[Ichabod Walrus]

I condemn the actions of the Croatians during the Second World War, and understand the desire of the Croatian Serbs to extricate themselves from an independent Croatia in the early 1990's.

I didn't get that sense from your earlier post and am still not sure what you're trying to say above. Either you are satisfied that the Serbs had reasonable grounds for defending themselves against Croat aggression or you don't. Referring to the Serbs as "Croatian Serbs" suggests to me that whatever happened to Serbs either past or present is not sufficient grounds for them to have defended themselves.

However, they were duped by Slobodan Milosevic, an opportunist of the worst stripe, who willingly sold out the frightened Serbs, after his media under Mitevic fed them incessant propaganda.

You blame Milosevic for not supporting the Serbs (whom you call "Croatian Serbs" although they held Yugoslav citizenship - not "Croatian" citizenship). And yet, Serbs were not sold out by Milosevic to the extent they were sold out by Europe, Russia and the US. Milosevic's role doesn't even begin to compare with the complicity of the UN either, which outright recognized Croatia's claim to territories in which Croats were no more than a small minority. While Milosevic did not support the Serbs, the US and NATO most certainly did support their enemies. I hope none of this is too new for you.

Your suggestion that the Serbs, who had witnessed genocide yesterday, and a unapologetic genocidal mentality on the part of their Balkan opponents for 45 years after that, were duped by "propaganda" indicates full well where your sympathies lie.

Don't try to blame Milosevic for not having acted according to one of those revisionist histories of recent Balkan events which are so much the rage in imperialist circles for the past decade. If Milosevic did not behave like the raging Serb nationalist as he is portrayed in those fantasies you probably have read, it is the Serbs' problem, not yours.

[foreign policy wonk]

My loyalties lie with myself and with the truth, and your strawmen are an attempt to creat a slant.

The Croatian Serbs were duped by Milosevic's media machine, and were left hanging in the wind.

If I were a Serb from Croatia, I'd be calling for his head after the promises he made to them.

The Belgrade regime had the support of the West, especially Britain, France, and the US, as evidence by James Baker III's trip to Belgrade in June 1991.

Germany's moves to recognize Slovenia and Croatia were it's first attempts to throw some weight around post-unification.

Germany's diplomatic muscle certainly couldn't overpower that of the aforementioned Big 3.

Where does the blame lie then for the switch?

Obviously, it lies with the methodology of the Serbian actions in Slovenia and Croatia through poor media action, through arrogance, and partly with the fact that they were still communist (if only in name) and communism was very unpopular since the Wall had only come down so recently.

I assume that you are Serbian.

I trust that you won't fall into the trap of blaming the "NWO" for the abandonment of the Serbs of Croatia.



be seeing you,

foreign policy wonk


post 0020