tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23301331.post115940019098114604..comments2023-10-28T05:02:10.442-04:00Comments on Americans For Bosnia: "Fools' Crusade" Chapter One [21]Kirk Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06879908614214050994noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23301331.post-1159473841969716302006-09-28T16:04:00.000-04:002006-09-28T16:04:00.000-04:00Thanks to all of you for your kind and thoughtful ...Thanks to all of you for your kind and thoughtful comments. When I look at the fine work you all do and the depth of all of your knowledge and research, it's really humbling and inspiring.<BR/><BR/>I'm still mulling over my next post; I want to address the "Islamic Question" at some length. Post 9/11, Bosnian genocide revisionists seem to feel that the "Islamicist" label is a particularly damning tool to use against the Bosnian Muslim leadership. I think the subject of Islam needs to be addressed directly.Kirk Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06879908614214050994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23301331.post-1159472152971186872006-09-28T15:35:00.000-04:002006-09-28T15:35:00.000-04:00Another offensive lie is that war-time president A...Another offensive lie is that war-time president Alija Izetbegovic was a mujaheedin or "Muslim terrorist" etc. Izetbegovic - leader of Party for Democratic Action - was one of key figures responsible for destruction of communism in Yugoslavia. He fought for democratic, secular, multicultural, and internationally recognized Bosnia-Herzegovina. He wrote several books analyzing Islam. Serb propagandists took some of his statements out of context, as Noel Malcom ("Bosnia: Short History") pointed out.<BR/><BR/>More than any other text, the Islamic Declaration is cited by Serbian nationalist propaganda as evidence of dangerous 'Islamic fundamentalism' in Europe which must be suppressed... or else. Often cited to justify persecution of the Bosnian Muslim civilian population during the former war, the Declaration and its author, Mr. Alija Izetbegovic, former president of Bosnia, have been demonized and frequently blamed for the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. One might explain these accusations as viscous political propaganda brought on by war. However, as early as 1983, Izetbegovic and his writings were the target of a virulent campaign against Islam in Communist Yugoslavia. This campaign had its contemporary roots in the early 1970's when Bosniaks were allowed for the first time to declare themselves as a national group, but its deeper roots may lie in what Serbian scholar Bogdan Denitch calls "the pathological suspicion and hatred of Muslim Slavs."<BR/><BR/>Serbian propagandists (and other left-apologists) took out of context President Izetbegovic's words from Islamic Declaration (Izetbegovic's book criticising Islamic governments): "There can be no peace or co-existence between the Islamic Faith and non Islamic institutions". Part II of the Declaration, "The Islamic Order," explains how Muslim society should be reorganized based on Islamic principles. Parts of this section are often quoted out of context to prove that the Declaration advocates violence. It is crucial to note that Izetbegovic was speaking here of Islamic countries in which false modernist or conservative Islamic doctrines have been institutionalized in the political and social system. He was simply criticising Islamic governments and in many instances praised Western achievements. He was not speaking of Western countries or his native Bosnia-Herzegovina (Bosnia is not even mentioned in the book). A close reading of the Declaration reveals that Izetbegovic was advocating a cultural, not a political revolution, especially in countries (like Yugoslavia) where Muslims were a minority. As Noel Malcolm pointed out, Bosnia was not even mentioned in Izetbegovic's book and he even praised Christian governments and Christian achievements in arts and science.Srebrenica Genocidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04537958649391909339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23301331.post-1159408106000463272006-09-27T21:48:00.000-04:002006-09-27T21:48:00.000-04:00Excellent job once again.This sums it up perfectly...Excellent job once again.<BR/><BR/>This sums it up perfectly:<BR/><BR/>[blockquote]"Simple distinctions sometimes confound her; her failure to grasp the true meaning of 'genocide' might be wrapped up in her inability to distinguish between different levels of war crimes, from isolated incidents carried out by rouge units versus predetermined state policies. "[/blockquote]<BR/><BR/>As you said, there is a difference between isolated war crimes and atrocities committed by rogue inviduals, commanders and units, AND a systemetic, top-down policy to commit pre-meditated crimes for the purpose of creating an ethnically pure state. <BR/><BR/>Reading Johnstone, I feel as if I have entered a vortex where common sense, morality, and common decency have been left behind and replaced with conspiracy theories and outright racism and bigotry.<BR/><BR/>Every "fact" she mentions is taken entirely out of context in order to fit her agenda.<BR/><BR/>And she seems to have no awareness of the irony of the fact that in her attempt to show that there was no genocide in Bosnia, and that the Bosniaks and Bosnian-Croats were the primary institigators of the war; she has utilized the same arguments used by the RS and Belgrade leadership to carry out genocide in Bosnia.<BR/><BR/><BR/>I don't even need to read the book to know that Johnstone makes no mention of Greek or Russian irregulars. The degree of her hypocrisy is amazing.Shainahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04254890410995215990noreply@blogger.com