-Caveat Lector-
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20020922-25009705.htm
WASHINGTON TIMES--Sept. 22, 2001
September 22, 2002
Is Clinton a war criminal?
Jeffrey T. Kuhner
ZAGREB, Croatia.
Former President Bill Clinton faces possible war crimes
charges by the prosecutor's office at the U.N. tribunal in The
Hague for the former Yugoslavia.
As the media remains riveted by the trial of former Serb
dictator Slobodan Milosevic, an overlooked but far more
consequential case is that of Croatian Gen. Ante Gotovina. The
Gotovina case threatens to destabilize Croatia; it also raises
the possibility Mr. Clinton and several of his other top
administration officials will be indicted by the Balkans war
crimes tribunal.
The decision last year by the ruling coalition government
in Zagreb to hand Gen. Gotovina over to The Hague tribunal has
sparked a political crisis in this small country. While the
general remains in hiding, the popularity of Socialist Prime
Minister Ivica Racan has plummeted.
Gen. Gotovina was indicted in June 2001 by the
prosecutor's office at The Hague on charges that he
exercised "command responsibility" over a 1995 military
operation that resulted in the expulsion of 150,000 ethnic
Serbs from Croatia. Supported by the Clinton administration,
Croatian forces launched a massive, three-day military
offensive — known as "Operation Storm" — on Aug. 4, 1995, in
which Croatia recovered territories occupied by rebel Serbs
following the country's drive for independence from Yugoslavia
in 1991. Gen. Gotovina is not accused of committing or
ordering war crimes, but simply of being in charge when
alleged atrocities were committed.
However, by this standard, the Clinton administration is
also guilty. Washington provided valuable military and
technical assistance to Operation Storm. The Clinton foreign
policy team rightly concluded that the only way to tilt the
strategic balance of power in the Balkans against the Serbs
was to arm and unleash the Croatian army.
Zagreb's lightening military offensive not only restored
Croatia's territorial integrity, but more importantly helped
to achieve the central goal of American foreign policy in the
region: putting an end to Mr. Milosevic's dream of an
ethnically pure "Greater Serbia." The operation significantly
advanced U.S. interests in the Balkans, helping to pave the
way for the Dayton Accords that brought peace to neighboring
Bosnia.
Yet U.S. support and approval for the military offensive
means the indictment against Gen. Gotovina could lead to the
prosecution by tribunal at The Hague of Mr. Clinton and other
administration officials on charges of having "command
responsibility" for alleged war crimes that were committed
during the operation. The prosecutor's office now is examining
whether to investigate Mr. Clinton and former Ambassador
Richard Holbrooke for their role in Operation Storm. It is
only a matter of time before they are made to appear before
the tribunal.
The Bush administration has become increasingly concerned
with the implications of the Gotovina case for the United
States. The State Department is now urging the tribunal's
chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, to send cases involving
Croatian military officials back to the domestic courts in
Zagreb. But Mrs. Del Ponte has refused to cooperate, insisting
that Gen. Gotovina be arrested and sent to The Hague.
That would be a mistake. The indictment is deeply flawed
and should be dropped immediately. There is no evidence Gen.
Gotovina acted improperly or oversaw war crimes. Most of the
atrocities committed — the murder of 500 civilians, the
looting of property and the burning of 40,000 homes and barns —
took place after the operation was completed, when the
recovered territories fell under the control of local police.
Moreover, the Gotovina case establishes an ominous
precedent for U.S. foreign policy. The importance of Operation
Storm was that it served as a model for Operation Enduring
Freedom in Afghanistan. The Croatian military acted as the de
facto ground troops for the United States in its effort to
defeat Mr. Milosevic. A similar approach was taken in the war
in Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance provided the bulk of the
ground forces during the Bush administration's campaign to
topple the Taliban regime from power.
But if the theory of "command responsibility" is upheld
in the Gotovina case, then the United States can be made
accountable for the actions of its allies around the world.
There will be nothing preventing the International Criminal
Court from making U.S. officials responsible for isolated
criminal acts that have been committed by Northern Alliance
troops.
Ultimately, the Gotovina indictment threatens to limit
Washington's ability to project its power around the world. In
fact, the case is emblematic of the dangers inherent in
international tribunals that have little transparency and are
not rooted in representative institutions.
There can never be lasting peace and reconciliation in
the former Yugoslavia until justice has been done to the
victims of the Balkan wars — whether they be Croats, Muslims,
or Serbs. There are still plenty of war criminals who remain
at large. They deserve to be indicted and sent to The Hague.
Neither Mr. Clinton nor Gen. Gotovina are one of them.
Jeffrey T. Kuhner is an assistant national editor at The
Washington Times.
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