BY LAURA GARZA
The Clinton administration is gearing up a major campaign to justify the largest deployment of U.S. troops overseas since the Gulf War. The massive intervention in Bosnia of troops from imperialist nations - primarily the United Kingdom, France, and the United States - is needed to enforce the "peace," according to Washington.
An agreement between the warring parties in the former Yugoslavia was reached in Dayton, Ohio, November 21, under heavy U.S. pressure. It was initialed at the Wright- Patterson Air Force base by Alija Izetbegovic, president of Bosnia-Herzegovina; Croatian president Franjo Tudjman; and Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic. The accord is designed to codify the partition of Bosnia, with 49 percent of the territory going to the Belgrade-backed Serb forces and 51 percent to be held by the shaky alliance of the Croatian and Bosnian governments. The parties are set to formally sign the accords in Paris November 29.
Washington is now preparing to move ahead with its plan to impose the implementation of the agreement with up to 60,000 troops, including 20,000 from the United States, under NATO command.
U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher touted the accord as "a victory for all those who believe in a multi- ethnic democracy," asserting that it maintains a unified Bosnia. But the agreement is built on holding to the current division of Bosnia, a recent configuration resulting from successful offensives by Croatian and Bosnian government forces to retake land held by the Belgrade-backed Serbs. Washington gave tacit support to the offensives, which followed a NATO bombing campaign against Serb-held positions.
Under the accord, Bosnia will have two armies - one under Serb chauvinist leaders Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic, and another belonging to the Bosnian-Croat federation - in addition to the NATO occupation force.
The agreement leaves towns recently overrun by Karadzic's troops under their control. These cities include Srebenica and Zepa, previously United Nations-designated "safe havens," where tens of thousands of Muslims were driven out in July and thousands of people were murdered. Gorazde, a town controlled by the Bosnian government but surrounded by territory held by Belgrade-supported Serbs, will remain under Bosnian control with an access corridor to Sarajevo.
The federation of Tudjman and Izetbegovic will continue to control the city of Sarajevo, but some areas on the outskirts of the city will remain under control of Karadzic's troops.
Milosevic, ostensibly the authorized representative for Karadzic and Mladic, received a promise that the trade sanctions against his government would come to an end if an agreement was reached. According to reports in the media, the UN Security Council is supposed to move quickly to suspend the sanctions, and to gradually lift the arms embargo on the six republics of the former Yugoslavia.
Milosevic also agreed on November 12 to eventually give up control of Eastern Slavonia, Croat territory seized by Belgrade's troops in the fall of 1991. The agreement provides for a transition period of up to two years before it is completely turned over to the Croatian government, which by now has retaken almost all the territory it had when it declared independence in 1991.
Reluctant `allies'
The Croatian army now also holds many towns in Bosnia,
and Tudjman and Izetbegovic are reluctant allies in the so-
called federation. The U.S. government made it clear it
opposed any new attempt by either the Bosnian or the
Croatian government to take territory and that international
financing, as well as the end of the arms embargo against
Bosnia, would depend on their agreeing to the federation.
Washington initially dangled an offer to even out the military balance of forces in the area by giving arms and training to the Bosnian government. After strenuous objections by European governments, Nicholas Burns, a State Department spokesperson, explained that the current U.S. position is to "build down" toward a military balance, presumably by pressuring the Bosnian Serb forces to rid themselves of some of their heavy arms. The difficulty in getting agreement on this stems from the divergent interests that Washington, Bonn, Moscow, and other international powers have in the region.
The agreement bars those indicted for war crimes from holding office in any newly elected posts. Both Karadzic and Mladic have been indicted by a United Nations war crimes tribunal. But the indictments don't guarantee any action. During the Ohio negotiations, the chief of staff of the Bosnian Croat militia, Tihomir Blaskic, was indicted for crimes against humanity, only to be promoted the next day by Tudjman.
The NATO plan will divide its forces into three sectors, with the U.S. forces headquartered in Tuzla; the British at Gornji Vakuf; and the French in Sarajevo. The overall commander of the so-called implementation force will be U.S. admiral Leighton Smith.
While 20,000 is the number commonly cited for U.S. forces, this only counts those to be used directly in Bosnia. Thousands more will be involved in the operation from Croatia and Hungary, and from air and naval stations offshore and based in other countries.
Moscow agreed to station troops under U.S. command, in an effort not to be technically under direct NATO command.
The Bosnia deal is heightening the debate in U.S. ruling circles over military intervention in the Balkans, reflecting the fear of the response that could be provoked by U.S. casualties and the shaky prospects for making the deal stick.
Debate among U.S. rulers
Clinton released a letter in answer to questions by
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in which he said it would
be a disaster not to follow through on his commitment to
deploy U.S. ground forces. They would be sent in only after
"we have created the conditions that would offer the minimum
risks to our soldiers," Clinton declared. He added, "It is
not possible to make meaningful casualty predictions since
casualty models for peace operations do not exist."
The president made it clear that while he would try to convince Congress and others to fall in line behind the plan, he would exercise his "constitutional pregrogatives" to begin the deployment. Only the previous week, the House of Representatives had voted to bar spending to send U.S. troops to Bosnia.
Even as the deal was being forced through, those who are supposed to abide by its provisions made it clear it is far from a done deal. The former mayor of Vukovar in Eastern Slavonia, Slavko Dokmanovic, predicted the accords would fail and said, "I tell you, Eastern Slavonia is Serbian and will remain Serbian."
Recent reports cite ample evidence that the Yugoslav Army had been moving supplies to Karadzic's troops and technicians had replaced communications links recently blown up by NATO warplanes.