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From notes@igc.apc.org Sun Aug 6 15:27:43 1995 Received: from cdp.igc.apc.org (192.82.108.1) by MediaFilter.org with SMTP (MailShare 1.0b10); Sun, 6 Aug 1995 15:27:44 -0500 Received: (from notes) by cdp.igc.apc.org (8.6.12/Revision: 1.203 ) id LAA15939 for "conf-zamir.chat"; Sun, 6 Aug 1995 11:45:41 -0700 Date: 06 Aug 1995 10:59:30 Reply-To: Conference "zamir.chat"From: doctorb@ix.netcom.com Subject: Persevere With Peacekeeping vi: Knin Has Fallen To: Recipients of zamir-chat-l Message-ID: <199508061758.KAA06622@ix6.ix.netcom.com> X-Gateway: conf2mail@igc.apc.org Errors-To: owner-zamir-chat-l@igc.apc.org Precedence: bulk Lines: 84 From: doctorb@ix.netcom.com (. ) Subject: Persevere With Peacekeeping vi: Knin Has Fallen August 6, 1995 Croatian president Franco Tudjman promises "all former fighters 'except those involved in war crimes' would be pardoned" and 15,000 Serbs, forming a line 12 miles long immediately leave the Bihac. "At least 40 UN observation posts have been either captured or destroyed in the past two days, UN officials said" 2 Czech and 1 Danish peacekeeper were killed. The hospital at the post outside Knin was shelled after 70 wounded were left, unable to evacuate. "Because the hospital was hit, it's unclear how many of the wounded will survive," said Chris Gunness, UN spokesman in Zagreb." (1) "Before they left, Knin officials appealed to the United Nations to evacuate 32,000 civilians trapped by the fighting. 'We don't know where the 32,000 are, but we recognize that we will have to deal with more than that' Gunness said. 'I don't know if this is "ethnic cleansing", but clearly the vast majority intend to leave Croatia,' UN spokesman Alun Roberts said" (2) "'With shelling like this, people don't stay, . .This is the goal, to get the Serbs to flee. ." (3) Of 150,000 Croatian Serbs in the Krajina half are already leaving it. ". .the only NATO action was against a Serbian target. The United States navy said two radar-jamming planes attacked a surface-to-air missile site near Knin after the missile battery's radar locked on the planes in preparation for firing. The planes, EA-6B's. . were responding to a request for help from United Nations United Nations peacekeeping forces in the area, a navy spokesman said in Washington." (4) Help for what? To evacuate them and protect them from Croat shelling? "The United Nations has some 10,000 troops in the region." (4) Assumedly they were all holed up in their 40 Peacekeeping posts. Aerial bombardment was threatened on the Serbs if they didn't quit attacking Bihac. Would it have been used more than in this instance if the war had been a little longer? Undoubtedly. "Europe's chief peace negotiator for the Balkans, Carl Bildt, condemned the Croatian offensive, comparing President Tudjman to the Krajina Serb leader, Milan Martic, who was indicted by an international tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity. noting that Mr. Martic had been indicted for a rocket attack on the civilians of Zagreb, (*) Mr. Bildt said, 'It is difficult to see any difference between these actions and the shelling of Knin, which president Tudjman must now be held responsible for.'" (4) "American diplomats vigorously denied that they had urged the Croats to attack Krajina. They said they took a nuanced approach that gave the green light for an attack on the Serbs in Bihac, while giving a red light to a broader offensive in Krajina for fear it would widen the war. The UN Secretary General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, harshly condemned the Croatian offensive. In a statement today he said, 'The deliberate reopening of large-scale conflict flouts the cease-fire that has provided the opportunity to search for a peaceful settlement, More lives will now be needlessly lost as a result of the course of action that president Tudjman and his Government have adopted.'" (5) (1) prior quotes are from Sentinel Aug 6 95 p1 (2) San Francisco Examiner Aug 6 95 p1 (*) Rocket attack on Zagreb may have been in May, during the Croat attack on "Serb-held area of Western Slavonia", reportedly a UN protected Serb "safe" area. (3) NY Times Aug 5, 95 p4 "Western diplomat" in 'Serb Chief's Response to Events Is Restrained' (4) NY Times Aug 5, 95 p1 (5) NY Times Aug 5, 95 p4, 'US Criticizes Croatia, but Only Halfheartedly for Attack on Serbs'