To quote Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". 2009 was a year of both highs and lows. Some very good things happened and some very bad things happened. The best things that happened to me during 2009:
1> My marriage finally failed. Nothing is worse than feeling trapped in a bad marriage. Looking at someone and asking yourself which would be better? a> Spending the next 40 years with this person? b> Being humanely euthanized and having your parts harvested and donated for transplant? My answer was b.
2> Fracturing my bottom right rib. Necessity is the mother of invention. I was working towards a fitness goal. I thought I found the perfect exercise to take me towards my desired fitness level (rowing). I failed to follow the safety directions of my rowing instructor. I snapped a carbon fibre outrigger of a racing scull with my rib and fractured my rib. Doctors orders to rest the rib area for 6 to 8 weeks. My solution, learn how to isolate body regions that require repair and train the rest of the body at increased intensity.
3> Getting strong enough to do two two pull ups from a full dead hang. I was working out with dumbbells six days a week, doing an hour long workout. Once I was strong enough to do two proper pull ups, I realized lifting weights was a waste of time and energy. Now in three ten minute sessions of attacking my pull up bar, I accomplish far more than I could doing six hours of weights. I had gained 5 hours and 30 minutes of quality time every week.
4> Starting to write again. My gay friends tell me "there is no therapy like retail therapy". I have found that "there is no therapy like writing therapy". Giving myself deadlines to compose my thoughts in a coherent manner is training my mind. God gave us a brain, use it or lose it.
Wishing everybody a safe and prosperous 2010. I will be continuing with my analysis of what I saw at the ICTY in the new year.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 9)
The case for the Nobel Peace Prize.
From August 4th to August 7th 1995, Croatian troops under the overall operational command of General Ante Gotovina restored the territorial integrity of an internationally recognized sovereign state in 84 hours. This was after a bloody four year war that was characterized by massacres of surrendered soldiers and civilians being carried out by Belgrade Football Hooligans.
How many civilians were killed during Operation Storm? The ICTY indictment claims 150, the defense keeps finding people listed on the prosecutions indictment as either being alive, or fictitious. If we were to look for a base number, I would turn to the Croatian Helsinki Committee. They are the ultimate group of self-loathing Croatians and they claim 122 Serb civilians killed.
To get a better idea of how low a number 122 civilians killed is, we have to look at the historical context of what happened during Operation Storm from the mindset of an individual on August the 4th 1995. Again for the case of simplicity, I assume that I was not a coward during 1991 to 1995. Had I done my duty an gone back to fight. I would most likely have been a Lieutenant in charge of a Platoon during Operation Storm.
What events prior to August the 4th 1995 would have shaped my mind and contributed to the mindset I would have been in from August 4, 1995 to August 7, 1995. To what degree would I as an individual been able to formulate criminal intent. What would have shaped my perceptions and beliefs in Right from Wrong up to Operation Storm.
June 25, 1991 to November 17, 1991 - The Gnome of Biograd. Croatia was unarmed, and under a UN arms embargo where the World community was trying to ensure the Rebel Serbs were hyper armed. I had a deviant mind, had taken 300 level chemistry as an elective and aced it, and I could improvise weapons better than Mr. T. I was making soda cans into shaped charges. I was supervising the conversion of normal household items into explosives precursors. In a sick way I would have been having the time of my life.
November 18, 1991 - Skabrnje Massacre. 85 surrendered Croatian Home Guard, and civilians massacred by JNA, RSK Irregulars, and Belgrade Football Hooligans. Included in the 85 dead are Grandpa's little brother, and seventeen other relatives. I at that point am angry, I enlist in the Home Guard. I have 85 good reasons to kill Serbs. Vukovar falls and 264 patients are taken from Vukovar hospital and shoot by Serb Paramilitaries. I start to realize that the world does not care about the Croatian people, and the UN favours our genocide through the arms embargo.
November 19, 1991 to January 7, 1992 - Fighting rages in Croatia, 10,000 dead. Ante Gotovina is deployed and fighting in Western Slavonia, the opposite end of the country from his ancestral village. I am in boot camp taking orders from a former JNA trainer learning how to be a soldier. Ante Gotovina is recognized for his operational role in helping retake 300 square kilometers and promoted to an officer.
January 7, 1992 - Emir Sišič JNA Pilot shoots down EC observer Helicopter killing all five on board. I am in boot camp watching the EC whine about the Serbs killing EC Monitors. My belief that the World does not give a damn about the Croatian people, and that the UN is an arm of the Serbian propaganda machine intensifies.
January 15, 1992 - The European Community officially recognizes Croatia. However the European Community continues its affirmation that the Croatian people and the Croatian state have no right to defend themselves as the arms embargo remains in place. I continue training in boot camp. JNA starts to retreat into Bosnia & Herzegovina, while the leave the heavy weapons behind with the rebel Serbs to ensure that they are hyper armed.
January 16, 1992 to May 22, 1992. Ceasefire holds, I finish boot camp. On the 22nd of May, the UN officially recognizes Croatia as a state. However the UN keeps its reaffirmation that Croatia and the Croatian people are not allowed to defend themselves. The arms embargo stays in place. The world considers hyper armed Serb paramilitaries killing unarmed Croatians fair sport. My hatred of the UN deepens. The United Nations has become a branch office of the Belgrade Ministry of Disinformation. I complete my basic training and now am a soldier.
May 1992 to August 8, 1992 - Fighting erupts in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Serbs conduct campaigns of ethnic cleansing. Serbs create concentration camps for the internment of Muslims and Croatians from Bosnia & Hercegovina. The rebel Serbs separate the attractive young women and house them in rape resorts where they are kept as sex slaves. I watch in disbelief at what is happening, how the European Community and the United Nations just don't give a damn. I am a soldier now and I am angry, I am starting to think that its time to start shooting some European Community Monitors, some UNPROFOR troops, and some Serbian Football Hooligans. I feel through its inaction the United Nations and the European Community have no problems with Serbs raping women for enjoyment and entertainment.
August 9, 1992 - HVO troops murder Blaž Kraljević and his body guards. HVO starts active cooperation with the Serbs in Bosnia & Hercegovina. I now have reason to kill some Croatian scoundrels as the HVO killed a member of my Mother's extended clan. I start to wonder what the hell am I doing here?
January 22, 1993 to February 1, 1993. Croatian forces recapture the place where the Maslenica bridge stood. I get some relief that there is some will somewhere in Zagreb to win our freedom.
Spring 1993 - I get selected for Officer Training. I start learning the role of an operational Lieutenant from the instructors of the United States firm Military Professional Resources Inc. They teach me how a coordinated assault works. They teach me the rules of war. They teach me about the doctrine of Command Authority and the Medina Standard. I learn that Captain Medina was charged with the murder of an unarmed Vietnamese woman. I learn that an American pilot testified that he saw Captain Medina shoot an unarmed Vietnamese woman. I learn that Captain Medina's defense was I thought she had a grenade, and because of his state of mind at the moment he chose to shoot the Vietnamese woman, he was acquitted of murder.
Fall 1993 - I finish my Officer Training, and I am now Lieutenant Mario (Shreddy) Erlić of the Croatian Army. I am assigned a platoon of men and we are stationed along the cease fire line. I am assigned with passing down the knowledge I have learned to the 36 men under my command. We train, train, train, day in and day out. I assign one of my men to grow a marijuana patch in the middle of no mans land as the weed helps me deal with the boredom of a cease fire.
Fall 1993 to July 28, 1995 - Situation in Bosnia & Herzegovina deteriorates. I see sniper alley on TV, and I see the UN provides implicit approval by doing nothing about it. I see the concentration camps being operated by the Serbs in Bosnia and I see the United Nations gives its tacit approval through its inaction. I find out about Srebrenica. How all the men and military age boys have disappeared, and all that remains is football field size mass graves. I realize that the World is giving tacit approval of genocide as it was UN Troops (Dutch Cowards) that handed over Srebrenica to the Serbian genocide machine. Any sympathy I have for the Serbs is gone. I come to the conclusion that the only sane rational choice is for a complete extermination of the Serbian menace. I think about World War One, and how an act of Serbian aggression led to the deaths of 30,000,000 people. I am certain that the world would be better off without the Serbs. My men under my command feel the same way. We are ready to do the human race a favour. I myself would like to scalp some UN soldiers for my personal trophy case.
July 29, 1995 - We are given orders to go to the front lines. My platoon was part of the eight assault Brigades that were to comprise the backbone of Operation Storm. We are given our orders that we are to the extent possible make every effort to protect civilian lives and property. We are ordered to follow the Geneva Conventions. We are ordered to restore Croatian Sovereignty on Croatia's Internationally Recognized Territory. I and my men all feel that the World would be better without the Serbs but General Gotovina orders are that people who disobey orders are to be thrown in military prison. My men and I drink a toast where we curse General Gotovina.
August 4, 1995 - Operation Storm starts. What is the frame of mind of the average Croatian Soldier (the Serbs are a menace to humanity that the world would be better without them). What is my frame of mind (the Serbs are a menace to humanity that the world would be better without them). What is Ante Gotovina's frame of mind (hard wired Legionnaire, protect civilians at all costs. Many of General Gotovina's friends from the Legion are Serbs).
The fact that no platoon conducted a Mai Lai style massacre during Operation Storm should have earned Ante Gotovina the Nobel Peace Prize. The fact that his own troops didn't kill him for issuing the orders to protect Serb lives and property is a tribute to how much respect the Croatian Soldiers had for him. How on earth could anyone accuse Ante Gotovina of having Criminal Intent?
Yet here he was in the prisoners dock being charged with Murder as a War Crime.
Where is the logic behind all of this?
To be continued...
From August 4th to August 7th 1995, Croatian troops under the overall operational command of General Ante Gotovina restored the territorial integrity of an internationally recognized sovereign state in 84 hours. This was after a bloody four year war that was characterized by massacres of surrendered soldiers and civilians being carried out by Belgrade Football Hooligans.
How many civilians were killed during Operation Storm? The ICTY indictment claims 150, the defense keeps finding people listed on the prosecutions indictment as either being alive, or fictitious. If we were to look for a base number, I would turn to the Croatian Helsinki Committee. They are the ultimate group of self-loathing Croatians and they claim 122 Serb civilians killed.
To get a better idea of how low a number 122 civilians killed is, we have to look at the historical context of what happened during Operation Storm from the mindset of an individual on August the 4th 1995. Again for the case of simplicity, I assume that I was not a coward during 1991 to 1995. Had I done my duty an gone back to fight. I would most likely have been a Lieutenant in charge of a Platoon during Operation Storm.
What events prior to August the 4th 1995 would have shaped my mind and contributed to the mindset I would have been in from August 4, 1995 to August 7, 1995. To what degree would I as an individual been able to formulate criminal intent. What would have shaped my perceptions and beliefs in Right from Wrong up to Operation Storm.
June 25, 1991 to November 17, 1991 - The Gnome of Biograd. Croatia was unarmed, and under a UN arms embargo where the World community was trying to ensure the Rebel Serbs were hyper armed. I had a deviant mind, had taken 300 level chemistry as an elective and aced it, and I could improvise weapons better than Mr. T. I was making soda cans into shaped charges. I was supervising the conversion of normal household items into explosives precursors. In a sick way I would have been having the time of my life.
November 18, 1991 - Skabrnje Massacre. 85 surrendered Croatian Home Guard, and civilians massacred by JNA, RSK Irregulars, and Belgrade Football Hooligans. Included in the 85 dead are Grandpa's little brother, and seventeen other relatives. I at that point am angry, I enlist in the Home Guard. I have 85 good reasons to kill Serbs. Vukovar falls and 264 patients are taken from Vukovar hospital and shoot by Serb Paramilitaries. I start to realize that the world does not care about the Croatian people, and the UN favours our genocide through the arms embargo.
November 19, 1991 to January 7, 1992 - Fighting rages in Croatia, 10,000 dead. Ante Gotovina is deployed and fighting in Western Slavonia, the opposite end of the country from his ancestral village. I am in boot camp taking orders from a former JNA trainer learning how to be a soldier. Ante Gotovina is recognized for his operational role in helping retake 300 square kilometers and promoted to an officer.
January 7, 1992 - Emir Sišič JNA Pilot shoots down EC observer Helicopter killing all five on board. I am in boot camp watching the EC whine about the Serbs killing EC Monitors. My belief that the World does not give a damn about the Croatian people, and that the UN is an arm of the Serbian propaganda machine intensifies.
January 15, 1992 - The European Community officially recognizes Croatia. However the European Community continues its affirmation that the Croatian people and the Croatian state have no right to defend themselves as the arms embargo remains in place. I continue training in boot camp. JNA starts to retreat into Bosnia & Herzegovina, while the leave the heavy weapons behind with the rebel Serbs to ensure that they are hyper armed.
January 16, 1992 to May 22, 1992. Ceasefire holds, I finish boot camp. On the 22nd of May, the UN officially recognizes Croatia as a state. However the UN keeps its reaffirmation that Croatia and the Croatian people are not allowed to defend themselves. The arms embargo stays in place. The world considers hyper armed Serb paramilitaries killing unarmed Croatians fair sport. My hatred of the UN deepens. The United Nations has become a branch office of the Belgrade Ministry of Disinformation. I complete my basic training and now am a soldier.
May 1992 to August 8, 1992 - Fighting erupts in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Serbs conduct campaigns of ethnic cleansing. Serbs create concentration camps for the internment of Muslims and Croatians from Bosnia & Hercegovina. The rebel Serbs separate the attractive young women and house them in rape resorts where they are kept as sex slaves. I watch in disbelief at what is happening, how the European Community and the United Nations just don't give a damn. I am a soldier now and I am angry, I am starting to think that its time to start shooting some European Community Monitors, some UNPROFOR troops, and some Serbian Football Hooligans. I feel through its inaction the United Nations and the European Community have no problems with Serbs raping women for enjoyment and entertainment.
August 9, 1992 - HVO troops murder Blaž Kraljević and his body guards. HVO starts active cooperation with the Serbs in Bosnia & Hercegovina. I now have reason to kill some Croatian scoundrels as the HVO killed a member of my Mother's extended clan. I start to wonder what the hell am I doing here?
January 22, 1993 to February 1, 1993. Croatian forces recapture the place where the Maslenica bridge stood. I get some relief that there is some will somewhere in Zagreb to win our freedom.
Spring 1993 - I get selected for Officer Training. I start learning the role of an operational Lieutenant from the instructors of the United States firm Military Professional Resources Inc. They teach me how a coordinated assault works. They teach me the rules of war. They teach me about the doctrine of Command Authority and the Medina Standard. I learn that Captain Medina was charged with the murder of an unarmed Vietnamese woman. I learn that an American pilot testified that he saw Captain Medina shoot an unarmed Vietnamese woman. I learn that Captain Medina's defense was I thought she had a grenade, and because of his state of mind at the moment he chose to shoot the Vietnamese woman, he was acquitted of murder.
Fall 1993 - I finish my Officer Training, and I am now Lieutenant Mario (Shreddy) Erlić of the Croatian Army. I am assigned a platoon of men and we are stationed along the cease fire line. I am assigned with passing down the knowledge I have learned to the 36 men under my command. We train, train, train, day in and day out. I assign one of my men to grow a marijuana patch in the middle of no mans land as the weed helps me deal with the boredom of a cease fire.
Fall 1993 to July 28, 1995 - Situation in Bosnia & Herzegovina deteriorates. I see sniper alley on TV, and I see the UN provides implicit approval by doing nothing about it. I see the concentration camps being operated by the Serbs in Bosnia and I see the United Nations gives its tacit approval through its inaction. I find out about Srebrenica. How all the men and military age boys have disappeared, and all that remains is football field size mass graves. I realize that the World is giving tacit approval of genocide as it was UN Troops (Dutch Cowards) that handed over Srebrenica to the Serbian genocide machine. Any sympathy I have for the Serbs is gone. I come to the conclusion that the only sane rational choice is for a complete extermination of the Serbian menace. I think about World War One, and how an act of Serbian aggression led to the deaths of 30,000,000 people. I am certain that the world would be better off without the Serbs. My men under my command feel the same way. We are ready to do the human race a favour. I myself would like to scalp some UN soldiers for my personal trophy case.
July 29, 1995 - We are given orders to go to the front lines. My platoon was part of the eight assault Brigades that were to comprise the backbone of Operation Storm. We are given our orders that we are to the extent possible make every effort to protect civilian lives and property. We are ordered to follow the Geneva Conventions. We are ordered to restore Croatian Sovereignty on Croatia's Internationally Recognized Territory. I and my men all feel that the World would be better without the Serbs but General Gotovina orders are that people who disobey orders are to be thrown in military prison. My men and I drink a toast where we curse General Gotovina.
August 4, 1995 - Operation Storm starts. What is the frame of mind of the average Croatian Soldier (the Serbs are a menace to humanity that the world would be better without them). What is my frame of mind (the Serbs are a menace to humanity that the world would be better without them). What is Ante Gotovina's frame of mind (hard wired Legionnaire, protect civilians at all costs. Many of General Gotovina's friends from the Legion are Serbs).
The fact that no platoon conducted a Mai Lai style massacre during Operation Storm should have earned Ante Gotovina the Nobel Peace Prize. The fact that his own troops didn't kill him for issuing the orders to protect Serb lives and property is a tribute to how much respect the Croatian Soldiers had for him. How on earth could anyone accuse Ante Gotovina of having Criminal Intent?
Yet here he was in the prisoners dock being charged with Murder as a War Crime.
Where is the logic behind all of this?
To be continued...
Saturday, December 26, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 8)
If the European Union had their way in 1991-1992 the people of Croatia would be swimming in the Adriatic Sea. They would not be able to come to shore as the JNA would be there waiting for them hyper armed. The EU monitors would be ensuring Croatia`s compliance with the UN arms embargo and disarming every Croat as he left the sea. The JNA could then shoot an unarmed Croat and make the EU happy.
However ridiculous the above paragraph sounds, that is Croatia`s history vis-a-vis the EU. With friends like the European Union, who needs enemies.
Specifically, The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden made the surrender of Gotovina a precondition for Croatia's accession to the European Union. Each of these three countries would have had a motive for their actions, and it would make sense to examine why these countries chose to behave in the way they did.
The United Kingdom - The Karađorđević family is related to the British Royal Family.
Yugoslavia should at worst revert to a Kingdom, and it should be headed by a fine product of inbreeding just as the United kingdom is. Imperialism at it`s worst. The last King of Yugoslavia prior to Tito driving out the monarchy was Peter Karađorđević the 2nd, a Serb, the Godson of King George the VIth (Queen Elizabeth the 2nds father). Oh revenge against the Croats is sweet for driving out a parasitic family and forcing Queen Elizabeth to support her relations.
The Netherlands - Anything to avoid the shame of Srebrenica.
A battalion of Dutch Peacekeepers tasked with protecting a UN declared safe zone falied at their job due to cowardice, and handed 15,000 unarmed Bosnian Muslims to Serb Rebel forces, and Belgrade Soccer Hooligans. The Serbs separated the military age men from the group and conducted Europes worst act of genocide in the later half of the 20th century. Holland`s honour must be restored, time to make Holland look tough. Big problem is that you can`t make a silk purse out of a sows ear. As a general rule, the Dutch are compliant, timid, and afraid to stand their ground. Anybody who studies the 20th Century history of the Netherlands would know that during World War II, thousands of Jews in the Netherlands were handed over to the Nazis by Dutch civilians. The reward for sending a business competitor and their family to a certain death, a stick of butter. Holland can`t remain looking like pussies, lets collectively beat up a Legionnaire. 16,000,000 against one. Make some bones and prove that Holland is not the Bottom Bitch in Europe, Croatia is.
Sweden - Moral Equivalency. We have a theory and we can`t be wrong.
To much vodka, pop music and a lack of sunshine cloud the Swedes thinking. Cabin fever makes people think strange things such as; Croatia`s act of self defense that was purely brought about by Serbia`s initial act of aggression is as bad as Serbia`s initial act of aggression.
Sort of like the movie `Trading Places` where the mega-rich Duke brothers destroy the life of Dan Akroyd over a one dollar bet to test their theory. Except in this case, there are no high enough ranking Croatians left alive that could possibly even justify Sweden's experiment, so the Swedes had to settle for General Gotovina by default.
Ultimately the Netherlands proved that they could make bones against Croatia. The Dutch were no longer the bottom dog. Croatia accepted the role of Europe`s bottom dog by agreeing to hand over General Gotovina. Whenever a Brussells walks by, it will be Croatia`s job to hide the shank unless Croatia can make bones against a weaker state.
However ridiculous the above paragraph sounds, that is Croatia`s history vis-a-vis the EU. With friends like the European Union, who needs enemies.
Specifically, The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden made the surrender of Gotovina a precondition for Croatia's accession to the European Union. Each of these three countries would have had a motive for their actions, and it would make sense to examine why these countries chose to behave in the way they did.
The United Kingdom - The Karađorđević family is related to the British Royal Family.
Yugoslavia should at worst revert to a Kingdom, and it should be headed by a fine product of inbreeding just as the United kingdom is. Imperialism at it`s worst. The last King of Yugoslavia prior to Tito driving out the monarchy was Peter Karađorđević the 2nd, a Serb, the Godson of King George the VIth (Queen Elizabeth the 2nds father). Oh revenge against the Croats is sweet for driving out a parasitic family and forcing Queen Elizabeth to support her relations.
The Netherlands - Anything to avoid the shame of Srebrenica.
A battalion of Dutch Peacekeepers tasked with protecting a UN declared safe zone falied at their job due to cowardice, and handed 15,000 unarmed Bosnian Muslims to Serb Rebel forces, and Belgrade Soccer Hooligans. The Serbs separated the military age men from the group and conducted Europes worst act of genocide in the later half of the 20th century. Holland`s honour must be restored, time to make Holland look tough. Big problem is that you can`t make a silk purse out of a sows ear. As a general rule, the Dutch are compliant, timid, and afraid to stand their ground. Anybody who studies the 20th Century history of the Netherlands would know that during World War II, thousands of Jews in the Netherlands were handed over to the Nazis by Dutch civilians. The reward for sending a business competitor and their family to a certain death, a stick of butter. Holland can`t remain looking like pussies, lets collectively beat up a Legionnaire. 16,000,000 against one. Make some bones and prove that Holland is not the Bottom Bitch in Europe, Croatia is.
Sweden - Moral Equivalency. We have a theory and we can`t be wrong.
To much vodka, pop music and a lack of sunshine cloud the Swedes thinking. Cabin fever makes people think strange things such as; Croatia`s act of self defense that was purely brought about by Serbia`s initial act of aggression is as bad as Serbia`s initial act of aggression.
Sort of like the movie `Trading Places` where the mega-rich Duke brothers destroy the life of Dan Akroyd over a one dollar bet to test their theory. Except in this case, there are no high enough ranking Croatians left alive that could possibly even justify Sweden's experiment, so the Swedes had to settle for General Gotovina by default.
Ultimately the Netherlands proved that they could make bones against Croatia. The Dutch were no longer the bottom dog. Croatia accepted the role of Europe`s bottom dog by agreeing to hand over General Gotovina. Whenever a Brussells walks by, it will be Croatia`s job to hide the shank unless Croatia can make bones against a weaker state.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 7)
"If Ante Gotovina isn't guilty of any War Crimes, why didn't he just turn himself in to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia?"
I keep hearing this over and over again from the mouths of Croatians, and to that I always counter,
"If you didn't commit any War Crimes, why didn't you turn yourself in to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia?"
The argument reaches a stalemate, at which point the Croatian states,
"Ante Gotovina's decision to run cost Croatia the opportunity to join the EU in 2004"
To that I always counter,
"A dysfunctional Kleptocracy masquerading itself as a market driven Democracy where the rule of law prevailed cost Croatia the opportunity to join the EU in 2004. Please do not make Ante Gotovina a scapegoat?"
I have an inherent pro Ante Gotovina bias. There is a small cemetery on a windswept desert hilltop in a small village in Zadar County named TINJ that is my favourite place on the planet Earth. I don't know what it is about the place, but when I stand in a spot that is equidistant from the remains of my Grandfather and the remains of my favorite cousin, my body, mind and spirit come alive and I achieve a state of singularity. This spot was occupied by the Serbian forces that were trying to create a Greater Serbia. This spot was liberated by the forces that were commanded by General Gotovina. This spot is where the bulk of my ancestors rest in peace. This is the spot where I intend to spend the rest of eternity in good company.
I set out on the morning of December 7, 2009 the fourth anniversary of Ante Gotovina's capture to try to answer for myself the question, why did he run? I had several hypothesis as to why he made the decision to flee from the ICTY. I couldn't ask him, as he was under trial by a Tribunal. Eight meters and a wall of bullet & sound proof glass stood separating us. My only chance would come from observing the General closely for subtle clues about his nature, and from these clues infer support or contradictions to my hypothesis. I was going to play Jane Goodall, and Ante Gotovina was my test subject.
General Watching 101
8:55 AM: Ante Gotovina walks into the Tribunal Chamber along with his two co accusssed and two ICTY guards. As a show of mine and my clans respect I rise, make eye contact with the General, and say silently so he could lip read "Hvala", the Croatian word for thank you. He smiles back.
Two things struck me immediately.
1> He is not a large man in physical stature. He was standing on a elevated accused platform that was about 20 centimeters higher than the floor that his co-lead defense council stood on, and my best guess was it made him 15 centimeters shorter (6 inches) than his defense Attorney. That put him at 172-175 centimeters tall, about 5'8" roughly the 25th percentile for height for men from his age group, from his geographic region. A small man that could run 10 kilometers cross country wearing combat boots with 30 kilograms of rocks on his back at age 17 in under an hour. Swim from Tkon to Biograd na Moru and back. Go 96 hours without sleep or food. Kilo for Kilo here was the baddest ass 54 year old man I have ever seen in my life.
2> He had a presence about him of an individual who lives according to an ideal. His posture was perfect, his grooming and mannerisms impeccable. He was standing in a courtroom on the fourth anniversary of his capture, and there wasn't the slightest visible sign that captivity had broken him. He appeared to have the respect of those around him, especially his guards.
9:00AM: All rise as the three Judges walk into the Tribunal Chamber. The prosecution continues with the cross examination of one of the co defendants defense witnesses. I observe that on the half hour the ICTY guards that sit next to the accused in the tribunal chamber are rotated. The old guard is replaced with a new guard. I would assume as a security precaution because an individual guard on 30 minute rotations would be able to maintain a higher alert level, and the guards that sat next to the accused did not appear to have guns.
I have a situation where there is a predicable change in the General's immediate vicinity that occurs every 30 minutes, and it is a change that the General has no control over. I broke down the courtroom guards that sat next to him into two groups;
Group A> Guards that given the element of surprise could possibly beat up Ante Gotovina with their riot baton.
Group B> Guards that given the element of surprise would not be capable of beating up Ante Gotovina with their riot baton.
I was aware that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has a state of the art weights and fitness room available for the guards to work out in. It is assumed that if the guards get stronger, they have a higher capacity to do their jobs well. I placed the guards into either Group A or Group B by examining their bodies closely. The guards that appeared to be compound body exercise types (pull ups, push ups, chin ups, etc) were placed in Group A. The guards that appeared to be either isolation exercise body types (weightlifters), or no exercise body types were placed in Group B.
For the next three days I used the guards as my test variable and closely observed the general for any subtle changes that would occur whenever a changeover occurred from a Group A guard to a Group B guard and vice versa.
The job of the guards at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is to guard the people who are alleged to have done some very bad things. Part and parcel with conducting oneself well at the job would be to maintain ones person in such a manner that shows pride in the task they are assigned with. Whenever one of the Group A guards was seated next to General Gotovina he appeared happier. His eyes would brighten, and he would sit straighter.
Lines four and five respectively of the Legionnaires Code of Honour:
To be continued.
I keep hearing this over and over again from the mouths of Croatians, and to that I always counter,
"If you didn't commit any War Crimes, why didn't you turn yourself in to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia?"
The argument reaches a stalemate, at which point the Croatian states,
"Ante Gotovina's decision to run cost Croatia the opportunity to join the EU in 2004"
To that I always counter,
"A dysfunctional Kleptocracy masquerading itself as a market driven Democracy where the rule of law prevailed cost Croatia the opportunity to join the EU in 2004. Please do not make Ante Gotovina a scapegoat?"
I have an inherent pro Ante Gotovina bias. There is a small cemetery on a windswept desert hilltop in a small village in Zadar County named TINJ that is my favourite place on the planet Earth. I don't know what it is about the place, but when I stand in a spot that is equidistant from the remains of my Grandfather and the remains of my favorite cousin, my body, mind and spirit come alive and I achieve a state of singularity. This spot was occupied by the Serbian forces that were trying to create a Greater Serbia. This spot was liberated by the forces that were commanded by General Gotovina. This spot is where the bulk of my ancestors rest in peace. This is the spot where I intend to spend the rest of eternity in good company.
I set out on the morning of December 7, 2009 the fourth anniversary of Ante Gotovina's capture to try to answer for myself the question, why did he run? I had several hypothesis as to why he made the decision to flee from the ICTY. I couldn't ask him, as he was under trial by a Tribunal. Eight meters and a wall of bullet & sound proof glass stood separating us. My only chance would come from observing the General closely for subtle clues about his nature, and from these clues infer support or contradictions to my hypothesis. I was going to play Jane Goodall, and Ante Gotovina was my test subject.
General Watching 101
8:55 AM: Ante Gotovina walks into the Tribunal Chamber along with his two co accusssed and two ICTY guards. As a show of mine and my clans respect I rise, make eye contact with the General, and say silently so he could lip read "Hvala", the Croatian word for thank you. He smiles back.
Two things struck me immediately.
1> He is not a large man in physical stature. He was standing on a elevated accused platform that was about 20 centimeters higher than the floor that his co-lead defense council stood on, and my best guess was it made him 15 centimeters shorter (6 inches) than his defense Attorney. That put him at 172-175 centimeters tall, about 5'8" roughly the 25th percentile for height for men from his age group, from his geographic region. A small man that could run 10 kilometers cross country wearing combat boots with 30 kilograms of rocks on his back at age 17 in under an hour. Swim from Tkon to Biograd na Moru and back. Go 96 hours without sleep or food. Kilo for Kilo here was the baddest ass 54 year old man I have ever seen in my life.
2> He had a presence about him of an individual who lives according to an ideal. His posture was perfect, his grooming and mannerisms impeccable. He was standing in a courtroom on the fourth anniversary of his capture, and there wasn't the slightest visible sign that captivity had broken him. He appeared to have the respect of those around him, especially his guards.
9:00AM: All rise as the three Judges walk into the Tribunal Chamber. The prosecution continues with the cross examination of one of the co defendants defense witnesses. I observe that on the half hour the ICTY guards that sit next to the accused in the tribunal chamber are rotated. The old guard is replaced with a new guard. I would assume as a security precaution because an individual guard on 30 minute rotations would be able to maintain a higher alert level, and the guards that sat next to the accused did not appear to have guns.
I have a situation where there is a predicable change in the General's immediate vicinity that occurs every 30 minutes, and it is a change that the General has no control over. I broke down the courtroom guards that sat next to him into two groups;
Group A> Guards that given the element of surprise could possibly beat up Ante Gotovina with their riot baton.
Group B> Guards that given the element of surprise would not be capable of beating up Ante Gotovina with their riot baton.
I was aware that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has a state of the art weights and fitness room available for the guards to work out in. It is assumed that if the guards get stronger, they have a higher capacity to do their jobs well. I placed the guards into either Group A or Group B by examining their bodies closely. The guards that appeared to be compound body exercise types (pull ups, push ups, chin ups, etc) were placed in Group A. The guards that appeared to be either isolation exercise body types (weightlifters), or no exercise body types were placed in Group B.
For the next three days I used the guards as my test variable and closely observed the general for any subtle changes that would occur whenever a changeover occurred from a Group A guard to a Group B guard and vice versa.
The job of the guards at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is to guard the people who are alleged to have done some very bad things. Part and parcel with conducting oneself well at the job would be to maintain ones person in such a manner that shows pride in the task they are assigned with. Whenever one of the Group A guards was seated next to General Gotovina he appeared happier. His eyes would brighten, and he would sit straighter.
Lines four and five respectively of the Legionnaires Code of Honour:
- Proud of your status as Legionnaire, you display this in your uniform, which is always impeccable, your behavior always dignified but modest, your living quarters always clean.
- An elite soldier, you will train rigorously, you will maintain your weapon as your most precious possession, you are constantly concerned with your physical form.
To be continued.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 6)
A cargo cult is a type of religious practice that may appear in traditional tribal societies in the wake of interaction with technologically advanced cultures. The cults are focused on obtaining the material wealth (the "cargo") of the advanced culture through magical thinking and religious rituals and practices, believing that the wealth was their entitlement. Cargo cults developed primarily in remote parts of New Guinea and Micronesian societies in the southwest Pacific Ocean, beginning with the first significant arrivals of Westerners in the 19th century. Similar behaviors have, however, also appeared elsewhere in the world most recently The Republic of Croatia.
The Croatian cargo cult is unique in that they don't build model airplanes to worship in the hopes of attracting the flying gods to bring their cargo. Instead the cult operates as a mission directive of the Croatian Government to cooperate with every request by any authority that claims any affiliation with the European Union to do anything the agency requests. No matter how preposterous the request is, it must be followed, because only then will the Cargo Gods in Brussels pave the streets of Zagreb, and plaster the flats of Split with Euros.
The error of logic made by the Croatian Government consisted of mistaking a Necessary Condition (membership into the European Union) for Euros to come flying in, for a Sufficient Condition (a country that is prettier than the rest of Europe where there is a remote semblance of the rule of law) for Euros to come flying in, thereby reversing the causation.
The assertion that the Croatian Government makes is that in order for Euros to come flying in Croatia must be a member of the European Union. This supposition is false, and it's proven that Croatia is NOT a member of the European Union yet Euro's do in fact come flying into Croatia. So much for the Necessary Condition.
To get Euros to fly in all that Croatia has to do is satisfy a Sufficient Condition. Have nicer beaches and scenery that the rest of Europe. Nice scenery is sufficient to attract Europeans with fists full of Euros. As is not getting robbed by the border guards, police, populace etc.
In a way I suspect Croatia's acquiescence to any whim of anything remotely approaching an affiliation with the EU will backfire. Here is a hypothetical situation.....
Jovan Alexandrovic, a Serb originally from Benkovac is now residing in Banja Luka. He is contemplating returning to Croatia where he was born, as was his father, and his grandfather. Prior to Operation Storm, his daughter Jovanka married Bogdan Jovanovic. It was a great party, lots of plum brandy and everyone got drunk. They decorated a pig with ribbons and allowed the pig to get drunk. The video of the drunk pig wearing ribbons and staggering around drunk is on Youtube. He has a second daughter named Rudmila, and it is time for her to get married.
Jovan faces two choices:
1> Return to Croatia the land where he was born. Live in fear that the Stockholm chapter of P.E.T.A. might demand his extradition to some quasi EU authority, and that the Croatian Government is so eager to comply with the request that they extradite Jovan, and everyone present at Jovanka's wedding?
2> Remain in Banja Luka. Host Rudmila's wedding in Banja Luka in peace, knowing that people can drink, smoke, be merry and not have to worry about extradition. Even Slobo the pig can get drunk without any consequences, wear ribbons and ham it up for the cameras.
If I were a Croatian of Serbian Orthodox faith contemplating a return to my native Croatia. The Croatian government's treatment of Ante Gotovina would have a major bearing on my decision to return. If they are capable of doing that to their National Hero, what would they be willing to do to me?
Friday, December 18, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 5)
So far I have examined the charges of War Crimes and tried to put into context what sort of a theoretical event would have to occur to charge an operational commander in charge of 25 brigades with a war crime. Nothing remotely approaching the order of magnitude of war crime that one would reasonably expect a man commanding 130,000 troops during the span of 84 hours is alleged to have occurred. Why on earth was Ante Gotovina stripped of his liberty being forced to stand accused of War Crimes?
The other part of the Office of The Prosecutor indictment deals with Crimes Against Humanity, specifically:
"acting individually and/or through [his] participation in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, and/or aided and abetted the planning, preparation, and/or execution of"
So we have one charge left to see if the Office of the Prosecutor was able to cross a threshold required to issue a lawful order to the Republic of Croatia to extradite Ante Gotovina to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, specifically Forced Displacement, a Crime Against Humanity.
This is where the indictment against Ante Gotovina gets truly bizarre. The government of the Republic of Croatia ordered the Serbs who had not committed any crimes against the citizens of the Republic of Croatia to remain as citizens of the Republic of Croatia with all the attendant rights and protections afforded by citizenship. The government proclaimed that for those that did not wish to remain as citizens of the Republic of Croatia would have the right of safe passage afforded to them through designated routes where the military of the Republic of Croatia would not be taking any acts to restore its sovereignty during an operational time frame.
The Serb Authorities of the breakaway Republic of Serbska Krajina ordered the Serbian civilians to leave.
The alleged Crime Against humanity he stands accused of is forced displacement. The mechanism he is being charged under is an act of Negative Omission. By NOT allowing the entire territory that was liberated by Operation Storm to be the target of artillery bombardment, and by creating safe corriders that people who chose to evecuate could use, he stands accused of forced displacement.
What were Ante Gotovina's choices along with the consequences of each of the choices?
1> Not declare any safe corridors. Leave the entire moving front line region subject to artillery fire. Allow any civilians that choose to evacuate through the front lines the real possibility of being ground into hamburger.
2> Declare safe corridors. Leave regions safe from artillery fire and exclude them from the free fire zone. Be aware that civilians will more than likely take advantage of the designated evacuation corridors and move through them.
Had he chose scenario #1, he would in all likelihood not have been charged with anything. The Serbian leadership would have ordered another epic migration as the one depicted of their Patriarch leading their people into Slavonnia. The Croatian artillery would have ground thousands of people into hamburger. The seeds for a future Balkan conflict would have been sown.
Fortunately for the Serbian civilians, and unfortunately for himself, he chose scenario #2.
It was because of his choice to safeguard lives, and my choice to exercise my right as a citizen of the world that we both stood there on the morning of December 7, 2009 looking at each other through the glass of Courtroom #3.
The other part of the Office of The Prosecutor indictment deals with Crimes Against Humanity, specifically:
"acting individually and/or through [his] participation in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, and/or aided and abetted the planning, preparation, and/or execution of"
- Persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, deportation and other inhumane acts (forced displacement) - three counts of crimes against humanity
- Other inhumane acts - one count of a crime against humanity
So we have one charge left to see if the Office of the Prosecutor was able to cross a threshold required to issue a lawful order to the Republic of Croatia to extradite Ante Gotovina to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, specifically Forced Displacement, a Crime Against Humanity.
This is where the indictment against Ante Gotovina gets truly bizarre. The government of the Republic of Croatia ordered the Serbs who had not committed any crimes against the citizens of the Republic of Croatia to remain as citizens of the Republic of Croatia with all the attendant rights and protections afforded by citizenship. The government proclaimed that for those that did not wish to remain as citizens of the Republic of Croatia would have the right of safe passage afforded to them through designated routes where the military of the Republic of Croatia would not be taking any acts to restore its sovereignty during an operational time frame.
The Serb Authorities of the breakaway Republic of Serbska Krajina ordered the Serbian civilians to leave.
The alleged Crime Against humanity he stands accused of is forced displacement. The mechanism he is being charged under is an act of Negative Omission. By NOT allowing the entire territory that was liberated by Operation Storm to be the target of artillery bombardment, and by creating safe corriders that people who chose to evecuate could use, he stands accused of forced displacement.
What were Ante Gotovina's choices along with the consequences of each of the choices?
1> Not declare any safe corridors. Leave the entire moving front line region subject to artillery fire. Allow any civilians that choose to evacuate through the front lines the real possibility of being ground into hamburger.
2> Declare safe corridors. Leave regions safe from artillery fire and exclude them from the free fire zone. Be aware that civilians will more than likely take advantage of the designated evacuation corridors and move through them.
Had he chose scenario #1, he would in all likelihood not have been charged with anything. The Serbian leadership would have ordered another epic migration as the one depicted of their Patriarch leading their people into Slavonnia. The Croatian artillery would have ground thousands of people into hamburger. The seeds for a future Balkan conflict would have been sown.
Fortunately for the Serbian civilians, and unfortunately for himself, he chose scenario #2.
It was because of his choice to safeguard lives, and my choice to exercise my right as a citizen of the world that we both stood there on the morning of December 7, 2009 looking at each other through the glass of Courtroom #3.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 4)
So far I hope that I have established the concept the extradition threshold. That a competent Authority has to issue a lawful order to a sovereign state specifying that a offense under its jurisdictional authority had taken place, that there is eveidence that the offense was committed by a citizen of the state, and that the state was under the request for extradition bound by a treaty obligation to extradite the individual.
The sovereign state is governed by a different set of standards. It's role is to safeguard the life, liberty and ability to pursue happiness of it's citizens. It's role is to protect the individuals inalienable rights. There is a presumption of innocence always implicit in the rights of the accused. The threshold from they eyes of the state when faced with an extradition request is, has the competent authority with jurisdictional authority issued a request that backed up by a sufficient body of evidence would allow it's own courts under its own laws charge the individual with the alleged crimes that took place. If this threshold cannot be crossed, the state has no obligation to turn over the individual, and the citizens of the state have a collective responsibility to protect the individual.
In the previous post I explored what standard would be required for a murder charge under the concept of command authority as expressed in the Medina Standard. The Office of The Prosecutor failed to cross the threshold of what was required of a lawful request within it's scope and jurisdictional authority. Croatia was obligated to protect the right to freedom and liberty of Ante Gotovina, and this had precedence over it's requirement to operate with the OTP.
Now to examine the other charges and see if there was sufficient eveidence of any crime taking place of a scope that would permit the charging of the operational commander of 25 Brigades with either the other alleged war crime?
"acting individually and/or through [his] participation in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, and/or aided and abetted the planning, preparation, and/or execution of"
Plunder of public or private property and wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages - two counts of violations of the laws or customs of war.
Now we have to see at what level of operational command would the order to destroy propert come from?
To better illustrate we have to get an idea of the context. So in the region where Croatia exercised its sovereignty over its territory during Operation storm:
Hamlet/Village House - Either made with solid stone walls or steel reinforced concrete. Usually occupied by an extended family. Walls are at least 30cm thick. Impervious to small arms fire (machine gun and weaker).
Hamlet - Smallest component beyond an individual house. Usually under 200 inhabitants up to 30 houses.
Village - either stand alone, or comprised of two or more hamlets. Distinguished from a hamlet by the presence of a church. Population 200 to 1,000 inhabitants.
Small Town - Either stand alone or comprised of two or more villages with a town centre, there will be a church, and elementary school, a post office and a police station. Population 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants.
Medium Town - Population 5,000 to 15,000. Has the amenities of a small town with the addition of a high school and a small hospital.
Large Town - Population 15,000 to 25,000. Has the amenities of a small town with the addition of several outlying villages acting as suburbs.
Now to look at the smaller operational units of Croatia's military during Operation Storm.
Individual Soldier/Ministry of Interior Trooper - Responsible for carrying out the orders of his/her superior and is all0wed to take whatever steps are reasonable and necessary to protect his/her own life and safety.
Fire Team - Comprised of 4 to 5 soldiers usually led by a Corporal. Will have some suppressive fire ability beyond the Kalashnikov assault rifle as one soldiers weapon may have a folding bi-pod, or they may be a light machine gun fire team.
Squad - Comprised of 8 to 12 soldiers. Made up of 2 to 3 Fire Teams. Usually led by a Master Corporal or a Sargent. Will have some capability at this level beyond the hand grenade to deal with the fortifications provided by a village/hamlet house. They will have some form of Rocket launcher, usually of the capability of a RPG-7, or if an elite unit, a LAWS rocket. A Platoon contains 2 to 4 Squads.
Taking A Village 101
I now have to revert to my own first hand knowledge of a Village in the region recaptured during Operation Storm. Had I had the courage to go back to fight, I would most likely have been a Lieutenant in command of a platoon. I will present a hypothetical situation, which would lead me to arrive at a command decision. For hypothetical purposes I will use my clans Village Tinj as the hypothetical Serb Village. (For the record, at the moment of ceasefire during January of 1992, the front lines ran through the village, with the hamlets of Barkonja & Dojnji Varoush being held by Croatian forces, and the hamlet of Gornji Varoush being held by the rebel Serbs).
The tactical formation charged with taking a village would be a Company. It would comprise 4 platoons of infantry each made up of 3 squads of 12 men divided into 3 fire teams Led by a Lieutenant. As additional backup there would be subordinated to the company one platoon of Ministry of the Interior troops made up of four squads of 8 men each, the platoon would be led by a lieutenant (from the Ministry of Interior Command Structure), and the 4 Squads would be led by a Sargent. Overall operational command authority would rest with the Captain of the Company.
Croatian Army Orders:
1> Restore the territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia
2> Recapture Tinj
3> Safeguard lives and property of civilians
4> Identify property of civilians who are complying with the Republic of Croatia's orders that all Serbs citizens not guilty of any crimes against the citizens of the Republic of Croatia are allowed to stay and live in peace within the borders of the Republic
5> When area has been satisfactorily secured, turn over command to the Ministry of Interior platoon and redeploy.
Ministry of Interior Troop Orders (MUP)
1> Safeguard Civilian life and property
2> Identify unlawful combatants (Belgrade Soccer Hooligans) and arrest
3> Secure Civilians and move them safely away from the war zone
The Operational Orders Issued by The Captain:
1st Platoon - Led by Lieutenant Shreddy, capture ans secure Barkonja
2nd Platoon - Led by Lieutenant Sakic, capture and secure Doljnji Varoush
3rd Platoon - Led by Lieutenant Cirjak, capture and secure Gornji Varoush
4th Platoon - Led by Lieutenancy Zagorec, act as a reserve platoon
MUP Platoon - Execute their orders after the army troops have accomplished their orders.
After Croatian artillery suppresses the main Serb defensive position by the church, all three platoons move into their assigned hamlets un-opposed. The only casualties achieved by the Croatian forces is a landmine on the edge of the forest east of Barkonja injuring a soldier under my command.
I find the hamlet of Barkonja completely empty. Everyone is gone, all the property is still standing and intact. I radio the commanders of 2nd Platoon and find that they have Serbian Civilians present, and they are identifying the homes of the Serbs that wish to remain as citizens of Croatia. I radio the commander of the 3rd platoon, and he informs me that they have Serb civilians present, and that the civilians reported that the Serb military forces retreated eastward through the forest to the east of Barkonja. The size of the military formation that retreated into the woods was at Company strength.
I have a very important decision to make. Do I:
1> Lead my platoon into the woods where I know that there is a minefield, and I am reasonably certain that the Serbs knew where they laid their own landmines. Basically lead my men into a kill zone.
2> Leave the hamlet of 20 houses in the capable hands of a lightly armed squad of MUP troops, re deploy and leave them vulnerable to a counter attack by Serb forces at Company strength attacking from the woods.
3> Take further steps to secure the area so as to ensure the safety of everybody within the command structure I am assigned to.
I am very well aware that if a 5 man Serb fire-team can infiltrate one of the houses, they can effectively suppress the movement of my the Company I am assigned to. To take out a firteam in a house would require a tank.
I as a commander now have to make a decision.
I ask one of my men to inspect the first home in the hamlet. He makes me aware that all the contents are in place, and that the basement contains approximately 200 litres of brandy.
I order my men to remove the brandy from the house, and we place a demolition charge in the house and wait for it to explode. I ordered the removal of the brandy as the terrain was extremely dry in August and I did not want to start an out of control forest fire. The demo pack explodes, and the Serb house is still standing. Still providing a hardened defensive position in a war zone for enemy infiltrators to prevent my unit from following its orders.
One of my soldiers who worked as a hard rock miner makes me aware that the Serbs had left sacks of Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer in their storage's, and that mixed with diesel fuel would allow us to destroy the potential defensive positions. I order my soldier to build one of fertilizer bombs, and we find that it does work and that the structure is rubble. I give the order to empty all of the brandy cellars and to level every house in the hamlet. The MUP squad commander tries to impede my troops from carrying my order and I have him held by two of my soldiers.
Had I committed a war crime? No, my mind frame at the moment I gave the orders to flatten the hamlet was that it was a military necessity as allowed under the rules of war. I could be court martial-led for my order, and I would have been acquitted. My commanding officer would not have been charged with a war crime as he was not aware that I had flattened the hamlet until after the hamlet was flat.
Benkovac was left standing during Operation Storm as was Knin. I stood there wondering why on earth was Ante Gotovina standing accused at a courtroom at the ICTY?
The sovereign state is governed by a different set of standards. It's role is to safeguard the life, liberty and ability to pursue happiness of it's citizens. It's role is to protect the individuals inalienable rights. There is a presumption of innocence always implicit in the rights of the accused. The threshold from they eyes of the state when faced with an extradition request is, has the competent authority with jurisdictional authority issued a request that backed up by a sufficient body of evidence would allow it's own courts under its own laws charge the individual with the alleged crimes that took place. If this threshold cannot be crossed, the state has no obligation to turn over the individual, and the citizens of the state have a collective responsibility to protect the individual.
In the previous post I explored what standard would be required for a murder charge under the concept of command authority as expressed in the Medina Standard. The Office of The Prosecutor failed to cross the threshold of what was required of a lawful request within it's scope and jurisdictional authority. Croatia was obligated to protect the right to freedom and liberty of Ante Gotovina, and this had precedence over it's requirement to operate with the OTP.
Now to examine the other charges and see if there was sufficient eveidence of any crime taking place of a scope that would permit the charging of the operational commander of 25 Brigades with either the other alleged war crime?
"acting individually and/or through [his] participation in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, and/or aided and abetted the planning, preparation, and/or execution of"
Plunder of public or private property and wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages - two counts of violations of the laws or customs of war.
Now we have to see at what level of operational command would the order to destroy propert come from?
To better illustrate we have to get an idea of the context. So in the region where Croatia exercised its sovereignty over its territory during Operation storm:
Hamlet/Village House - Either made with solid stone walls or steel reinforced concrete. Usually occupied by an extended family. Walls are at least 30cm thick. Impervious to small arms fire (machine gun and weaker).
Hamlet - Smallest component beyond an individual house. Usually under 200 inhabitants up to 30 houses.
Village - either stand alone, or comprised of two or more hamlets. Distinguished from a hamlet by the presence of a church. Population 200 to 1,000 inhabitants.
Small Town - Either stand alone or comprised of two or more villages with a town centre, there will be a church, and elementary school, a post office and a police station. Population 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants.
Medium Town - Population 5,000 to 15,000. Has the amenities of a small town with the addition of a high school and a small hospital.
Large Town - Population 15,000 to 25,000. Has the amenities of a small town with the addition of several outlying villages acting as suburbs.
Now to look at the smaller operational units of Croatia's military during Operation Storm.
Individual Soldier/Ministry of Interior Trooper - Responsible for carrying out the orders of his/her superior and is all0wed to take whatever steps are reasonable and necessary to protect his/her own life and safety.
Fire Team - Comprised of 4 to 5 soldiers usually led by a Corporal. Will have some suppressive fire ability beyond the Kalashnikov assault rifle as one soldiers weapon may have a folding bi-pod, or they may be a light machine gun fire team.
Squad - Comprised of 8 to 12 soldiers. Made up of 2 to 3 Fire Teams. Usually led by a Master Corporal or a Sargent. Will have some capability at this level beyond the hand grenade to deal with the fortifications provided by a village/hamlet house. They will have some form of Rocket launcher, usually of the capability of a RPG-7, or if an elite unit, a LAWS rocket. A Platoon contains 2 to 4 Squads.
Taking A Village 101
I now have to revert to my own first hand knowledge of a Village in the region recaptured during Operation Storm. Had I had the courage to go back to fight, I would most likely have been a Lieutenant in command of a platoon. I will present a hypothetical situation, which would lead me to arrive at a command decision. For hypothetical purposes I will use my clans Village Tinj as the hypothetical Serb Village. (For the record, at the moment of ceasefire during January of 1992, the front lines ran through the village, with the hamlets of Barkonja & Dojnji Varoush being held by Croatian forces, and the hamlet of Gornji Varoush being held by the rebel Serbs).
The tactical formation charged with taking a village would be a Company. It would comprise 4 platoons of infantry each made up of 3 squads of 12 men divided into 3 fire teams Led by a Lieutenant. As additional backup there would be subordinated to the company one platoon of Ministry of the Interior troops made up of four squads of 8 men each, the platoon would be led by a lieutenant (from the Ministry of Interior Command Structure), and the 4 Squads would be led by a Sargent. Overall operational command authority would rest with the Captain of the Company.
Croatian Army Orders:
1> Restore the territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia
2> Recapture Tinj
3> Safeguard lives and property of civilians
4> Identify property of civilians who are complying with the Republic of Croatia's orders that all Serbs citizens not guilty of any crimes against the citizens of the Republic of Croatia are allowed to stay and live in peace within the borders of the Republic
5> When area has been satisfactorily secured, turn over command to the Ministry of Interior platoon and redeploy.
Ministry of Interior Troop Orders (MUP)
1> Safeguard Civilian life and property
2> Identify unlawful combatants (Belgrade Soccer Hooligans) and arrest
3> Secure Civilians and move them safely away from the war zone
The Operational Orders Issued by The Captain:
1st Platoon - Led by Lieutenant Shreddy, capture ans secure Barkonja
2nd Platoon - Led by Lieutenant Sakic, capture and secure Doljnji Varoush
3rd Platoon - Led by Lieutenant Cirjak, capture and secure Gornji Varoush
4th Platoon - Led by Lieutenancy Zagorec, act as a reserve platoon
MUP Platoon - Execute their orders after the army troops have accomplished their orders.
After Croatian artillery suppresses the main Serb defensive position by the church, all three platoons move into their assigned hamlets un-opposed. The only casualties achieved by the Croatian forces is a landmine on the edge of the forest east of Barkonja injuring a soldier under my command.
I find the hamlet of Barkonja completely empty. Everyone is gone, all the property is still standing and intact. I radio the commanders of 2nd Platoon and find that they have Serbian Civilians present, and they are identifying the homes of the Serbs that wish to remain as citizens of Croatia. I radio the commander of the 3rd platoon, and he informs me that they have Serb civilians present, and that the civilians reported that the Serb military forces retreated eastward through the forest to the east of Barkonja. The size of the military formation that retreated into the woods was at Company strength.
I have a very important decision to make. Do I:
1> Lead my platoon into the woods where I know that there is a minefield, and I am reasonably certain that the Serbs knew where they laid their own landmines. Basically lead my men into a kill zone.
2> Leave the hamlet of 20 houses in the capable hands of a lightly armed squad of MUP troops, re deploy and leave them vulnerable to a counter attack by Serb forces at Company strength attacking from the woods.
3> Take further steps to secure the area so as to ensure the safety of everybody within the command structure I am assigned to.
I am very well aware that if a 5 man Serb fire-team can infiltrate one of the houses, they can effectively suppress the movement of my the Company I am assigned to. To take out a firteam in a house would require a tank.
I as a commander now have to make a decision.
I ask one of my men to inspect the first home in the hamlet. He makes me aware that all the contents are in place, and that the basement contains approximately 200 litres of brandy.
I order my men to remove the brandy from the house, and we place a demolition charge in the house and wait for it to explode. I ordered the removal of the brandy as the terrain was extremely dry in August and I did not want to start an out of control forest fire. The demo pack explodes, and the Serb house is still standing. Still providing a hardened defensive position in a war zone for enemy infiltrators to prevent my unit from following its orders.
One of my soldiers who worked as a hard rock miner makes me aware that the Serbs had left sacks of Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer in their storage's, and that mixed with diesel fuel would allow us to destroy the potential defensive positions. I order my soldier to build one of fertilizer bombs, and we find that it does work and that the structure is rubble. I give the order to empty all of the brandy cellars and to level every house in the hamlet. The MUP squad commander tries to impede my troops from carrying my order and I have him held by two of my soldiers.
Had I committed a war crime? No, my mind frame at the moment I gave the orders to flatten the hamlet was that it was a military necessity as allowed under the rules of war. I could be court martial-led for my order, and I would have been acquitted. My commanding officer would not have been charged with a war crime as he was not aware that I had flattened the hamlet until after the hamlet was flat.
Benkovac was left standing during Operation Storm as was Knin. I stood there wondering why on earth was Ante Gotovina standing accused at a courtroom at the ICTY?
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 3)
There I was on Monday December 7, 2009 looking at General Ante Gotovina. I stood wondering why did the Croatian Government agree to cooperate with the ICTY, and hand him over.
Being born, raised and having spent all of my life in a Democracy I accepted the following as given:
1> The right of Ante Gotovina to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were inalienable.
2> The duty of the Republic of Croatia was to protect regardless of the cost, his life, his liberty and his right to pursue his own happiness by whatever means he chooses.
3> The obligation of each and every citizen of the Republic was to shoulder any burden and bear any hardship required to protect the inalienable human rights of any fellow Croat.
4> Croatia had signed a treaty pledging full cooperation with the ICTY.
I arrived at the conclusion that the only basis of compliance to honour its treaty obligation with the ICTY would occur if the Office of The Prosecutor had issued a lawful order. One that was within its competence and jurisdictional authority. Basically unless the OTP could demonstrate that it crossed a legal threshold of sufficient evidence that a indictable offense by the accused individual had taken place, Croatia was under no obligation to hand Ante Gotovina over to the ICTY.
One of the charges that were filed against Ante Gotovina was that "acting individually and/or through [his] participation in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, and/or aided and abetted the planning, preparation, and/or execution of"
The threshold that the Office of The Prosecutor had to be able to demonstrate that they crossed was the Medina Standard. If they could demonstrate with evidence that this standard was violated, Croatia would have been obligated to turn Ante Gotovina to the ICTY.
Under the rules of war as exercised by the United States the notion of Command Authority is expressed by the Medina Standard. It holds that a commanding officer, being aware of a human rights violation or a war crime, will be held criminally liable when he does not take action. This standard was established during the trial of Captain Earnest Medina of the US Army for his alleged role in the Mai Lai Massacre. Captain Medina was acquitted of all charges.
Being born, raised and having spent all of my life in a Democracy I accepted the following as given:
1> The right of Ante Gotovina to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were inalienable.
2> The duty of the Republic of Croatia was to protect regardless of the cost, his life, his liberty and his right to pursue his own happiness by whatever means he chooses.
3> The obligation of each and every citizen of the Republic was to shoulder any burden and bear any hardship required to protect the inalienable human rights of any fellow Croat.
4> Croatia had signed a treaty pledging full cooperation with the ICTY.
I arrived at the conclusion that the only basis of compliance to honour its treaty obligation with the ICTY would occur if the Office of The Prosecutor had issued a lawful order. One that was within its competence and jurisdictional authority. Basically unless the OTP could demonstrate that it crossed a legal threshold of sufficient evidence that a indictable offense by the accused individual had taken place, Croatia was under no obligation to hand Ante Gotovina over to the ICTY.
One of the charges that were filed against Ante Gotovina was that "acting individually and/or through [his] participation in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, and/or aided and abetted the planning, preparation, and/or execution of"
- Murder - one count of a violation of the laws or customs of war
The threshold that the Office of The Prosecutor had to be able to demonstrate that they crossed was the Medina Standard. If they could demonstrate with evidence that this standard was violated, Croatia would have been obligated to turn Ante Gotovina to the ICTY.
Under the rules of war as exercised by the United States the notion of Command Authority is expressed by the Medina Standard. It holds that a commanding officer, being aware of a human rights violation or a war crime, will be held criminally liable when he does not take action. This standard was established during the trial of Captain Earnest Medina of the US Army for his alleged role in the Mai Lai Massacre. Captain Medina was acquitted of all charges.
The reason for applying the Medina Standard to any actions taken by the Republic of Croatia to restore it's Internationally Recognized Borders as a Sovereign State is because the Croatian officer corps at the ground operational level, Lieutenant (platoon leader) to Lieutenant Colonel (battalion commander) was trained by an American defense contractor Military Professional Resources Incorporated. Acting with the approval of the United States Government, MRPI was to train the Croatian military to conduct combined arms manoeuvres against operational centres of gravity. Use coordinated artillery, Armour, infantry attacks at key components of the adversaries defensive infrastructure to achieve a quick decisive victory and minimize civilian casualties. Modern American blitzkrieg warfare.
Now a backgrounder on the Mai Lai Massacre. On March 16, 1968 the three platoons of Charlie Company, of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade entered the village of Son My. The village was comprised of two hamlets My Lai & Son My. The 1st platoon headed by second Lieutenant William Calley went berserk. Between 374 to 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians were killed in the action. The operational commander Captain Earnest Medina was charged with murder of up to 100 Vietnamese civilians by virtue of an alleged failure to exercise Command Authority over Lieutenant Calley's platoon.
In the case against Captain Earnest Medina in his court martial proceedings, the prosecution alleged that:
- Informed his men that any of the residents in Son My Village might be Viet Cong or sympathizers. This caused many of the men in his company to believe they would find only armed enemy in the hamlets and directly contributed to the killing of noncombatants which followed.
- Planned, ordered, and supervised the execution by his company of an unlawful operation against inhabited hamlets in Son My Village, which included the destruction of houses by burning, killing of livestock, and the destruction of crops and other foodstuffs, and the closing of wells; and impliedly directed the killing of any persons found there.
- Actively suppressed information concerning the killing of noncombatants in Son My Village.
The defense position was that Captain Earnest Medina that did not become aware that his troops were out of control until it was too late.
The key question in the trial of Captain Earnest Medina. Did Captain Medina issue an order to cease all actions when he was aware that crimes were taking place, and when the order to cease fire was issued did the troops under his command obey him? The prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this was not the case. The prosecution could not meet the threshold and Captain Medina was acquitted of all charges.
Now for a quick primer on the operational structure of the Croatian Military during Operation Storm based upon units size.
The Platoon – The smallest unit commanded by a commissioned officer either a second or first Lieutenant. Made up of 20 to 40 soldiers comprised of 2 to 4 squads each headed by a Sergent or master corporal.
The Company – Comprised of three to five platoons and commanded by a Captain. Combat strength 70 to 200 troops.
The Battalion – Comprised of three to five companies, commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. Combat strength 200 to 1000 troops.
The Regiment – Comprised of 2 to 3 Battalions, commanded by a Colonel assisted by a Major. Combat strength 2,000 to 3,000 troops.
Brigade – Comprised of 2 to 3 regiments, or if the forces are not deployed on the regimental basis, 4 to 9 battalions, commanded by a Brigadier General. Combat strength 4,000 to 6,000 troops.
Operation Storm – Comprised of the equivalent of 25 Brigades, Commanded by General Ante Gotovina.
President Franjo Tudman – Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia.
The notion of command hierarchy is that an officer only answers to his direct superior in the command structure he or she is assigned to. A Platoon Leader answers to his Company Commander. A Company Commander answers to his Battalion Commander. A Battalion Commander either answers his Regiment Commander of his Brigadier. The Brigadiers answer to General Gotovina. General Gotovina answers to President Franjo Tudman.
Did any single event remotely approaching the order of the magnitude of the Mai Lai Massacre take place during Operation Storm take place? No, according to the Croatian Helsinki Committee, 122 Serbian Civilians were allegedly murdered by all Croatian Forces during Operation Storm. Assuming that the largest instance of the killings of Serb civilians was exercised at the platoon level, the highest ranking officer that could be charged with murder using the Medina Standard for Command Authority is a Captain.
Had a massacre of the order of magnitude of the Skabrnje Massacre (85 dead) carried out at Company Strength taken place, the highest ranking Croatian Officer that could possibly be charged with murder for failure to exercise Command Authority is a Lieutenant Colonel. No single alleged instance of the killing of Serbian Civilians of anywhere near the order of magnitude of the Skabrnje Massacre ever took place during Operation Storm.
A massacre in the order of magnitude of the Vukovar slaughter where 264 civilians and surrendered soldiers were slaughtered (Battalion strength killing) would under the Medina Standard have resulted in the theoretical charging of a Brigadier General. No single alleged instance of the killing of Serbian Civilians of anywhere near the order of magnitude of the Vukovar Massacre ever took place during Operation Storm.
To issue a lawful order that the Republic of Croatia would be obligated to comply with under it's agreement to cooperate with the ICTY. The Office of The Prosecutor would have to provide evidence that alleged massacre in the order of magnitude of Srebrenica,. a Brigade strength murder had taken place. Or the Office of The Prosecutor would have had to provide evidence that General Gotovina ordered a murder.
Neither of these two scenarios which would constitute a lawful order were presented to the Croatian Government. Under these circumstances, the Croatian Government had a moral responsibility and the Croatian people had a collective obligation to protect the freedom and liberty of one of its citizens, General Ante Gotovina. The only right moral choice was to refuse to cooperate with the ICTY, and the only obligation that existed was that of the citizens of Croatia to protect the freedom and liberty of one of their own, whatever the cost.
An individuals right to freedom and liberty are not for sale.
Yet there I stood looking at Ante Gotovina sitting in a prisoners dock. Too surreal...
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 2)
My first chance to witness firsthand what goes on at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia occurred on December 7, 2009. This date was the fourth anniversary of the capture of Ante Gotovina by Spanish authorities on Tennerife Island.
The ICTY (international Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) came into existence on May 25, 1993, the 101st anniversary of the birth of Josip Broz Tito. It's specific Jurisdictional Authority is to try the perpetrators of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. It is an internationally recognized Competent Authority with the power to try individuals. It has three components; The Chambers; The Registry; and The Office of the Tribunal Prosecutor.
It is a place that is governed by rules, and the authority to set the rules of who can go watch the proceedings is set by The Chambers component. To sit in the visitors public gallery at the ICTY, one has to satisfy the following:
1> Be physically present
2> Provide satisfactory evidence that you are a citizen of some recognized jurisdiction on the planet earth (a passport)
3> Pass a two level security screening where you are required to go through two separate security stations. Station 1, pass through a metal detector, have all belongs go through an X-ray machine, get relived of all electronic devices and anything that could be used as a weapon. Upon successful completion you are allowed access to the Tribunal Building. Station 2, pass through a metal detector, have all belongings pass through an X ray machine, get relieved of all electronic devices, anything that could be used as a weapon, and food. Upon successful completion you are allowed access to the Visitors Gallery to the Tribunal Chambers (a courtroom).
Specifically the ICTY can deny you Visitors Access to the Tribunal Building if you are:
a> A robot or an animal that is not being used to assist an individual with a disability. (failure of criteria #1)
b> A citizen of a jurisdiction that is not on the planet earth, meaning no Martians, Venusians, citizens of another galaxy are allowed (failure of criteria #2)
c> You are in the possession of any weapons or devices that can compromise the ability of the ICTY to go about its function of acting as the Trial Chamber to try individuals accused of committing War Crimes or Crimes Against Humanity in the former Yugoslavia. (failure of criteria #3)
These are the rules of the Chambers component of the ICTY that specify it's authority to restrict public access to the witnessing of what it does as the Competent Authority that has the responsibility of carrying out trials of individuals accused of War Crimes or Crimes Against Humanity in the former Yugoslavia.
It is a place that is governed by rules, and I as a citizen of the planet Earth agreed to abide by The Chamber's rules that it set as the Competent Authority to exercise my right as an individual to witness the trial of Ante Gotovina.
At 8:55AM on the fourth anniversary of his capture, in Visitors Gallery of Tribunal Chambers #3, I got the opportunity to lay my eyes on the man who was in command of the forces that liberated my favourite spot on the planet Earth. To my surprise, the only people present in the visitors gallery were a Security Officer, a member of the Republic of Croatia's diplomatic corps, a Croatian journalist, and myself.
The ICTY (international Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) came into existence on May 25, 1993, the 101st anniversary of the birth of Josip Broz Tito. It's specific Jurisdictional Authority is to try the perpetrators of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. It is an internationally recognized Competent Authority with the power to try individuals. It has three components; The Chambers; The Registry; and The Office of the Tribunal Prosecutor.
It is a place that is governed by rules, and the authority to set the rules of who can go watch the proceedings is set by The Chambers component. To sit in the visitors public gallery at the ICTY, one has to satisfy the following:
1> Be physically present
2> Provide satisfactory evidence that you are a citizen of some recognized jurisdiction on the planet earth (a passport)
3> Pass a two level security screening where you are required to go through two separate security stations. Station 1, pass through a metal detector, have all belongs go through an X-ray machine, get relived of all electronic devices and anything that could be used as a weapon. Upon successful completion you are allowed access to the Tribunal Building. Station 2, pass through a metal detector, have all belongings pass through an X ray machine, get relieved of all electronic devices, anything that could be used as a weapon, and food. Upon successful completion you are allowed access to the Visitors Gallery to the Tribunal Chambers (a courtroom).
Specifically the ICTY can deny you Visitors Access to the Tribunal Building if you are:
a> A robot or an animal that is not being used to assist an individual with a disability. (failure of criteria #1)
b> A citizen of a jurisdiction that is not on the planet earth, meaning no Martians, Venusians, citizens of another galaxy are allowed (failure of criteria #2)
c> You are in the possession of any weapons or devices that can compromise the ability of the ICTY to go about its function of acting as the Trial Chamber to try individuals accused of committing War Crimes or Crimes Against Humanity in the former Yugoslavia. (failure of criteria #3)
These are the rules of the Chambers component of the ICTY that specify it's authority to restrict public access to the witnessing of what it does as the Competent Authority that has the responsibility of carrying out trials of individuals accused of War Crimes or Crimes Against Humanity in the former Yugoslavia.
It is a place that is governed by rules, and I as a citizen of the planet Earth agreed to abide by The Chamber's rules that it set as the Competent Authority to exercise my right as an individual to witness the trial of Ante Gotovina.
At 8:55AM on the fourth anniversary of his capture, in Visitors Gallery of Tribunal Chambers #3, I got the opportunity to lay my eyes on the man who was in command of the forces that liberated my favourite spot on the planet Earth. To my surprise, the only people present in the visitors gallery were a Security Officer, a member of the Republic of Croatia's diplomatic corps, a Croatian journalist, and myself.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Persecution of Ante Gotovina (part 1)
I am back in Canada reflecting on the events that I witnessed over the last week sitting in the visitors gallery at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. What brought me to the ICTY at The Hague was to opportunity show my clan's support and solidarity behind General Ante Gotovina.
General Ante Gotovina was born on October 12, 1955 in Tkon, on Pashman Island, across from Biograd na Moru in Zadar County Croatia. As the crow flies, 10 kilometers from the spot where my father was born. In 1973, at the tender age of 17 he ran away from home and joined the French Foreign Legion under the alias of Andrija Grabovac (a Hercegovian name). He completed his required service to France, gained French Citizenship, and retired to South America where he grew avocados. In 1991 when the JNA (Yugoslav National Army) was preparing to destroy the emerging State of Croatia, he returned to his native land to enlist in the Croatian Home Guard as an ordinary soldier. He rapidly rose through the ranks as he was one of the few soldiers who had combat extensive combat experience prior to the Croatian War of Independence, and by the Summer of 1995 he had gained the rank of General. On August 5, 1995 he commanded the Croatian forces in Operation Storm and in the span of 84 hours recaptured all of Croatia's internationally recognized territory with the exception of parts of Slavonia. During Operation Storm approximately 150 Serbian civilians died in a war zone that encompassed approximately one quarter of Croatia's, as recognized by the United Nations, Internationally Recognized Territory of a Sovereign State. It is because of events that occurred during the course of Operation Storm that Ante Gotovina now stands on trial at the ICTY at The Hague.
When taken into context of the events that occurred during Operation Storm and the Croatian War of Independence, the ICTY indictment by Office of the Tribunal Prosecutor is illogical, offensive and totally absurd. Specifically Ante Gotovina has been charged with the following:
"acting individually and/or through [his] participation in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, and/or aided and abetted the planning, preparation, and/or execution of"
I have a very strong personal, non-monetary, individual interest in this case. General Gotovina liberated my favourite spot on this entire planet. The cemetery in my clans ancestral village Tinj where the remains of my ancestors lay.
I believe from the deepest core of my existence that he stands unjustly accused. Whatever scenario I run through my mind making every effort to eliminate my individual bias, I arrive at the same conclusion. Ante Gotovina is being unjustly persecuted by The United Nations through it's mechanism The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; The Office of the Tribunal Prosecutor for the ICTY; and The Government of The Republic of Croatia.
Over the next several posts I plan to do my best to explore the ICTY indictment in the context of the events that happened before and during Operation Storm; the war that occurred during the disintegration of the former State of Yugoslavia; and all other relevant conflicts during the 20th Century. Hopefully I will be able to express to everybody reading this blog why I feel so strongly that Ante Gotovina, an individual, a husband, a father, a patriot is being wrongly persecuted and being denied his most basic fundamental human right. The right to "freedom and liberty".
General Ante Gotovina was born on October 12, 1955 in Tkon, on Pashman Island, across from Biograd na Moru in Zadar County Croatia. As the crow flies, 10 kilometers from the spot where my father was born. In 1973, at the tender age of 17 he ran away from home and joined the French Foreign Legion under the alias of Andrija Grabovac (a Hercegovian name). He completed his required service to France, gained French Citizenship, and retired to South America where he grew avocados. In 1991 when the JNA (Yugoslav National Army) was preparing to destroy the emerging State of Croatia, he returned to his native land to enlist in the Croatian Home Guard as an ordinary soldier. He rapidly rose through the ranks as he was one of the few soldiers who had combat extensive combat experience prior to the Croatian War of Independence, and by the Summer of 1995 he had gained the rank of General. On August 5, 1995 he commanded the Croatian forces in Operation Storm and in the span of 84 hours recaptured all of Croatia's internationally recognized territory with the exception of parts of Slavonia. During Operation Storm approximately 150 Serbian civilians died in a war zone that encompassed approximately one quarter of Croatia's, as recognized by the United Nations, Internationally Recognized Territory of a Sovereign State. It is because of events that occurred during the course of Operation Storm that Ante Gotovina now stands on trial at the ICTY at The Hague.
When taken into context of the events that occurred during Operation Storm and the Croatian War of Independence, the ICTY indictment by Office of the Tribunal Prosecutor is illogical, offensive and totally absurd. Specifically Ante Gotovina has been charged with the following:
"acting individually and/or through [his] participation in the joint criminal enterprise, planned, instigated, ordered, committed, and/or aided and abetted the planning, preparation, and/or execution of"
- Persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, deportation and other inhumane acts (forced displacement) - three counts of crimes against humanity
- Other inhumane acts - one count of a crime against humanity
- Murder - one count of a violation of the laws or customs of war
- Plunder of public or private property and wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages - two counts of violations of the laws or customs of war.
I have a very strong personal, non-monetary, individual interest in this case. General Gotovina liberated my favourite spot on this entire planet. The cemetery in my clans ancestral village Tinj where the remains of my ancestors lay.
I believe from the deepest core of my existence that he stands unjustly accused. Whatever scenario I run through my mind making every effort to eliminate my individual bias, I arrive at the same conclusion. Ante Gotovina is being unjustly persecuted by The United Nations through it's mechanism The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; The Office of the Tribunal Prosecutor for the ICTY; and The Government of The Republic of Croatia.
Over the next several posts I plan to do my best to explore the ICTY indictment in the context of the events that happened before and during Operation Storm; the war that occurred during the disintegration of the former State of Yugoslavia; and all other relevant conflicts during the 20th Century. Hopefully I will be able to express to everybody reading this blog why I feel so strongly that Ante Gotovina, an individual, a husband, a father, a patriot is being wrongly persecuted and being denied his most basic fundamental human right. The right to "freedom and liberty".
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