In his widely published Op-Ed Serb Leader's Arrest Sparks Memories* Richard Holbrooke recounts his one and only meeting with Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. It was a tense encounter, and his brief account is worth reading. What most interested me was this revelation:
" Karadzic was silent at the start of our meeting. Then, when he heard our demand that the siege of Sarajevo be lifted immediately, he exploded. Rising from the table, the American-educated Karadzic raged in passable English about the "humiliations" his people were suffering. I reminded Milosevic that he had promised that this sort of harangue would not occur. Karadzic responded emotionally that he would call former President Carter, with whom he said he was in touch, and started to leave the table."
Ever since I initially posted my critique of Jimmy Carter's self-serving and disingenuous version of his involvement with Karadzic, it has been my intention both to edit and improve my original piece, and to look for other criticisms of his actions in Bosnia and further proof that he was, indeed, in the Bosnian Serb nationalist's corner. While Karadzic's tantrum is hardly a smoking gun, it can most certainly be viewed as circumstantial evidence. Even if we concede that Karadzic was bluffing, there must have been something to have triggered that outburst.
*I realize it may be too much to ask, but I wish he had been referred to as something other than "Serb Leader"; that's too much legitimacy for my taste.
6 comments:
"Humiilation" ?
What kind of humiliation was he talkin gabout? Not even 1 Bosnian Serb city was under siege. Karadzic's troops terrorized Sarajevo citizens on a daily basis killing 1,500 children and 12,000 people in Sarajevo.
Two Serb Generals were convicted by the ICTY on terrorism charges for their involvement in Sarajevo siege.
If that clown wanted to know what humiliation meant he should have been forced to sit and watch what we watched:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=lpP4yrwzLqg
Humiliation would have been knowing that he was the barbarian that elicited the bravery we saw from those people he betrayed and murdered.
Oh, I can't watch that video, it's so painful. Thanks haven we will all die one day.
Off topic: 7 Serbs convicted of Srebrenica genocide !!!!!
MUST SEE: Kirk,
Take a look at a photo of Karadzic posted on my blog. It's a close up of his gaunt and tired face. Visibly shaken, he appears to have cried. Take a look:
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2008/07/radovan-karadzic-court-appearance-gaunt.html
the serbs love to abuse the word humilliation.
everything is a humilliation.
I even heard a serb man saying to his wife that him whashing the dishes would be an humiliation. the rethorics of victimization is so well interiorized that it became a characteristic of national identity.
what amazes me is how easily foreigners reproduce such argument. it is as if serbs, unlike other peoples, were particularly sensitive and so we, foreigners are obliged to take special care for their extreme sensibility. that only plays in the hands of nationalists, while normal people who just want a normal life become hostages of such argument.
then of course it comes the rest: we are taking revenge because we feel humiliated, if you don't allow us to restaur our dignity through revenge, meaning that 'we will get you in trouble too if we want to, because we are powerful enough to upset the whole region', so if you don't want us to take revenge don't push us into it by nurturing those who humiliate us. they are the real culprits (because of the simple fact that 'they' exist, as it is most obvious in the argument of the treath of genocide that albanian children represent just for being born)
I call this blackmail, but unfortunately it seems to work quite well. all those who don't buy it are labeled 'anti-serb' and that's it...
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