The Demise of Yugoslavia: A Political Memoir

Army out of Control: September 8–22, 1991

Army out of Control 321 Army out of Control September 8–22, 1991 • Eagleburger: “The leadership of Serbia is trying to create a greater-Serbia” • It you want something done r ight, do it y ourself • Crim inal ultim atum by Ma jor Dobrok es •

  • Letter to Ka di
     

 

 • I order all units to r eturn to the ir ba rracks w ithin f orty-eight hour s • T he A rmy in the bloodiest war “bears no responsibility for human victims and destruction” •  
 
    

 
   • A f ailed de mand f or a Presidency session •  
  
!"#• Cease-fire signed in Igalo • Belgrade accusations follow my letter to the UN Security Council • Baron Crespo calls me to the European Parliament • The rebellion by Serbian reserve forces • “Muslims are beaten, their shops robbed, their houses shot at” I returned from The Hague believing we had made strong strides toward an internationally recognized, sovereign, and independent Croatia. At the same time, Serbia, with its “Arm y of brotherhood and unity” made an even more visible step in fanning the flam es of war. I found m y desk overflowing with reports on the incr ease of aggression. Repeated attacks at the industrial z one of Sisak had occurred; m ortars were destroying
    
   
   

 
    
— part of the Banja Luka Corps—  
      There was no word on implementation of the Cease-fire Agreement or withdrawal of the A rmy. Prayers by the Pope for peace in Croatia and Yugoslavia were in vain. Pope John Paul II had called eight hundred mil- 
 
  
 
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 from refugee camps filled w ith people from L ovinci, S veti R ok and #   $rlika, Vukovar, Sarvaš, and Baranja resounded with horror. Croatian villages in Western Srij em were on fire, explosions shook Vukovar and Osijek, and on September 10, Army attacks began against Karlovac. Europe was shocked as well. I n America, Bush, Baker, and U.S. National Security Advisor Brent Srowcroft, reported through Eagleburger to 322 The Demise of Yugoslavia our ambassador in the U.S. that they were “deeply disappointed by the degeneration of political consciousness in Y ugoslavia and the rev ival of lowest passions in nationalist political circles of Serbia, as well as Croatia and Slovenia,” and that even “the conference at The Hague gave hope for success.” Key personalities in the U .S. had foreseen no “real chances for success” at the conference “because of the deep conflict betw een Serbia and its plans for the creation of g reater-Serbia on one side, and all other republics on the other side.” Eagleburger was specific when he said: “The   
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   prepared to allow Slovenia and part of Croatia to becom e independent, but under the condition that greater-Serbia include B osnia-Herzegovina, parts of Croatia, and, probably, Macedonia.”* What I had been telling deaf ears in Belgrade, leadership in the U .S. knew for a fact—the top officials in Serbia were closely cooperating with the YPA in the conquest of parts of Croatia. That did not mean, however, that A merica m ade steps tow ard recognizing our autonom y. Still, although we were m easured by different standards than Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia were still subjected to soft criticism by the U.S. This was why, in September, following the conference at The Hague, we expected neither political nor econom ic aid from A merica, and Drnovšek postponed an already-arranged trip to the U.S. after Peterle was told in Washington: “The U nited S tates w ill not g ive S lovenia international recognition, nor w ill they recog nize the announced Slovenian currency, nor w ill they support Slov enian dem ands for the achievement of certain status at the I nternational Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It should not be expect ed that the U.S. would send its divisions to Slovenia and Croatia. The times when the CIA and the KGB intervened all over the world are gone, that is no more.” * T he Sobr anie ( Parliament) of the R epublic of Ma cedonia, a fter a referendum declaration of 70 percent of its citizens, on Se ptember 8, a dopted on Se ptember 17, the resolution “that the Republic of Macedonia be constituted as a sovereign and autonomous state w ith the rig ht to pa rticipate in the future asso ciation o f so vereign st ates o f Yugoslavia,” w ith the pr ovision tha t it w ould “ support c onsistent respect of generally adopted principles of international...