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July
20, 2002
Shadows
of Srebrenica
Not
letting facts get in the way
In
the summer of 1995, the Bosnian War was rapidly approaching
its conclusion. The balance of power was shifting, with Croatia
joining the conflict semi-openly (with American blessing and
encouragement) and the Bosnian Muslims bolstered by incoming
weapons and mujahidin. In June, Muslim forces ("Army
of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina") attacked on all fronts,
making small gains in the north and central Bosnia but suffering
a costly failure around Sarajevo. Then came news of Srebrenica.
This enclave in eastern Bosnia,
reportedly home to some 40,000 Muslims (half of them displaced
from elsewhere), was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces on July
11. What is alleged to have happened thereafter still casts
a shadow over Bosnia and the Balkans.
"Genocide!"
Over
the past seven years, "Srebrenica" has become a series of
harrowing sound bites repeated ad infinitum by the
media. A typical report calls it the "worst civilian massacre
in Europe since World War Two," where "Serb forces slaughtered
up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys" (AP).
Recent claims
by Bosnian Muslims list the number in excess of 9,500!
The
"massacre" became "genocide" when the Hague Inquisition convicted
Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstic, commander of the Serb
forces that took Srebrenica.
Three
years ago, as NATO pulverized Serbia, Christopher
Hitchens claimed it was to "prevent another Srebrenica"
in Kosovo.
Yet
to the present day, few facts about the fall of Srebrenica
have actually been established. A careful look at the Inquisition's
verdict
reveals mere estimates of both the numbers and the
identities of victims, while the absence of evidence that
a massacre took place is taken as proof positive it had, and
was subsequently covered up!
Those
Pesky Facts
Reports
about the Balkans generally suffer from the "don't let
facts get in the way of a good story" syndrome, and few
more so than the sensational accounts of Srebrenica. But that
doesn't mean the facts are not there.
One
such fact is the Bosnian Army's 28th Division:
two infantry brigades, stationed in the supposedly "demilitarized"
Srebrenica. Their commander, Naser Oric, showed videos of his troops'
"prowess" to the fascinated foreign reporters. Yet as the
Serb force of some 400 men and 5 tanks approached Srebrenica
in July 1995, Oric was not in town, and his troops offered
less than token resistance. As Serb forces entered Srebrenica,
the entire 28th Division was moving towards Muslim-held
Tuzla, leaving their families behind.
Those
families are another fact that does not fit the reports. Many
women and children sought refuge at the UN base in Potocari.
Within three days, they were evacuated, by truck and bus,
to Muslim-held territory – though whether entirely willingly
is somewhat disputable. But they were not harmed.
Men
who were among the refugees in Potocari are said to have been
taken aside and executed. But the Serbs claim they detained
about 800 men, all of whom were released within a month or
sooner. Most sources indicate the number of men in Potocari
was about 250.
Finally,
Hubert Wieland, personal representative of the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights, told the Daily Telegraph (July 24,
1995, electronic edition): "we have not found anyone who saw
with their own eyes an atrocity taking place."
Devil
in the Details
What
became of the 28th Division? Parts of it were reported
reaching
Tuzla after a couple of weeks. Who are the 4,000 people
whose bodies have been exhumed from grave pits between Srebrenica
and Tuzla? Only 400 have been identified, so no one knows.
How did they die? Again, no information. How many people exactly
are missing, or presumed dead? No precise number has ever
been established, either for Srebrenica or the entire country,
for that matter.
One
would think, though, that such a serious accusation as genocide
would be thoroughly investigated, documented and corroborated.
Instead, the world has heard only the repetition of "8000
massacred" and "the Serbs did it." Why?
"Higher"
Agendas
Neither
the Muslim political and military leaders nor the Empire seem
to be interested in finding out. Why should they be?
David
Rohde, an American journalist who contributed most to the
claim of "genocide" in Srebrenica, has won numerous awards
and is now revered as an example
of "human rights journalism."
Richard
Holbrooke, the US diplomat who directed the Bosnian endgame
through arrogance, hypocrisy, blackmail and "bombs for peace,"
praised the role Srebrenica played
in finally getting the US public opinion to agree to military
intervention.
Amnesty International
uses the "Srebrenica case" to support the Hague Inquisition
and its spawn, the International Criminal Court. Human Rights
Watch and allies of the Bosnian Muslims in the US
Congress have also invoked Srebrenica to score political
points.
Certainly,
the regime led by confessed Muslim fundamentalist Alija Izetbegovic
has been quick to invoke Srebrenica as a trump card in
any discussion about the war. They routinely used Srebrenica
refugees as political and propaganda pawns, but did nothing
to improve their lot. Quite the contrary, by settling
them in abandoned or seized Serb homes, after the war
they used them to whip up a frenzy of protest against the
Serbs who tried to reclaim their property.
Additionally,
while maintaining that a massacre happened, many Muslims also
accuse Izetbegovic of letting it
happen. Among them are his former military commander Sefer
Halilovic, and Srebrenica's police chief Hakija Meholjic.
With
reputation, power and credibility at stake, it is understandable
that certain people have a vested interest only in the mythical
Srebrenica – a story of mass murder whose truthfulness needs
no proof, since myths are never questioned. This mythical
Srebrenica is NATO's excuse to occupy Bosnia. It guarantees
Izetbegovic's hold on the Muslim people. And it is a way to
keep the Bosnian Serbs and Serbia down.
Trading
Places
Perhaps
the best illustration of the extent to which some Bosnian
Muslims are manipulating the images of Srebrenica was last
week's speech by
Mustafa Ceric, the top Muslim cleric in Bosnia and a close
associate of Izetbegovic, at the commemoration ceremony in
Srebrenica.
"We
pray for the sorrow to become hope, for revenge to become
justice and for a mother's tear to become a reminder so that
Srebrenica and New York will never happen again," Ceric said.
Despite
attempts of Empire's henchmen to dismiss Islamic fundamentalism
and terrorism as irrelevant in Bosnia and the Balkans, there
are just some facts even
they cannot cover up.
It
was Izetbegovic's regime that issued Osama bin Laden and many
of his associates Bosnian passports. In 1970,
long before the ayatollahs of Iran and the mullahs of Taliban
took power, Izetbegovic wrote "The Islamic Declaration," a
veritable "how-to" primer for creating Muslim fundamentalist
societies. Ceric himself is a paragon of religious bigotry,
hateful towards any non-Muslim symbol or belief in Bosnia.
For
such people to compare the trumped-up mystery "genocide" in
Srebrenica with a very public terrorist attack by their own
associates is at best rank hypocrisy, at worst downright criminal.
The
Bloody Shirt
As
long as the Empire and its minions are insisting on unsubstantiated
"genocide" and "massacre" charges, repeating random numbers,
refusing to investigate facts, and seeing Srebrenica as nothing
but a "bloody shirt" to be waved as necessary, the people
of Bosnia and the Balkans will continue to live a lie.
There won't be any justice for however
many who died. Manipulated while living, they will continue
to be manipulated in death by people who could not care less
about them, their families, or the truth.
There have been too many lies, for
too long. It's about time for some unvarnished truth, however
ugly or inconvenient it may be. For lies enslave, just as
truth liberates.
Enough is enough.
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