[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2001 2:39 AM Subject: Re: [MAI-NOT] Q. Americans &Bosnia? footnotes and Sean Gervasi 1995 [WW... [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Get a low APR NextCard Visa in 30 seconds! 1. Fill in the brief application 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds 3. Get rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR and no annual fee! Apply NOW! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/NextCard ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES . 1. Robert S. McNamara, IN RETROSPECT: THE TRAGEDY AND LESSONS OF VIETNAM, New York, 1995. 2. Richard Holbrooke, Hearings on U.S. Policy in Europe before the House International Relations Committee, Washington, D.C., 9 March, 1995, transcript, p. 13. 3. See, for instance, General Pierre M. Gallois, "Balkans: la Faute Allemande", LE QUOTIDIEN DE PARIS, 28 January, 1993. 4. The hostility between Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats continues, as does the fighting between them. As an experienced Balkan hand put it recently, "The principal [U.S.] projects -- the so-called contact group of mediating powers and the Croat-Muslim Federation -- remain as flimsy as they were at their inception twelve months ago." David Binder,"Gnats for Bosnia", THE NATION, MAY 8, 1995. 5. Gregory Clark, "Bosnia After Vietnam: Ignorance, Bad Mistakes, INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, May 20, 1994. 6. Idem. 7. David Hackworth, "U.S. sinking slowly in Bosnian swamp", SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, February 4, 1995. 8. Idem. 9. A.M. Rosenthal, "Dole in Bosnia", THE NEW YORK TIMES, April 18, 1995. 10. R.W. Apple Jr., "McNamara Recalls, and Regrets, Vietnam", THE NEW YORK TIMES, April 9, 1995. 11. See, for instance, Joan Hoey, "The U.S. 'Great Game' in Bosnia", THE NATION, January 30, 1995. This is one of the few articles written on this crucial aspect of U.S. policy. 12. There were nevertheless extensive covert operations going on in the Balkans, especially in the early years after World War II. 13. See, for instance, General Luigi Caligaris, "Europe's New Front Line: A View from Rome", ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTIONS JOURNAL, February, 1995 and U.S. government plans for a "Southern Balkans Initiative", including a railroad from Istambul in Turkey to Tirana, the capital of Albania. * 14. See C. Fred Bergsten, "The Primacy of Economics", FOREIGN POLICY Summer, 1992 and John Stremlau, "Clinton's Dollar Diplomacy". FOREIGN POLICY, 15. See McNamara, op.cit., chapter 7, "The Decision to Escalate". 16. Author's interviews in Yugoslavia, December, 1994. This issue will be discussed by the author in a forthcoming book. 17. Robert W. Tucker and David C. Hendrickson, "America and Bosnia", THE NATIONAL INTEREST, Fall, 1993, p.15. This is one of the few serious analytical articles on this subject to be published. 18. "...the Serbs are a largely rural population and worked nearly 60 per cent of the land before the war," wrote Tucker and Hendrickson, loc.cit., p.11. 19. See Darko Tanaskovic, "Why Is Islamic Radicalization in the Balkans Being Covered Up?", EUROBALKANS, Summer 1994. 20. Nationalist sentiment of different kinds was on the rise throughout Yugoslavia, in part owing to the effect of deteriorating economic con- ditions on society. See Thomas Szayna, ETHNIC CONFLICT IN CENTRAL EUROPE AND THE BALKANS, RAND Corporation, 1994, pp.5-18. 21. See the entries for "Croatia", "Jasenovac" and "Yugoslavia" in the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HOLOCAUST, Israel Gutman, Editor in Chief, Vols.1-4, 1990. 22. In the entry for "Yugoslavia" in THE NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA BRIT- TANICA, vol. 29, 1986, p.922, one finds that "Armed resistance to the [German] occupation began in Bosnia, and there the Croatian Fascists began a massacre of Serbs which, in the whole annals of World War II, was surpassed for savagery only by the mass extermination of the Polish Jews." In March, l944, S.S. Major-General Ernst Fick, in a report addressed to Heinrich Himmler himself, stated that the Ustashi in Croatia "had butchered in Balkan fashion 600,000 to 700,000" Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and Croatian opponents. This was a year before the war ended. 23. For a good account of the events inside Bosnia which led up to the secession of April, 1992, see Robert Hayden, "The Partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1990-1993", RFE/RL RESEARCH REPORT, 28 May, 1993. See also Paul Shoup,"The Bosnian Crisis of 1992", in Sabrina Ramet, ed., BEYOND YUGOSLAVIA, 1994. 24. General Pierre M. Gallois, "Balkans: La Faute Allemande", loc.cit. 25. This led very quickly to recognition by the United Nations. 26. Tucker and Hendrickson, loc.cit., p.17. 27. Idem. 28. The basic facts here are no longer contested. In the early stages of the Bosnian crisis, however, few observers were aware of exactly what had happened, or indeed of much of the essential background. The result was that the early acounts which shaped public perceptions were skewed. 29. In 1992, in the middle of an election campaign, George Bush could not possibly have proposed the dispatch of U.S. troops. His opponent, now President Clinton, could not really have made such a proposal either. The "Vietnam syndrome" was still an important restraint -- and remains so today. 30. See James Gow, "To Win on Points -- Stalemate in Bosnia", JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW YEARBOOK, 1994, pp. 54-57. 31. Since the creation of the Croat-Muslim Federation, tens of thousands of Croats have left Bosnia-Herzegovina. In some areas, they are being driven out by the Muslims. 32. In early February, at the end of a major National Security Council review, President Clinton had decided to commit U.S. diplomacy and power to to bring an end to the Bosnian war. The U.S. said it wanted to force the Bosnian Serbs to implement the battered Vance-Owen plan. It may well that President Clinton then determined to go a good deal farther than was publicly intimated at the time. 33. TIME magazine carried the following report on May 24, 1993: "While President Clinton goes through some very public soul-searching about whether the U.S. should send an ex- peditionary force to Bosnia, sources have told TIME that U.S. Special Forces are alredy on the ground there, although the Pentagon officially denies it. Sources say these advanced troops are, for now, reconnaissance operatives, keeping Washington 'incredibly well-informed', and are providing in- telligence to Muslim enclaves. But they are also equipped to assist in any military action Clinton may order." 34. Author's interviews with French sources, January, 1994. 35. DEFENSE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS STRATEGIC POLICY, London, October 31, 1994, p.3. 36. Idem. 37. Idem. 38. Idem. 39. Robert Block, "US accused of aiding Bosnian forces", THE INDE- PENDENT, London, November 12, 1994. 40. Ian Traynor, "US upsets allies in Bosnian deals", the GUARDIAN, London, November 18, 1994. 41. Idem. 42. Idem. 43. Askold Krushelnycky and Ian Mather, "America 'has joined war' in Bosnia", THE EUROPEAN, London, 18-24 November, 1994. 44. Idem. 45. Idem. 46. Idem. 47. Idem and author's interviews, Washington, D.C., September, 1994. 48. Idem. 49. John Pomfret, "Charges U.S. Aids Muslims Appear to Be Inaccurate", THE WASHINGTON POST, November 19, 1994. 50. Idem. 51. Roger Cohen, "Retired U.S. General to Aid Muslim-Croat Federation", THE NEW YORK TIMES, January 24, 1995. 52. "Bosnia arms embargo 'broken'", FINANCIAL TIMES, February 22, 1995. 53. Julian Borger, "Bosnians 'are being covertly armed'", the GUARDIAN, London, February 25, 1995. 54. Idem. 55. Roger Cohen, "NATO Disputes U.N. Reports of Possible Airlift to Bosnia", THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 1, 1995. 56. "Turks accused of secret flights to arm Bosnia", THE SUNDAY TIMES, London, March 5, 1995. 57. Ed Vulliamy, "America's Secret Bosnian agenda", THE OBSERVER, London, November 20, 1994. 58. Krushelnycky and Mather, loc.cit. 59. Robert S. McNamara, op.cit. McNamara states, "I believe we could and should have withdrawn from South Vietnam either in late 1963 amid the turmoil following Diem's assassination or in late 1964 or early 1965 in the face of increasing military and political weakness in South Vietnam." (p.320) 60. MacNamara, op. cit., p.320. 61. "Vance: Recognition of Former Yugoslav Republics Was a Mistake", Tanjug wire, New York, February 9, 1995. [Dear Dusan: could you insert the following passage outside these brackets as a Foreword to this piece, and at the beginning of this piece, before the first page. Marked, if possible "Foreword". You can erase this message to you -- in brackets. Thanks, Sean] FOREWORD This text was written in May, and revised extensively in June, for COVERT ACTION magazine. It is submitted to SIEM not only because of the topical interest of the subject but also as an example of the problems which exist in the media today. Subscribers will know that COVERT ACTION magazine has a reputation for hard and critical analysis of U.S. intelligence activities, and especially of covert action. However, the group which published and edited the magazine has now changed substantially, the only remaining active member of the old team being Lou Wolf. There are now two new editors of a younger generation than my own and Lou's. It will be of interest to SIEM subscribers that, after literally weeks of argument, this article was rejected by the new editors of the magazine, who insisted instead that I answer a number of questions they wanted to put to me and enter into a debate with a German journalist working in Geneva. I countered at the time that, as a writer of long-standing in the magazine and someone who knew the Yugoslav situation, I should at least be accorded the courtesy of being allowed to issue my own warning in my own terms. This was refused. In the course of the discussions, it emerged that the new editors were in touch with members of the Soros family of foundations and that they came upon the idea of a debate and selected the other debater on the basis of advice from them. I firmly refused for a variety of reasons to participate in what I considered semi-censorship with a cover of whitewash. I think a case can be made. The new editors admiteed to me repeatedly that the principal source of their own information on these matters was the media and that the perceptions gained from that source were the foundation of their objections to my article. I would like to see the beginning of a discussion of this matter in SIEM and encourage people to contact me at my e-mail address, which can be got from SIEM. Sean Gervasi ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
