The Trail of
Tears
by Jared Israel
[Posted 2 August 2004]
The photograph below shows the Serbian
families, mainly farmers, who fled the Croatian invasion of the Serbian
Krajina that began 4 August 1995. Croatian forces were led by 'retired' US
officers from MPRI, a corporation set up as a private-sector agency of the
US military and State Department. [1]
The invasion
took place on US orders the day after Croatian Television announced that,
according to US Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith, the Krajina Serbs had
given in to Croatian demands. (The Krajina Serbs gave in on the 2nd of
August; the invasion began on the 4th.)
It appears that Galbraith's last-minute negotiation was a trick. He got
Krajina Serb officials to publicly concede defeat and he got the Yugoslav
government to assert - or reassert - that Yugoslavia would not send its army
to Krajina to defend the Serbs. The surrender news was publicized,
destroying the Krajina Serb troops' will to fight and giving Croatian forces
full confidence that an invasion of the logistically difficult terrain in
the Krajina would
be easy. That accomplished, Galbraith double-crossed his negotiating
partners, ordering Croatian President Tudjman to invade.
The US role was horrific, but events leading up to the Croat invasion also
raise questions about the actions of the Yugoslav and Serbian governments
regarding the Krajina Serbs. Did these governments do everything they could
to protect the Krajina or is there truth to the charge, raised by many, that
the Krajina Serbs were betrayed? Hopefully Mr. Milosevic will clarify his
own role, which has been much-attacked among Serbs, if and when he is
permitted to conduct his own defense at The Hague. I will post various
documents and news reports dealing with these matters. It is crucial that
the issues be clarified.
(Please keep in mind that the Serbian critics of Mr.
Milosevic about whom I am speaking do not attack him for supposed war
crimes; they charge him with appeasement or worse. Such criticisms, whether
right or wrong, obviously do not support the charges brought by The Hague
Tribunal. Based on research, not preconceived notions, I am convinced
those charges - The Hague's - are false.
[2]
It is perhaps a clever political tactic to take a man whom many if not most
Serbs regard as a sellout, and falsely accuse him of war
crimes, knowing that many Serbs will adopt a "curse on both your houses"
approach toward The Hague proceedings. In my opinion, and the opinion of
Emperor's Clothes editor Petar Makara, who is one of Milosevic's
toughest Serbian critics, this is a big error for the Serbs because
it is not only Milosevic, it is the Serbs' reputation which NATO
has put on trial at The Hague. The issue is: who is at fault for the breakup
of Yugoslavia? NATO and its Clerical-Fascist and
Islamist proxy forces? Or the Serbs? Who is at fault and
who should pay - in every sense of the word....) [3]
and [4]
Though a US ally, the UK felt it necessary to distance itself from the
grisly and unprovoked Croatian onslaught, which virtually emptied the
Krajina of 250,000 Serbs, leaving only some old people whom the Croats
finished off without a second thought. But US Ambassador to Croatia Peter
Galbraith denied 'ethnic cleansing' had taken place. Apparently 'ethnic
cleansing' only happens when the victims are not Serbs.
The Clinton administration was shameless: [5]
[Report from Xinhua News Agency starts here]
"The United States rejected today Britain's accusation of 'ethnic cleansing' by Croatia as tens of thousands of Serb refugees were fleeing the Krajina region of Croatia following its capture by Croatian forces. Almost 250,000 Krajina Serbs are reported to have crossed into Serb-held territory in Bosnia. Croatia announced on Monday that it had won back control of Krajina region seized by the Croatian Serbs since 1991. ["Seized"? The Serbs had lived in the Krajina for 500 years. Will the Dutch seize Amsterdam? - Jared Israel] British Defense Secretary Michael Portals said on Monday that Croatia's weekend offensive on Krajina had driven people from their homes and 'that amounts to ethnic cleansing'. But the U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith defended the Croatian offensive, saying it might in fact provide an opportunity to reach a negotiated settlement on a fair basis. [Galbraith conveniently forgot that he had obtained an agreement of surrender two days prior to the onslaught] Britain has expressed support for Russia's initiative that Presidents Milosevic of Serbia and Tudjman of Croatia would be invited to attend peace negotiations in Moscow." [In other words, now that 250,000 annoying Serbian civilians had been driven out or murdered there could be peace. -- EC]
[Report from Xinhua News Agency ends here]
From 1990 to 1995 the Krajina Serbs resisted domination by
secessionist Croatia. Why were they so opposed to living under Croat rule?
To help you to understand, I suggest you read a report issued by
Yugoslavia's Washington Embassy in 1947. Written in reply to people
attacking Yugoslavia for putting Catholic Archbishop Stepinac (from Croatia,
one of the Yugoslav Republics) on
trial, the pamphlet explains what happened under the Clerical-Fascist regime
that ran Croatia during World War II. You can access the report with photos
at
http://emperors-clothes.com/croatia/stepinac1.htm
For the text of the report with no photos, please go to
http://emperors-clothes.com/croatia/stepinac2.htm
The picture of the Serbian exodus is below.
-- Jared Israel, Editor
Emperor's Clothes
