When Generals Criticize the Government

In his recent speech before the "political-economic department" of Gornji Milanovac, the Chief of Staff of the Yugoslav Army, General Momcilo Perisic, made an absolute precedent in statements made by military officials by criticizing civil authorities. What could be the consequences of Perisic’s assessments that "the basic problem lies in that a parallel state has been in existence in Kosovo for many years" and that this "lead to today’s events," that "since 1991 the Serbs have been waging a war, while we still do not have an ally" and that "we suggest to politicians that going to war against the whole world is simply not done."

It is hardly likely that a government which permitted the creation of a parallel state in Kosovo, which wants to wage war with the entire world and because of which we do not have a single ally, will suffer the consequences of such a policy, even when the Chief of Staff gets up to tell it loud and clear. It is far more likely that any consequences will be suffered by General Perisic himself.

SEVERAL VERSIONS: However, let us spend a moment on Perisic’s speech. On October 19 the Chief of Staff visited several factories and the community garrison in Milanovac — he himself originally comes from the nearby village of Kostunici — and addressed the people of Milanovac, who answered the call of the head of the community government, in the local military hall of the Yugoslav Army.

The daily press published completely different versions of the General’s public appearance. "Politika" gave the title "Serbia Will Do Everything to Respect the Agreement," while its report does not include any mention of the speech which directs criticism at the government, but only quotes those parts which relate to the expansion of the new world order and to the Albanian terrorists who are the real enemies of our people. Vecernje novosti, under the title "Council’s Resolution Counts More", reported that the General said "perhaps many of the two thousand verifiers in Kosovo will report on truthful, secondhand reports", that "I believe that there is a way out of the present situation — soldiers know it well, while politicians, we hope, will come to know it with our help." Perisic’s assessment of relations with Russia, which is nowhere to be found in "Politika", is quoted: "For many years Russia’s heads of state have been closely linked to the West, which cannot be said about the Russian people. Many politicians in Moscow, under the guise of helping the FRY, have in fact implemented the West’s objectives." Then Novosti reported: "Calling upon the sharply intoned criticism against our weak points, and that many leaders have transformed entire institutions into their private reserves, Perisic assessed that ‘it is better both for NATO and FRY that a conflict has been avoided.’" Finally, under the title "Waging War Against the Whole World Is Simply Not Done", "Blic" quoted the statements referred to in the introduction above, as well as that "the Yugoslav Army is the least to blame for today’s problems in Kosovo" and that "there are few politicians who are ready to admit — we are unable to solve this problem, let someone else come... The problem with our nation is that we are each and every one jacks of all trades, but masters of none. I will beg the ladies to forgive me, but it is said that amateurs give a bad name to everything, even to prostitution. If everyone were to do their job wholeheartedly, I guarantee that what is happening in Kosovo would never have happened. Many political leaders have put their personal interests above all else." Regarding the Serbian desolation he said that "we have never been isolated for so long and we have never been without allies."

DISMISSAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: For some time now there are speculations that General Perisic, who has been Chief of Staff since August of 1993, is due for dismissal because of his criticism on several occasions of this government. Let us remember that during the 96/97 winter protests, held because of the local election fraud in Serbia, he was the only representative of state who took notice of the Student’s Delegation of the Protest, practically lending support to their demands; then, that he refused the request to send his Army to Momir Bulatovic’s aid in the conflict in Montenegro, and that he even sent Milo Djukanovic — hatted and unacknowledged by this government — his congratulations on the presidential victory. Along with that, the Montenegrin leadership used every opportunity to commend the Army and Perisic personally, while Djukanovic noted on several occasions the unacceptable depletion of the Yugoslav Army’s funds. People who are versed in military matters say that this "neutrality" on the General’s part is completely in keeping with the attitude taken by the Army, dating back to 1994, after everything which it paid the bill for in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, the gist of which is that it will never again go ahead of politics, that is to say to act as its protective shield. The Army’s relatively discreet behavior on Kosovo this you should be understood in this context. Even those 15 tanks which supposedly went in front of the police forces, ensuring unhindered approaches to villages, have been formally handed over to the police, freeing the Army from all responsibility for their use. Sources close to the Yugoslav Army state that the number of soldiers killed, regardless of how senseless and tragic such deaths might be, is not at all significant, given the extent of the conflict in Kosovo, and that soldiers mostly lost their lives outside of army barracks, while guarding military supply lines.

MERITS: There is one more indicative statement by Momcilo Perisic which was reported by Nasa Borba in the Spring of this year: "The Yugoslav Army is the only institution which has prevented Albania from happening here, and that is why I refuse to permit its role from being devalued in any way," stated Perisic, going on to say that "in this country there isn’t even one percent of people who are heads of institutions and who work in the interest of those institutions," but that they exclusively "look out" for their own interests. The Chief of Staff "stated with full responsibility" that "this is not the case with the Yugoslav Army, and that the responsibility of journalists is to recognize who did what in preventing the Serbian Golgotha."

Finally, Perisic signed an agreement with Wesley Clark, NATO Commander in Chief for Europe, which is based on the preceding Milosevic-Holbrook agreement on resolving the crisis in Kosovo. In the mentioned speech in Milanovac, the Chief of Staff lent his support to the clauses contained in that agreement: "We believe that the FRY leadership reached a correct decision which should be supported," quoted in "Blic", that is "the General Headquarters have advised the state leadership to do everything in order to avoid a confrontation with NATO, keeping in mind possible consequences," quoted in "Politika". However, they did not offer the kind of support proffered by the Federal Minister of Defense, Pavle Bulatovic, several days later in the BK television program "Gravitacija". Namely, Bulatovic stated that: "The signing of the Agreement between FRY President Slobodan Milosevic and American Envoy Richard Holbrooke, which was arrived at through diplomacy and negotiations in which President Milosevic played a key role, affirms the efforts of the government of Serbia and Yugoslavia in finding a peaceful and political solution to the Kosovo question."

WHO HAS THE AUTHORITY: Several days ago the "Vijesti" newspaper in Podgorica announced a new round of dismissals in the army, with the Chief of Staff, General Perisic, being a sure candidate. Slobodan Milosevic could not dismiss Perisic without a decision by the Head Security Council which is made up of the president of Yugoslavia, of Serbia and of Montenegro, but interpretations on the operations of the Head Security Council have appeared, according to which a consensus is not required for a decision to be reached by the Council, with a vote being sufficient. In this case, this would mean that Perisic could be dismissed merely with the votes of Milosevic and Milan Milutinovic. That is of no consequence: as the "Glas janvoisti" daily noted, until recently it was believed that only the Head Security Council has the right to make decisions about conferring the rank of general, but Milosevic still decided on his own to promote the commandant of the Pristina Corps, Neboja Pavkovic, an officer with fighting experience in Vukovar, to the rank of general.

Perisic, better known to the public as "the knight of Mostar", fought both in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Croatia he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years. The Community Court in Zadar sentenced him for crimes against humanity and international law, for war crimes committed against the civilian population in September of 1991 in Zadar and its environs. It is stated that he is responsible for rocket launcher and artillery attacks on civilian buildings.

SILENCE: When this sentence was passed, Belgrade’s "Revija 92" published an interesting text entitled "General Perisic on Trial, New Slap in the Face to This State," in which the question is posed by the trial in Zadar, in which another 17 officers of the former Yugoslav National Army (YNA) were also sentenced, was not responded to by authorized officials. The text points out that at that time YNA was still a legal armed force within SFRY, and that it was faced with an armed insurgence by the Liberation Forces of Croatia. It is reported that Perisic did not attack civilians, but that he negotiated with the insurgents and stood by what he negotiated; that he behaved in the same manner as General Schwarzkopf in the Gulf War and like General Michael Rose in the Falklands; that the former was received by a "private carnival" in Washington, while the latter was ceremonially conferred the title of "Sir" by Queen Elizabeth, while the Chief of Staff of the Yugoslav Army "does not have anyone to even look after him in the partial accusations leading to the Hague Tribunal." Namely, the court case was attended by observers, "representatives of certain international organizations which correspond with the Hague Tribunal," for instance members of the EU Monitoring Mission. "Revija 92" concluded on that occasion that "assessments and legal qualifications on the role of the YNA at the time, on the Serbian people as the aggressors, and on the unquestionable closeness between Perisic and official Belgrade policy simply do not explain Belgrade’s silence" in this case.

LOYALTY: After the war in Bosnia, Perisic remained famous for the destruction of Mostar. After that he returned to Serbia, initially to the Third Army, and then to Belgrade where he became Chief of Staff after Zivota Panic’s dismissal. From Zadar to Belgrade he was expressly promoted right up to the rank of lieutenant general.

Perisic’s loyalty to the Army, the state and its head were never brought into question, but that is clearly not enough in this country for speculations about his dismissal to be silenced. Those who know him well say that he is very intelligent and educated (besides military academies he also graduated from the philosophy faculty in Belgrade, and the psychology department). It seems that the problem lies in the fact that on several occasions he has demonstrated that he has his own opinions, and that every now and then he is ready to voice them. In some places Perisic’s speech in Milanovac is interpreted as a decision on his part, knowing that he will be dismissed anyway, to give vent to at least a part of what ails him, that is to say — according to the cynics — to ensure himself a place on the "liberal bandwagon".

WHOSE OPINION: However, something else is more interesting: was Perisic merely stating his own opinions in Milanovac or are they the opinions of the Army at large? There are serious indications that the majority of members of the Yugoslav Army hold to the same opinions as Perisic, but that opinion is prevalent that this will not have any effect on our reality. The man who is being mentioned most frequently these days as Perisic’s successor fits into that picture (he did not show up in Milanovac) — Lieutenant General Dragoljub Ojdanic, Deputy Chief of Staff. Ojdanic is three years older than Perisic (born in 1941 in the village of Ravni, near Uzice). It is mentioned that he played a certain role in the war in Bosnia, but that his official biography states that he was Commander of a Section in the General Headquarters Command, Commander of the Uzice Corps, Commander of Headquarters, Commander of the First Army in the Yugoslav Army, and that during the war he was the Commander of the Uzice Corps from 1992 to 1993.

While Perisic’s dismissal is mere speculation, the departure of the Lieutenant General Ljubisa Velickovic from the position of Commander of the Air Force, fifteen days after the signing of the agreement with NATO on air surveillance over Kosovo, is official. Admittedly, it was not worded as a dismissal: the Federal Secretary for Information announced that "the President of Federal Government, Momir Bulatovic, has reached a decision on appointing Lieutenant General Ljubisa Velickovic for Deputy Federal Defense Minister." The news caused no small amount of surprise, as Velickovic (born in 1946) was being mentioned as a prospective replacement to Perisic, along with mention of his closeness to President Milosevic.

Velickovic was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Yugoslav Air Force, participating in the war from 1991 to 1992 in Zadar, Bihac, Ceklja and Pila. Why did the commander who would be most responsible in implementing the Perisic - Clark agreement on NATO unarmed airplane surveillance over Kosovo leave?

Informed sources unofficially state that Velickovic did not agree with obligations the Yugoslav Army committed to in that agreement, for instance with the clause that the Yugoslav Air Force is obligated to switch off its radar while NATO is flying above Kosovo. The same source states that he refused the demand that NATO officers sit in our Air Force centers in order to verify whether the radar are really switched off or not. There is opinion that for all those reasons he asked to be retired, but that he changed his mind, after intervention from the very top, agreeing to a place in government so that the whole affair is not too obvious, and for temperatures not to be raised too much.

At the moment, responsibilities of the Air Force Commander are carried out by the Brigadier Genera Slavko Biga, who is not an anti-aircraft defense pilot. For now it is not possible to ascertain who will be appointed as new commander of our aviation, and who will, according to the signed agreement on Kosovo, cooperate so closely with NATO.

Cowards and Deserters

Finally, the third piece of military news to cause much attention in recent days was the call by the General Headquarters of the Yugoslav Army to all young men of age who eschewed their military duty in various ways to report to their army sectors by December 1 "with an explanation for why they have not yet served the army."

Head of the authorized section of the General Headquarters, Lieutenant General Ratomir Ristic, stated in an interview for the weekly "Vojska", carried by the state daily "Borba", that those young men "are offered the chance to rectify their mistakes without disciplinary actions," but that "immediately following the deadline, legal measures will be taken to ensure responsibility and fulfillment of military duty." Ristic added that "cowards and deserters cannot depend on eternal amnesty."

This reflects that the Army is evidently having great problems convincing recruits to respond to their call, but those familiar with the situation in the military say that it will be of no great effect. Information about all those who eschew military duty certainly does exist, and it is possible that after December 1 the military police will begin to arrest some of them, as example to others. However — even though precise numbers are not available to the public — it is believed that there is simply too many of those who do not wish to go to the army for any military police action to be effective.

As one individual with decades of army experience put it, the only solution is to entirely professionalize the army in the ensuing 20 years. And who knows what will happen here, even in the next two years, let alone twenty.