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US involvement in war crimes against Serbs in Krajina in 1995Croatia: Gotovina Revelations
Fugitive general threatens to expose US involvement in the reconquest of the
Krajina region six years ago.By Dominic Hipkins in Zagreb (BCR No. 288, 16-Oct-01)
A prominent supporter of Ante Gotovina has revealed the Croatian general
indicted for war crimes will try to embarrass the US if
he is extradited to The Hague for trial."If it comes to an arrest, General Gotovina's defence team will call on
individuals from the United States to testify," said a friend
of the controversial former army commander, Nenad Ivankovic, who is head of
the right-wing organisation HONOS, the
Association for the Protection of the Values of the Homeland War.The general's supporters believe the move will reveal the extent of US
involvement in Operation Storm, the Croatian army's
successful campaign against the Serb-held Krajina region in 1995. Washington
has always denied claims that it gave the "green
light" for Croatia to overrun the UN-protected area.Several hundred Serb civilians were murdered, or disappeared, in the
aftermath of the operation. Some 200,000 fled to
neighbouring Bosnia and Yugoslavia. An orgy of house-burning left much of
the area a charred wasteland.A tribunal indictment made public in July held Gotovina responsible for
these crimes. He promptly went underground.Ivankovic, editor of the daily newspaper Vjesnik during the Tudjman era,
claims he was one of the last to see Gotovina and that
the general authorised him to speak on his behalf.Apparently sensing that The Hague's net was closing in last spring, Gotovina
took his ally to an old military base near Zadar, in
Dalmatia, to tell him about US intelligence ties with Croatia on the eve of
Operation Storm.The base was allegedly used by US operatives to collect military data from
unmanned pilotless aircraft, or drones, which was
then passed on to the Croats."Gotovina told me this was an important base for the US, because it replaced
their operations on Brac [an Adriatic island] after
the [Split-based] Feral Tribune newspaper discovered it," Ivankovic said.The author of a bestselling biography about Gotovina, Ivankovic says the
general told him the US knew exactly what the Croats
were up to. "He (Gotovina) feels betrayed by the silence of the US today and
by the people he knew. The CIA saw everything
that happened during Operation Storm, and never objected then," said
Ivankovic.He has also produced photographs that suggested the general was working
closely with the Americans in the run up to the
invasion of Krajina.One, published in Jutarnji List, shows Gotovina alongside a man identified
as Ivan Sarac, a former deputy defence attache at the
US embassy. Allegedly taken several days before the military campaign, the
pair are shown posing in the Dinaric mountains
above the former rebel stronghold of Knin, with a man in an American army
uniform.In other photographic evidence handed to IWPR, Gotovina, wearing translation
earphones, is seen sitting in front of a computer
screen titled "Battle Staff Training Program". Another shot pictures him
underneath a sign stating " Welcome to Training Center
Fort Irwin".Gotovina's supporters say two prominent US diplomats, Peter Galbraith and
Richard Holbrooke, should be allowed to testify if
the general eventually stands trial, as they could prove that he fought a
clean war and reveal the extent of American involvement
in the conflict. Gotovina enjoyed close contact with Galbraith, the former
US ambassador to Zagreb, and believes he could
confirm that the general had observed the rules of war during Operation
Storm.Holbrooke, the former US Balkans envoy, recorded in his memoirs that he
successfully exerted pressure on Croatian units
inside Bosnia to halt their advance on the Serb stronghold of Banja Luka, in
1995. Gotovina's supporters say that this would
support their theory that the US played an influential role in the
reconquest of Krajina.The former BBC Balkans correspondent-turned British MP, Martin Bell, has
said it is vitally important that witnesses such as
Galbraith and Holbrooke are called in the event of Gotovina being tried.
"The general's liberty is at stake so he should be able to
call on whoever can aid his defence," said Bell.Meanwhile, in Croatia, there's widespread criticism of the Gotovina
indictment across the political spectrum, as Operation Storm
is generally viewed here as the victorious finale to a hard-fought
independence struggle.Many reject The Hague's assertions, in the indictment, that Gotovina's
forces engaged in ethnic cleansing during the capture of
the Krajina region. "Something like this [ethnic cleansing] cannot be true,"
Prime Minister Ivica Racan told a crisis session of
parliament in July.There's a widespread view that if Gotovina is prosecuted, the American role
in the campaign should be investigated. "This is
more important than one man's guilt or innocence," said Zvonimir Cicak,
founder of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in
Croatia.More details of Gotovina's international connections seem certain to emerge.
And if and when the general faces the Dutch court,
he may not be alone in the dock - American foreign policy in the Balkans
could face cross-examination there, too.
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