Quote from Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, J. Bissett. who was there at the time:
In March 1992, each of the three leaders: Izetbegovic for the Muslims, Boban for the Croats, and Karadzic for the Serbs, signed the so-called Lisbon Agreement. Among diplomats in Belgrade there was general relief and for the first time a sense of hope for the future. Alas it was not to be.
Within days of the Lisbon Agreement, the United States Ambassador, Warren Zimmerman flew to Sarajevo and met with Izetbegovic. Upon finding that Izetbegovic was having second thoughts about the agreement he had signed in Lisbon, the Ambassador suggested that if he withdrew his signature, the United States would grant recognition to Bosnia as an independent state. Izetbegovic then withdrew his signature and renounced the agreement.
Within days the war had spread to Bosnia.
end of quote.
As you rightfully mentioned, pictures are from April 1992, AFTER Bosnian Muslims unconstitutionally declared independence of Bosnia. That happened after Lisbon agreement was torpedoed by Zimmerman and Izetbegovic. (pics appeared in TIME originally)
All innocent deaths are regretable and all criminals should be punished.
paramilitaries from the picture should be punished for war crime. Warren Zimmerman and Izetbegovic should be punished for CRIME AGAINST PEACE, like Nazi criminals in Nuremberg
Hoplite, you can change hair colour, you can change accent, but you can not change the facts.
Ugly facts come back to haunt you.Only communists and liberals disregard the facts as something irrelevant. And you are neither, aren't you?
No, they didn't, did they.
Lisbon would have resulted in the partitioning of Bosnia into 3 ethnically based areas, and the Croats, Muslims, and Serbs were mixed up enough to make it an unworkable scheme, given what was transpiring next door.
The Lisbon plan, by the way, allotted 44% of Bosnia to the Serbs (in discontiguous lumps), yet in '92 they went and grabbed an extra 26% of the country.
Just to show that they were bargaining in good faith, I suppose.