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From notes@igc.apc.org Mon Aug 7 20:19:02 1995 Received: from cdp.igc.apc.org (192.82.108.1) by MediaFilter.org with SMTP (MailShare 1.0b10); Mon, 7 Aug 1995 20:19:03 -0500 Received: (from notes) by cdp.igc.apc.org (8.6.12/Revision: 1.203 ) id QAA23812 for "conf-zamir.chat"; Mon, 7 Aug 1995 16:49:08 -0700 Date: 07 Aug 1995 16:06:51 Reply-To: Conference "zamir.chat"From: doctorb@ix.netcom.com Subject: Persevere With Peacekeeping vii To: Recipients of zamir-chat-l Message-ID: <199508072303.QAA11080@ix6.ix.netcom.com> X-Gateway: conf2mail@igc.apc.org Errors-To: owner-zamir-chat-l@igc.apc.org Precedence: bulk Lines: 127 From: doctorb@ix.netcom.com (. ) "Since all past attempts, including the negotiations held yesterday in Geneva, of both the Croatian authorities and the international community to achieve a peaceful reintegration of occupied Croatian areas have failed; . . (0) --Franjo Tudjman, President of Croatia "There is no cause for war now, . The Croatians got what they wanted. The question now is whether they will accept it.' (0.0) --US Ambassador to Zagreb, Croatia, "The United Nations officials and diplomats fear a repeat of what happened in Western Slovonia, another region that had been held by rebel Serbs, after the Croatian Government launched a successful military operation there in May. The Croatian forces committed a large number of human rights abuses and thousands of Serbs fled. The United Nations was kept out of the area for six days."(1) "'If we end up as it seems, with more than 100,000 [1.5] refugees, it's the biggest flow of population since the start of the war' said Josue Anstart, a Red Cross official in Belgrade. In Bania Luka. . 40,000 refugees. In Petrovak. . 15,000. At Topusko. . 10,000. . On the road between Banja Luka and Simska Raca. . 20,000. . said a spokeswoman for the refugee agency, Vesna Grubacic. 'Many of them didn't even have time to grab documents and had to flee in order not to be killed, .'" (2) "The Croats assaulted 65 United Nations posts, . The question nearly everyone here is now asking, from the Croatian on the streets to soldiers to diplomats, is whether the Croatian military will stop. With Western Slovonia have been retaken in May, most of the Krajina retaken in the current operation, a large swath of land in eastern Croatia along the border with Serbia, still remains under Serbian control." (1) Between this area and the Bihac the map shows the 'Former western Slavonia enclave' formerly a Serb "safe" haven, taken in May. A timeline of events (3) barely mentions the June 15 "Bosnian Government. . offensive to break [the] siege of Sarajevo" which failed as spectacularly as the recent Croat advance succeeded. These two events, hardly reported, I surmise, were the tit-for-tat motive the Serbs had to attack Bihac, Srebrenica and Zepa. But, the US Congressmen waxing disguist at Serb "atrocities" for 7,000 unaccounted for refugees of Srebrenica, lift the arms embargo and prepare to sell weapons through Arab countries, most of whose arms-brokers are candidates for 10 years in prison with no trial under the Counter-terrorism bill inspired by the World Trade Towers bombing and brought to fruition by the "work" of Iraqi war "hero" Timothy McVeigh, after he got through plowing bodies into mass graves for Operation 'Desert Storm'. Name of the Croat offensive: Operation 'Storm'. Just before the assault General Philippe Morillon commander of the Rapid Reaction Force "told the German weekly Stern that armed intervention on the model of the Gulf War may be necessary if there is no improvement on the ground soon." (4) Apparently there was sufficient "improvement on the ground" i.e. 100,000 Serbs fleeing in terror. Former US Defense Intelligence Chief Advises Croats: "The United States gave Croatia advice on how to conduct its massive assault on rebel Serbs, and gave tacit approval for the operation, Croatia's foreign minister indicated Saturday. The United States signed a military cooperation agreement with Croatia in November, and a company staffed by recently retired U.S. military officers has been advising Croatia on military organization. Around the same time, an American company, Military Professional Resources Inc., signed a long-term contract with Croatia to help ''democratize'' its armed forces and reorganize its officer corps. MPRI is made up of recently retired, high-ranking U.S. military officials, including the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The company, which has contracts throughout the world, claims it is ''capitalizing on the experience and skills of America's best combat-seasoned professionals.'' Retired Lt. Gen. Ed Soyster, the former DIA chief, insists the company offers no combat advice to the Croats and is working only to reform the army's former communist structure. The first group of Croatian army officers graduated from the MPRI program on July 15, and Croat commanders praised the ''American influence'' on the troops. The tacit U.S. approval for the strike was clear in Washington's reaction to the Croatian offensive." (5) July 15th: just in time for the assault. The papers are saying President of Serbia Melosevic stayed out of the conflict in hopes of getting the embargo on his country lifted. (0) Franjo Tudjman Zagreb, Friday, August 4, 1995 (0.0) 'Serbs Reported To Accept Pact With Croatians', NY Times 8- 04-95, p1 (1) 'Croatia Declares Victory in Rebel Area', NY Times Aug 7 95 p4 [1.5] "The scale of the disaster was becoming apparent yesterday as officials of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said that they believed that up to 100,000 people were now on the roads. Bosnian Serb officials believe another 90,000 Serbs are about to leave Croatia. On Saturday, two 15-mile columns were streaming out of Krajina, ." --The Electronic Telegraph Monday 7 August 1995, by Tim Judah in Belgrade as quoted from the Serbian Information Initiative (2) 'Croatian Serbs Become Latest Victims in Balkan Wars Shifting Fortunes' NY Times Aug 7 95 p1 (3) 'The Balkan Conflict: Where things Stand' NY Times Aug 2, 95 p4 (4) BOSNEWS Digest 356 for Wed, 2 Aug 1995 (5) Jasmina Kuzmanovic, Associated Press, Zagreb Croatia, Aug. 6, 1995