There's always a "yes but the Serbs..." You know when it'll be enough? When Serbia kneels, kisses Empire's boot and give up its sovereignty to NATO.

Besides, I don't recall the Bosnian Muslims, Croats or NATO (heaven forbid) ever apologizing to the Serbs for their atrocities against civilians. Did the English ever apologize to the Irish? To the Indians? To the Boers? To the Germans for wiping out Cologne's unarmed women and children? And who's going to apologize to the Iraqis for their 800 000 dead? Or will your government deny and say it was all an American adventure (as is often hinted on the BBC)? What about the dead Afghan civilians? Where does that leave the UK in terms of European values?

So many questions :-)

by vladimir on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 06:30:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Balkan politics and EU values (none / 1)

The Turks are in denial about their role in the Armenian genocide (not to mention the Greek genocide), yet that doesn't stop your country's government from having a cozy relationship with Ankara, nor from promoting their entry into the EU at every available forum. Could that be an example of double standards?

Yes, they are in denial, which is pathetic cos it was under another government (the Ottomans) entirely and long before the Attaturk rule which changed Turkish society completely. Equally, anybody who was involved is dead and their children are dead as well. There is nobody who carries guilt to apologise to anybody who was directly affected.

However, the reason why it's a problem that Turkey can't bring themselves to admit their crime is because it causes them to commit injustice today. Not because of what was done long ago.

The recent indulgences of politicians in apolgising for atrocities committed by ancestors to people who barely remember except for history books annoys me in the extreme, so your litany of crimes of the British Empire doesn't really bother me. I'm far more interested in protesting the crimes of today (such as Iraq) or those where the living are still suffering from the injustice (Diego Garcia, Kenya etc). Apologising for 250 years ago is pointless and cheap, apologising for 25 years ago, let alone 250 days seems a lot more difficult.

So we go back to the mess of the Balkans. Everybody in the Balkans seems to have committed some sort of atrocity on somebody else in the last 20 years, and those who suffered seem to have exacted gruesome reprisal at some stage. I thought the serbians alone were in denial, Sargon assures me that is not so. I apologise.

So two wrongs make a right ? Not really. Can confession make things right ? No, of course not. But if two sides in a conflict refuse to accept responsibility for the suffering they caused others then we end up where we are; with the (probably) unnecessary partition of a country and further future suffering as the now minority KSs are, if not forcibly displaced, then likely to flee certain future penal discrimination.

That cannot be a good thing. I don't knock the serbs cos I want them in the EU or NATO (despite my diary I don't actually care that much), nor do I suspect do our elites have the imperial ambitions you ascribe to them. No, I do it because I trhink peace would be good and in a situation such as the serbs and the other states find themselves, a little humility and a lot less nationalist chauvanism just to get on with the neighbours would be better than the alternative.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 06:57:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Balkan politics and EU values (none / 0)

Regarding the Turks, I forgot to mention the Kurds...
But judging by your last post, looks like we're starting to agree - how pleasant.

by vladimir on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 07:21:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

More ridiculous (4.00 / 2)

Serb bashing? Helen starts off with her acknowledgemets about the nazi influences and anti-semitism under Tudjman, who also was targeted by the ICTY, but as Milosovic, escaped justice by dying.

You also haven't touched my recent question. Where are your modern numbers that the Srebrenica mass graves total some 1500 bodies?

I find your accusations that the ICTY would be a "kangaroo court", your consistent harping on the crimes that others did rather tiresome and unnecessary. Throughout my readings on the Yugoslavian War I've hacked my way through the press images that were dominating my memories on the war. I think I'm aware enough to know that there were no angels on any side and everyone is to blame. Can you stop now with your litany how bad others were?

You are Serbian are you not? If you defy modern numbers, if you consistently point out how bad others are, you will get the argument of Serbian war crimes back, over and over again. Don't make it so hard on yourself.

And why the endless list of historic apologies? Why did you leave out Mesić apology? Or the nationalistic backlash when Tadić apologised? You're starting to become an example of Westerman's conclusion.

European Tribune - Bridge Across the Tara: A Review

Yet: because he's become entangled in the web of his own history, he's become powerless to look ahead neutrally. That's his tragedy. The Balkan-man marches with his back first into the future.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 07:30:15 AM EST
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Re: More ridiculous (none / 0)

I'm actually French. I live in Paris and work in the field of banking technology. I have a very international background - which explains my interest in foreign affairs. Lived in the US for 8 years, Belgium for 2 years (working for DG1), Zambia 4 years, Zimbabwe 2 years, South Africa 1 year and Yugoslavia 5 years. Rest was in France.

And you're British? Or are you American? I've met smart Americans and dumb Americans. Which one are you? What does it prove if I'm Serb??

I invite you to do a search on BBC - which, surprisingly, has not stooped so low as to lie about dead bodies. You will see that the BBC is very cautious when it gives body counts.

Latest BBC story on Srebrenica:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6560961.stm
Quote: "Serbs killed thousands of Muslim men and boys" - no more mention of 14K, 8K, 7K, ... 2K?

Here's another one on BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4350840.stm
Quote: "Thousands of bodies have been recovered from mass graves around Srebrenica over the past few years".
Do you really think that the BBC would have omitted printing the figure 8K if there had been 8K bodies? or 7K? 6K? 5K? 4K? So how many K does that make?

Then there's the fantastic Sunday Times piece I mentioned (Nov. 3, 1996 by Jon Swain)

I could keep searching... but then so can you. Apart from different sources on the Internet, I wasn't in Srebrenica, I didn't sleep with Mladic and I didn't count the dead bodies. So my numbers could be wrong. Where's your truth from?

Why is my harping tiresome and unnecessary? We've had constant deafening harping about Serb crimes on all Western media for 20 years now. Is that unnecessary? Is it tiresome? To you, probably not.

How on earth do you imagine discussing political developments in Kosovo, Bosnia and the Balkans without discussing relations, wars and suffering among Moslems, Christians, Serbs, Croats and Albanians over the past 20 years? World War 2 was an obsession in France and French politics for 20 years after 1945 - that's one of the reasons why the Communists had such enormous political and popular clout at the time. What do you suggest - that everyone just accept the standard propaganda without questioning, without offering the other side's story?

by vladimir on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 08:35:33 AM EST
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Re: More ridiculous (4.00 / 2)

Gendercide Watch: The Srebrenica Massacre

Extensive forensic investigations of the Srebrenica massacre sites has so far turned up some 3,000 bodies. Only a few have been successfully identified. They are held at a combined memorial and mortuary in Tuzla

The red cross lists 7,079 missing from Srebrenica, although they acknowledge that that number could be an underestimate as they only take reports of missing people from family members. if an entire family has been killed they do not include them

Srebrenicas missing form 38% of the entire number missing from the entire war. and I know people who were there and did have the job of digging up mass graves and recovering the remains. The idea that we're part of a western anti-Serb campaign is frankly insulting, If you look back over past postings here you'll see that we have been as forcefull in condemning and calling for the prosecution of people involved in the Iraq campaigns.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 09:09:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: More ridiculous (none / 1)

I'm not suggesting that you are part of an anti-Serb campaign. I am suggesting that there IS a Western anti-Serb campaign.
I do not condone in any manner way or form the massacres in Bosnia, Croatia or Kosovo. I do condemn the continuous over mediatization of atrocities perpetrated by one of the 4 sides.
And in particular, I condemn the fact that "Serb atrocities" are being used 10-15 years down the line, to justify the illegal redrawing of national borders which will end up shrinking the Serbian state to Belgrade and its suburbs.
Of the 3 000 corpses, how many were Serb? Regarding the Red Cross, I've read a number of (disputable) reports which question their neutrality. In particular, they were accused, by the Serbs, of ferrying soldiers and arms to and from Bosnian Muslim controlled areas. The International Red Cross is known to have run the Rat Lines after World War II which organized the evacuation of Croatian Nazis to the Vatican and out to the Americas for later use against the Soviets during the cold war. (see Rat Lines by Mark Aarons and John Loftus - 1991).
But even if it was 8 000 dead... there were 900 000 refugees in Serbia. Conclusion: war is terrible.

by vladimir on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 09:57:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: More ridiculous (4.00 / 3)

Regarding the Red Cross, I've read a number of (disputable) reports which question their neutrality. In particular, they were accused, by the Serbs, of ferrying soldiers and arms to and from Bosnian Muslim controlled areas.

This reeks of bovine excrement. The 'they're ferrying soldiers/terrorists/partisans around in ambulances' is standard propaganda fare. Every time some overly nervous/shell-shocked/trigger-happy gunner somewhere massacres a medevac team we get the same old sh/t about kalashnikovs in the ambulance. Sorry, but I don't buy that anymore.

Regarding the claimed excessive hounding of the Serbian government and/or people over the Balkan war atrocities, I got pretty much the same line from a Croatian I talked with at a conference last year. Except, of course, that in his version of history the Croatians were the ones that were being unjustly maligned, while the international community was coddling and appeasing Serbia. The two recurring themes were that yes, the Croatian generals had committed war crimes, but they had done so defending their country - an argument that was not hard to dismiss - and "the US is committing war crimes too. Is the US ever going to hand one of its generals over to the Hague?" (which I must admit was somewhat harder to come up with a good answer for on the fly).

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 03:58:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I am (none / 1)

going to ignore your borderline ad hominems for now. If you need to know about my nationality, you can look at my profile here at ET or my diaries posted at this forum.

You're still not giving modern numbers. An -absence- of the 8K number is not exactly a verification for your quoted 1500 bodies from an article, which I will repeat, is from 1996.

Your harping and groundless accusations is tiresome because you're dealing with an audience that's more than willing to consider your viewpoint, but not one that beats the same horse over and over again. That gets old real quick. Most, if not all, of the commenters have already expressed their awareness that Serb atrocities did not form the whole pie of the war. Five posts later, we don't need to read it again. And again.

I can't speak for the years prior to Srebrenica, but I'd say we've had Serbian atrocities in the Western limelight for some 10+ years because Serbian forces committed the largest and best known mass-killing on European soil since WWII, no matter how the number game plays out. Doesn't really make Serbs the most popular guy on the field, I'm afraid, and kinda overshadows the other bite-size clips the press machine churns out. It takes slightly more in-depth reading to find out that it wasn't all that black and white.

Again, you've that audience here. Rubbing people's faces in your alternative view at every opportune moment, doesn't really set conditions to sway minds.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 10:06:15 AM EST
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Re: I am (none / 1)

You asked for the sources. Here they are. Please don't accuse me of harking.

Jan Willem Honig and Norbert Both - from their book entitled: Srebrenica: Record of a War Crime:

Quote: Oric and his cronies were also responsible for much of the trouble with the Serbs, which stemmed from Muslim raids on Serb communities just outside the enclave. Also, Oric's men had the disconcerting habit of taking up positions close to the Dutch and then opening fire on the Serbs, hoping to entice them and the Dutch into a firefight. (pp. 132-133.)

Two other journalists, Laura Silber and Allan Little, who will never be accused of being sympathetic to the Serbs, note in their book Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation, that

Quote: on January 7, 1993 (the Orthodox Christmas), Oric's forces launched a surprise attack on Serb positions to the north, killing Serb civilians and burning their villages.(pp. 265-266). Serb sources claim Oric massacred as many as 2,500 Serbs on this occasion.

In his report issued on 30 May 1995, the UN Secretary-General had this to say about the Bosnian Government's provocations from the safe areas:

Quote: In recent months, (Bosnian) government forces have considerably increased their military activity in and around most safe areas, and many of them, including Sarajevo, Tuzla and Bihac, have been incorporated into the broader military campaigns of the government side. The headquarters and logistic installations of the Fifth Corps of the government army are located in the town of Bihac and those of the Second Corps in the town of Tuzla. The Government also maintains a substantial number of troops in Srebrenica (in this case, a violation of a demilitarization agreement).

Srebrenica: Manipulating a Tragedy. Project Director: Ed Herman. Chief Participants and Contributors: Ed Herman, Jonathan Rooper, George Bogdanich, Michael Mandel, George Szamuely, Tim Fenton, Philip Hammond. With Foreword by Phillip Corwin

Quote : There can be no equivocation about that. At the same time, the facts presented in this report make a very cogent argument that the figure of 7,000 killed, which is often bandied about in the international community, is an unsupportable exaggeration. The true figure may be closer to 700.

BBC reporter Jonathan Rooper
Quote: the number killed in Srebrenica was most likely in the hundreds, not in the thousands.

On July 14, 2005 edition of Canada's The Globe and Mail, under "The Real Story Behind Srebrenica", General Lewis MacKenzie stated:

Quote: Evidence given at The Hague war crimes tribunal casts serious doubt on the figure of "up to" 8,000 Bosnian Muslims massacred. That figure includes "up to" 5,000 who have been classified as missing. More than 2,000 bodies have been recovered in and around Srebrenica, and they include victims of the three years of intense fighting in the area. The math just doesn't support the scale of 8,000 killed.... It's a distasteful point, but it has to be said that, if you're committing genocide, you don't let the women go since they are key to perpetuating the very group you are trying to eliminate. Many of the men and boys were executed and burried in mass graves.

by vladimir on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 11:06:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]

So (4.00 / 2)

You give us the Srebrenica report.

8,106 with the official report here.
>7,800 by Bosnian Serb acknowledgement.
7,079 from the ICRC with still 5,500 missing in 2005. Numbers which probably mean nothing to the likes of Jonathan Rooper.

I weary of this.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 12:40:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So (none / 0)

And George Bush said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. That was official too.

by vladimir on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 02:09:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yeah (none / 1)

Those +5,000 people never existed too. QED.

by Nomad (Bjinse) on Wed Dec 12th, 2007 at 02:29:45 PM EST
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Re: I am (none / 0)

I apologize for my borderline comment. It was a reaction the remark you made regarding my nationality which I understood as being prejudiced.

by vladimir on Sat Dec 15th, 2007 at 06:10:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Balkan politics and EU values | 39 comments (39 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)