http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/worthington.html
THE TORONTO SUN, Thursday, April 18, 2002
A matter of honour
Dutch cabinet resigns over Balkan military scandal
By PETER WORTHINGTON -- Toronto Sun
Finally, an elected government willing to do the right thing.
Not the Canadian government, of course, where things like principle and
honour have been diluted, but the Dutch government, which recognizes
propriety and responsibility.
Prime Minister Vim Kok and his cabinet resigned en masse Tuesday in
light of
a report blaming the UN, the Dutch government, its army, and especially
its
senior commanders who sought to cover up the massacre of some 7,500
Muslim
men and boys by Bosnian Serbs at the UN's "safe area" of Srebrenica in
July,
1995.
That's when some 110 lightly armed Dutch soldiers failed to prevent
Europe's
biggest massacre since World War II.
The day after the government resigned, the Dutch army's top general
resigned, too.
"But for the grace of God it could have been Canadian soldiers rather
than
Dutch," says retired Lt.-Col. David Moore, who commanded the Canadian
battle
group in Bosnia 1993-94. Troops under his command were virtually held
hostage in Srebrenica for five months.
Moore testified three times before Dutch investigators.
He commanded 12th RBC, a Quebec armoured regiment, and had a company of
160
Van Doos under his command in Srebrenica.
Originally, the Canadians were sent to Srebrenica for two weeks - which
extended to five months. Eight times Moore tried to visit his troops
there,
but was prevented by the Serbs until the last time. His complaints to
the
Canadian government and the UN fell on deaf ears.
DETAILED DIARY
Later, when the Van Doos were caught in a scandal at the mental hospital
in
Bakovici, army brass tried to pin the blame on Moore - but his detailed
diary cleared him and pointed to superiors who initially covered up the
scandal. No senior officer took responsibility. Moore was totally
exonerated, thanks to his keeping a record.
As for the hot spot of Srebrenica, a Ukrainian unit was originally
supposed
to take over from the Canadians, but the Ukrainians were so tight with
the
Serbs and involved in black market activities that they were
disqualified.
British units were considered, then French, then the Nordic battalion,
which
refused because it was too dangerous.
The Dutch were keen. The Netherlands government wanted a bigger role in
Balkan peacekeeping and their elite Air Mobile Brigade was eager for a
mission. Dutch paratroopers replaced the Canadians - "big, tough dudes,
capable of dealing with any situation," Moore recalls.
But by 1995, the paras were replaced with Dutch conscripts. And when all
hell broke out, they did nothing to prevent the massacre. Their
commanders
fudged their reports to dodge responsibility.
What would the Canadian soldiers have done had they still been in
Srebrenica
instead of Dutch conscripts?
"My guys would have fought," says Moore. "There'd have been big
shooting. As
for the Van Doos - they answered to themselves and, frankly, I don't
know."
It was Van Doos at Bakovici who resented any but their own officers
commanding them - a Teflon regiment that then-army commander general
Maurice
Baril absolved from responsibility. He blamed their problems on Moore.
Some of Moore's troops were briefly held hostage by Serbs at the village
of
Ilyas, and when neither the UN nor Ottawa gave directions, Moore acted
on
his own and mobilized his armour to go in and rescue his men. At this
show
of resolve, the Serbs backed down and freed the Canadians.
Would similar resolve have deterred a massacre at Srebrenica? "Maybe,"
says
Moore. "The Dutch Air Mobile guys wouldn't have stood by, nor would my
troops. But the Dutch conscripts weren't much good and the UN was
hopeless."
"Humanitarian motivation and political ambition drove the Netherlands to
undertake an ill-conceived and virtually impossible peace mission," the
Dutch report concludes, calling it "a deliberate attempt by the army to
...
limit the flow of information and to avoid sensitive issues."
Sounds alarmingly like the DND and the Canadian military, where
whistle-blowers and those who tell the truth are blamed, and the media
accused of muck-raking when they reveal scandals.
By resigning, the Dutch government has restored some honour,
accountability
and principle to itself.
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Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
