Posted on 06/26/2006 11:04:21 AM PDT by Bokababe
Then look harder.
1990 Election Results for Bosnia. Count 'em - 7 presidents, and Abdic ran as a member of Izetbegovic's party.
As for who got the most votes, it's irrelevant - the voters were electing members of the collective presidency only. Once elected, it was up to those members to apportion power however they saw fit, and that's exactly what they did.
However, if you feel compelled to pursue the matter, citing the relevant Bosnian electoral law which was broken will settle the issue, and I'm sure that all of your sources can back you up in this matter, what with this method being incontrovertible and all.
Failing that, any references to objections raised at the time by either the SDS or HDZ would bolster your case - here's an article from Oct 11, 1993 from Vreme, yet there's no mention of any laws broken by Izetbegovic's taking the position of head of the collective presidency - I guess they're in on the conspiracy too?
Have fun.
For all your rhetoric, this is the portion of your statement which you've yet to back up.
I never asserted that "Izetbegovic broke election laws", but rather that Abdic stepped aside for reasons that have never been clear (although there were a lot allegations thrown around), even though Abdic got far more votes than Izetbegovic -- which by the way, your link nicely proves.
Even by your own numbers, Abdic won the most votes and Izetbegovic won the second most votes. When Abdic stepped aside, Izetbegovic became president. Based on your assertion, that would have been "just coincidence". But none of the other sources seem to infer that.
In any case, this thread is about Handke -- not Abdic or Izetbegovic, so feel free to answer another time Hoppie.
Excuse me, but a resident of Serbian Kosovo serving in the Croatian army would be a foreigner.
p.s. Good assessment of the three "gentlemen".
you've got that right, but, it includes larger nations as well.
At that time, Alija knew he could not win if he ran so he used Fikret. When Fik won, Al blacklisted and used deadly threats against Fik.
For those of you, Fik was not an honest individual. He was on the same criminal devious plane as others; apart from his hostility towards Alijas islamic declaration and he was sensible and smart enough to work with the Serbs and Croatians to forge a peaceful settlement/arrangement. To note, he was not a active Muslim nor cared for it.
He had many supporters in the region that rejected Alija's islamic declaration.
Those that remained in Sarajevo, were trapped and could not flee the city safely into the Serbian lines. That is one more long story Hop will refute "the majority of muslims wished to flee Alija's reverse (self)-siege." whew, long story.
Until you root out the corruption, this would be difficult to achieve. Tito's ghost still roams the corridors in some cases.
He was a ... "business man", by Balkan definitions of course! :-)
So basically, the Bosnian Muslim election strategy was a "bait and switch". And the "bait" was Abdic, a secular Muslim with a broad-based constituency of Muslims, Serbs and Croats, used to get the electoral door open to the presidency for his party. The "switch" was Izetbebgovic, a Muslim radical, who wanted to turn Bosnia into a Muslim country.
If someone tried that strategy in America, there would be another revolution!
The Democrats tried that already, someone tried switching Al Gore with Kerry.... we know how that ended.
exactly, you got it. thats how Hillary will get into office, as VP then ..and you know that history.
izzy had an agenda and was more politically perceptive then abdic, to a point.
Izzy had a compliant POTUS with whom he could rely on for support.
That is a a good deal superior subject matter then the socialist Handke, boka. You want superior people to be championing in your corner/side then from the likes of Handke. Even if it means less coverage/publicity. But that is I and would not ever want a communist adherent in support of me, EVER!
Hoplite did you all a favor by redirecting the focus off subject to another FFZ. Abdic/Izzy is much simpler and more easily to yak up about.
Of course, Izzy (Izetbegovic) was born a "beg" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bey and had a lifelong mission to restore his family name to its "rightful place in a Muslim Bosnia".
Abdic was just "a business man". Wonder how much Abdic cost Izzy?
The Serbs and Croats left him alone and vice versa. Izzy had the 5th Corps, if memory serves me right, sole design is to take down Abdic and kill off his supporters.
When that did not go according to plan (they thought they could be bought or run away), they were in for a fight. The muslim corps did not expect the VRS so willingly fight together with him.
The Serbs, Croats and Abdic muslims wanted to coexist and for the most part, that region did not have much real action til late in the war. That is when the Croats figured theyd move in to take territory from them all.
Mindful that the Bihac pocket was all but stamped out with the VRS in rear support, the HVO lent some arty and logistical support. We know how the Fall of 1995 transpired
..
The Serbs and Croats left him alone and vice versa. Izzy had the 5th Corps, if memory serves me right, sole design is to take down Abdic and kill off his supporters.
When that did not go according to plan (they thought they could be bought or run away), they were in for a fight. The muslim corps did not expect the VRS so willingly fight together with him.
The Serbs, Croats and Abdic muslims wanted to coexist and for the most part, that region did not have much real action til late in the war. That is when the Croats figured theyd move in to take territory from them all.
Mindful that the Bihac pocket was all but stamped out with the VRS in rear support, the HVO lent some arty and logistical support. We know how the Fall of 1995 transpired
..
The Serbs and Croats left him alone and vice versa. Izzy had the 5th Corps, if memory serves me right, sole design is to take down Abdic and kill off his supporters.
When that did not go according to plan (they thought they could be bought or run away), they were in for a fight. The muslim corps did not expect the VRS so willingly fight together with him.
The Serbs, Croats and Abdic muslims wanted to coexist and for the most part, that region did not have much real action til late in the war. That is when the Croats figured theyd move in to take territory from them all.
Mindful that the Bihac pocket was all but stamped out with the VRS in rear support, the HVO lent some arty and logistical support. We know how the Fall of 1995 transpired
..
sorry for the 3 posts..figured it was worth repeating..?..:) don't Serbs do things in threes?..:)
Yes indeed! :-)
Disagree, ma.
First of all I don't believe Handke's stance re the Serbs is political -- I think it is sincere, personal and a matter of conscience.
Has any one here actually read up on the German "Greens", at whom Handke leveled his most devastating charges? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Green_Party ? They are the most liberal of the mainstream German parties! He didn't blast the German Conservatives -- he blasted the German Liberals!
Second, I've read the book that started all of this. It is not political either, it is personal. It moved me, and if it moved me, it has likely moved others.
Handke's name has brought new blood to the the thread and that is a good thing, irrespective of their political positions on the Balkans when they arrive. Maybe they leave with the same ideas, maybe they don't. Conservativism is as uniform as the media would like you to think, either.
While it's nice for the Balkan regulars to sit here and hone our knowledge of the details of the Balkan wars and politics, it doesn't really accomplish anything for anyone other than us. Getting others interested does accomplish something. It makes a portion of American history, re Clinton and the NATO Bombing, more comprehensible and multi-faceted than just the "good guy/bad guy scenario" that the media has been feeding them for the last 15 years. And that knowledge is a good thing for Americans in this war on terror and a good thing for all concerned.
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