Someday some researcher will do a statistical survey of Western media coverage of the Milosevic trial in the Hague. I have a feeling it would prove that the mass media is only interested in covering the trial when:

a.) the prosecution directs the rhetoric; b.) a particularly famous witness shows up; c.) somebody from the home team dies; d.) they speculate what if Slobo dies from his “dangerously high” blood pressure; e.) someone huffs that Slobo’s defense is in danger of “dragging on:’ f.) a guilt-by-association comparison can be made with the upcoming trial of Saddam, i.e., what one evil man can learn from another.

It thus comes as no surprise that the mass media has been pretty much MIA since Milosevic’s defense started. He has by and large eviscerated his opponents, destroyed the credibility of the prosecution’s witness testimony, and so on.

But what’s really interesting, in light of all the pro-torture stuff coming out of the White House these days, is the following recent testimony from a former Yugoslav General Geza Farkas. He was apparently “chief of the Security Dept. of the Yugoslav Army during the Kosovo war, prior to that he was an assistant deputy minister in the Yugoslav Defense Ministry.” Think about Abu Ghraib. Think about the question of whether the US torture of “enemy combatants” there was a matter of Pentagon policy or fog-of-war confusion. From the daily recounting of trial proceedings:

“…Gen. Farkas devoted a great deal of his testimony to the measures that were taken to prevent and punish criminal conduct in the ranks of the [Yugoslav] army. He showed the court several orders, in which soldiers were commanded to refrain from criminal conduct and to report crimes whenever they occurred.

Gen. Farkas confirmed that some crimes had been committed by Yugoslav soldiers in Kosovo, but denied that they were committed in a widespread or systematic manner. He said that individuals and small groups of up to three people committed crimes. He said that whenever evidence of crimes came to light, the military judiciary energetically prosecuted the perpetrators.

As the chief of military security, Gen Farkas often met with Milosevic during the Kosovo war. He explained that Milosevic’s attitude towards criminal conduct in the army and police was extremely negative. The witness said that Milosevic ordered the army and police to take all conceivable measures to prevent crimes from even happening in the first place.

Milosevic was also very concerned about the possibility of Serbian paramilitary groups becoming active in Kosovo. Milosevic ordered that no paramilitary groups be permitted to operate anywhere in Kosovo. According to Gen. Farkas, Milosevic authorized the army to blockade the border with Republika Srpska in the event that Serbian paramilitary activity was detected there.

Gen. Farkas said that when Milosevic learned of crimes committed by reserve policemen who had associated with Slobodan Medic “Boca,” he became extremely angry. He demanded an explanation of how the Skorpions commander could have been active in Kosovo, then he demanded that the perpetrators be prosecuted and that nothing like that be permitted to happen in the future.

In view of his high position in the military chain of command, Milosevic asked Gen. Farkas whether he had any knowledge about the so-called “Joint Criminal Enterprise” alleged by the indictment. The witness answered that it was impossible that a conspiracy to ethnically cleanse Kosovo of its Albanian population could have existed within the army. He explained that such a conspiracy would have had to be implemented by soldiers on the ground, and that too many people would have had to be involved.”

Here’s the kicker:

“He explained that each soldier was given a document detailing international humanitarian law. The soldiers were ordered by the general staff to ignore any orders that would have violated international humanitarian law, and to report the officer giving the illegal orders to their superior.”

Ah yes… international humanitarian law. You know, the one that doesn’t apply for the country that put Slobo on trial in the first