by Ivan Kristic, TRN, Tomslavgrad, Herceg-Bosna, 9/12/95
When the current state of things and the historic truth meet each other in the wastelands of the historic reality, almost without an exception, the truth is set aside and current state of things taken into account, no matter how unjust it might be and without regard to the evil methods which were used to achieve it. This is obvious today, in the search for the peaceful solution of the Bosnian crisis.
The River Drina - Line Between Catholicism and Orthodoxy
Is there anyone with a trace of education who doesn't know that the river Drina has for eons been the border between two worlds? Emperor Theodossius divided in year 379 Roman Empire into two halves, the Eastern and the Western one; the Drina was the line of division and it remained the border for centuries. When in 1054, a schism occured in the Christian church, the Drina was again the border between Catholics and the Orthodox. It remained like this until the Turkish penetration and the spreading of the Ottoman Empire to our territories. The Turks moved this border to the west; the Orthodox moved in front of them, and later with them, to the west. All those who finished primary school and attended a history class on which the history of the Vojna Krajina was taught, know well how the Austro-Hungarian Empire received and used the Orthodox. Serbs, therefore, crossed the Drina in the medieval times, sometimes fleeing the Turks and sometimes as their loyal servants. When the Versailles Yugoslavia was formed in 1918, and Serbia as a state, admittedly under Yugoslav sign-board - Serb politicians always thought of Yugoslavia as of greater Serbia, which it, in fact, always has been - crossed the Drina. The destruction of the first and second Yugoslavia is already history, as well as the Serb aggression against Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, initiated according to the plan from the memorandum [of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, SANU]; the plan for destruction of unfortunate Yugoslavia and formation of the phantom "greater Serbia".
That is the history; the cruel reality of the present situation is Serbian occupation of eastern Slavonia and Baranja, a large part of Bosnia-Hercegovina and a total serbization of Vojvodina, which until 1918 has never been Serbian. In order to complete the picture, it is necessary to add that the Serb hick-fascism has taken away the rights of the Albanian majority in Kosovo, which is colonized and where the terror of the Serbian police-death-squads rules; the situation in Sandzak, where Muslims are the majority, is similar. Every peace initiative, unfortunately, must start with the reality and that is, as a starting point, almost the central premise. Historic truths are history and, after all, past, obsolete situations.
NATO is Bombing Serbs in Order to Force Them to the Negotiating Table
The latest American negotiation initiative which is similar to the Contact Group plan, starts from the situation in the field and takes into account the present relations between the sides. Although this plan is inconsistent and, as its name indicates, a peace initiative which is yet to be shaped into a peace proposal, it, to a large extent, takes into account results of Serb aggression and to the nation which was some 30% of the population in Bosnia gives almost half of the state. Well, now pessimists or realists, call them whatever you like, are in their element and notice that Alija Izetbegovic, the leader of the majority people in Bosnia was responsible for fooling his people into believing that there would be no war, when even the pupils in the schools for retarded persons were convinced that the war was coming. When the war started, while Croatia was burning and barehanded was resisting the chetnik invasion and an attempt to establish greater serbian border along the line Virovitica-Karlovac-Ogulin-Karlobag, while the serbochetnik hordes were destroying Ravno and Croatian townships in the south of Bosnia-Hercegovina, Izetbegovic was telling his people that that war was not theirs. Of course, this was not only a political nearsightedness, but also a total blindness; today it is useless to expect from the world powers to wage a war against the Serbs, defeat them militarily and serve Bosnia-Hercegovina on the plate to Muslims, so that they can build a Jamahiria, i.e. an Islamic state, out of it.
Action of NATO aircraft, as well as those of the rapid reaction force artillery, against Bosnian Serbs' artillery, radar and anti-aircraft systems, should be understood as an attempt to bring Bosnian Serbs to the negotiating table and not, although the Muslim media and their propaganda try to portray it as such, as an attempt of the world powers to militarily defeat Serbs. It is true that the Serbs best understand the language of force - Croatian operation Storm clearly showed that - but it is an undeniable truth that the world powers do not have an interest in starting a crusade against the Serbs and siding with the Muslims. On the contrary, judging from the so far known details of the American peace initiative, the Americans still count on Serbs. Serbia, actually, during this war didn't suffer from destruction on its territory; not even a single window pane has been broken as a result of the war. Economic sanctions, to tell the truth, have broken the backbone of the Serbian economy, but the Serbs were never good businessmen, after all. It seems, so far, that the Americans want to bring them to the negotiating table and give them a chance to defend through diplomacy majority of that which they have conquered and ethnically cleansed with aggression and the policy of the darkest genocide.
How Can One Win Serbs Over..?!
Besides, it is unreasonable to forget that the United States of America are trying to bring Serbia out of the Russian sphere of influence and win it over to their side.
In view of this information, the trip of Slobodan Milosevic [Serbian president] to Moscow and his conversation with Boris Yeltsin, gets a new dimension and fits well with the serbian bluffing, armenian-like haggling, Balkan prostitution. If we keep in mind that diplomacy is a follower of the oldest profession, Serbs are, therefore, engaging in diplomacy and want to sell themselves to the highest bidder. In light of these facts, somewhat clearer become ostensible Serbian misunderstandings, alleged Milosevic's anger with Karadzic, clash between the hairy mountain monster from Durmitor [Karadzic] and the storm-trooper Mladic [Commander of Bosnian Serb Army]. Kaj god [whatever], as our Zagorci would say. Well, all of them are players in the grotesque called "making of the greater Serbia." The way things are now it is still not clear whether it will really be greater or somewhat less greater Serbia; whether the Americans will allow that those 49% of Bosnia-Hercegovina form a confederative link with Rumposlavia, or whether that possibility will be denied. So far this is still unclear. According to some informations, this will be allowed, which would be the beginning of the end of Bosnia-Hercegovina as a sovereign state. If the Serbs are denied union with their mother Serbia, but allowed only cultural and other links, there is hope for Bosnia-Hercegovina, although it is slim and unconvincing.
What We Can Do, and What We Will Be Allowed To Do
Some of those well acquainted with the American peace initiative say that the unfortunate Bosnia-Hercegovina should be a loose union made up from the Croatian-muslim federation and the Serb entity, with a well-known division of territory - 51% to the Muslim-Croat Federation and 49% to the Bosnian Serbs. According to one version, the Federation would have a right to form a confederation with the Republic of Croatia and, according to another one it wouldn't. Devil knows what is correct and what is the truth in that. It is the fact that Croatian "representatives" are following Alija Izetbegovic from Paris to Ankara, treated as a united federal delegation; on the other hand, judging from the actions of the muslim authorities and their propaganda in the media, the hopes for the Federation, let alone the confederation, are slim. However, if one tries to push aside verbal weed and tries to find a grain of truth in everything, it becomes obvious that the muslims are still lost in Bosnian fogs. They are persistently fooling themselves with an illusion of a whole and unitary Bosnia under their domination; the likelihood of this outcome is zero. The muslims don't have political influence, nor military strength to realize this, even if the war went on for another decade. Nevertheless, everyone has a right for illusions, even the muslims. After all, why would they be better than others!?
Once we pose the important question, "where is the Croatian people and realization of Croatian interests in all this?", the answer contains the following elements: Croatian Defense Council (HVO) now controls about 17% of the territory of Bosnia-Hercegovina, with chances to increase its part if the world powers do not stop liberation while the peace plan doesn't take its final shape, is accepted and signed. Here, we refer to the historic Croatian territories of Jajce, Komusina and Bosanska Posavina and Trebinje as Dubrovnik's natural hinterland. It is hard to say what will come out of it. It depends, not only on what we can do, but also on what we will be allowed to do. Fundamental in all this are the confidence in one's own strength, strengthening of Croatian unity and realization that united and strong are respected and weak pitied and then forgotten and despised. We do not have ambitions to be a threat to someone, but we can insure the future respect. By acting like this we can have a free Croatia and insure the equal rights and status of the Croatian people in Bosnia-Hercegovina, regardless whether it will be a union or something else.
