Posted on 06/25/2008 7:19:23 PM PDT by Bokababe
24 June 2008 Zagreb _ A former US ambassador to Croatia has accused Zagreb of plotting and sanctioning the exodus of Serbs in 1995 to create an "ethnically clean" country.
Peter Galbraith told The Hague war crimes trial of three Croatian generals, that the leadership headed by late President Franjo Tudjman used ‘Operation Storm’ to ‘cleanse’ Croatia of Serbs.
“Croatian authorities either ordered or allowed a mass destruction of the Serb property in former (Serb-held region of) Krajina to prevent the return of the population. I consider that to have been a thought through policy,” he said, testifying at the trial of generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia, ICTY, based in The Hague indicted the three for war crimes their troops allegedly committed during and after Operation Storm.
Up to 800 ethnic Serb civilians were killed and some 250,000 fled Croatia when in 1995 Croat forces crushed the rebel Serb breakaway state that occupied up to a quarter of the country’s territory since it declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
“Croatia was an organised country, its army the most disciplined in former Yugoslavia, and therefore I cannot accept that the illegalities that occurred after Storm were spontaneous,” Galbraith told the court.
He added that had happened because “President Tudjman and people around him wanted it, wishing for an ethnically clean country.”
However, Galbraith said Croatia did not carry out an ethnic cleansing campaign following Operation Storm, because “you could not cleansed those who were not there, but I’m not saying it would have not happened had the population stayed.”
His testimony came as a surprise, since when he testified at the trial of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2003 Galbraith said Croatia was not responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Serbs.
On Monday he said he was sorry for saying that because it was understood as his justification for the Croatian army’s actions, which had not been his intention.
Well, it is news to the extent that there are certain individuals around here that would blame Milan Martic for the allegations that are justifiably charged against General Gotovina et. al.
well, more than 3 — the Kurds (Aryanic/Indo-European people), the Arab Sunnis, the Arab Shias and then also the Christian Chaldeans/Assyrians, then the tiny communities of Manecheans and Sabeans who are Semitic while Yazidis are Irani peoples (like the Kurds)
That’ absurd. I support people having their own countries when they want them. Why don’t you just say “I’m a Serb and it makes me mad that we don’t get to rule the entire former Yugoslavia”?
So, you supported the breakaway Serbian areas within Croatia then?
Not just Tudjman...we have today croatian president who says “we don`t have to apologize to anybody, or to kneel in Jasenovac, because `we won twice in WWII` on 10. of april 1941. when Axis forces recognized NDH and we won after WWII when we were among winners`”.
How lucky they are. Great opportunist. I just wonder what real croatian antifascist have to say about that (my grandmother was one of them). Discusting.
It`s in croatian. I translated the essence of it.
S. Mesic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLaIDT8FZHw&feature=related)
Now, I have explained my positions, you have not explained yours. What are they? That you want one government, dominated by Serbia, that rules over the whole of the former Yugoslavia? If so, why? Also, why does it bother you so much that the Croatians want their own country, rather than to be ruled by Serbia?
It’s all “Serbia First” with these Milosevikniks.
Why would their bordering Serbia be a factor? I thought you supported the notion of people being able to create their own nations but now you are adding conditions?
By the way, the Croatians attacked and ethnically cleansed the Serbian areas in Croatia along with scores of horrific atrocities being committed against unarmed civilians, as documented by Canadian troops in the Medac pocket.
LOL! Joe, you still don't get it one bit, do you. So very sad to witness such an impaired individual floundering!
I do get it. You are a Miloseviknik. You are upset that his war against Croatia was a failure. You wish he had won, but he lost and his people suffered for his stupidity.
I had a problem with an independent Croatia under Tudjman, who thanked God that his wife was neither a Serb, nor a Jew.
I've already corrected you on this matter. The quote is taken out of context. He made that statement because he said that he was neither a fascist nor a communist. It had nothing to do with race. Ante Pavelic's wife was from a Jewish family and Tito's wife was a Serb. Tudjman's son-in-law is a Serb as well. Hopefully you'll remember it this time.
We backed a bunch of neo-Nazis who took great joy in ethnically cleansing their country of Serbs.
That's funny, considering that Tudjman fought the Nazis in WW2 as did Manolic.
And what's worse, is that "the father of their independence", "the George Washington of Croatia" was allowed to be a ranting, raving neo-Nazi racist.
How could he be a neo-nazi when he fought the Nazis? You're not this stupid, bokababe.
Why has he changed his mind now? Simple: because there is no threat from The Hague to Americans thx to American supplying of weapons and MPRI...so Galbraith helped the prosecution then and is helping the prosecution now. In the end, the NWO types win.
Gentlemen, feel free to ask the Serbs about what happened to the Croatians who were from Serb-occupied Croatia. Ask them why the Serbs kicked them out, killed thousands of them, destroyed their churches, and wouldn’t let those who fled return. I’m sure you’ll get an answer :)
You've asked me a number of questions that I have answered. I asked you questions that you have not answered. I do not have one way conversations. Please answer the questions I have asked you, and I will gladly answer the questions you just put to me above.
Please provide the lyrics to this song where Thompson sings about the joy of killing serbs and jews, thanks.
Wrong as always, Joe, wrong as always.
Slobodan was a communists and communists are not supported by Serbian Christians, which means that virtually all Serbs in America opposed him.
The song in question isn’t by Thompson but rather by the late singer Josko Tomicic. Thompson did perform the song once, but that was years ago. He apologized for singing it. The song is distasteful, much like the flipside Serbian versions about cutting the throats of Croatians and dumping them into ditches.
The answer is simple, you are lying.
No, Croatia did not have the right to secede with her borders enclosing hundreds of thousands of Serbs who did not wish to leave Yugoslavia.
Your turn.
Lying about what? Be specific so that I can bury you.
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