Posted on 11/12/2004 5:28:06 AM PST by Calpernia
The last of Clinton’s bombs fell on Serbia over five years ago. But now, America is focused on another war, so that the media in the U.S. can treat Clinton’s debacle in the Balkans, and its ongoing aftermath, as though they were yesterday’s news. It is easy to see why the American public has not yet come to terms with a number of vital issues connected with those events.
Unanswered Questions in the Balkans:
Where is the evidence of “ethnic cleansing” in Kosovo - and where are those “mass graves”?
Each war gets a different media “spin.” The direction of “spin” depends upon whether the media intend to help or to hurt the current administration. For several years, the U.S. media have been relentlessly harping upon the question of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, and demanding to know whether any of them have been found. We know that Iraq once had them. We know that they once used them. We know that Iraq did not side with the U.S. in the so-called “war on terrorism.” (Considering that radical factions of Islam have declared war on the U.S., it is a nonsequitor to declare war on a tactic rather than an enemy. See Rip Snortin' Van Winkle & Strange Bedfellows--Then and Now for our earlier comments.) We know that Saddam Hussein publicly offered large sums of money to the families of suicide bombers. Yet we keep encountering the same public expressions of outrage in the U.S. Many continue to ask, “Where are those weapons that were supposed to be in Iraq?”
Well, Serbia was never allied with anyone who attacked the US—never ever! Out of the blue, the Clinton-dominated media began concocting tales of “ethnic cleansing” that accused the Serbs of atrocities comparable to those of the Third Reich. As the war against the Serbian people raged on, the American public was fed a steady diet of what were purported to be “aerial photos of mass graves.” So, five years later, where are those “mass graves”?
Why won’t the current administration in the U.S. denounce Clinton’s support of bin Laden’s allies in the Balkans?
We are getting almost daily reports of the ongoing mess that has followed the Bushes’ war in Iraq. This is a valid concern. Many have pointed out the dismal failure of America’s attempt to force its own idea of “democracy” on the Iraqi people.
But where is the outrage over the mess that US foreign policy has made in Kosovo? The people that the U.S. and its NATO allies were allegedly fighting to protect were, and still are, the worst violators of minority rights on the planet.
Following my article, The Tale of Two Shquiptars, I heard from a number of individuals who claimed to be young Albanians. They all engaged in polite dialog. They all told me, in one way or another, that Islam played no role in the reasons for the conflict between their people and the Serbs in Kosovo. They also scoffed at my claims that al-Qaeda and the KLA had any connection with that war. In every other way, their stories diverged so much that they each seemed to be talking about a different conflict. Most of them asked me to set the folks at Serbianna straight.
After I referred them all to the detailed information available on Emperors Clothes at Bin Laden in the Balkans, none of them could give me a cogent reason to doubt the information presented there. Since then, we have received permission from Emperors Clothes to post the data on our website, www.tvweber.com, also, at www.tvweber.com/binLaden_KLA.htm. So why won’t the current administration in the U.S. denounce Clinton’s support of bin Laden’s allies in the Balkans?
Taking It to the Air
One of the reasons for getting my book to press was that it would afford an opportunity to vindicate the Serbs. The title of the book, The Crumbling Wall Against Tyranny: a/k/a The United States Constitution, does not give the slightest suggestion that there is anything in it that would remotely relate to the Balkans. Even so, in the span of seven pages, the reader sees a clear link between Clinton’s radical Muslim allies in the Balkans and the perpetrators of the 9-11 attack upon the United States. Those tragedies exemplify what can happen when the president is permitted to flout the Constitution with impunity, and to usurp powers not granted to the Presidency under the Constitution.
Using talk radio, we now have a chance to get these messages to the Christian people in America. It is my personal “aerial attack” upon the misinformation and propaganda that bombards us all.
Hence, among the suggested questions for discussion that my publicist sends to radio talk show hosts is: “Why do you call President Clinton, ‘al Qaeda’s man in the White House?’”
With the world listening, I explain in concise, “sound bite” language that Clinton conducted a war against the Christian people of the Balkans, on behalf of bin Laden’s allies. I don’t even need to say the word “Serb.” Some listeners understand immediately; others will need to think about the message first. But a Christian audience should have no trouble getting the message.
If the Crumbling Wall Falls, Tyranny Reigns
My book is about the American system of government, how it should work, and why it no longer works so well. It roundly condemns the actions of those U.S. presidents who have—contrary to their Constitutional status—assumed the powers that allowed Clinton to launch his war against the Serbian people without interference from Congress.
Only Congress has the power to declare war, and there had been no declaration of war, yet Congress sat back and let the war continue. It is illegal for a President to do as Clinton did; yet the American people accepted it. Neither Congress nor the American people attempted to stop him.
The potential for tyranny is great when one man can single-handedly start a war and no one dare raise a hand to stop him.
America at the Crossroads
The bitterness of the 2004 campaign season is one more piece of evidence that the US has lost its Constitutional moorings. Every four years, we can each offer a miniscule degree of input regarding who our next dictator will be. Except for those who have already resigned themselves to the idea of being, in effect, slaves to the government of the United State (intentionally leaving the “s” out of “States), and those who feel that the U.S. is beyond hope, citizens are in absolute horror over the outcome of each election.
With the Clinton administration long out of power, it is time for America to make amends. Both Democrats and Republicans need to take an honest look at Clinton’s failed foreign policy and assume responsibility for setting matters aright.
With the President’s new administration about to begin, there is absolutely NO excuse for retaining anyone in the federal government who still considers the Serbs to be “war criminals,” the Russians to be our “geopolitical rivals,” and the KLA and Bosnian Muslim fanatics to be our “friends.” It is not our purpose to raise the issue of the Constitutional definition of treason, which was once a capital offense rather than a prerequisite for entry into America’s self-styled elite. But it is entirely reasonable to insist that the federal government cease to employ those people in any position of public trust!
The administration needs to look for honest and capable people who are free of racist bigotry against Slavic peoples, and free of religious bigotry against Orthodox Christians. It may even be necessary to recruit candidates from sources other than the Ivy League, the University of Chicago, or the Beltway “think tanks,” which evidently have become breeding grounds for their own particular prejudices and distorted worldviews.
The Serbs have been an ally of the U.S. since there was a free Serbia in the 19th century. Isn’t it time to renounce Clinton’s failed Balkans policy, apologize to the Serbian people, and restore the lands that they have lost due to the wrongful intervention of the American military?
If not, let us remind you of the slogan, “Serbia, the land where empires die.” Who would have expected the once-mighty empire of the Ottoman Turks, the Austro-Hungarian empire of the Hapsburgs, and the formidable Nazi empire of the Third Reich, all to become extinct after picking on tiny Serbia? On what basis do the American government and people claim to be the sole exception to the principles of history and of common sense that apply to everyone else? Is America too blinded by vainglorious pride to see that it is following the same downhill path that landed its old enemies in the dustbin of history?
Far better for the US to swallow its national pride, repent of its errors, and join hands with Serbia in heartfelt cooperation—so that al-Qaeda can be the next empire to die in the Balkans rather than America’s empire.
Actually, you're right there is a distinction in the statements, but it is a distinction without a difference. One statement refers to distance and the other describes the setting.
There is a difference, and both refer to distance. "From the hills" connotes distance to me, and, I should think, to most. But if it doesn't imply that to you, fine. I suppose words mean different things to different people.
The two statements are not mutually exclusive; both can be correct.
Agreed. There could have been shooting "from the hills" and also shooting from close range.
The forensic team stated that the bodies had been shot where they were found.
Actually, that was Dr. Ranta's statement. IIRC, she made that pronouncement before the Finnish ballistics team issued its report, which stated "the victims were shot at a range of less than 30 metres from the trench and then dumped in it." I'm not terribly bothered by the difference between Ranta's statement and that of the ballistics report. Are you?
Mark, if this case was taken to an American court repetition of this mantra would not help bridge the gap between established material facts and eyewintess accounts.It would be interesting to see how such 'evidence' would be treated, I guess anywere from being not admitted to case being thrown out of the court.
Take for example establishing how the perps were dressed. It was daylight and there should be no problem with accurate description of the garments/uniform and details.
Here is what an expert says similar about such event:
"Anyone can get uniforms. The fact that they [the killers] were dressed in military uniforms was not proof that they were military."
The expert is William Walker, as quoted in Washington Post, March 21, 1993 in his response to Rep. Joseph Moakley, D-Mass., on Jan. 2, 1990, in defense of the El Salvador government forces accused of murdering the Jesuit priests
In Racak case, even what the perps wore is questionalble. In ALL media reports villagers describe to reporters that attackers wore blue uniforms and black masks, yet video footage from video crews on the scene shows no police in the village wearing black masks.
In his statement to ICTY Paratrooper_501 reports that police wore BLACK uniforms and SKI masks:
"We had a short discussion and then we saw transport vehicles filled with police (MUPS wearing black uniforms and ski masks) move from the assembly area and drive towards Urosevac where they drove into the police barracks compound and stopped and got out. Some were still observed to be wearing black ski masks (Seen by OSCE crew).
"The villagers stated that some of the forces who did the raid wore black uniforms and ski masks."
When speaking of KLA 'Military Police' Paratrooper_501 states that
"They ALSO dress completely in black uniforms and wear black berets".
The BLACK UNIFORM/BLUE UNIFORM discrepancy reported during the daylight is interesting for several resons:
-According to Paratrooper_501 eyewitness account some Serbian police wore black uniforms
-According to Paratrooper_501 eyewitness account some KLA wore black uniforms
-according to other accounts, foreign mercenaries within KLA ALSO wore black uniforms.
This is only one piece of evidence that is reported differently. Add to this DIFFERENT death toll being reported, DIFFERENT time when the fighting stopped being reported, DIFFERENT LOCATIONS of corpses being reported, DIFFERENT description of the corpses, DIFFERENT EYEWITNESS ACOCUNTS of the massacre, DIFFERENT time reported of Walker's arrival, your mantra 'Racak happened. Civilians were murdered. Serbs did it. The evidence proves it' becomes understandable. Despair.
Mark, perhaps if you repeat your mantra 997 more times it will become truth. At least for you.
If I remember correctly, someone the other day posted a link where Buja said the UCK asked for volunteers in Racak on 15 Jan.
I neither saw nor heard of any evidence of KLA killing Albanians in Racak. I find this difficult to believe because of the extreme pro Albanian sentiments of the town.
Paratrooper 501 some of what you have said in your post are very true but your understanding of the situation between the villagers of Racak, Stimlje and the KLA is superficial in understanding which I conclude is a result of not talking to the right people. Your analysis of the situation is superficial based on the obvious conclusion that the conflict in Kosovo was simply about the Kosovar Albaninas against the Serbs i.e. us against them. From the point of view of the international community watching the Kosovo conflict unfold on CNN all came to that very simple true conclusion. But you are unaware of another war that was raging in Kosovo within the Kosovar Albanian population that did not involve the Serbs, a political civil war that resulted in the deaths of numerous Albanians all over Kosovo which included Racak and Stimlje. Kosovar Albanians were not only killed for being suspected colaborators.
501 let me introduce myself. I was also in Kosovo from 1999 to 2000 deployed in the British Sector. I was a field intel officer there part of an intel cell. At the time the mission objective was to learn as much about the KLA as possible. In the US sector the KLA were coddled approach to the KLA and was holding their hands making sure they had their mittens on when going out to play in the cold. As a result of a lot of work by numerous individuals in the British Sector a lot of the KLA leadership including Commander Remi (the little psycho), Latif Gashi(the head psycho)and Sabit Geci(the crippled psycho) have been arrested for crimes against their fellow Albanians. Besim Mala (the very dead psycho) never got to the stage of getting arrested. I have personally met all of these very dangerous personalities.
The internal civil conflict I am refering to was going on well before the Nato intervention into Kosovo. This political was was being waged by the KLA against President Rugova's LDK party members who had been systematicaly intimidated, tortured and murdered all over Kosovo. How do I know because I interviewed a number of them. The KLA were forcing their way into key Government positions through intimidation, torture and murder. The interesting thing about the Stimlje/ Racak area was it was a strong LDK pro Rugova area. You see Rugova enjoyed the support of a large majority of the kosovar Albanian population in Kosovo and being pacifist in nature the LDK were easy targets by the KLA who were fear by both the Serbs and Albanians alike. In short Thaci and his KLA wanted military and most importantly political control because something was in the wind back in 1999 and that was Kosovo ruled by Thaci and his KLA. From their point of view Rugova was a popular waste of skin which included the LDK followers who would not step aside. Even though this secret dirty war was being waged on the LDK leadership and local representatives the everyday day Kosovar Albanians had no other alternatives but to support the KLA who in their minds were fighting to liberate Kosovo. A lot of the everyday Albanians were very affraid of the KLA PU (secret police) who were very active in searching out collaborators and intimidating the LDK who were considered traitors who enjoyed the political support of the majority of the population. This was a problem and is why Rugova is alive today. A good number of his deputies have been killed or severely beaten by special KLA PU units.
I have seen the dirty side of the KLA and its not very pretty. This was going on even while you were conducting your KDOM patrols. Yes the Stemlje, Racak villagers supported the KLA but feared them as well. Considering the majority of the population were pro LDK i.e. Rugova. When you said that Buja was looking for volunteers It amused me because Shukri Buja does not ask he insists. There were 45 dead villagers found at Racak and by Buja's own admission an equal number of his KLA fighters of which 11 were killed. The real strange thing was that the 11 dead KLA were removed and buried in a village not far from Racak. No KLA bodies to suggest the villagers had posed resistance to the VJ and MUP. The Racak villger's knew the VJ and MUP were coming. The sound of heavy military equipment could be heard for miles. The Albanian grape vine is a very efficient thing especialy when bad news was on the horizon. The 45 villagers remained in Racak because Buja's KLA made them. It made no sence to hang around while the majority of the village took off for the safety of Stimlje unless you had approx. 45 armed KLA keeping you there. I find it very interesting that the majority of the deaths were the villagers and not the KLA. This is because these 45 LDK supporters were simply fodder for the KLA cause and would not be missed.
The KLA attempted this before but succeeded in Racak. While the Serbs were moving on Racak on January 15th two patrols were dispatched by the OSCE and went to Racak from two different directions. One was stopped by the Serbs and the other was stopped by the KLA. You were not one of these dispatched patrols were you? Considering that some so called massacre was going on you would expect the KLA to assist international military observers in getting close to Racak in order to confirm a massacre was taking place? This is a fact the KLA prevented this OSCE patrol from entering Racak on the 15th which caused a big problem between the local villagers and the KLA to the point of almost violence. Funny this did not make it into the OSCE official reports. A good friend of mine who had been with the OSCE in Kosovo heard internally that the OSCE reports did not reflect what was being reported from the field.
The KLA tried to stage a similar event in the village of Petrova some months before where the population were ordered by the KLA to stay in the village when the Serb MUP and VJ came under the promise that the KLA would defend them. The KLA never showed up. This happened. Now when Buja was asking for volunteers to defend Racak do you think the Racak villagers were lining up at his door?
Its a simple thing villagers in the village with some weapons and a few KLA while the rest of the KLA controlled the only route of escape the high ground into the hills just above were the gully and a good number of the bodies were found. The Serbs had reported the KLA were sniping at them from the hills surrounding Racak, and I find it difficult to believe that the Serb MUP would march a number of these male villagers up a hill on open ground and mow down these people while the KLA can make easy targets of them. The KLA were in the hills. I have been to Racak and seen the lay of the land in particular the trench where the bodies were found. The Serbs left around 16:00 hours on the 15th, and had control of the village until the next day, plenty of time to remove their KLA dead and make the firefight that took place look like a massacre seen. This is why the KLA would not let that Patrol enter Racak, they needed time to get things ready for Walker's stroll over the crime scene.
The other curious thing was that the Serbs had advised the OSCE that they were conducting a police action in the Racak area and had French photo journalists with them. Not the kind of people you would want to wittiness a massacre I would think.
So the end result was world condemnation of the Serbs, the KlA now had an air force supplied by Nato and most of all Nato had a reason to cross the boarder into Kosovo thanks to Wild Willy Walkers performance. It makes me sick to think that those villagers were forced to their deaths so that NATO had a reason to enter Kosovo. The KLA are comprised of criminals, murders, and generally psychos, trully an evil organization that is responsible for the influx of the majority of the heroin shipped into Europe. The Serbs did commit some crimes in Kosovo but the KLA are responsible for the majority of them. Why are the KLA so important to the US? The Serbs would make better allies and have been given a raw deal in Kosovo. It was a case of not understanding what was going on in Kosovo or not wanting to really understand what was going on. I have seen the photos of the murdered Serb policeman. Thaci has publicly admitted that shooting Serbs policeman in the back was a favorite tactic used by the KLA to draw them into fight. Sound familiar because thats why the Serbs went to Racak in the first place.
The KLA will make good friends with the US until such time that this alliance does not serve their purpose any longer. I respect your service in Kosovo and your point of view and appreciate they way in which you present it. Keep an open mind.
The Serb version of Racak has changed several times; from the first story that the dead were KLA killed in battle to the most recent version where the dead were civilians, but it was the KLA that killed them (although, in a retro move, DTA in his post above seems to be hinting at a resurrection of the old foreign mercenary explanation). No Serb version has the benefit of any supporting evidence, but the evolution of the process is clearly toward finding and then advancing the least obviously false tale.
And of course, since some who aren't aware of the perpetual blamelessness of the Serbs might find mulitiple direct eyewitness accounts of Serbs shooting villagers as somewhat convincing evidence, it must be pointed out that one of those witnesses said the firing came from the hills, but another source said close range! Some saw black uniforms and others said blue! Another said the Serbs were wearing masks, but somebody else saw Serbs that weren't! How can we trust anything they say!
Sorry, these are meaningless and in some cases contrived differences in minor details; especially when opposed to the overwhelming congruence of evidence (at link above) from diverse sources that corresponds as to sequence of events, unlawful killings, identity of the victims listed in the indictment as noncombatants, and identification of the killers as Serb forces.
Post 324 was a reply to wonders & you; inadvertently left your name out.
The timeline on the storyboard is mixed:
Different times when the fighting has started. Was it 6;30 or 7:00
Different times reported when police entered the village.
Different times reported when the police left the village.
Also, different reports when shooting around Racak stopped and police retreated.
Different time reported when the bodies were found.
As per HRW: " The extent of the fighting in Racak that morning remains somewhat unclear. According to one Serbian policeman, the KLA's resistance around Racak lasted almost four hours, and when they were finally able to enter the village the police confiscated three mounted machine guns. Villagers, however, said that the police had entered the village by 9:00 a.m. They said that there was shooting and some artillery until 4:00 p.m. By 4:30 p.m., the police had left the village.
Different accounts of what happened in the village.
According to AP-NY-01-16-99 1718EST "Imer Emini, 20, told reporters that Serb police rounded up about 30 people, mostly men, and ordered them to stand against a wall. Terrified in the chaos of weapons fire and shelling, some of the villagers started to run and police opened fire, she said."
How many were killed ? What happened to the rest? What time it was?
How men were marched to the gully? In one or two groups? What time it was?
Was KLA shooting on the hills around Racak when the police marched the men to the gully??
How many were taken away by police and marched? 30, 29 or 20?
Were they marched directly to the gully, or first towards Shtimlje and then returned back and then uphill?
How many survivors who witnessed massacre escaped? One, two or more?
If 29 were marched to the gully, as witness says, and two survived , where are the others?
How many were killed in the gully? 23, 24 or 25?
How many of them were decapitated? none, 1, 2 or 3?
Two witnesses, "Jakupi and another Racak resident, Rem Shabani, told reporters that they overheard some of what the troops were saying on their walkie-talkies as two groups of men were being led away from the village. "How many of them are there?" one soldier asked. When the reply came back as 29, Shabani recalled, the order given was: "Okay, bring them up." Yakupi said he then overheard another order: "Now get ready to shoot." He fled before the shots rang out." /Taps Reveal Coverup of Kosovo Massacre By R. Jeffrey Smith Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, January 28, 1999; Page A1 /
Did Rami Shabani see police as well?
"In the morning I got information that the men from the stable were found dead. But soon I saw my husband and son coming toward me - like they were standing up from the grave. My son told me that the group of policeman had pushed them with their hands behind their heads to go towards the hill. My son was in front with Sadik, and the others were behind. When he came to the top of the hill, he saw another group of policeman waiting for them with rifles. He turned his head and shouted to the others to run away. He ran toward the village of Rance, and didn't turn his head. One bullet crossed through his pocket, and another one is still in his belt."
Yet he heard policemen singing. How his father managed to escape?
Residents reported to OSCE that 20 men were taken to police. At the same time they reported that they heard the shots yet did not go to investigate till 4 A.M.
Did OSCE know about talkie-walkie conversation Mr. Shabani heard of 29 being taken uphill? If not, why not?
All this claims and absence of logical explanations can be found in EYEWITNESS REPORTS as reported by HRW, OSCE and MSM.
You call this "overwhelming congruence of evidence ". Perhaps this kind of congruence can be found between CON and CONSPIRACY in the dictionary.
"On 11 February a crowd of thousands of Kosovo Albanians gathered at the funeral site in Racak. The OSCE-KVM Head of Mission and representatives of other organizations and international and national press were in attendance. It was agreed that Serbian police could implement heightened security measures, as long as they stayed out of sight of where the funeral was taking place. They took up positions all around Racak and were closely monitored by OSCE-KVM verifiers.
The UCK agreed not to wear uniforms or carry arms at the funeral. However, they broke this agreement to the extent that they abducted and "arrested" nine people attending the funeral, either at the funeral itself or on the way home. The OSCE-KVM put pressure on the UCK leadership to release these people, all of whom were released the next day, 12 February.15
OSCE-KVM human rights officers interviewed these abductees later. Two of them denied ever having been arrested by the UCK. For the others, the "arrest" scenario followed a similar pattern. They had been arrested in Racak at around 12.00 hours, or on their way back to Stimlje around 14.30 hours, by young men who were armed and dressed in black civilian clothes. Two of them were taken to a house with 30 other people, then put in a Zastava truck and driven to Petrovo. Only these two persons were asked to get out of the truck, whereas the others were sent back to Racak. The other arrested persons were put directly in a private car and driven to Petrovo. All of them stayed in a stable for the day and the next night. Two of them were ill-treated. All but one were interrogated by the Petrovo UCK commandant. The apparent reasons for their "arrest" were various (having a brother working with the police; being suspected of having weapons; drinking with Serbs; having Serb friends; or having a Serb police officer as a friend). They were all released on the afternoon and evening of 12 February, but most of them stayed the night in Petrovo because they were afraid to go back home so late. All of them were later taken by the Serbian police to give testimony on what happened, and two of them went on Serbian state television.16
It would be interesting to know what happened with the nine arrested people.
I am aware that if Bill Walker or God Himself (some seem to think they are one and the same) stood in front of you and told you that the Serbs didn't do it, you would not believe it. I am also aware that there are others who wouldn't believe it the other way round.
FWIW, my opinions: The Serbs handled the situation in Kosovo stupidly and brutally. Perhaps they did so to the Nth degree on that day in Racak. The UCK/KLA were a gang of criminal thugs. There's nothing I wouldn't put past them. The rightful representative of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo was Rugova, not Thaci. I could go on and on, but those are just my opinions. I'm sure you disagree with all but the first.
I am not interested in the colours of the uniforms, nor in the masks. The shooting does interest me. I'll get to that later after Paratrooper has completed his narrative.
Racak Timeline
15 Jan 1999
Around 6:30 a.m.: Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that they heard automatic weapons fire beginning, when the police reportedly exchanged fire with the KLA from a hill called Cesta. [HRW]
About 7:00 a.m. (dawn): Serbian police arrived, encircled and then attacked the village of Racak. [LF,LM] Army tanks and armored cars came as backup and shelled the forest near the neighboring village of Petrovo, where some KLA units were positioned. They also fired at some family compounds in Racak. Some families managed to escape Racak, fleeing towards Petrovo which was also affected along with the villages of Malopoljce and Belinca. [HRW]
8:30 a.m.: Serbian police invited a television team (two journalists of APTV) to film the operation. A warning was also given to the OSCE, which sent two cars with American diplomatic licenses to the scene. [LF]
8:45 a.m: KVM /KDOM observers arrived, spent the whole day posted on a hill watching the village. [L as to 8:45, LF, LM and numerous other sources as to spending the day observing.]
Between 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.: APTV crew arrived, began taping from a hill. "Smoke came from only two chimneys", noted one of the two AP TV reporters. [L, LF, LM]
10:00 a.m.: APTV entered the village in the wake of a police armored vehicle. The village was nearly deserted. They advanced through the streets under the fire of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) fighters lying in ambush in the woods above the village.
It was in fact an empty village that the police entered in the morning, sticking close to the walls. The shooting was intense, as they were fired on from UCK trenches dug into the hillside.
The fighting intensified sharply on the hilltops above the village. Watching from below, next to the mosque, the AP journalists understood that the UCK guerrillas, encircled, were trying desperately to break out. A score of them in fact succeeded, as the police themselves admitted. [LF] The exchange of fire continued throughout the operation, with more or less intensity. The main fighting took place in the woods. The Albanians who had fled the village when the first Serb shells were fired at dawn tried to escape. There they ran into Serbian police who had surrounded the village. The UCK was trapped in between. [LM]
10:30 a.m.: Serb police gave out first press release. It announced that the police had "encircled the village of Racak with the aim of arresting the members of a terrorist group who killed a policeman" the previous Sunday. [LM]
About 11:00 a.m.: According to eyewitnesses, police entered Osmani's yard, where approximately thirty men and four boys were hiding in Osmani's stable. A group of approximately twenty women and children were hiding in the cellar of Osmani's three-storey house.
All of the men were taken outside into the yard, where they were forced to lie on the ground and searched for weapons. The four boys were taken out of this group, including the twelve-year-old who spoke with Human Rights Watch, and were locked up together with the women and other children in Osmani's cellar. The police also took four men from the cellar -- Sadik Osmani, Burim Osmani, Rama Shabani, and Mufail Hajrizi -- and put them with the other men in the yard. Burim Osmani, who is a teenager around fifteen years old, was later put back into the cellar, apparently because he was too young.
Before the twelve-year-old boy was sent to the cellar, however, he saw how the police beat the men in the yard, including his father and some other relatives. The boy told Human Rights Watch:
Two or three policeman beat them with wooden sticks. One was kicking them in the face with his boots. The others were just watching. It was terrible. The men were screaming, and their heads were covered with blood. A policeman locked me in the cellar with the women, but I could hear screaming for the next half an hour. [HRW]
11:30 a.m.: The political branch of the KLA announced that the fighting resulted in deaths on both sides. [L]
Around 1:00 p.m.: According to the eyewitnesses, the police led the twenty-three men out of Osmani's yard. One witness, S. A., was hidden at that time behind a compound wall fifty meters from the Osmani house. He told Human Rights Watch that he heard the police leading the detained men through the Racak streets. He said:
I heard the police ask them [the men] where is the headquarters of our army [the KLA], and they answered where it was. Then they went together toward the power station in the direction of our army. I think it was maybe 3:00 p.m. when I heard shooting, but I did not know that they were killed. [HRW]
Around 3:00 p.m.: The 23 men were shot by Serb police, according to eyewitnesses. [HRW]
3:00 p.m.: a police communique reaches the international press center in Pristina announcing that 15 UCK "terrorists" had been killed in combat in Racak and that a large stock of weapons had been seized. [LF]
3:20 p.m.: The number two in OSCE, whose verifiers have watched since 8:45, contacted a Serb general and demanded the cessation of combat. [L]
3:30 p.m.: Police, followed by the AP TV team, left the village, carrying with them a heavy 12.7 mm machine gun, two automatic rifles, two rifles with telescopic sights and some thirty Chinese-made kalashnikovs. KVM/KDOM observers enter village. [L, LF, LM]
4:40 p.m.: French journalist drove through the village and met three orange OSCE vehicles. The international observers were chatting calmly with three middle-aged Albanians in civilian clothes. They were looking for eventual civilian casualties. [LF, LM]
5:00/5:30 p.m.: All Serb forces withdraw from the area under the sporadic fire of a handful of UCK fighters who continued to hold out thanks to the steep and rough terrain. [L, LF, LM]
6:00 p.m.: The journalist returned to the village and saw the observers taking away two very slightly injured old men and two women toward the dispensary of the neighboring town of Stimje. The observers, who did not seem particularly worried, did not mention anything in particular to the journalist. They simply said that they were "unable to evaluate the battle toll". [LF, LM]
After 6:00 p.m.: The Albanian information center, which in an earlier report had stated a death, mentioned seven killed. [L]
[?]A journalist with AFP [Agence France Press] met a foreign observer Saturday morning in Racak who confidentially told him that he had actually entered the village the night before. The observer, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
The French members of the mission, interviewed Monday by Liberation, said they didn't know that observers [verifiers] had entered the village the same night. They said only that they knew that verifiers were in the neighborhood, but explain that rumeurs about civilian victims started to circulate in the hallways of the foreign observers's mission on Friday night. Another witness, cited by LeMonde and Figaro, confirms the existence of these fantom observers. [L]
During the night, the remaining men of the village searched for the wounded, still thinking that the twenty-three men were in the Stimlje police station. [HRW]
16 Jan 1999
About 4:00 a.m.: One person who participated in the search told Human Rights Watch that they found the bodies on the hill called Kodri e Bebushit, in Albanian, around 4:00 a.m.. He said:
I saw Mufail Hajrizi. He was slashed on the chest. Then we found Haqif, the guest from Petrovo. His body was lying on his side with the hands as if he wanted to defend himself. His throat and half his face had been cut by a knife. On the top of his head was a wooden stick with some paper. Something was written on that paper but I can't remember what it was. There were more than twenty bodies, almost all of them were my relatives. We wanted to cover the bodies with blankets, or something else, but one man said not to touch anything before KVM comes tomorrow. [HRW]
About 9 a.m.: Journalists, soon followed by OSCE observers, are led to the bodies by KLA soldiers. [LF]
About 12:00 p.m.: William Walker arrived and expressed his indignation. [LF, numerous]
Sources:
HRW = Human Rights Watch, “Yugoslav Government War Crimes in Racak”
L = Libération, Paris, 21 January 1999, “Nine questions concerning the Racak dead”
LF = Le Figaro, January 20, 1999 “KOSOVO: OBSCURE AREAS OF A MASSACRE”
LM = Le Monde, 21 January 1999, “WERE THE RACAK DEAD REALLY COLDLY MASSACRED?”
I have to admit, that's a good come-back! :)
DTA, you make too much of the normal discrepancies that always occur when several people are asked to describe the same event. And in this case it was an especially traumatic event with friends and family killed in front of their eyes and the witnesses themselves having been shot at or chased or in some cases wounded while trying to escape or hide.
Given those circumstances, it is normal that some say firing started at 6:30 and some at 7:00 and that in an all day operation the exact times when the police arrived or left, etc don't always match.
Further, depending on where you were personally located in and around that village, you may or may not have seen events described by others; and your perspective on when the fighting began and ended will be different also.
As to how many ran away & escaped; it doesn't really matter. The crime is based on the villagers the Serbs killed, not the ones who got away! Decapitation statistics--again, so what? Perhaps more than one survivor saw the same headless vicitm and reported it separately-maybe somebody thought the head was cut-off and somebody else reported it as shot off. But what really matters is that the villager was killed.
DTA, what the evidence is consistent on--whether it be from villagers or observers, and as corroborated by the forensic study when applicable--is that Serb forces arrived at the village that morning, killed some villagers there, rounded up male survivors & took them that afternoon up the ravine where they were murdered by the Serbs. That's the criminal activity--not the fight with the KLA earlier or discrepancies between shaken survivors hiding in the ruins over exactly when some event began or ended.
Finally we agree on something. I concur with all except the final para -- still reserve judgment there.
No the evidence is not consistent. You forgot that we have the eyewitness testimony Paratrooper_501 submitted to ICTY. I take this to be accurate for the purpose of having one firm point in the liquid story. And You trust him.
Paratrooper_501 wrote:
BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION
. I spoke to NAME DELETED [the same one I had spoke to the night before] a UCK military policeman. (The UCK have military policemen who also fight but are utilized to enforce certain orders or laws of the UCK. They are used to guard premises occupied by the UCK high command and othe sentry duties. They wear armbands with the initials PU on them which is Albanian equivalent of MP. They also dress completely in black uniforms and wear black berets.) NAME DELETED told me that thee had been no civilians hurt in Petrova as he had rounded them up the day before and sent them to a safer place. He told me that he had heard through another source that the police had taken a group of people into the mountains near Racak and slit their throats. Apparently a boy had seen that and got away. I asked if he knew about a group of men being shot. He said he did not know that.
About 20 minutes later, Femi returned. At that point he did not know any more than the night before. A short time later, a UCK policeman came in with a list of manes of civilians who had been killed. At that time there was about 20 names. Another soldier came in and gave Femi another piece of paper with additional civilian casualties, about 15 names. Femi appeared distraught at the sight of the names he received.
I will pause here:
For numerically challenged this means that around 35 names (20 + 15) were provided by KLA MP (UCK PU) BEFORE information about people killed in a gully CAME IN. When 23 (number of dead in a gully) is added to known number of 35 we get 58 dead civilians according to KLA. This is around 13 more than official ICTY toll.
Paratrooper_501 continues:
"...Reports came in at that stage that there had been some sort of mass killing at Racak.Between 0800-0830 I told Femi that it was important that we go and check Racak to ascertain what happened."
To recapitulate:
KLA knew 'from other source' that group of people was killed with their throats slit because it was reported by an eyewitness. yet, they did not go to investigate.
KLA provided the names of 35 dead civilians BEFORE the infopmation of massacre came from Racak around 800. When the number of 23 people killed is added, it makes 58 people.
There was a false eye witness who witnessed people being killed and their throats slit. We know that this was not true. Something is not matching, and this is key detail. Source here are UCK Police and KDOM.
Vilagers were in a gully at 4AM, and were advised by 'someone' not to move corpses. Yet the corpses were moved.
Then, we have a two opposing accounts from the same eyewitness who escape the killing (Remi Shabani). In one account, Shabani claims that he had heard police walke-talkie conversation between police marching them to execution and police waiting to execute them. According to him, there were 29 people. Shabani run in hale of bullets, one bullet hitting his belt. In another account, by his mother, Shabani has SEEN the police and escaped before they started shooting. Shabani was 34. His father also escaped. We do not know what happened with 4 more people (29 minus Rami Shabani minus his father - 23 killed = 4)
These are not insignifficant details.
First of all, Serbs did not have a motive to kill civilians, KLA had. Serbs were watched 24/7 since October 1998 Activation order. CUI BONO seems to be forgotten in Racak case.
Yet, Serbs seemingly acted like madmen, KLA did not go to investigate slit throats killing, families did not go to investigate if there are survivors of 3PM shooting but chatted with OSCE observers instead, OSCE did not hear walkie talkie converstion of 29 people going to be killed and so on.
We also know that fierce battle between POlice and KLA erupted when police came to take the bodies from Racak for post mortem investigation. My memory is weak at this point, but if I remember correctly, 17 Serbian police were killed. it seems that KLA was very interested to PREVENT post mortem, as well as CSI RECONSTRUCTION a year later.
In other words, the conclusion is drawn from "Serb police was in the village, they did it."
We also know that OSCE wanted to sack Walker as nuisance in March becasuse of all these discrepancies. But the bombing started anyway and thousands were killed as a consequence.
When KLA officials were warned that NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia would trigger retaliatory violence by Serb forces in Kosovo, the Chicago Tribune reported one KLA leader as saying: "We don’t care. 400,000 Kosovars can be sacrificed for our independence."
Perhaps Serbian police killed the men in a gully. Perhaps. But guilt is not proven BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT.
Well, the court will decide that. I understand your points, but I think the eyewitness statements of those who were there and saw the actual shootings carry a lot of weight.
The KLA dead at the edge of town were killed in combat with the Serb forces. The villagers in the gully were murdered. However, of the approx 20 dead Albanian civilians in and immediately around the village itself, how would you characterize their deaths? Were any killed accidentally as the result of the firing between the KLA and Serbs? Any killed not on purpose, but as a result of using inappropriate weapons; i.e. tank or AA fire into civlian area? Deliberate bombardment of village? Accidentally during the sweep of the village by nervous Serbs not taking any chances? Deliberately killed by Serb clearing the village? etc. Bottom line: in your judgment, to what extent were deaths in the village accidental versus criminal? Thanks again for posting your narrative.
Its a simple thing villagers in the village with some weapons and a few KLA while the rest of the KLA controlled the only route of escape the high ground into the hills just above were the gully and a good number of the bodies were found. The Serbs had reported the KLA were sniping at them from the hills surrounding Racak, and I find it difficult to believe that the Serb MUP would march a number of these male villagers up a hill on open ground and mow down these people while the KLA can make easy targets of them. The KLA were in the hills. I have been to Racak and seen the lay of the land in particular the trench where the bodies were found. The Serbs left around 16:00 hours on the 15th, and the KLA had control of the village until the next day, plenty of time to remove their KLA dead and make the firefight that took place look like a massacre scene. This is why the KLA would not let that Patrol enter Racak, they needed time to get things ready for Walker's stroll over the crime scene.
Your service is valuable and I thank God for people like you. See, if the NATO mission was honest - designed to end the wrong doing on both sides equally - without agenda - it would be a noble thing.
First of all I would like to thank you for the courage of stepping out and sharing your ICTy testimony with us here on FR. I second Mark's opinion that you should publish it under your full name in the outside world. Thousands have been in Kosovo in the last five years but most have chosen to keep mum.
Your testimony has given us an oportunity to see how actual KDOM reports looked like.
Unlike memory that may fade over time, testimony is something that was filed, and therefore 'carved in stone'.
Mark, nope, this is my standard BDU
I will post uniforms of your pals shortly.
Click here for pics of Special Police Units. Frankies wore American woodland and Aussie hats.
Artistic rendering (fairly accurate), matching color of sample Paratrooper_501 posted.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.