The Man Who Fought the Whole
World
By Charles Simic
DURHAM, New Hampshire. Slobodan Milosevic is in The Hague thanks to Serbian democrats and American blackmail. The Serbs delivered him to the UN war crimes tribunal essentially for two reasons: to get billions of dollars in aid from the international community, which the United States was preventing from happening until he was extradited to the court, and because the reformers wanted to get rid of him once and for all.
The transfer was of dubious legality, as is so much else in this case, but it is hard to feel sorry for Milosevic who, in all the years in which he brought death and suffering to so many people in former Yugoslavia, including Serbs, never showed any remorse or the slightest compassion for the fate of the victims of his policies. This is not the view of some Serbs, including Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who would have preferred to have him tried in Belgrade. I would have, too, but it became clear in the months after his arrest that this was not a very realistic possibility. The justice system in Yugoslavia is in disarray and filled with Milosevic's appointees, who in the past 10 years actively participated and benefited from the corrupt and criminal system he instituted. With all the legal maneuvering and Serbia's reluctance to break completely with the past, the trial, had it ever taken place, would have taken years to commence, thereby frustrating the desire for justice of so many people.
The complete indifference I felt seeing Milosevic arraigned in court surprised me a little. Like others, I often find myself feeling sorry for ordinary murderers. One imagines that things could have turned out differently for them, and that they are not all bad. Milosevic's arrogant air which exhibited not a twinge of doubt as he patronized the judges from his Olympian perspective, his complete disregard for truth and his insistence that he was being punished for defending his own people against aggressors, made him in my eyes nothing else but a cold-blooded murderer.
Hannah Arendt's phrase "banality of evil" inevitably came to mind. Milosevic, too, is a nobody. An ex-communist apparatchik, he was, above all, an opportunist turned nationalist with no conscience or intellectual facility beyond a low cunning. His years of running Serbia were an unmitigated disaster for everyone in former Yugoslavia. Thus, it is amazing to see crowds of mostly elderly citizens in Belgrade carrying his picture and shouting the name of a man who never once had their interest at heart, who watched them sink into misery and become the most hated people in Europe without ever lifting a finger or acknowledging his responsibility. What he and these remaining followers of his regarded as nationalism was a form of national suicide. Every time a reasonable solution presented itself, he turned it down. In his megalomania, he adored brinkmanship since it brought him the attention of the world. As far as he is concerned, he fought the whole world and won and is now being punished for that.
It is no surprise, then, that he refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the tribunal and did not permit his lawyers to present a defense. If he persists in that folly -- and he very well might -- it would be fully in character. Stubbornness to the point of stupidity has always been his idea of the heroic. Of course, his performance at the arraignment was less for the benefit of the judges than for his wife and his supporters back home. It must also have brought relief to western officials who dealt with him over the years and whose shady dealings with him a good defense lawyer could have turned into an international scandal. Would Richard Holbrooke agree to be questioned by Milosevic's lawyers or would he insist that the United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court over its citizens? As for the NATO bombing which broke more than a few international laws, would its generals be allowed to make an appearance and defend the use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium on a civilian population? Their refusal would make it clear that there is a double standard where great powers can act with impunity while all others get lectures on morality.
What has also emerged after his transfer to The Hague is that the prosecutors lack the hard evidence to convict him easily, and that they expect the Serbian government and western intelligence agencies to provide them with what they don't have. One cannot help but ask on what basis Milosevic was charged if evidence is not available to show he planned and ordered the crimes for which he stands accused. I heard a lawyer, who worked on the case, say on TV the other night that they were in a great rush to indict him while he was expelling hundreds of thousands of Kosovars. This kind of influence of politics on the tribunal makes even those of us who long for justice uncomfortable.
Milosevic, too, must feel lucky. In Serbia, there was always a possibility he would be shot for ordering the execution of political opponents -- crimes the court in The Hague is not concerned with -- or left to rot in obscurity. In prison in the Netherlands he's on the world stage again, able to resume cultivating the image of himself as a martyr.
If there's no economic upturn in Serbia, if the population continues to be demoralized by continuously falling living standards, crazy as it is, many are bound to continue to regard him as a hero. I emphasize progress in economics over national reckoning with the past -- no matter how desirable and important that is -- since misery and humiliation are still the best incubators for nationalist delusions. It is extremely important, therefore, that the tribunal give him a fair trial, spelling out in detail the horrendous crimes committed by the Serbs, without brushing off or minimizing the evil done to them. I mention this because, astonishingly so far, no Albanian anywhere has faced charges for killing a Serb. This almost serves to make the point that if one is a NATO ally one is not held to the same standards as its enemies.
"We sold him for money, and we won't really get much money for it," said the Serbian historian Aleksa Djilas. Yes, of course. Still, there must have been another reason to finish with him and go on and worry about other matters. This mediocre man had paralyzed Serbian political and intellectual life for the last 10 years. Everything revolved around him; people either made excuses for his endless deceits and his wars, or they withdrew into their private lives. Hundreds of thousands immigrated so as not to be a part of that madhouse atmosphere.
His sudden extradition broke the spell of a national project that never took responsibility for its actions and then found itself surprised that there were dire consequences. What happened the other day in Belgrade may not have been an act of conscience. Nevertheless, what the Serbian government did by transferring Milosevic to The Hague cannot be characterized as lacking in justice.
Charles Simic is a poet and professor of English at the University of New Hampshire.
Jul. 6, 2001
F.A.Z.
- English Version By Charles Simic
DURHAM, New Hampshire. Slobodan Milosevic is in The Hague thanks to Serbian democrats and American blackmail. The Serbs delivered him to the UN war crimes tribunal essentially for two reasons: to get billions of dollars in aid from the international community, which the United States was preventing from happening until he was extradited to the court, and because the reformers wanted to get rid of him once and for all.
The transfer was of dubious legality, as is so much else in this case, but it is hard to feel sorry for Milosevic who, in all the years in which he brought death and suffering to so many people in former Yugoslavia, including Serbs, never showed any remorse or the slightest compassion for the fate of the victims of his policies. This is not the view of some Serbs, including Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who would have preferred to have him tried in Belgrade. I would have, too, but it became clear in the months after his arrest that this was not a very realistic possibility. The justice system in Yugoslavia is in disarray and filled with Milosevic's appointees, who in the past 10 years actively participated and benefited from the corrupt and criminal system he instituted. With all the legal maneuvering and Serbia's reluctance to break completely with the past, the trial, had it ever taken place, would have taken years to commence, thereby frustrating the desire for justice of so many people.
The complete indifference I felt seeing Milosevic arraigned in court surprised me a little. Like others, I often find myself feeling sorry for ordinary murderers. One imagines that things could have turned out differently for them, and that they are not all bad. Milosevic's arrogant air which exhibited not a twinge of doubt as he patronized the judges from his Olympian perspective, his complete disregard for truth and his insistence that he was being punished for defending his own people against aggressors, made him in my eyes nothing else but a cold-blooded murderer.
Hannah Arendt's phrase "banality of evil" inevitably came to mind. Milosevic, too, is a nobody. An ex-communist apparatchik, he was, above all, an opportunist turned nationalist with no conscience or intellectual facility beyond a low cunning. His years of running Serbia were an unmitigated disaster for everyone in former Yugoslavia. Thus, it is amazing to see crowds of mostly elderly citizens in Belgrade carrying his picture and shouting the name of a man who never once had their interest at heart, who watched them sink into misery and become the most hated people in Europe without ever lifting a finger or acknowledging his responsibility. What he and these remaining followers of his regarded as nationalism was a form of national suicide. Every time a reasonable solution presented itself, he turned it down. In his megalomania, he adored brinkmanship since it brought him the attention of the world. As far as he is concerned, he fought the whole world and won and is now being punished for that.
It is no surprise, then, that he refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the tribunal and did not permit his lawyers to present a defense. If he persists in that folly -- and he very well might -- it would be fully in character. Stubbornness to the point of stupidity has always been his idea of the heroic. Of course, his performance at the arraignment was less for the benefit of the judges than for his wife and his supporters back home. It must also have brought relief to western officials who dealt with him over the years and whose shady dealings with him a good defense lawyer could have turned into an international scandal. Would Richard Holbrooke agree to be questioned by Milosevic's lawyers or would he insist that the United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court over its citizens? As for the NATO bombing which broke more than a few international laws, would its generals be allowed to make an appearance and defend the use of cluster bombs and depleted uranium on a civilian population? Their refusal would make it clear that there is a double standard where great powers can act with impunity while all others get lectures on morality.
What has also emerged after his transfer to The Hague is that the prosecutors lack the hard evidence to convict him easily, and that they expect the Serbian government and western intelligence agencies to provide them with what they don't have. One cannot help but ask on what basis Milosevic was charged if evidence is not available to show he planned and ordered the crimes for which he stands accused. I heard a lawyer, who worked on the case, say on TV the other night that they were in a great rush to indict him while he was expelling hundreds of thousands of Kosovars. This kind of influence of politics on the tribunal makes even those of us who long for justice uncomfortable.
Milosevic, too, must feel lucky. In Serbia, there was always a possibility he would be shot for ordering the execution of political opponents -- crimes the court in The Hague is not concerned with -- or left to rot in obscurity. In prison in the Netherlands he's on the world stage again, able to resume cultivating the image of himself as a martyr.
If there's no economic upturn in Serbia, if the population continues to be demoralized by continuously falling living standards, crazy as it is, many are bound to continue to regard him as a hero. I emphasize progress in economics over national reckoning with the past -- no matter how desirable and important that is -- since misery and humiliation are still the best incubators for nationalist delusions. It is extremely important, therefore, that the tribunal give him a fair trial, spelling out in detail the horrendous crimes committed by the Serbs, without brushing off or minimizing the evil done to them. I mention this because, astonishingly so far, no Albanian anywhere has faced charges for killing a Serb. This almost serves to make the point that if one is a NATO ally one is not held to the same standards as its enemies.
"We sold him for money, and we won't really get much money for it," said the Serbian historian Aleksa Djilas. Yes, of course. Still, there must have been another reason to finish with him and go on and worry about other matters. This mediocre man had paralyzed Serbian political and intellectual life for the last 10 years. Everything revolved around him; people either made excuses for his endless deceits and his wars, or they withdrew into their private lives. Hundreds of thousands immigrated so as not to be a part of that madhouse atmosphere.
His sudden extradition broke the spell of a national project that never took responsibility for its actions and then found itself surprised that there were dire consequences. What happened the other day in Belgrade may not have been an act of conscience. Nevertheless, what the Serbian government did by transferring Milosevic to The Hague cannot be characterized as lacking in justice.
Charles Simic is a poet and professor of English at the University of New Hampshire.
Jul. 6, 2001
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