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Bosnia Horror Like WW2, Albright Tells Hague Court
Reuters via Yahoo! News ^ | Dec. 17, 2002 | Abigail Levene

Posted on 12/17/2002 6:54:00 AM PST by wonders

2 hours, 48 minutes ago

By Abigail Levene

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The "unimaginable" rapes, killings and camps of the 1992-5 Bosnian war evoked the horrors of World War II, former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright (news - web sites) told the U.N. war crimes tribunal Tuesday.

At a landmark hearing to determine sentence for ex-Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic, Albright -- the most senior U.S. official ever to testify at The Hague (news - web sites) -- described her horror as she learned of ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs in the Bosnian war.

"It was unimaginable that these kinds of things could be going on and that they were being done ... in a deliberate way, not some accident of a drunken soldier marauding, but part of some kind of plan to eradicate various groups of people," Albright said as Plavsic listened intently from the dock.

Albright, whose long-standing support for the war crimes court has earned her the tag "mother of the tribunal," was appearing on the second day of a three-day hearing for a woman once dubbed the "Iron Lady" of the Bosnian war.

Plavsic, 72, could face life in prison after changing her plea in October to guilty of one count of crimes against humanity for persecution of Bosnian Muslims and Croats during the 1990s conflict, which left 200,000 dead or missing.

The highest-ranking figure to admit atrocities and the only woman publicly indicted in the U.N. tribunal's nine-year history, Plavsic avoided trial after a surprise plea volte-face that her lawyers said was born of deep remorse.

Other charges, including genocide, have been dropped.

The Czech-born Albright, who lived in Yugoslavia for some years as a child and spent more time there in the 1960s, described her shock at seeing what had seemed a harmonious multi-ethnic society descend into "barbarity."

"It became very evident to anyone who was watching what was going on that it was reminiscent of pictures that reminded one of World War II," she said, referring to the separation of families and herding of victims onto buses and trains.

"We saw pictures of people being taken into what could only be labeled as concentration camps...People were being driven from their homes only because of who they were."

NEGATIVE IMPRESSIONS

Albright said she had had negative impressions of Plavsic, based on what she had heard and read, before they first met in 1997 but those gradually improved as it became clear Plavsic backed the 1995 Dayton accord that ended the Bosnian war.

Plavsic served as deputy to Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, one of the tribunal's most wanted men, and later took over from him.

The former science professor initially pleaded innocent to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes after surrendering to the U.N. court in January 2001.

"I found her a very conflicted individual," Albright said, referring to Plavsic's belief that the best way to protect Serb interests was to support Dayton despite its wide unpopularity among Serbs.

Next to testify after Albright was former international Balkans envoy Carl Bildt, a witness for Plavsic's defense.

When he became High Representative in Bosnia after the Dayton agreement, Bildt said it became clear to him that Plavsic was not at the heart of power in Bosnia's Serb republic.

"It was obvious to me that she was not part of the real...leadership," Bildt said. "She had never been brought into any of the discussions, any of the decisions and any of the meetings to deal with the critical issues of war, peace and power."

The sentencing hearing, unprecedented at the tribunal in its scope and style, began Monday with witnesses including Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel -- who testified for the prosecution by video link -- and former Bosnian Serb Premier Milorad Dodik for the defense.

A Muslim survivor of Serb-run detention camps, a war crimes investigator and a trauma counselor also testified.

Prosecutors showed harrowing footage of emaciated Bosnian Muslim inmates at a Serb-run detention camp in 1992 -- scenes that shocked the world and revived memories of the Nazi death camps where millions died in World War II.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: albright; balkans; bosnia; hague; holocaustrvsnism; kangaroocourt; madmaddie
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1 posted on 12/17/2002 6:54:01 AM PST by wonders
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To: wonders
Albright -- the most senior U.S. official ever to testify at The Hague (news - web sites) -- described her horror as she learned of ethnic cleansing of non-Serbs in the Bosnian war.

Which is direct contrast to this:

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it.

--60 Minutes (5/12/96)

2 posted on 12/17/2002 7:00:52 AM PST by Sangamon Kid
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To: vooch; kosta50; getoffmylawn; Wraith; Kate22; Gael; joan; Voronin; Fusion; bob808; Destro; ...
The Mad Cow chews her cud.
3 posted on 12/17/2002 7:03:46 AM PST by wonders
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To: wonders
She's simply trying to justify her bosses bombings during Lewinsky gate. Wonder how many of those radical Muslims she saved will or have killed Americans?
4 posted on 12/17/2002 7:05:27 AM PST by b4its2late
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To: wonders
The "unimaginable" rapes, killings and camps of the 1992-5 Bosnian war evoked the horrors of World War II?

You mean like when the Croats and the Muslims (allied with the Nazis) killed over 500,000 Serbs and ran concentration camps? The Serbs (who were allied with the USA) did things like save downed US pilots and conduct guerilla war against the Nazis.

You mean like when the Nazis raised TWO Waffen-SS MUSLIM divisions for the express purpose of terrorizing the population (Serb) in the Balkans?

5 posted on 12/17/2002 7:06:59 AM PST by 2banana
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To: Sangamon Kid
You've got her number, Kid. Thanks for reminding us of her callous disregard for the children of Iraq. Our word for today, children, is "hypocrite." Stick around. Lots of posters will point out the numerous lies in her testimony. Oh well, what would expect of that perjurer Bubba? It's only natural he'd appoint a fellow perjurer as Secretary of State.
6 posted on 12/17/2002 7:09:15 AM PST by wonders
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To: wonders
Has the old thief returned the paintings her family stole?
7 posted on 12/17/2002 7:16:44 AM PST by F-117A
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To: b4its2late; 2banana
Albright, whose long-standing support for the war crimes court has earned her the tag "mother of the tribunal"...

I used to think I wouldn't wish being tried in the Roo Court on any human being, no matter how evil. But I must confess, wouldn't mind seeing "the mother" of that abomination standing in the dock as "the Accused," Judge May presiding.

8 posted on 12/17/2002 7:17:45 AM PST by wonders
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To: F-117A
Nah, she's donating them to the Clinton Library for a hefty tax exemption ;)
9 posted on 12/17/2002 7:19:09 AM PST by wonders
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To: wonders; F-117A
Oops, spelling error. Should have been "Lie-brary"
10 posted on 12/17/2002 7:21:43 AM PST by wonders
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To: Sangamon Kid
...Prosecutors showed harrowing footage of emaciated Bosnian Muslim inmates at a Serb-run detention camp in 1992 -- scenes that shocked the world and revived memories of the Nazi death camps where millions died in World War II...

You mean the fake picture where the Bosnians were waiting outside a food distribution point for their handouts?
That was a proven fraud. The barbed wire was around a storage depot and the scrawny guy and all the others were OUTSIDE of the fence. The scrawny guy had worms or something and all the other people in the photo looked fine.

Back under your bridge, Dullbite you old Troll!
11 posted on 12/17/2002 7:27:08 AM PST by the gillman@blacklagoon.com
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To: the gillman@blacklagoon.com
The scrawny guy had worms or something and all the other people in the photo looked fine.

Actually, he had TB. I'd even bet that most medical doctors familiar with the "TB look" would have figured out the fraud long ago. You're right about them being outside the fence. It was the journalists who were inside the fence.

12 posted on 12/17/2002 7:36:21 AM PST by wonders
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To: wonders
But I must confess, wouldn't mind seeing "the mother" of that abomination standing in the dock as "the Accused," Judge May presiding.

Agreed. Very rarely does one encounter a woman who has such an air of imperial sadism about her.
13 posted on 12/17/2002 7:39:36 AM PST by mr.pink
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To: wonders; dennisw; knighthawk; Tamodaleko; Balkans
>>>>>Prosecutors showed harrowing footage of emaciated Bosnian Muslim inmates at a Serb-run detention camp in 1992 -- scenes that shocked the world and revived memories of the Nazi death camps where millions died in World War II <<<

The footage made by ITN presstitute Penny Marchall is documented to be a fake

ICTY is commiting an act of HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM by COMPARING FAKE Footage with HOLOCAUST.Such acts are punishable by law in majority of civilized countries

Paging David Irwing,a job opening in ICTY /sarcasm off

14 posted on 12/17/2002 7:40:10 AM PST by DTA
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To: F-117A
I may be showing my ignorance here, but exactly how could Margret Albright provide any witness testimony on anything other than second hand information? I mean she could tell the court what someone else told her, but the only first hand account of Albright's was over the hotel staff who refused to carry her bags, or whatever they did to dis her in Kosovo.
15 posted on 12/17/2002 7:48:56 AM PST by blackdog
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To: mr.pink
Very rarely does one encounter a woman who has such an air of imperial sadism about her.

Wow, mr.pink, you have quite a way with words. Thank you putting what I've always sensed about the woman so eloquently. Hope you don't mind my quoting you in future!

BTW, the career folks in State had no use for her and couldn't contain their giggles when the word came out that she'd been egged in Borovo Selo during her visit to the UNTAES Region in Croatia, a child of Dayton, in 1997. I didn't have much use for the Borovo folks, but they had the right idea that day.

16 posted on 12/17/2002 7:50:30 AM PST by wonders
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To: blackdog
I was wondering the same thing about Elie Wiesel. I respect the gentleman and have read most, if not all, of his books. But what did he actually witness? Seems to me the Roos like "celebrity witnesses" rather than real witnesses.
17 posted on 12/17/2002 7:52:22 AM PST by wonders
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To: DTA
You know, I've often wondered why Jews haven't spoken out against such cheapening the the Holocaust. Yes, I know about how Rudder Finn bragged about winning "American Jews" to the Croat cause, but really... why the silence? And why the silence when the KLA ran the Jews out of Kosovo to Belgrade in the wake of Clinton's illegal bombing? And what was Elie Wiesel doing testifying at this trial? Has he gone senile?
18 posted on 12/17/2002 7:58:22 AM PST by wonders
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To: mr.pink; Balkans
>>>>Agreed. Very rarely does one encounter a woman who has such an air of imperial sadism about her<<<<

Reponsible for death of

1,000,000 people in Iraq
800,000 in Rwanda
800,000 to 2,500,000 in East Congo

With over 2 million deaths, still small fry compared to Hitler and Stalin, but deadlier than Pol Pot.

19 posted on 12/17/2002 7:59:35 AM PST by DTA
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To: blackdog
...over the hotel staff who refused to carry her bags, or whatever they did to dis her in Kosovo.

Oh, that was in France, at Ramboulliet, where she was mistaken for a cleaning lady!

20 posted on 12/17/2002 8:03:01 AM PST by wonders
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