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Milosevic to the West: Be careful what you wish
for
by Christopher Deliso
Bottom line: The international trial of a century might
have some unexpected twists
For the prosecutors at the Hague, the trial of Slobodan Milosevic
represents a golden opportunity. For years, they have salivated
at the thought of bringing to justice the reviled ex-Yugoslav
president. Indeed, for those already convinced of Milosevic’s
guilt, the recently-begun war crimes trial is a mere formality,
one which they must wait out impatiently. Yet the ferocious
anti-Milosevic campaign in the media, both now and in the past,
may actually play right into his hands. Popularly perceived as a
latter-day Hitler, Milosevic is clearly not worried about the
further blackening of his name. Thus his unpredictable, sarcastic
courtroom orations, which have already taxed the patience of
presiding judge Richard May.
Yet Slobo’s Socratic performance is clearly not just a prank.
Whereas the Greek gadfly chose to drink hemlock rather than
live with his accusors, Milosevic seems to relish putting them on
the spot. He has refuted his image as the Devil- by adopting
that of devil’s advocate. Milosevic, presumably, wants to live to
fight another day. And indeed, his enemies may just have given
him the weapon with which to do so.
In granting Milosevic a podium, the Hague Tribunal has risked
opening up a veritable Pandora’s Box, in regards to the West’s
Balkan interventions. In a trial that is expected to last two
years, Milosevic will have plenty of time to try and tarnish
NATO’s legacy. For figures such as Bill Clinton, Madeleine
Albright, Tony Blair and General Wesley Clark, who would like to
remembered for their good intentions, this must be a
disconcerting thought indeed.
If not really understood, Milosevic’s new strategy has at least
been noted. In the last few weeks, dispatches from the Hague
have smugly feigned disbelief at his comments. Milosevic is so
clearly guilty, they imply, that the publication of his testimony
will provoke nothing more than a wry chuckle. Yet though
Milosevic will inevitably be sentenced on at least some of the
charges, he may be the one who laughs last.
Simply put, Slobodan Milosevic has absolutely nothing to lose.
For his accusors, on the other hand, everything is at stake.
While the trial will certainly dredge up many details which
Milosevic would prefer to forget, it will also raise to the spotlight
many things- such as NATO’s use of depleted uranium, and its
killing of both Albanian and Serbian civilians- for which Clinton,
Blair and Co. would rather not be remembered. Especially if
NATO’s “mistaken” bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade
again faces scrutiny, more than personal reputations may be at
stake. Speculation was rampant at the time that this was a
veiled threat to Serb-friendly China. As one American soldier in
Turkey told me, “something that big does not just happenby
mistake. We knew what we were doing when we took that thing
out.”
Yet Milosevic is not merely out to embarrass. He clearly
believes that he is right. His prospects largely depend on how
his fundamental arguments are taken. Whereas the prosecution
claims Milosevic was bent on a campaign of territorial
aggrandizement, he argues that he was swept up in a complex,
multi-faceted civil war. In this he might be aided by recently
published telephone transcripts, secretly recorded five years ago
by Croatian intelligence. The transcripts portray a Milosevic who
was on cordial terms with Bill Clinton, and who looked on the
Bosnian Serbs as a nuisance and an obstacle to peace. This
characterization is fundamentally at odds with the prosecution’s
depiction of the Bosnian Serbs as proxy army of Milosevic.
In response to the “Greater Serbia” charge, Milosevic will
undoubtedly bring up the “Greater Albania” championed by the
KLA and its successors in Macedonia. One of these, the Albanian
National Army, has declared it will fight for “total conquest.”
As such, Milosevic can easily point out the negative fallout of
NATO intervention. He has already signalled he will do this on
two fronts: the nurturing of organized crime, and increasing
Islamic terrorism in the Balkans.
According to recent reports citing Swiss police, the Albanian
mafia controls close to 90% of the European heroin market; this
money is now being used partially to buy weapons for Albanian
militants active in Macedonia, Kosovo and South Serbia.
Furthermore, Bosnia and Kosovo, both of which benefitted from
NATO intervention, have been linked with Islamic terrorism. A
recent American sweep operation in the former state netted
several alleged Al Qaeda members, and a terrorist plot to blow
up the American embassy in Sarajevo was narrowly averted last
Fall. In Kosovo and Macedonia, persistent reports have claimed
the presence of Arab mujahedin. The NATO war in Kosovo,
meant to be an antiseptic operation without “side effects,”
instead spilled over into Macedonia- spawning a crisis which
threatens still. If Milosevic is able to portray NATO’s legacy in
this unflattering light, he may achieve a moral victory. Whether
or not he goes free, he will have undermined the validity of
Western intervention- in the process indicting everyone involved
with it. Calling the West’s bluff is a risky, impetuous strategy-
which is exactly why it may work, for a disgraced politician with
nothing left to lose.
The key to how this Balkan drama plays out, perhaps, will be
presiding judge Richard May. The British judge’s disdain for the
defendent is already apparent. If May does not allow Milosevic
all of the evidence and witnesses he demands, certainly no one
will complain. In this sense, Milosevic must walk a fine line
between presenting a robust case, on the one hand, and
endangering his whole testimony by offending the judge, on the
other. The press has also parodied Milosevic’s self-appointed
role as the victim in the break-up of Yugoslavia. By playing for
sympathies that clearly aren’t there, Milosevic may make a
difficult case even more vulnerable.
With nothing to lose, and faced with an array of opponents
deeply conscious of securing their own legacy, Milosevic remains
unperturbed. Presumed guilty until proven innocent, Slobodan
Milosevic is, paradoxically, in his strongest position since his
1989 inauguration. The prosecution would like to link that event,
and the fiery speech Milosevic uttered then on the historic
battlefield of Kosovo Polje, with the beginnings of one man’s
ten-year mission to single-handedly destroy the Balkans. Such a
grandiose charge could only be supported, to be sure, by the
production of a great many witnesses. This is precisely what
Milosevic has asked for, in demanding that Clinton, Blair and
other involved parties show up.
Slobodan Milosevic would like to show that by asking for justice,
the Hague and its Western backers are in danger of getting just
what they asked for. It will be interesting to see how things
transpire.
Christopher Deliso
¡ Milosevic to the West: Be careful
what you wish for
March 10, 2002
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