used without permission, for "fair use" only

Window

Sniper

by Dusko CIZMIC MAROVIC

Slobodna Dalmacija, Split, Croatia, January 17, 2002

In 1991/1992, were residents of Zagreb targets of Serb snipers, or was that simply a rumor used as a justification for eviction of Serbs from their apartments? The debate regarding this issue, day before yesterday, during the TV program Forum hosted by legendary Hloverka Novak-Srzic, was an excellent illustration of the spiritual and moral crossroads at which Croatia finds itself today.

At the mention of "snipers in Zagreb", Zarko Puhovski, one of the new arrivals to the Croatian TV programs, warned, namely, that there were no snipers in Zagreb. In Zagreb, no one was ever killed or wounded during the war by a sniper, and all those taken into custody under sniping charges were released within 48 hours. However, many apartments belonging to "snipers" were occupied while they were held in custody. We have the obligation, Puhovski concluded, above all to speak the truth.

Slaven Letica, one of the most frequent guests of various Croatian TV programs, replied by claiming that Puhovski has "Stalinist attitude" with respect to the truth. According to Letica, the truth has "plural character"... Thus, we should hear "both Croat and Serb truth about Vukovar, and Croat truth about snipers, and this, how shall I refer to it..." Letica failed to finish.

Thus, Letica transformed a brazen lie into "the Croat truth". The theory according to which lie is the Croatian type of the truth, is a powerful theory. Isn't precisely that theory the basis for the transformation of the socialist economy through wholesale robbery of state owned property, while executions of Serb civilians were described as a showdown with the illusions of the concept of brotherhood and unity? Namely, Letica's invention of a suicide by a shot from a sniper rifle, should not be left without reaction.


Translated on January 14, 2003
Slobodna Dalmacija