[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: UN Military Officer Asks: Was Srebrenica a Hoax?
Emperor's Clothes Newsletter * 16 June 2005 Subscribe at http://emperor.vwh.net/MailList/index.php Please send this text or the link to a friend. http://emperors-clothes.com/sreb/branco-1.htm Emperor's Clothes * www.tenc.net Have you seen the Emperor's Clothes movie 'Judgment!' ? It proves the Western media lied about Bosnia! For more information, http://emperors-clothes.com/Film/judge.htm ======================================================== UN Military Officer asks, "Was Srebrenica a Hoax?" Article by Carlos Martins Branco With minor text editing and comments by Jared Israel and Petar Makara [16 June 2005] ======================================================== [ www.tenc.net ] Below we have posted an analysis of what happened in Srebrenica, written by Carlos Martins Branco, a Portuguese military officer who served in Bosnia as a UNMO (UN Military Observers) Deputy Chief Operations Officer in the UNPF (UN Peace Forces) at theatre level. Meaning he knew a whole lot about what was happening on the ground. Branco argues that the extremist Bosnian Muslim leadership made it easy for Serbian forces to re-take Srebrenica in 1995, setting the stage to sell the world a false massacre story, with the purpose of isolating the Bosnian Serbs, internationally. He argues that it was a big mistake for the Serbs to go in, but it was not an act of genocide. That, he says, is a fabrication, and he adds that he debriefed UN Military Observers who were involved, and has read UN reports that were never shown to the public. A few points. First regarding credibility, this being the internet, how do we know Carlos Martins Branco is who he says he is? Well, for one thing, here's a 2003 link to a Portuguese Defense Ministry website with the summary of an article he wrote for the official Defense Ministry magazine, "Nation and Defense?" http://tinyurl.com/cgmf3 It's in Portuguese, but it is easy to see that the article deals with UN peacekeeping operations. Second, some websites have mistakenly described Mr. Branco as Italian. He's not. He taught at the European University Institute in [San] Domenico di Fiesole, Italy, but he's Portuguese. Branco's article, "Was Srebrenica a Hoax?" was apparently written in 1997. A year later he published it on a discussion group called T-Watch, the scene of arguments about Yugoslavia. The arguments got pretty hot, hence his ironic comment that some people might not like what he has to say. Mr. Branco translated the article into English, which isn't his first language, and there's some confusing syntax and a few other errors. We've corrected these. (For a link to the uncorrected version, see footnote [1].) We've also added some comments and clarifications in [brackets]. Carlos Martins Branco, like most everyone else, refers to the people fighting the Bosnian Serbs as 'Muslims.' In fact, the Bosnian Muslims were sharply divided. One faction, led by Fikret Abdic, was allied with the Serbs. The key force opposing the Serbs was Alija Izetbegovic's SDA, an extremist party, despite the Western media's unfortunate practice of describing it and Izetbegovic as moderate. Anyway, Branco uses 'Muslim,' and because it's awkward to keep writing 'Muslim extremist' or 'Muslim fundamentalist,' we sometimes do too, but please keep in mind that Alija Izetbegovic was not supported by all Bosnian Muslims. Jared Israel and Petar Makara Emperors Clothes ========================================================= Was Srebrenica a Hoax? By Carlos Martins Branco 4 March 1998 - Note from Carlos Martins Branco to T-Watch discussion list - Mr. Branco's article on Srebrenica ========================================================= Hi everybody, I would like to express my views on the events of Srebrenica. I am sending one article I wrote some time ago, which reflects a very different approach from the one conveyed by the Western media and CNN in particular. I was UNMO Deputy Chief Operations Officers of UNPF (at theatre level) and my information is based upon debriefings of UNMOs [UN Military Observers -EC] who where posted to Srebrenica during those days and some UN reports not disclosed to public opinion. My sources are not Ruder & Finn Global Public Affairs, which has not my name included in its database. [Ruder Finn is a Public Relations agency that did high level work for the Croatian and Bosnian Muslim secessionists. - EC] I don't want to discuss numbers and similar matters. Those subjects do not interest me at all. There is not reliable information, and figures have been used and manipulated for propaganda purposes which are not oriented to a serious understanding of the Yugoslavian conflict. The article I am sending is based upon true information and includes my analysis of the events. To tell the full story would take longer than this article; however, I tried to concentrate my account of what happened into as small a text as possible. I hope it contributes to a further clarification of what really happened in Srebrenica and what was behind it, especially as concerns the Bosnian Muslim attitude. I do believe that Srebrenica shows a pattern of behaviour of the warring factions in the conflict: on the one hand, the Bosnian Muslims provoking the Serbs and trying hard to convince the international community to intervene by force against the Serbs in order to solve the military question; on the other hand, the Serb leadership's lack of intelligence giving Muslims the justifications and arguments they were looking for. I know that some of you won't enjoy the contents of the article. For those, sorry. Carlos Martins Branco ------------------------- Was Srebrenica a Hoax? by Carlos Martins Branco ------------------------- It is now two years since the Muslim enclave, Srebrenica, fell into the hands of the Serbian army in Bosnia. Much has been written about the matter. Nonetheless the majority of reports have been limited to a broad media exposure of the event, with very little analytic rigour. Discussion of Srebrenica cannot be limited to genocide and mass graves, which has been almost a banal occurrence throughout ex-Yugoslavia. A rigorous analysis of the events must take into consideration the background circumstances, in order to understand the real motives which led to the fall of the enclave. The zone of Srebrenica, like almost all of Eastern Bosnia, is characterized by very rugged terrain. Steep valleys with dense forests and deep ravines make it impossible for combat vehicles to pass, and offers a clear advantage to defensive forces. Given the resources available to both parties, and the characteristics of the terrain, it would seem that the Bosnian army (ABiH) had the necessary force to defend itself, if it had used full advantage of the terrain. This, however, did not occur. Given the military advantage of the [Muslim] defensive forces it is very difficult to explain the absence of military resistance. The Muslim forces did not establish an effective defensive system and did not even try to take advantage of their heavy artillery, under control of the United Nations (UN) forces, at a time in which they had every reason to do so. The lack of [Muslim] military response stands in clear contrast to the offensive attitude which characterized the actions of the [Muslim] defensive forces in previous siege situations, which typically launched violent raids against the Serbian villages surrounding the enclave, thus producing heavy casualties amongst the Serbian civilian population. But in this instance, with the attention of the media focused upon the area, military defence of the enclave would have revealed the true situation in security zones, and demonstrated that these had never been genuinely demilitarized zones as was claimed, but harboured highly-armed [Muslim] military units. Military resistance would jeopardize the image of [Muslims as] victims, which had been so carefully constructed, and which the Muslims considered it was vital to maintain. Throughout the entire operation it was clear that there were profound disagreements among the leaders of the enclave. From a military viewpoint, there was total confusion. [Nasir] ORIC, the charismatic commander of Srebrenica, was absent. [2] The Sarajevo government did not authorize his return in order to lead the resistance. Military power fell into the hands of his lieutenants, who had a long history of incompatibility. The absence of Oric's clear leadership led to a situation of total ineptitude. The contradictory orders of his successors completely paralysed the forces under siege. The behaviour of the political leaders is also interesting. The local SDP president, Zlatko Dukic, in an interview with European Union observers, explained that Srebrenica formed part of a business transaction which involved a logistical support route to Sarajevo, via [the Sarajevo suburb of] VOGOSCA. He also claimed that the fall of the enclave formed part of an orchestrated campaign to discredit the West and win the support of Islamic countries. This was the reason for [Nasir] Oric to maintain distance from his troops. This thesis was also defended by the local supporters of the SDA [the Party of Democratic Action party of Alija Izetbegovic [3].] There were also many rumours of a trade within the local population of the enclave. Another curious aspect was the absence of a military reaction from the 2nd Corps of the Muslim army [outside of the enclave], which did nothing to relieve the military pressure on the enclave. It was common knowledge that the [Bosnian] Serb unit in the region, the Drina Corps, was exhausted and that the attack on Srebrenica was only possible with the aid of units from other regions. Despite this fact, Sarajevo did not lift a finger in order to launch an attack which would have divided the Serbian forces and exposed the vulnerabilities created by the concentration of [Bosnian Serb] resources around Srebrenica. Such an attack would have reduced the military pressure on the enclave. It is also important to register the pathetic appeal of the president of Opstina [which means 'county,' in Serbo-Croatian], Osman Suljic, on July 9, [1995] which implored military observers to say to the world that the Serbians were using chemical weapons. The same gentleman later accused the media of transmitting false news items on the resistance of troops in the enclave, requiring a denial from the UN. According to Suljic, the Muslim troops did not respond, and would never respond with heavy artillery fire. Simultaneously, he complained of the lack of food supplies and of the humanitarian situation. Curiously, [the U.N.] observers were never allowed to inspect the [Srebrenica Muslim] food reserve deposits. The emphasis given by political leaders on the lack of military response and the absence of food provisions loosely suggests an official policy which began to be discernible. [Note from TENC: What Branco writes above chemical weapons is not entirely clear. In a discussion of this text on the T-Watch list, Branco was clearer, stating that one of the crucial questions about Srebrenica was, "Why did they [the Muslim leadership inside Srebrenica] pressure us to pass the lie of Serbs attacking with chemical gas?" For his full list of crucial questions about Srebrenica, see footnote [4].] ** This text is continued in part 2, to be sent to the Newsletter list shortly. ** To continue reading now, go to http://emperors-clothes.com/sreb/branco-1.htm#part2 [Footnotes & Further Reading follows the appeal] ======================================================== * Emperor's Clothes Needs Your Help! * Our work depends entirely on donations from readers. If you find this work useful, please support us with a donation. None is too small... or too big. (If you can't afford a donation, thank you for reading anyway! There is no charge for reading TENC, so if you are on our Newsletter list, and are not receiving articles as they appear, please contact us. And please circulate these articles wherever possible! Our best is yet to come! Here's How to Make a Donation... * By credit card at our secure server https://emperor.securesites.com/transactions/index.php * Using Paypal (Visa & Mastercard) https://www.paypal.com/xclick/[EMAIL PROTECTED]&no_shipping=1 * Mail a check to Emperor's Clothes, P.O. Box 610-321 Newton, MA 02461-0321 (USA) * Or by credit card over the phone. 1 (617) 916-1705 Thank You! Please send this text or the link to a friend. http://emperors-clothes.com/sreb/branco-1.htm Subscribe to the Emperor's Clothes Newsletter. Receive texts posted at Emperor's Clothes. http://emperor.vwh.net/MailList/index.php =========================== * Footnotes and Further Reading * =========================== [1] To read the uncorrected text as it appeared on T-Watch, please go to http://tinyurl.com/cdf6m [2] A Toronto Star reporter recounted an evening spent with the charismatic Mr. Oric, during which the latter boasted of killing Serbian peasants living in villages near Srebrenica. Go to http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/oric.htm [3] To understand the political character of Alija Izetbegovic and therefore of his SDA, see "Who was Izetbegovic? Moderate Democrat or Radical Islamist?" at http://emperors-clothes.com/gilwhite/alija1.htm [4] Carlos Martins Branco got in an argument on the T-Watch discussion list with a fellow named Daniel Kofman, in which he raised eight questions which cast doubt on the official Srebrenica massacre story: [Branco's questions begin here] Those questions are as follows A - Why Naser Oric was not in Srebrenica to defend the enclave? B -Why local leadership tried to sell us (UNMOs) the idea that the enclave was not organising the defence? C - Why did they pressure us to pass the lie of Serbs attacking with chemical gas? D - Why the ABiH [Muslim extremist army] did not take one single weapon from the weapon collection sites? E - Why they did not defend themselves opposing to previous offensive attitudes against Serbian villages around Srebrenica? F - Why the BSA did attack in only one direction, from the north to the south, leaving the hypothesis to escape to the north and west? G - Why ABiH 2 Corps did not lift a single finger to defend their Muslim brothers in Srebrenica? H - A final question. The accurate CNN satellite photos. Let's supposed they were taken in the region. Why it was not disclosed so far their exactly position? the grids, for instance. Before [the signing of the] Dayton [Accords] there was the excuse of restriction of movement (ROM), but ROM finished on 19 December 95. Where are the corps[es] of the CNN mass graves? The type and quantity of mass graves discovered so far reinforces my "theory" and I quote again my article: There are obviously mass graves in the outskirts of Srebrenica ... where combat has occurred" but nothing that we can consider genocide. Normal, for the circumstances... Despite the microscopic precision in localization of these graves, it is certain that none has been discovered to date. We inevitably speculate on why they have still not been shown to the world. It is reasonable and serious to defend the thesis of 8000 corpses missing when after 2 years of investigations only around 400 hundreds were id! entified? Did the remaining evaporate? http://tinyurl.com/cgdwr [Branco's questions end here] Emperor's Clothes * www.tenc.net Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BalkanNews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
