Posted on 06/13/2005 7:28:37 PM PDT by mark502inf
First of all, I would like to applaud the organizers of today's conference. As we approach the solemn anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, it is appropriate that we commit ourselves to remembering what happened there ten years ago. The crimes committed in Srebrenica, the most heinous and destructive in Europe since the Second World War, must not be forgotten. This tenth anniversary year should be seen as an opportunity - for introspection, for reflection, for reconciliation, for healing, and, most importantly, for justice.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express publicly my admiration of Natasa Kandic and the Humanitarian Law Center for their inspiring courage, boundless energy, and relentless drive to ensure that the perpetrators of war crimes be brought to justice and that the victims of those crimes be appropriately honored and remembered. Natasa, you and your colleagues are embarked on a noble crusade that deserves the profound gratitude and support of all people who believe in justice.
" Beyond Reasonable Doubt." This is a fitting name for this conference and a fitting topic for us to be discussing. It is an indisputable fact that, ten years ago, Serb forces under the command of Ratko Mladic massacred almost 8000 Bosnians in the enclave of Srebrenica. This atrocity has been documented through thousands of testimonials by witnesses and relatives, through the discovery of numerous mass graves, and even through last year's admission by the government of the Republika Srpska that Serb forces conducted the killings. More recently, the appearance of the now famous videotape should remove the doubts from the mind of any reasonable person about the scope and brutality of this massacre.
Unfortunately, a sense of denial has prevailed among large segments of the population about war crimes committed by Serbs. In public remarks I made on May 12, I noted that polls showed that just over one-third of Serbs believed that war crimes were committed at Srebrenica, despite the acknowledgement of the RS Government itself that these crimes occurred. I noted that less than one-third of Serbs believed that the bodies of over 800 Kosovar Albanians, most of them brutally executed, were located in mass graves in Serbia -- despite the fact that your own government acknowledges this fact. Indeed, these graves contained the bodies of three young American citizens -- the Bytyqi brothers -- who were summarily executed after being illegally detained at the Petrovo Selo MUP facility.
And, more recently, a student group at the Belgrade Law Faculty sponsored a conference that aimed to cast doubt on the crimes at Srebrenica. By attempting to propagate such a dangerously irresponsible myth, they sought to excuse the war crimes perpetrated there. While we respect the right of free speech, the opinions expressed there dishonoured that right in an attempt to fan the flames of chauvinism and ethnic hatred. Such vitriol disgraces the dead on all sides of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.
Let me emphasize two points. First of all, we recognize that there were many Serb victims of war crimes during the 1990s -- in Croatia, Bosnia, even Kosovo. But the argument I most frequently hear -- that all sides were guilty of crimes -- does not justify the many crimes committed by Serbs or excuse the perpetrators of those crimes from punishment. Secondly, many in Serbia have reacted defensively to the videotape, demanding that Serbs not be condemned collectively for crimes committed by individuals. I absolutely agree. We do not, nor have we ever, condemned the Serbian people as war criminals. The Serbian people did not commit these crimes; ruthless and unscrupulous individuals committed them. It is these individuals who must face justice before ICTY or domestic courts.
I hope that the broadcast of the Srebrenica videotape, which of course displayed just one tiny fraction of the inhumanity inflicted there in July 1995, will bring about a national catharsis in Serbia. I hope that this image of ethnic cleansing in its most brutal form will cause Serbs throughout this country to more openly face the past. I hope that the tape will remind us that there are still many perpetrators of war crimes living freely and openly among us and that it will stimulate your law enforcement and judicial organs to more aggressively bring such people to justice. I hope that it will persuade the 60% of Serbs who oppose the extradition to The Hague of Ratko Mladic, who was in charge of the forces at Srebrenica, to change their minds. I hope that those who organized the Law Faculty conference and the 50% of Serbs who do not believe that the Srebrenica massacres occurred will acknowledge the magnitude of crimes committed by Serbs in the wars of the 1990s. I hope that they will recognize that their "heroes" of Srebrenica were capable of cowardly shooting frightened, helpless, bound teenagers in the back. And I hope that it causes all of us here to reflect again on the scope of the Srebrenica massacre - a massacre that sent to the grave a number of people equal to --- times the number of attendees in this room right now.
I also hope that the appearance of this tape will invigorate efforts to prosecute and convict the murderers of the Bytyqi brothers and the many other victims whose killers still live freely and openly among us.
I harbor these hopes because I firmly believe that confronting this awful truth represents a critical step towards reconciliation among the peoples of this region and toward ensuring that justice will be fairly meted out to the perpetrators of war crimes.
I believe there is room for some optimism. We applauded the rapid and vigorous action of the Government of Serbia in arresting those involved in the videotaped killings. We welcomed the Government's announced intention to ensure that these and other perpetrators face justice for these crimes. We welcomed the recent transfers to ICTY of numerous individuals accused of complicity in organizing and/or carrying out the Srebrenica massacres. And we have welcomed the assurances by senior Government officials that those indictees still at large, most notably Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, will be delivered to The Hague soon.
We also welcomed the announcement by President Tadic and other leaders here that they will travel to Srebrenica on July 11 to honor the victims of that atrocity. As Under Secretary Nicholas Burns emphasized here on Thursday, this anniversary represents an historic opportunity for Serbia to distance itself from what occurred in 1995 and to promote an enduring reconciliation among the peoples of this region. Let us look forward to this future, while not forgetting the victims of the past.
Mr. Moore is the charge d'Affaires of our embassy in Belgrade. As such, his speech represents the Bush Administration position.
Here we go...
(....shameless diversionary tactic../off)
The "Racak massacre" was supposed to be an "indisputable fact" too. How stupid do you think people are?
As for the "Scorpions", like their fellow mercenary criminals "Spiders", they apparently worked for money, not for ideology or personal revenge. So a critical question is who had an interest to pay them to kill civilians. A related question is why they filmed their crime. Some mass murderers, such as Naser Oric, filmed mainly to brag. Others, such as islamists in Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq, are filming mainly to recruit more jihadists. Neither motive apparently applies to the Scorpions, who did not advertise their tape. They most likely filmed in order to show to their paymasters that they did the job they were paid for.
Mladic or Milosevic had nothing to gain and everything to lose by encouraging, let alone ordering, such crimes and their filming. On the contrary, the Izetbegovic regime and their assorted allies (Clinton, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden etc) had a lot to gain and have indeed used the Srebrenica massacres to the maximum propaganda effect. This is where the mercenary killers' paymasters should be sought. Hopefully the arrested Scorpions themselves will provide some verifiable evidence.
I sure hope, Natasa's boss, Goerge Soros, gives her a good raise for this....
I am VERY pissed at these continuing efforts by American government to try to lay guilt trips on the Serbs. In the eight year reign of terror of the KKKlinton regime only two groups of people ever stood up to the beast and tried to face it down, that being the Mormons in Utah an the Serbs. I hate to see them go on being punished for that.
Other than that, there might still be time to give Kosovo back to its rightful owners BEFORE the UN steps in demanding that we hand Texas and California over to Vincente Fox and the Atzlan crowd on the same basis.
Hopefully, in three years, George Allen will be president of the United States and these perverted policies will end.
Unfortunately, a sense of denial has prevailed among large segments of the population about war crimes committed by Serbs. In public remarks I made on May 12, I noted that polls showed that just over one-third of Serbs believed that war crimes were committed at Srebrenica, despite the acknowledgement of the RS Government itself that these crimes occurred. I noted that less than one-third of Serbs believed that the bodies of over 800 Kosovar Albanians, most of them brutally executed, were located in mass graves in Serbia -- despite the fact that your own government acknowledges this fact.
And among our Serb nationalists & their supporters on FReeRepublic, the "sense of denial" seems to exceed even that of the Serbian population.
Like I say, I don't buy it at all. And, until these perverted policies are changed, orthodox charities will rank ahead of the republican party on my list of charities.
"Like I say, I don't buy it at all."
You know, there are a lot of folks who say the same thing about Auschwitz. After all, there's only some testimony--there isn't any real physical evidence of anyone dying at Auschwitz.
As far as I'm concerned, the answer is none of it. The people making these accusations have zero credibility.
What a surprise.
Now you're just lying.
Yes Trnopolje was discredited, it wasn't camp, but you already knew that.
Ratko Mladic and the Serb forces performed a great humanitarian service at Srebrenica. The Dutch also contributed by "standing down". The world is a happier place without the Srebrenica 8000 mujahadeen psychotics.
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