[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 169 (Monday, October 30, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2066-E2067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NO WELCOME MAT FOR MILOSEVIC

                                 ______


                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 30, 1995

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, instead of rolling out the red 
carpet this week for Slobodan Milosevic, the Clinton administration 
should hand over the Serbain President to international investigators 
for his alleged role in war crimes perpetrated in the former 
Yugoslavia. Having ignited the firestorm of extreme Serb nationalism 
which has consumed most of Bosnia and part of Croatia, Milosevic is now 
being enlisted as a member of the Clinton administration's fire brigade 
assembled to douse the smoldering ashes in its aftermath.
  Milosevic, who has earned the title ``Butcher of the Balkans,'' has 
reincarnated himself, in the eyes of the Clinton administration, as a 
peacemaker despite the fact that he was named a suspected war criminal 
by Secretary of State Eagleberger during the final days of the Bush 
administration, and that he heads a government being sued for genocide 
before the International Court of Justice. The Clinton administration 
views the Serbian leader as the one who can deliver the Bosnian Serbs 
in support of a United States-brokered peace plan which will 
effectively divide Bosnian-Herzegovian along ethnic lines.
  Is he really a new peacemaker or is he after something else? I fear 
the latter is true. Reeling under the devastating impact of economic 
sanctions imposed in 1992 by the U.N. on Serbia for its role in the 
wars in neighboring Croatia and Bosnia, Milosevic is keen to cut a deal 
which will pave the way for the sanctions to be lifted. I am not 
convinced he has given up on his dream of creating a ``Greater 
Serbia.''
  The Clinton administration has embraced Milosevic as part of its 
full-court press to conclude a Bosnian peace accord, at almost any 
cost, as the presidential campaign season nears. Mr Speaker, I welcome 
the fact that the President has finally begun to focus on the crisis in 
Bosnia. At the same time, I have reservations about the conduct of the 
current negotiations and am vehemently opposed to allowing Mr. 
Milosevic into the United States.
  Despite the hype and new spins, one fact is abundantly clear--
Milosevic was the mastermind behind extreme Serb nationalism which 
spawned mayhem in Bosnia and Croatia and ultimately has led to the 
murder of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in these countries. 
Warren Zimmerman, the last United States Ambassador to Yugoslavia has 
observed ``nobody in Belgrade doubts that the war in Bosnia is being 
masterminded by Milosevic in collusion with his Bosnian Serb henchman, 
Radovan Karadzic.'' Zimmerman has characterized the Serbian President 
as a liar ``almost totally dominated by his dark 

[[Page E 2067]]
side.'' The genocidal campaign unleashed by Milosevic has included the 
rape of tens of thousands of women, the destruction of thousands of 
mosques and Catholic churches, and the forcible expulsion of hundreds 
of thousands.
  Mr. Speaker, the Bosnian Serb political and military leaders, 
Karadzic and Mladic, wouldn't dare step foot on United States soil 
following their indictment as war criminals by the U.N. War Crimes 
Tribunal in the Hague, earlier this year. There is a cruel irony in the 
fact that, with his lieutenants largely out of the picture, Milosevic 
has returned to center stage as the perceived linchpin to peace in the 
Balkans following a 4-year war of armed aggression and genocide which 
he, himself, set in motion.

  In a speech launching a week-long commemoration at the University of 
Connecticut of the 50th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials, President 
Clinton solemnly declared ``there must be peace of justice to prevail, 
but there must be justice when peace prevails.'' Apparently, the 
Clinton administration is prepared to put justice aside in their quest 
for peace in Bosnia which it believes hinges on Milosevic.
  Mr. Speaker, I would submit that peace and justice can and should be 
pursued simultaneously. I agreed with President Clinton when he said, 
``By successfully prosecuting war criminals in the former Yugoslavia * 
* * we send a strong signal for those who would use the cover of war to 
commit terrible atrocities, that they cannot escape the consequences of 
such actions.'' But what signal is the Clinton administration sending 
by welcoming Milosevic to the United States?
  Even those who accept Milosevic's participation in the current peace 
talks--for whatever reason--must acknowledge that the Serbian leader 
will garner a degree of credibility and prestige by being allowed to 
enter the United States. Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, by willingly 
admitting Milosevic, the Clinton administration calls into question its 
determination to see all war criminals, regardless of rank, brought to 
justice.
  Mr. Speaker, the arrival of Slobodan Milosevic in the United States 
is repugnant to American principles and is an affront to the memory of 
the tens of thousands of innocent victims of the Balkan war.
  For the Record, Mr. Speaker, I wish also to include a disturbing 
article which was published in the Christian Science Monitor on October 
24, 1995.

          [From the Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 24, 1995]

            Serbia Held Responsible for Massacre of Bosnians

                            (By David Rohde)

       Officers from Serbia participated in the attack on the UN-
     declared ``safe area'' of Srebrenica, according to credible 
     eyewitness accounts obtained by the Monitor. And senior 
     Western diplomats and UN officials say Serbian President 
     Slobodan Milosevic is responsible for the attack and the 
     subsequent executions of thousands of Muslim civilians.
       Muslim witnesses say that an officer from Serbia was 
     directing the roundup of Muslim prisoners in the village of 
     Konjevic Polje, and that a Serb officer captured by Muslim 
     forces was following orders issued from the Serbian capital, 
     Belgrade.
       ``The Serb officer said they were under orders from 
     Belgrade not to allow any men to escape from Srebrenica,'' 
     says Bosnian soldier Dzemal Malvic.
       ``All Muslim men were to be captured or killed,'' said Mr. 
     Malovic, one of three Bosnian soldiers who say they spoke to 
     and looked at identify papers of the captured Serbian 
     captain.
       In a separate interview, a Muslim officer confirmed that 
     the Serbian officer had been captured. The Serbian officer's 
     whereabouts are unknown, and he may have been killed later by 
     Muslim forces.
       Western diplomats have long suspected that the Bosnian Serb 
     attack on Srebrenica in mid-July was approved by Belgrade, 
     but the government of President Slobodan Milosevic has 
     vehemently denied it.
       Mr. Milosevic's involvement would be an embarrassment for 
     the Clinton administration, eager to portray Milosevic--who 
     will be attending peace talks in Ohio next week--as a 
     peacemaker in the Balkans, not a war criminal.
       ``Whether by commission or omission, [Milosevic] is 
     responsible, no question,'' says a senior UN military 
     official based in Zagreb, Croatia. ``He had plenty of sources 
     on the ground there. He had to know what was happening, and 
     either approved of it or did nothing to stop it.''
       A senior Western diplomat in Zagreb also says Milosevic is 
     responsible for what is quickly emerging as one of the 
     darkest hours of Bosnia's 3\1/2\ year conflict.
       ``I have no doubt he directly approved or tacitly approved 
     of the taking of Srebrenica,'' the diplomat says. ``Whether 
     Milosenic knew [about the executions] or not, he knows what 
     kind of man [Bosnian Serb Army commander Gen. Ratko] Mladic 
     is and how he operates.''


                       reports of mass executions

       Over 2,000 Muslim men were executed by Bosnian Serb forces 
     following the fall of Srebrenica, according to nine survivors 
     interviewed by the Monitor last month.
       War-crimes investigators now have evidence that as many as 
     3,000 to 4,000 men were executed by the Bosnian Serbs, 
     according to a senior UN official close to the investigation. 
     ``Wait until everything comes out,'' he says. ``Then, people 
     will understand how big this is.''
       The UN official close to the International War Crimes 
     Tribunal in The Hague said mass graves ring the area around 
     Srebrenica, and confirmed the existence of a new set of 
     United States spy photos showing a new group of apparent mass 
     graves near the village of Karakaj, as reported by the Boston 
     Globe on Oct. 3.
       The photos confirm the accounts of five men interviewed by 
     the Monitor who say over 2,000 Muslim prisoners were executed 
     near the town of Karakaj on July 18. The photos may be the 
     basis for new indictments against General Mladic expected to 
     be issued by the Tribunal.
       Bosnian Serb officials have said that mass graves in the 
     village of Nova Kasaba captured in US spy photos and visited 
     by the Monitor in August contain the bodies of Muslim 
     soldiers who were killed in combat and not executed.
       But the Karakaj site is too far from the route that Muslim 
     men would have followed to escape from Srebrenica, according 
     to the UN official.
       Mevludin Oric, a survivor of the Karakaj execution, said in 
     an interview that one of the officers directing the roundup 
     of prisoners in Konjevic Polje was a 40- to 45-year-old 
     officer from Serbia. Mr. Oric is considered by war-crimes 
     investigators to be one of their most credible witnesses. The 
     Serbian officer was not present at the later execution, Oric 
     added.
       Who gave the order to execute thousands of prisoners 
     remains unknown.
       But evidence of Milosevic's involvement in Srebrenica has 
     been mounting for months, and it is not known if Mladic would 
     execute such a large number of men without at least the tacit 
     approval of Serbian leaders in Belgrade.
       Mladic, who eyewitnesses interviewed by the Monitor said 
     was at Karakaj and three other executions sites during or 
     just before executions began, had been visiting Belgrade 
     regularly for weeks prior to the attack.
       Dutch peacekeepers reported seeing members of paramilitary 
     groups from Serbia, and Muslims say they saw Belgrade-based 
     paramilitary leader Zeljko ``Arkan'' Raznjatovic in 
     Srebrenica.
       The Washington Post reported seeing Muslim soldiers driving 
     a jeep with Yugoslav Army license plates on July 17. The 
     Muslims said they had captured the jeep from forces involved 
     in the attack on Srebrenica.
       New York Newsday reported on Aug. 12 that Western 
     intelligence officials captured radio intercepts of Yugoslav 
     Army chief Gen. Momcilo Perisic, directing Mladic on how to 
     attack Srebrenica during the offensive.


                              Serb denials

       Yugoslav officials have strenuously denied the accounts, 
     but the Yugoslav Army and Arkan are believed to be tightly 
     controlled by Milosevic, who holds an iron grip over Serbia's 
     military.
       Despite the growing evidence, Srebrenica survivors remain 
     skeptical that Milosevic--whom the Clinton administration is 
     depending on to force the Bosnian Serbs to agree to a peace 
     deal--will be tied to or punished for Europe's worst massacre 
     since World War II.
       ``It all depends on the politicians,'' Malovic says. ``They 
     could punish them, or reward them, for doing this.''

                          ____________________