From: josip@src.umd.edu (Josip Loncaric)
Subject: Re: Irony continues in our history
Followup-To: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Organization: Systems Research Center, Maryversity of Uniland, College Park
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 15:02:26 GMT

A note: This is not about Jewish culture, but you may be interested.
        Followup to soc.culture.yugoslavia.

In article <1992Aug12.041009.18615@cco.caltech.edu> simic@pollux.ccsf.caltech.edu (Petar Simic) writes:
>
>	Josip Loncaric writes:
> 
>>> B-H Croats consider themselves a part of B-H, but insist on cantonization
>as proposed at the EC conference on Yugoslavia.  They want guarantees of
>equal rights for all three constituent peoples in B-H backed up by 
>forming "cantons" (sort of like Switzerland).  The B-H Muslims see no
>problem with "equal rights" part, but point out that B-H is NOT Switzeralnd
>and that cantonization is impossible.  Serbia does not recognize B-H and
>it is using its military superiority to "cleanse" non-Serbs from the 70%
>of B-H territory captured so far.  This strategy is clearly aimed at
>creating an ethnically pure part of "Greater Serbia".
>
><<
>
>	Now, few comments are in order. First, reading the above I see (an
> interpretation of) what Croats want, I see what Muslims want, but I do not
> see even attempt to say if Bosnian Serbs want something ? (they shurely 
> ought to be asked - they are numerous (one third of the population), due to
> peculiar geography and history of the region they are majority on about 55%
> of the land in Bosnia and Hercegovina, and if this all is not convincing,
> there is this obvious fact that, they hate to be ignored). Instead, we are
> offered a familiar propaganda phrase, about what some other country (Serbia)
> wants (to create Greater Serbia); as if this whole area was not Yugoslavia
> just few months ago. 
>

What is it that Serbs want?  Their pronouncements are contradicted by
their actions.  Are Serbs ignored?  For heaven's sake, how could anyone
ignore them?  But their negotiators and their soldiers apparently never
talk to each other.  While Serbian diplomacy presents an image of reasonable
people, Serbian forces continue destruction of other people's homes
unimpeded by cease-fires and such.  Why?  We can only conclude that

(1) Serbian public pronouncements are just a disguise for their real aims

(2) Their real aims are to be deduced from their actions

(3) Their actions are effectively taking over most of B-H and expelling
    Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats, and creating a land corridor
    from Serbian enclaves to Serbia by cutting through majority
    Muslim/Croat area.

(4) They have never recognized the independence of B-H and aim to annex
    conquered territories to Serbia

> [...]
>
>	On the other hand, do not missunderstand me: camps, prisons, centers
> whatever, should be open for ununounced inspection by the ICRC, and when
> the evidence of serious abuse is found those who are responsible should be
> punished. 
>
>	Sincerely,
>	Petar.

I think all human beings would agree about that.  And yet, for over a
year, Serbian nationalists have been implementing their expansionist
agenda by force, with extreme brutality, aimed at terrorizing the
civilian non-Serb population so that it would flee and leave their
towns and villages to Serbian forces.  Sarajevo is in the news now;
but the same strategy has been practiced against Croatian cities
last fall (eg. Vukovar, Dubrovnik, Osijek, Vinkovci, Sisak, Slavonski Brod,
Pakrac, Gospic, Zadar, Sibenik, Drnis, ...).  

Croatian experience has been that a Serbian attack is usually announced by
ethnic Serbs suddendly leaving the town.  Then, the attack begins, with
heavy artillery and bombs raining on the civilian structures of the town.
This continues for months, with people cowering in the basements,
and dying at a slow but steady rate.

In Vukovar, local defenses held out against this kind of onslaught for
months.  When defenders ran out of ammunition, Serbs took over the
shell-shocked residents, and marched through the town singing Chetnik
songs "there will be meat, we'll slaugher Croats" (recorded by a British
TV crew and shown on CNN).  Next, Vukovar's defenders and civilian
residents were rounded up by Serbian forces.  Summary executions
followed, and the fate of at least 1500 people is still unknown.

Why are Chetniks so brutal?  It's hard to explain how a supposedly
civilized people could do such things.  Perhaps the best (if imperfect)
analogy in the USA would be the post-civil-war KKK.  Both groups have
used grotesque terror to intimidate "undesirable" groups into submission.
However, while Americans are aware of the kind of hate KKK represents,
Serbs (in my experience) have not made any effort to control Chetniks.
This is partly due to Serbian nationalism which sees Chetniks as
something good.  I do not quite understand what Serbs see in Chetniks,
but this is an extremely brutal group of Serbian supremacists who
do not share the admirable sentiments expressed by Mr. Simic.

The tragedy is that Serbian militants have been successful which means
that Serbian opposition is loosing the argument that this kind of
violence leads nowhere.

Sincerely,
Josip