Croatian PM: We Are Proud of Operation Storm

Serbianna.com ^ | Christopher Deliso

[montyspython]

Croatian PM: We Are Proud of Operation Storm

By Christopher Deliso

First Published on Balkanalysis.com
 

Balkan memorials and anniversaries tend to be bathed in blood, and Friday’s planned gala event in Zagreb – a commemoration of the 10^th anniversary of ‘Operation Storm’ is no exception. Far from being an occasion for shame, at least in Croatia, the single biggest act of ethnic cleansing in Europe since World War II, in which 200,000 Krajina Serbs were driven from their homes and another 2,500 killed, is set to receive official praise.

While this party must be sending chills down some EU diplomats’ spines, it’s doubtful that anyone from the “international community” will condemn this and risk future property acquisitions in this vacation paradise on the Adriatic.

Croatian media reports Prime Minister Ivo Sanader as saying that “…Croatia is proud of the action ‘Storm,’” calling it a “…big, grand, historic action, and with this action were liberated parts of Croatia.”

According to the ‘official’ Croatian history, Operation Storm was a clean, quick and efficient military campaign of liberation. As former Bosnian ambassador of BiH to the European Union and NATO Vitomir Miles Raguz gushed:

“…Croatia’s recent inclusion in the PfP [NATOs Partnership for Peace] program is long overdue. Since we often speak of NATO membership as a reward, the delay here is curious, as perhaps no new state deserves this honor more than Croatia. Since the breakup of the Warsaw Pact, Croatia has done more to benefit Western interests than any other new democracy.

…To begin, Croatia saved BiH. In the summer of 1995 its military operations, named Operation Storm, ended a carnage Europe had not seen since World War II—a humanitarian catastrophe for which the West could not muster an appropriate response. The Western capitals often unfairly take credit for this turnaround; in fact, the peace in BiH came only once the Croatian Army (HV) had established a new balance of power in the region by its summer operations. Everything that followed, from the first exercise of NATO air power to the Dayton-Paris peace agreement, was a filling-in of a diplomatic puzzle.

‘All along, the United States and its allies have been looking for a force—other than themselves—that could check Serbian and Bosnian Serb adventurism and produce a military balance on which realistic settlement could be built. Maybe such a force is now emerging: Croatia,’ wrote The Washington Post three days before Operation Storm commenced. At the end of the operation the Post added, ‘The Croatians argue they are not the problem but the solution; they claim to have created a new regional ‘balance’ on which ‘proper’ peace talks with the Serbs can begin. This line has been enthusiastically adopted by the American government, which is under pressure to show that the quiet political support it extended to Croatia had a legitimate purpose of promoting a negotiation in Bosnia.’”

The controversial ceremony has sparked a war of words between the Serbian and Croatian leadership. Serbian President Boris Tadic, who had extended the olive branch to Bosnian Muslims at last month’s commemoration of the Official History of Srebrenica, felt the Croatian holiday to be a slap in the face.

However, Sanader scoffed at the criticism, saying that “…nobody should be disturbed because of Tadic’s statement,” and opined that the latter’s stance was merely a product of internal politicking in Serbia.

While there is probably an element of truth to this contention, what with the Serbian Radical Party pressing hard to denounce the Storm ceremony, it’s also hard to deny Tadic the moral high ground – especially considering he had apologized on behalf of Serbia over Srebrenica, even if it was the Bosnian Serbs who were involved with that operation, and even if the fog of war has shrouded what

really may have happened.

However, as Nebojsa Malic pointed out, questioning the Official Truth of Srebrenica is anathema because there are too many careers and interests that depend on its retention.

President Tadic left no doubt about his position in a July 29^th interview, in which he asked the Croats to commemorate August 5^th by arresting those responsible for the operation.

“…When we talk about ‘Operation Storm,’ just like with Srebrenica, I don’t want to talk about the legitimacy of military operations. I’m just interested that in this action suffered innocent people. I am interested [to know] why refugee columns were bombed, why people were killed by being shot in the back. I’m interested [to know] about the people who were liquidated only because they were from a different population.

…what was my reaction against such crimes, I showed in Srebrenica. Now I am interested in what is the answer from the other side.”

According to Croatian President Stipe Mesic, disingenuously deflecting attention with help from the Official Truth, “…Srebrenica is the biggest crime that happened in the history of this area, when 8,000 people were killed, only because they were not Serbs, and nobody can say this is equal with some isolated cases which happened during the military operation “Storm.”

Isolated cases? Even the Croats’ American handlers rued the coordinated ethnic cleansing that resulted when they let their ‘junkyard dogs,’ as Richard Holbrooke called them, loose from the chain. And, unlike the great lengths to which John Norris goes to portray Bill Clinton in Kosovo almost as one of Ben Franklin’s clockmaker gods, hovering over everything unperturbed and unaware, it is pretty clear that Clinton took an active, voracious and day-to-day interest in Croatian military operations up to and including Operation Storm. And, though the Croats deny it, America played a key role in logistics, espionage and other nefarious deeds meant to cripple the Serb forces. Indeed, as Bosnian-born Malic put it today, “‘Storm” is something Washington would like to forget. Serbs and Croats don't have that luxury.”

Even thought they don’t want to be reminded of it, the Hague takes a different view. Perhaps that is just power politics on a higher level, with serious thought about how best to stall Croatian EU membership until other Balkan states are ready to join as well. But this is conjecture.

What is clear is that (perhaps because of this very interest from Del Ponte and Co.) the Croatian leadership is making a point on this jolly anniversary of reminding us that they had the full support of the Americans when they carried it out. And so the government is going out of its way to glorify Operation Storm, just as it continues to ignore similar things they should take pride in, such as Jasenovac and the Ustasha movement in general.

[jb6]

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LIBRARY EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA SOUTH-EAST EUROPE CROATIA

AI Index: EUR 64/002/2005

4 August 2005

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Public Statement

AI Index: EUR 64/002/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 204
4 August 2005

Croatia: Operation "Storm" - still no justice ten years on

Ten years ago, on 4 August 1995, Croatian forces began Operation “Storm”, to retake areas under de facto Croatian Serb control. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Operation “Storm”, Amnesty International calls on the Croatian authorities to immediately start fulfilling their obligation to bring to justice all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1991-95 war, regardless of the ethnicity of the victims or of the perpetrators.

In May and August 1995, the Croatian Army and police forces recaptured Western Slavonia and the Krajina region. During and after these military offensives, some 200,000 Croatian Serbs, including the entire Croatian Serb Army, fled to the neighbouring Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina under Bosnian Serb control. In the aftermath of the operations members of the Croatian Army and police murdered, tortured, and forcibly expelled Croatian Serb civilians who had remained in the area as well as members of the withdrawing Croatian Serb armed forces. Steps taken by the Croatian authorities to investigate such crimes, to bring to justice those responsible, and to award reparations to the victims and their families have been largely insufficient.

Former Croatian Army General Ante Gotovina is charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (Tribunal) with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the murder of at least 150 Krajina Serbs, committed against the Croatian Serb population during and after Operation “Storm”. To date, the Croatian authorities have failed in their obligation to locate, arrest, and transfer to the Tribunal’s custody Ante Gotovina. In her address to the UN Security Council in June 2005, the Tribunal Prosecutor stated that “in the first part of this year, the efforts made by the authorities [to arrest Ante Gotovina] were neither pro-active, nor focused, and several incidents occurred where sensitive information was manipulated so as to obstruct the investigation against Gotovina and his protective networks”. The Tribunal Prosecutor also noted that there are indications that Ante Gotovina can still count on active support networks, including within state institutions.

The failure of the Croatian authorities to fully cooperate with the Tribunal and to arrest Ante Gotovina led to the European Union’s decision to indefinitely postpone the beginning of membership negotiations with Croatia which were due to start on 17 March 2005.

Proceedings conducted by domestic Courts in Croatia have failed to bring justice to all victims, and their families, of war crimes and crimes against humanity. While Croatian courts have been vigorous in pursuing the prosecution of Croatian Serbs and others accused of committing war crimes against ethnic Croats, they have done little to tackle impunity for violations committed by members of the Croatian Army and police forces. Crimes against Croatian Serbs committed during Operations “Flash” and “Storm”, as well as in previous phases of the conflict are often not acknowledged, investigated, and their perpetrators have largely enjoyed impunity.

In a report issued in December 2004, A shadow on Croatia's future: Continuing impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity, (http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur640052004) Amnesty International had documented a pattern of widespread impunity including for killings and “disappearances” of Croatian Serbs committed in Sisak in 1991-92. To Amnesty International’s knowledge, no progress was made in the investigation of these crimes and in the prosecution of those responsible.

The latest Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report on Croatia’s progress in meeting international commitments, issued in July 2005, noted that Croatian Serbs continue to represent the vast majority of those prosecuted (often in absentia) for war crimes and crimes against humanity, while in 2005 no new prosecutions have been initiated against members of the Croatian armed forces.

The failure to ensure that the Croatian judiciary addresses all violations, regardless of the ethnicity of the victims or of the perpetrators, is in breach of Croatia’s international obligations, and seriously undermines the rule of law.

Out of approximately 300,000 Croatian Serbs displaced during the 1991-95 war, only approximately 117,000 are officially registered as having returned. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, some 200,000 Croatian refugees, mostly Croatian Serbs, are still displaced in neighbouring countries and beyond. Many Croatian Serbs, especially those who formerly lived in urban areas, cannot return because they have lost their tenancy rights to socially-owned apartments. Croatian Serbs continue to be the victim of discrimination in access to employment and in realising other economic and social rights; some cases of violence and harassment against Croatian Serbs continue to be reported.

Amnesty International reiterates its call on the Croatian authorities to address impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity, through full and unconditional cooperation with the Tribunal, with a view to ensuring that Ante Gotovina is arrested and transferred to the Tribunal’s custody.

Amnesty International notes with interest that the Croatian authorities appear to have recently taken initial steps to investigate killings and “disappearances” of Croatian Serbs in Osijek committed in 1991-92; the organization will closely monitor the efforts of the authorities to end impunity for these crimes. Amnesty International urges the Croatian authorities to begin similar investigations in all other cases where members of the Croatian Army and police forces were suspected of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Impunity must end for crimes committed during Operations “Flash” and “Storm” as well as for killings, “disappearances” and torture committed against Croatian Serbs in the first phase of the conflict.

Finally, Amnesty International urges the authorities to ensure that all obstacles to the sustainable return of Croatian Serb refugees are removed, including by ensuring access to housing and by ending discrimination against Croatian Serbs.

 

AI Index: EUR 64/002/2005

4 August 2005

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© Copyright Amnesty International

[Diocletian]

Do you have a particular point that you'd like to try and make or are you just spamming?

[jb6]

Yes you're right its not Nis, its Knin, doesn't change a bit the facts that Canadian observers watched Croatian forces move artillery fire in on civilian homes.

[Diocletian]

We had every right to liberate our occupied territory that had been occupied for four years.

[Modernman]

As for Haghai Sophia, yeah I am, the Turks steal and desecrate (in typical islamic fashion) the holiest cathedral of the Orthodox, damn skippy I want it back in Orthodox CHRISTIAN hands.

You're delusional on this issue, if you think anyone is going to (or should) invade a NATO ally over an old museum.

[montyspython]

By targeting civilian homes? Yeah ok.

[Diocletian]

Gimme a break! No ordinance is perfect and the Canadian peacekeepers like all UN peacekeepers are biased and try to aggrandize their roles.

But to have Serbs accuse others of "targeting civilian homes" is hilarious in light of their actions during the war.

[jb6]

Hmmm, by your argument, Yugoslavia had every right to occupy its territory back. How is it that Croats can succeed from Yugoslavia but Serbs can't from Croatia? Oh that's right, the word we're looking for, boys and girls, is HYPOCRACY.

[A. Pole]

Oops. I thought you are taking about expelled Serbs.

[Modernman]

But to have Serbs accuse others of "targeting civilian homes" is hilarious in light of their actions during the war.

The facts that the Serbs also engaged in ethnic cleansing doesn't diminish the fact that Croat forces did the same thing.

Nobody's hands are clean in the former Yugoslavia.

[jb6]

You're delusional on this issue, if you think anyone is going to (or should) invade a NATO ally over an old museum.

Spoken like an atheist. To us, its a bit more then a museum that was formerly a mosque that was formerly the most holy Cathedral.

Wars start for much less and baser reasons. As for NATO ally, yes we all saw how good an ally they are in Iraq. How many more Americans died from the Turkish brand of "friendship"?

[Diocletian]

No, inviobility of internal borders.

Had the Serbs not let Slovenia go there would have been a chance to keep Yugoslavia together because the fight could have been portrayed as one of national sovereignty. But instead, Slovenia was let go and it became a fight about Serbian expanisionism.

But if you want to play the micro secession game, that means that Serbs lose Kosovo and could also lose Magyar lands in Vojvodina so as to not be "hypocritical".

[jb6]

Not saying that you are an atheist but your remark sure sounds like it. I hear the same crap from my father, an atheist.

[Diocletian]

I agree with the Orthodox taking back the Hagia Sophia.

I also agree with Croats taking back St. Michael the Archangel Church in Kijevo that was demolished by the Serbs in 1991 when Serbs took the village.

[jb6]

No, inviobility of internal borders

Yeah, HYPOCRACY: you croats can violate internal borders and split off, but not those subhuman Serbs you didn't get a chance to finish off in the 40s.

[Diocletian]

You should calm down. Half of Croatia's Serbs stayed on the Croat side of the frontline during the Serb occupation of 1/3rd of our country, and many proudly served in the HV and the MUP.

But you continue to jump around and don't address the points I raise.

[Modernman]

Spoken like an atheist. To us, its a bit more then a museum that was formerly a mosque that was formerly the most holy Cathedral.

My family can trace its Orthodox roots to medieval Serbia. So, I understand the feelings here. However, to hold onto a grudge dating back to the fall of Constantinople is absurd.

At the end of the day, Hagia Sophia is just a building. No more people, whether Turkish or Orthodox, need to die for its sake. Ataturk did the right thing when he turned it into a museum.

[jb6]

I disagree with you but I respect your view on it. As I said, I usually hear the museum remark from atheists, followed right up with,"... and besides, its all a made up story anyways."

[BroncosFan]

Figured I'd find you here. While part of me would still like to see Constantinople avenged; the rational, sober doesn't let it impact my opinion of Turkey.

BTW, you know that "Storm" was planned and run from an office park in Arlington by ex-US Army generals? It paid for a lot of college tuitions.

[Diocletian]

BTW, you know that "Storm" was planned and run from an office park in Arlington by ex-US Army generals? It paid for a lot of college tuitions.

"Operation Storm" was planned on the island of Brijuni by the Croatian General Staff.

I assume that you are referring to the role that MPRI played, and they played an important role in the academy that they set up in Zagreb plus the field work around the Dinara. They turned the HV from a JNA and eastern bloc type force to a western one and we thank them very much for helping us do that.