Editor's note: This reply, from Alex M. in Belgrade, is in response to Two Views About the Serbs - Are they Monsters or Have We been Lied to?posted last week in response to e-mails I received concerning the Legion of Merit awarded the Serb WW II General Mihailovich, who saved the lives of over 500 American pilots downed over Yugoslavia in World War II. This led to an outpouring of angry responses by Bosnian Muslims and Croatians in Europe, Canada, and the United States to the Bush Administration allowing the 57 year old award to be given to Mihailovich's 78 year old daughter. During the same week that the Award finally reached Belgrade, President Bush apologized in Latvia for the decision made by wartime allies Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Yalta in 1945 that caused Latvia and other Eastern Europeans nations, and Yugoslavia, to suffer for 5 decades under Communist dictators. Yalta also led to the execution of General Milailovich execution by the communist leader Josif Tito, thereby allowing Yugoslavia to be turned over to Communist control. The writer of this response lives in Belgrade.
From: Alex M., Belgrade
May 25, 2005
No nation is ideal. No nation is perfect. The Americans wiped out an entire continent of Native American Indians. They dropped 2 nuclear bombs on Japan, killing tens of thousands of civillians, they massacred the Vietnamese and bombed God knows how many countries so far... The French had their share of conquests under Napoleon... Look what the colonial powers did - France in Algeria, England in India. The Germans had Hitler. The Italians had Musolinni. The Serbs had Milosevic.
And this is where the West puts an equal sign between Hitler and Milosevic. Well, Milosevic was not trying to conquer the world. Milosevic did not have gas chambers and concentration camps. To be humorous, Hitler was a failed artist, Milosevic was not an artist at all - he was a failed communist who realised that he would not be another Tito.
The cause of the civil war in Yugoslavia aided by the United States, Europe, Saudi Arabia, Turrkey and other nations, was not a war of Serbs just waking up one day and deciding to have a Greater Serbia. When the war started, none of the republics were recognized yet, the only recognized entity worldwide was Yugoslavia, and the Serbs wanted to preserve Yugoslavia, as every country would want to do. The Croats and the Muslims were arming themselves up - that was no secret, the whole process was even filmed by Yugoslav military intelligence. How would the United States act if a rebellious group would want to secede California? We know what happened in Waco, Texas. Uncle Sam shot first, and asked questions later. Nationalism did not exist just in Serbia, it was equally poisonous in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo.
The Kosovo Albanians have been trying to secede from Yugoslavia for 20 years, perhaps longer. Their numerous terrorist attacks on Serbian and Yugoslav forces have been noted over the years. In 1989 the state of emergency was proclaimed in Kosovo. By 1990 Croatia was armed to its teeth. The Serbs, being the most numerous people of Yugoslavia, saw a scenario from WW 2 repeat itself. Croatia was becoming a fascist state again, just as it was in WW 2. The Serbs never forgot the genocide that the Croats have committed in WW 2. But, this time the Serbs in Croatia would not just sit aorund and wait to be slaughtered. If Croatia were to decide to leave Yugoslavia, then Croatian Serbs will want to stay in Yugoslavia or even join Serbia proper. A similar thing happened in Bosnia. The Muslims and the Croats of Bosnia had joined forces with the Nazi-sponsored Croats known as Ustashe during WW2, and the Serbs did not forget that, either. Muslims in the 1990s wanted the entire Bosnia to be made into an islamic state, the Croats of Bosnia wanted to join Croatia proper, and the Serbs of Bosnia did not want a repeat of WW 2 - they wanted to stay in Yugoslavia or join Serbia proper. The whole Yugoslav conflict was basically centered around the Serbo-Croat relations. Bosnia was sort of stuck in between.
In such a Balkan mess, fueled by internal religious, historical and ethnic hatred and sponsored from the outside by various countries, and particularly if one reads the history of WW 1 and WW 2 in the Balkans, making simple conclusions like - these are the good guys and those are the bad guys - which is such infantile reasoning of the US administration, is wrong. During the 1990s, the Serbs were ALWAYS the devils, the monsters. Always the bad guys and never the victims (or rarely). The Western propaganda had been fueled by lies. When Croats destroyed the famous Mostar bridge, the Serbs were to blame, even when both the Croats and the Muslims had practically cleansed all Serbs from that area. When the Bosnian war started, it was claimed that the first victim was a Muslim woman. In fact, the first victim of that horrible war was a Serb who was shot at during a wedding procession, by a Muslim. When graveyards of Serbs were shown, with crosses and cyrilic writing on them, it was portrayed as the Muslim victims etc. During the 1990s it was popular to be anti-Serb.
The fact that Serbia had 800,000 refugees, never bothered anyone. Where did they come from? They didn't fall out of nowhere, they had to be expelled from some place. And they were. And that is why today there are virtually no Serbs in parts of Croatia, in Kosovo, in the Muslim-Croat Bosnian Federation... Serbs have been expelled from places where they had been living for centuries. The world ignored the suffering of Serbia and the Serbian people, as was the case of the exodus of Serbs from Krajina (Croatia). The truth is that every nation in the Yugoslav wars except for Slovenia, has commited ethnic cleansing. The Serbs, the Croats, the Muslims, the Kosovo Albanians. Yet only the Serbs were punished. First by media terror - most of the reports that you would see on CNN, SKY, BBC etc were totally biased, while many had been a lie. Then, when the climate had been achieved so that the Serbs were viewed as the ultra-bad guys, the country was placed under sanctions, perhaps the toughest sanctions that the world has ever seen. Then the Serbs were bombed. Nato's first ever mission was to bomb the Serbs.
The Serbs survived many things. Turkish invasion and several centuries of utmost brutality by islamic conquerors, and we do not hate the Turks - we go there on summer holidays nowadays. Two world wars in which the Serbs fought on the allied side both times and suffered enormously. The Serbs did not invade Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Germany. But, all of those countries have at one time or another invaded and attacked Serbia, some more than on one occassion. And Germany is now our biggest or one of the biggest partners in foreign trade, while hundreds of thousands of Serbs live in Germany. The Serbs survived communism under Tito. They survived Milosevic. They survived the sanctions and the Nato bombs. And yet we do not hate the US and the EU. Most of us want to be in the EU and want the support of Washington (if you want anything done these days, you need that support).
The West, particularly England and the United States, have betrayed their Christian ally first when they bombed Serbia during WW 2 just because Tito asked them to, then because they made a deal with Stalin that Yugoslavia is to be a communist country. When someone asked Churchill why he was handing Yugoslavia over to the communists, the well known UK prime minister said coldly - "So what, you are not going to be living there." The Serbs were again betrayed by their so-called allies during the 1990s, when they were demonized to a degree which is simply not rational, then those same allies dropped their so-called smart and humane bombs. And we still do not hate any nation. We have our strong disagreements with Croats, Muslims (Bosniaks), Albanians. But, those feuds go way back. Inspite of that, Serbia and Montenegro is truly the only country that has kept its minorities and that is multi-religious and multi-cultural. Croatia, the Muslim-Croat part of Bosnia, Kosovo - all ethnically cleansed of most of its Serbian minorities. The Republika Srpska - the Serbian part of Bosnia is practically cleansed of its Muslim and Croat population. And so forth. But, Serbia and Montenegro is not like that. There have been incidents and problems over the years, but not so big, considering what went on in Bosnia, Kosovo or Croatia.
The West is slowly shifting sides and starting to like the Serbs again. Now that the US is waging what it calls a war on global (islamic) terror, now that it has emerged that Bosnian Muslims and the KLA have in fact been dealing with Osama bin Laden himself, that there are mujahedins in Bosnia, etc, the US is in a sort of a tight spot. The biggest nation in what was Yugoslavia, Serbia, is now the best US ally in the fight against islamic expansionism and terrorism - in places like Macedonia, Kosovo, Southern Serbia, Bosnia. So, the US has slowly started shifting sides. Slowly, because it does not want to anger the oil producing Arab countries on which it is dependant for oil. The fact that things are shifting for the benefit of Serbia, is that after the Albanian madness in Kosovo during March 2004, the US had finally admitted that the KLA were terrorists. Not extremists. Not freedom fighters. But, terrorists. The US didn't say it over a megaphone, loud enough for the world to hear, they said it rather quietly, but at least they said it. A few days ago the EBRD had its conference in Belgrade. Not London, Paris, or even Sarajevo, but Belgrade. This was an indirect signal to Serbia - the US and the EU are saying - look, work with us and we will put you on the map once again, we will make Serbia the center of the Balkans as it was and as it will be. Stability in the Balkans cannot exist unless stability exists in Serbia. I guess now it's clear to everyone. The demons are suddenly the good guys. 3,000 bankers, economists and politicans came to Belgrade from all over Europe and the Balkans to say it - to say: look, we want you in the EU, we will support you, etc, etc.
When the Kosovo Albanians realize that independence of Kosovo is not so easy to achieve - because Kosovo had NEVER been its own Republic, never been its own state, never been part of Albania (it was part of the Greater Albania during WW 2, sponsored by the Nazis, but that hardly counts). It had always been part of the Serbian state, except in periods of occupation by the Ottoman Tursks or Nazis. And so, in solving the Kosovo issue, the world will have to take into account the historical rights of the Serbs and the ethnic (majority) rights of the Albanians. When the Albanians realise that independence will probably not be the final solution, but some kind of compromise that will also have to satisfy to some extent the Serbs, the Albanians will go crazy just like in March 2004. Perhaps then they will even attack KFOR and UNMIK and then will the Americans realise who it was they were actually supporting. Sooner or later the Albanians will turn against their Western allies. Guess whom the Americans will call in for help, in order to spare US lives - the Serbs. Whatever equation you put on the Balkans, you cannot solve it without the Serbs. Whatever game one plays in the Balkans, one can't win the game without involving the Serbs, in one way or another.
So, the answer to your question - are the Serbs monsters is - NO. The Serbs did have their share of crimes in the former Yugoslavia, but they have suffered long enough - they have endured sanctions, the bombings and demonization in the Western media. The other sides have also committed crimes, no doubt about that, but were not punished at all. Some were even rewarded by having their states, which had never existed before, recognized by the world. The Balkan history is extremely complex. Before anyone should just point a finger at the "bad Serb", please read some history first, particularly pay attention as to what countries existed and when, who was first recognized in modern times, who lived where, who played what part during both world wars. The West has done a great deal of harm to the Serbian people. But, we are an enduring people. We are resilliant. What is ironic is that, even after everything that has happened, most of us, especially the young people, still consider the West as our friends and allies.
Crimes and war crimes are an individual category. Serbia is now a democratic state that has received the green light from the EU regarding the Feasibility Study. Milosevic should have been tried and shot in Belgrade because the most harm of his rule came to the Serbian people. Those responsible individuals on all sides will eventually end up in the Hague. If we were to qualify entire nations as monstrous, that would apply to almost every nation on this planet, because every nation has, at one time or another, done things it is not proud of. On the same issue, isn't it interesing - US soldiers can not be tried for war crimes in the international tribunal. What makes the US soldiers special? We have seen the tortures of Iraqi prisoners... Why is it okay to pressure Serbia to send the accused to the Hague, and it is not okay to send a US soldier to the Hague? Why are the big powers always toying around with small countries, pressuring and blackmailing (or bombing) them into submission? The Hague is the ideal toy in Washington's hands to keep on pressuring Belgrade.
The Serbs are not monsters. Our relations with the peoples of the former Yugoslavia are complex. We've been at each other's throats for centuries. They are not the angels, and we are not the devils. When foreigners are concerned, you will see that Serbs can offer exceptional hospitality.
And your second question - have you (the American public) been lied to? Yes, greatly. But, lies cannot prevail. The world will learn that the Markale and the Vase Miskina incidents in Sarajevo were plotted by the Muslims. The nation that used to be Muslims and now calls itself Bosniaks, has murdered its own people in order to provoke the West to bomb the Serbs (which it did). That is known - the Bosnian television (TV Sarajevo) was right around the corner, some Canadian general testified --- he said that there was no way that the shells could come from the Serbian side - he was soon after that forced to retire... The world will know the truth, just like it has emerged after 57 years that general Mihailovich rescued 500 US airmen and the US medal was actually finally awarded... much to the disappointment to all others that did not get that medal.
We in Serbia have become so used to the West's lies and deceits, that we really do not care anymore. Speak and think of us whatever you wish, it will not harm us. We will survive and the truth will be known, someday. Yeah, sure, the Bosniaks or the Bosnians, whatever it is they call themselves these days, will tell you that the Serbian fellow who was shot at the wedding procession of his son, was carrying hidden guns. The Kosovo Albanians will mention the "hundreds of thousands" of murdered Albanians... except that nobody has ever found them. The Kosovo Albanians will even say that the Serbs of Kosovo, who are deeply religious, have set their own churches on fire. If any of you believe that, well, that is your right. But that doesn't make it the truth.