Other and Remaining Forces

Ahead of the peace talks in the military base near Dayton, the destiny of the Srebrenica Muslims has come into focus again. The reports of the U.N. and American intelligence services, published by influential media, mention "liquidation of six to eight thousand Muslims whose remains lie in several mass graves."

Srebrenica, together with Zepa and Gorazde, is a Muslim enclave in eastern Bosnia, which survived the Serb invasion in the spring and summer of 1992, mainly owing to its geographic position.

As many had assumed, Srebrenica fell in mid-July this year. The only question is how and what happened with several thousand civilians. Commander Naser Oric and his soldiers - having found themselves in a hopeless position and with indecisive NATO aviation - had fled in the direction of Tuzla in due time.

In Serbia one cannot obtain other information from the field than that provided by the Bosnian Serb sources. They say that the "Serb army decided to correct the mistake of the world power-wielders and carry out the real demilitarization of Srebrenica. They did this the way only the Serb heroes do it - quickly, bravely and efficiently. Srebrenica has again become Serbian as had been for centuries." The sources failed to mention that, before the war, the population of Srebrenica was 90 percent Muslim.

THE MAGNIFICENT: The twentieth issue of "Drinski", the herald of the Zvornik infantry brigade, published in July, was devoted mostly to the magnificent Srebrenica victory. One can learn from between the lines and from the lines themselves how and who liberated Srebrenica. Commander of the Zvornik brigade Vinko Pandurovic, mentioned as the "first creator of the great victory," said that in the most magnificent victory in this war, "there was an excellent cooperation of all the structures which participated in the action." Another creator Milan Stanojevic said: "I was aware of how difficult a task it was, considering the fact that my group was mixed." Milan Jolovic - the Legend, the commander of the "Wolves from the Drina" who were the first to enter the town, said: "At one moment, when we broke through the Muslim defence line, the criminals started running about the woods." The editorial, printed in italics, said: "In the battles against the raging criminal hordes of the Srebrenica Turks, units of the Zvornik brigade confirmed their qualities once again. On July 15, 16 and 17, our brigade fought an unusual battle with the remaining hordes from Srebrenica, heading toward Tuzla, and with the forces of the Second Corps of the so-called Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bravely and heroically, planned and well-organized, the fighters under the command of Drago Beatovic, Lazar Ristic and Ostoja Stanisic repelled all the attacks from the front, successfully blocked the remaining forces and destroyed them. The commander of the Zvornik brigade praised the commanders Milan Jolovic, Milan Stanojevic, Drago Beatovic and Lazar Ristic and their units for having successfully fulfilled the task. The commander has expressed his full gratitude to all other forces that took part in this action."

An appropriate question would be who are the "other forces" whom the commander thanked for successfully blocking and destroying the remaining forces. Need we say that the "remaining forces" were most probably the civilians who were running through the woods and had no chance in the encounter with the "other forces" whom the commander thanked. If the "New York Times" is lying, why is the Zvornik brigade bulletin doing the same.