ICTY is Dead!
The Croatian Worldwide Association (CWA) once again demands that the ICTY immediately releases and drops all bogus charges against Croatian General Ante Gotovina, and all other Croatian indictees. General Gotovina stopped three war criminals, Milosevic, Karadzic and Mladic and their four wars in the region. The Milosevic forces perpetuated and executed the worst war crimes in the region since World War II. General Gotovina must never face trial at The Hague. This UN Court must not put on trial the man who saved thousands of lives by stopping Milosevic’s aggression. It is outrageous that General Gotovina is in prison for undertaking Operation Storm which achieved the objective of ending Milosevic’s wars - with the acknowledged assistance of the United States. "He deserves the Noble Peace Prize rather than to be indicted as a war criminal." (Croatian present crisis). Milosevic, or better known as the “The Butcher of the Balkans,” as the U.S. described him, or the "Ayatollah Khomeini of Serbia," as he once described himself, has died in The Hague’s prison today.
Milosevic masterminded and put in motion the conflict that killed at least 10,000 Croatians and 200,000 people in Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to the Associated Press and Washington Post, “… ethnic Serbs in Croatia, encouraged by Milosevic, took up arms. Milosevic responded by sending the Serb-led Yugoslav army to intervene, triggering a conflict that killed at least 10,000 people [Croatians]. Three months later, Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence. Milosevic bankrolled a Bosnian Serb rebellion, triggering a worse war that killed an estimated 200,000 people before a U.S.-brokered peace agreement was reached at Dayton, Ohio, in 1995.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Chief Negotiator for the Dayton Peace Accords, Richard Holbooke, said today on CNN Saturday Morning:
Well, Milosevic started four wars. He lost them all. The biggest of them all was the one in Bosnia, where over 300,000 people died, two-and-a-half million homeless. And we bombed him in August and September of 1995. We should have done this much earlier.
Led by President Clinton, the NATO powers bombed them. And then we took him and the leaders of Croatia and Bosnia to Dayton and we locked them up for 21 days and we pushed them into a peace agreement, threatening them with bombing again if they didn't come around.
That agreement has held for over 10 years. No one has started a war. No one has been killed. Not one NATO or American soldier has been killed since. And the American troops, which were originally 20,000, are down to 100. So that's the short story of Dayton.
But I think today's story is that this man, this monster, this war criminal who wrecked southeastern Europe in the latter part of the 20th century, is gone from the scene once and for all. But he -- his mark is enduring, Betty, and it isn't very good.
…Well, I said Milosevic is over. But Karadzic and Mladic are still out there and the failure by NATO to capture them is a big disgrace.
…Betty, I spent more time with Milosevic probably than any other Westerner. I'm not going to shed any tears for him. He was a sociopath. He had no real emotions about people. By the way, both his own parents committed suicide. He was a communist opportunist then he became an opportunistic nationalist.
He -- his actions led to the deaths of over 300,000 people, four wars, the destruction of stability in southeastern Europe, the creation of criminal gangs. Let's talk about the victims of his actions. He was never going to see daylight again and that was appropriate and now he's gone.
Former President Clinton said in a statement released by his office in New York:
"I am sorry that his trial will not be completed, and that he did not acknowledge and apologize for his crimes before his death. Nevertheless, his capture and trial will serve as a reminder that egregious crimes against humanity will not be tolerated." (Washington Post March 11, 2006)
The Croatian government, especially Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and President Stipe Mesic, should immediately resign because they pride themselves in capturing and extraditing General Ante Gotovina to The Hague. Even after Milosevic’s death and Milan Babic’s suicide, and also while Mladic and Karadzic remain at large, the Croatian government has not demanded that General Gotovina be freed of all ridiculous charges by the ICTY. Instead, they have been supporting and working with the very court who falsely indicted General Gotovina in the first place.
In tandem with their outrageous charges and accusations against Croatians, the ICTY unjust practices continue with the court order issued March 10 in the case of two indicted Croatian journalists for "contempt of the Tribunal," while four other journalists are awaiting trial. The ICTY ordered each journalist pay a 15,000 EURO fine. The ICTY is dead because it has showed the world they are nothing more than a political and kangaroo court: A mock court set up in violation of established legal procedure and a court characterized by dishonesty or incompetence.