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(E) Letter to MacShane, MP
By Nenad N. Bach | Published  10/31/2005 | Opinions | Unrated
(E) Letter to MacShane, MP

 

One has to read with shock and total amazement your commentary

 

Hilda M. Foley
National Federation of Croatian Americans
13272 Orange Knoll
North Tustin, CA 92705

The Hon. Denis MacShane, MP.
House of Commons
London, SW1A 0AA, UK Oct. 1, 2005

Dear Sir,

One has to read with shock and total amazement your commentary of 9/30 in the Financial Times
"European Union must square up to Croatia on charges against Gotovina". Are you really so
ill-informed about Croatia's General Gotovina's role in the liberation of rebel Serb occupied Croatian
territory in the so-called Krajina, or is it your typical British Government's affinity for the Serb cause,
no matter how illegal and barbaric?

The sheer idea of Gen. Gotovina being accused of "command responsibility" even though he never
gave any commands for deliberate destruction or the killing of some 150 Serb civilians (it does not
seem to cross anyone's mind that some of these Serb civilians gave armed resistance) should then
also be applied to British and American generals when their troops act against Geneva conventions.
Indeed, Gen. Gotovina angrily addressed his subordinates upon hearing of some occurrences of
killings and there were several trials of the guilty ones. While Croatia extradited all but this one
fugitive, who is not in Croatia, Serbs still hide Bosnia's leader Karadzic and Gen. Mladic, who
directly ordered the killing of thousands of people first in Croatia and then in Bosnia. It is outrageous
that a comparison with Gotovina could even be made. It should also be remembered that these ethnic
Serbs occupied with the help of Serb paramilitary and the Yugoslav army one third of Croatia, where
they ethnically cleansed the entire Croat population, looting and destroying their homes and properties
and committing untold atrocities. Mass graves in Croatia testify to this barbarism.

To charge Gotovina of "ethnic cleansing" is ludicrous, as was made quite clear during the ICTY trial of Milosevic that the Serb population of the Krajina, some 150-200 thousand, were ordered to evacuate
by their own leadership, Serb Gen. Mrksic and "president" Martic. This was confirmed by them in an interview by the Belgrade newspaper "Politika" on Aug. 25. 1995. It is not surprising that Gen.
Gotovina refuses to give himself up, because he knows he is falsely accused and seeing how the
Bosnian Croat Gen. Blaskic, falsely accused, was given a 45 year sentence and after serving nine
years was just recently freed when the wrong conviction was overturned. Obviously there is rampant
injustice and bias against Croatia in some very high places.

Remarking that Tudjman and Milosevic policies caused the "Balkan war" you obviously follow the
West's mantra of "equally guilty" without realizing the simple truth that all of the Yugoslav Republics
had the constitutional right to secede and Serbia had no right to stop them. Croatia and Slovenia
legitimately voted for democracy and independence from Serb domination after the first free
democratic elections in 1990, while Serbia remained communist. Obviously this did not agree with Milosevic's and the nationalist Serbs' longtime dream of "Greater Serbia". In contrast, Croatians
never stepped a foot on Serb soil.

Very truly yours,

Hilda M. Foley

cc: Financial Times, London
 

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