Free Republic Exclusive: Dan Rather, Mike Wallace, and the Third Serb

Free Republic ^ | 3/12/2006 | self

[Southack]

The Three Serbs

After Europe criticized the U.S. for its treatment of war prisoners at Gitmo (where no terrorist ever died), 2 Serb war-crimes prisoners died in European jails in the same week (one was denied medical care). The first to die was Milan Babic. The second to die after his request for medical care was denied was Slobodan Milosevic.

Most of the world will yawn or cheer these developments, of course.

But there is a 3rd Serb who is currently being railroaded by the same EU officials, along with some left-wing American help.

Years ago, CBS's Dan Rather sent Mike Wallace to join with the BBC to do a fascinating, detailed broadcast piece on the humanitarian efforts of Captain Dragan.

This Serb Captain is currently in an Australian prison waiting to see if he will be extradicted to Croatia, a country which he taunted and insulted on Serbian state TV during the Serb's fight against Croatia.

But in considering his request to not be extradited, Australia has been denied the 60 Minutes' news story about Captain Dragan's extensive humanitarian efforts.

CBS has claimed that the BBC controls the Dragan story...that the story is "too old" for its own archives.

Likewise, the BBC is claiming that this is a CBS story in CBS, not BBC, archives.

Which is to say, by duplicitous finger-pointing, CBS and the BBC will manage to spike the one broadcast piece that could give Australia reason-enough to not extradite Captain Dragan back to the European prison system that just killed (or neglected to death) 2 other Serb war prisoners in the past week.

[Hildy]

I'm talking about in an organized, National way.

[Bokababe]

I am much too late for this thread, but I am going to post this anyway. It is certainly worth a read:

http://www.srebrenica-report.com/conclusions.htm

American Serbs, like myself, were raised from birth to be "Americans" first when it came to politics, not "Serbs" first. This is very unlike our Croat and Albanian counterparts, who were very willing to use the American system to get what they wanted from it, even at America's expense. Many American Serbs also had this fatalistic attitude that "the truth will eventually out" -- but that hasn't happened yet. Those of us who were active from the very beginning, calling our congresspeople and the media, weren't just ignored -- we had the door slammed in our face. I am third generation American and I was called "a Nazi Serb sympathizer" by a congressional aide when I called my local congressman and all she heard was my last-name! You have no idea how long & hard we have fought for some examination of the media & evidence, and how we have been silenced at every clip and turn. And it wasn't just us -- all the Balkan experts in the media and in academia who had many years of experience and in depth knowledge of the former Yugoslavia were ignored or replaced by "newcomer know-nothings" who were willing to go along with the new agenda.

Re Dan Rather, I remember the episode of 60 Minutes years ago when Croatia declared independence -- they did a "Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes" episode and there was Mike Wallace saying "Let's get Vojislav Seselj on -- he hates Croats with a vengeance!". I mean they could not have found a more radical lunatic to represent "the Serb side" if they tried! It would be like using Lyndon LaRouche to represent America! So I wrote to 60 Minutes, with supporting evidence about what was really going on -- and my letter & evidence were returned, unopened! Haven't watched the damn show since!

The great irony of 60 Minutes is that was always based on Edward R. Murrow's "See It Now" show -- Don Hewitt, longtime and original producer of 60 Minutes even worked on "See It Now" in his youth. There was one episode of "See It Now" that has been referred to as "the broadcast that changed US history and the role of the new media" for it's role in bringing down Sernator Joseph McCarthy -- and the title of that episode was "The Case of Milo J. Radulovich, AO589839" (If you see the film "Goodnight & Good Luck", you will know what I am talking about.) Well, Milo Radulovich is an American Serb who is pissed off about the way Serbs have been portrayed in the media -- and 60 Minutes wouldn't even listen to him!

I can tell you the day we realized that the Serbs were screwed and there was nothing more we really could do -- when at the opening of the US Holocaust Museum in DC, the "honored guests" were former Nazis --Croat President Franjo Tudjman (who had "thanked God that his wife was neither a Serb", nor a Jew), Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovich (who said that "Muslims must take political control as soon as it is numerically possible and create an Islamic State in Bosnia) -- and most of all, there was Ellie Weisel, instead of Simon Weisenthal (Weisel had supported the Serbs in Bosnia and in returned was smeared in the US by some ex-government guy.) It was obvious that if the forces that were against the Serbs could take down someone like Simon Weisenthal, then Serbs were truly screwed. And we were right. But we always knew that this would come back and bite America in the butt -- and we were right again. But that and a dollar would get us a cup of coffee and I'd rather have been wrong that to see what is happening to the US today!