What happened at Srebrenica?
"…the deaths in Srebrenica were due to the Bosnians, the Serbs and the Americans…"
Letters from Vienna #95
What happened at Srebrenica?
In September 2012 former CIA agent Robert Baer asserted that he’d been sent to Yugoslavia in January 1991 to help facilitate the dissolution of that particular country. One of his tasks involved disinformation: “The propaganda was aimed to divide the republics and to ensure that the states are separated from the mother of Yugoslavia. We had to choose a sacrificial lamb that could be blamed for everything. Someone who would be responsible for the war and the violence. Serbia was chosen because it is in some ways the successor of Yugoslavia.”[1]
One of his most startling claims concerned Srebrenica: “Srebrenica is an exaggerated story, and, unfortunately, many people have been manipulated by it. The numbers of the people killed…these were all part of the political marketing.”
He’s not alone in challenging the commonly accepted narrative. In February 2013 Dr. Edward Herman told John Robles that there was a whole series of massacres in 150 Serb villages during which 2,383 Serb civilians were killed between 1992 and July, 1995.[2]
According to Alexander Dorin and Zoran Jovanovic, who gathered (much of it deeply distressing) photographic evidence as well as eyewitness testimonies, the figures are substantially higher: “Anyone familiar with the previous history of the events in this small town (Srebrenica) should be aware that the Muslim army, led by the warlord Naser Orić, committed, during the years 1992-1995, mass crimes in the Podrinje region, where Srebrenica is also located, against the Serbian population, 70% of whom were civilians. Serbian organizations have so far collected the names of more than 3,280 Serbs who died in the Birac region, which is located in the Podrinje region, alone. In the whole of Eastern Bosnia, more than 190 Serbian villages were destroyed, as stated by the Dutch UN Commander Thomas J.P. (Thom) Karremans. Photos, videos and autopsy reports from Serbian pathologists prove this terror.”[3]
One of the accounts concerns the Stojanovic family, who, fearing for their lives, fled their village of Donja Kamenica in June 1992. Unfortunately, their eleven-year-old son, Slobodan, returned to pick up their dog but was caught and killed. When his body was recovered: “…some of his front teeth had been knocked out. The hands had been cut off up to the elbows. There were no toes and ears…”[4]
When the village of Brezane was attacked in 1992 “Kristina Lazic was shot and set on fire in her home, a blind woman and a mental patient to boot. Vidoje Lazic was crucified and set ablaze to die in great pain. They proceeded to set on fire his mother, brother-in-law and sister…”[5]
Of a different incident Rajko Jovanovic reported: “The Ustashis, launched their attack from behind, that is from the direction of Kravica, going downstream, where we hadn’t expected them, and they started their fierce attack by throwing a hand grenade at the house of Dragan Mladjenovic, which wounded him and killed his brother Andjelko. They also wounded Dragan’s and Andjelko’s mother: Slavka Mladjenovic. The group responsible for this attack included the nephews of Betko Kamenica, Munib, Ramiz, and Dzemail, the sons of Idriz Kamenica from Jaglici. Then there was his son Avdo, and the sons of Omer Alispahic from Jaglici, as well as the twins of Hamdija Alispahic also from Jaglici…”
“All of them together tortured Dragan Mladjenovic, hitting him with the handle of an ax, until they finally broke his skull…After that they fired another shot at Slavka and cut off Andjelko’s head…”[6]
Diane Johnstone wrote of these events: “Orić’s raiders chose the Orthodox Christmas day, 7 January 1993, to attack the village of Kravica, slaughtering villagers and burning homes. Forty-six Serbs were killed outright, some as they left church after Christmas services. The Western media almost entirely ignored the Christmas massacre at Kravica.”
“Between May 1992 and January 1994, some 192 Serb villages were pillaged and burnt, and over 1,300 villagers were killed, while many more fled.”
“In one of their raids, on 26 June 1995, Srebrenica-based Muslim units penetrated behind Serb lines to burn down the village of Visnjica and reported killing 40 “Chetniks” (meaning Serbs). To put a stop to these raids, the regional command of the Serb army hastily planned “Operation Krivaja 95”, initially aimed only at the non-demilitarized surroundings of Srebrenica municipality.”
“Izetbegović pulled Naser Orić out of Srebrenica prior to the anticipated Serb offensive, deliberately leaving the enclave undefended.”
“The Serb offensive changed its objective when it encountered no resistance, whether from the Muslims or from UNPROFOR. Finding Srebrenica undefended and in chaos, General Ratko Mladić abruptly ordered the Bosnian Serb forces to occupy the entire enclave including the center.”
“Various explanations have been offered for the Muslim command’s decision to abandon Srebrenica to Serb forces. Some observers have suggested that the Serb takeover was part of a secret or tacit tradeoff meant to simplify the forthcoming Dayton peace deal. Letting the Serbs overrun two of the Muslim enclaves in Serb-controlled eastern Bosnia could satisfy the demand of U.S. diplomats for simpler territorial division between the opposing parties. While gaining the enclaves of Srebrenica and Žepa, the Serbs were soon driven out of large stretches of solidly Serb-inhabited territory in western Bosnia (the Bosnian Krajina). This reduced the percentage of territory held by the Bosnian Serbs from almost 70 per cent to approximately 49 per cent, making it easier for Holbrooke to get the Muslims to accept a peace deal. Another suggestion is that Izetbegović had agreed to give up Srebrenica in exchange for the Serb-inhabited suburbs of Sarajevo but preferred to let the enclave be captured by force. The fact that the Izetbegović government did nothing to defend Srebrenica suggests not only a tacit deal, but also has aroused the strong suspicion of a calculated sacrifice. Offering the Bosnian Serbs an opportunity (likely to be seized) to carry out revenge killings could be more valuable to the cause than holding onto an impoverished enclave. The November 1999 UN Report on Srebrenica notes the following: “Some surviving members of the Srebrenica delegation have stated that President Izetbegovic also told them he had learned that a NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina was possible but could occur only if the Serbs were to break into Srebrenica, killing at least 5,000 of its people.””[7]
During the infamous massacre in Srebrenica of July, 1995 the “numbers executed there were probably in the order of between 500 and 1,000. In other words, less than half of the number of Serbs civilians killed before July, 1995.”[8] According to Phillip Corwin, the highest ranking United Nations civilian official in Bosnia-Herzegovina: “the figure of 8,000 killed, which is often bandied about in the international community, is an unsupportable exaggeration. The true figure may be closer to 800.”[9] After exhaustive study of the forensic evidence the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) came to the conclusion that: “Only 442 exhumed bodies could be classified as indisputable execution victims, as they had either blindfolds or ligatures”[10].
It’s also highly questionable whether Serbs were directly responsible for these deaths. As Germinal Civiko makes clear in his short, yet highly detailed book: “The Star Witness”, the official narrative suffers profound contradictions and a worrying want of clarity:
“On 25 August 2003, the Bosnian Croat, Dražen Erdemović, appeared as a Prosecution witness in the trial of the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milošević, at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. As a member of a special unit within the Bosnian Serb army, and together with seven other members of this unit, Erdemović is said to have shot between 1,000 and 1,200 Bosnian Muslim civilians on 16th July 1995 at Branjevo Farm near the village of Pilica north of Srebrenica. Milošević was accused, among other things, of responsibility for genocide of the Bosnian Muslims. Erdemović’s testimony pertained to this genocide, which is said to have been perpetrated in the days following the fall of Srebrenica on 11th July 1995 and in various places including on the land of Branjevo Farm near Pilica. Erdemović’s testimony gave no clues at all about whether or to what extent Milošević was responsible for these acts. Erdemović only confirmed that the mass murder had in fact taken place at Branjevo Farm. For the personal responsibility of Milošević, the Prosecution said it intended to provide further evidence. This has never been produced.”[11]
Civiko concludes: “Eight perpetrators are said to have shot between 1,000 and 1,200 prisoners in less than five hours and in groups of 10. The mere acceptance that this is possible shows that we are not dealing here with an investigation into what actually happened. The judges have also tirelessly lent credibility to the story that Erdemović was forced to take part in the shooting and they reckoned duress to be a mitigating factor. As the simple soldier to which he had been demoted, Sergeant Erdemović had to obey the order given by a private called Brano Gojković. The judges explicitly confirm that Dražen Erdemović’s story in all its various forms is sufficiently consistent. On closer inspection, they in fact mean only his account of the mass shooting, and at the same time they do not have the story confirmed by a single one of the other seven perpetrators.”
“A few days after the capture of Srebrenica, there are several mass shootings of Muslim prisoners. The troop which is supposed to have carried out the shooting at Branjevo Farm on 16 July 1995 consists of soldiers who reported for the job of their own free will. The military hierarchy is suspended, they are even officially on leave, and they shoot the prisoners presumably because they are paid to do so. There is no question of Sergeant Dražen Erdemović having acted under duress or under the supposed command of a private soldier called Gojković. Nonetheless, Dražen Erdemović refuses to take part in a further shooting assignment, the order for which is said to have come from a mysterious lieutenant colonel. Erdemović says he simply said “No” to this officer, he did not want to do any more, and he simply sat down. The lieutenant colonel just lets him sit and hands over the shooting of the prisoners in the Pilica House of Culture to others. A few days after this massacre, there is a shoot-out between some mercenaries in a late-night bar in Bijeljina. Erdemović presents this as a contract killing attempt against him…to prevent him from testifying against them in The Hague. It is more likely that when it came to being paid for the massacre, some of them felt that they had been passed over or cheated and that, in the heat of the drunken argument, they pulled out their guns. The rumours that 12 kg of gold and large sums of money had been shared out in connection with the Srebrenica killings come up several times in the story of Dražen Erdemović, while he claims to have received nothing.”[12]
Whatever actually happened in Srebrenica, one thing is sure: a good deal more investigation is needed.
Ultimately, it’s probable that Robert Baer is right: “…the deaths in Srebrenica were due to the Bosnians, the Serbs and the Americans, us! But the blame for everything is laid at the feet of the Serbs. Unfortunately, many of the victims were buried as Muslims and yet they were Serbs or other nationalities. A few years ago, a friend of mine, a former CIA agent and currently working in the IMF said that Srebrenica was a product of an agreement between the U.S. government and politicians in Bosnia. Srebrenica the city was sacrificed because after the alleged crimes of Serbs, the America had a reason to attack.”[13]
[1] CIA exposed by former agent – Robert Baer, Britic, 10 October 2012
[2] The Srebrenica Massacre was a Gigantic Political Fraud, Edward S. Herman and John Robles, Global Research, July 13, 2018
[3] p.24 Srebrenica, what really happened, Alexander Dorin, Zoran Jovanovic
[4] p.75 Ibid
[5] p.92 Ibid
[6] p.120 Ibid
[7] pp.111-112 Fools’ Crusade, Diana Johnstone
[8] https://www.crveneberetke.com/the-srebrenica-massacre-was-a-gigantic-political-fraud/
[9] https://www.zaliv.net/forum/priroda-nauka-istorija/istorija/1912-the-srebrenica-massacre-evidence-context-politics
[10] Srebrenica 1995-2015: Just the Facts, Without Propaganda or Embellishment
What has been irrefutably established, and what hasn’t, Stefan Karganovic and Aleksandar Pavic, The Unz Review, July 13, 2015
[11] p.9 The Star Witness, Germinal Civikov
[12] pp.121-123 Ibid