VIEWPOINT FROM LONDON

DEL PONTE SPOILS FOR A FIGHT WITH AMERICA

by Brian Gallagher

The Croatian Herald, Australia No. 1007 - 19.03.04

 

The latest indictments for Croatian Generals Cermak and Markac along with the revised one for Gotovina regarding Croatia's Operation Storm in 1995 effectively puts America in the dock. Operation Storm was under the de facto control of the United States. It liberated much Croatian territory and half of Bosnia-Hezegovina from the Serbs into the bargain. Milosevic was largely defeated. However, it seems that Hague Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte considers all this to be a "joint criminal enterprise" - and that implicates America.

The indictment claims that the above Generals, late Croatian President Tudjman and "others" were involved in a "joint criminal enterprise" to cleanse Croatia of its Serbs during and after Operation Storm. As is well known, the United States trained the Croatian forces and provided Croatia with real-time intelligence during the operation. They knew everything that was going on during it. They controlled the operation; indeed it was they who halted it, as stated by Richard Holbrooke in regard to stopping Croat forces outside Banja Luka.

By claiming that Operation Storm was a "criminal enterprise", the Americans stand accused of not merely involvement in an alleged major war crime - but control of one. Del Ponte does not name the Americans in the indictment - that would be too dangerous for her politically. However, she does not have to. American involvement in Operation Storm has been credibly discussed by Newsweek and the Washington Times in relation to the Gotovina indictment. US involvement would form part of any defence. America is going to be dragged into this, whether they want to be or not - as Del Ponte must surely know. She is quite clearly spoiling for a fight with the United States.

Del Ponte must also realise that any kind of guilty verdict condemns the United States. America can then look forward to politically motivated prosecutors in various countries - perhaps Belgium? - exercising 'universal jurisdiction' to prosecute US citizens. Indeed, Henry Kissinger has made similar points regarding the Hague Prosecutor looking at NATO's Kosovo campaign. Such prosecutors would use guilty verdicts as a basis for their actions. Candidates for such anti-US prosecutions range from Bill Clinton to Richard Holbrooke and even to members of Military Professional Resources Incorporated, the private firm that trained the Croatian military so well.

America rightly used Croatia to defeat the Serbs. Operation Storm was conceived to liberate large parts of Croatia and thus push the Serbs back in BiH. It took place at that particular time because the UN safe haven of Bihac in BiH was about to fall to the Serbs - which would have made rolling them back strategically difficult. Those are the reasons for the offensives - not some ethnic cleansing exercise. However, many UN personnel colluded with the Serbs - not just at Srebrenica - and did not welcome the Croatian action. Criminalising Operation Storm is a way to divert attention from UN-Serb collusion. This helps explain the actions of the prosecutors - who work for the UN, of course.

The exodus of Serbs from Croatia was organised by the Serbian leadership - which they have admitted - in advance of the Croat offensives. For evidence of this, we can point to the Hague Prosecutors themselves. In the Milosevic trial, Prosecutor Geoffrey Nice on February 13 2002 referred to an "overall plan" by the Serb leadership to "funnel" Croatian Serbs to Kosovo to change the demographics there. More recently in the Milosevic trial, the prosecutor deliberately elicited testimony from ex-US Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith. He quite clearly stated no ethnic cleansing had taken place. This was evidence the Prosecutor submitted; are they now saying they were wrong, or that Galbraith was not telling the truth? And just why didn't these indictments against Croat Generals mention that the Serb population were ordered and organised out by their leadership? Indeed, why don' t these indictments point out that the territory liberated in Croatia was occupied as part of Milosevic's "criminal enterprise" - which involved ethnic cleansing and atrocities against Croats?

As for crimes committed in the aftermath of Operation Storm, regrettably this happens in liberated territory - especially given the horrors committed by the Serbs. The individual perpetrators should be punished severely. These crimes should be taken case by case, not cynically lumped together as part of some imagined masterplan. Furthermore, the difficult law enforcement situation improved over time - which is more than can be said for NATO's efforts in protecting Serbs after entering Kosovo in 1999, where murders still take place today. Ironically, the indictments of these Generals let real perpetrators off the hook. This is a disturbing precedent for the future, where individual soldiers will commit crimes safe in the knowledge that only senior commanders will be held accountable.

Apart from the United States being put in the dock, all those who supported Croatia's - and indeed Bosnia-Herzegovina's - military actions against the Serbs in 1995 will be accused of supporting a 'criminal enterprise'. That would include varied people like Margaret Thatcher, ex-British Labour Leader Michael Foot and the Member of the European Parliament Doris Pack. Groups like London's Bosnian Institute may encounter some difficulty as well. BiH exists today because of Operation Storm. Is its existence now due to a "criminal enterprise"?

A great many people should be examining the indictments against Croatian Generals, and none more so than United States. American intervention in Croatia and BiH saved countless lives and prevented the establishment of a Greater Serbia. This is a fine achievement. America's enemies - many, these days - will delight in seeing the UN pervert this into a crime. The United States should not let it happen.

© Brian Gallagher

My 'Viewpoint from London' column appears fortnightly in the Australian 'Croatian Herald' and thereafter at www.croatiafocus.com