BY MAURICE WILLIAMS
NATO troops backed by helicopters took over four transmitters in the Serb-controlled part of Bosnia October 1. This assault took place soon after the Clinton administration officials announced their occupation force will most likely stay in Bosnia well beyond next year's announced deadline.

U.S. national security adviser Samuel Berger told an audience at Georgetown University September 23 that the occupation force must "stay engaged for a good while to come."

Two days after Berger's speech, the U.S. Congress passed a spending bill that would permit the president to request more funding for the 9,000 U.S. troops in Bosnia, which are leading a 35,000-strong NATO occupation force, past Clinton's stated withdrawal deadline of June 30, 1998.

NATO secretary-general Javier Solana said the transmitters seized October 1 were turned over to supporters of Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic, the rival of chauvinist Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. Armored vehicles blocked roads between the transmitter sites and Pale, headquarters of Karadzic.

Carlos Westendorp, a so-called senior civilian official charged with enforcing Washington's policies in Bosnia, demanded the military operation after a September 28 broadcast by Bosnian Serb Television reported that the imperialist-crafted war crimes tribunal was "moving against the Serbs" and "was a political instrument aimed at putting pressure on the Serbs." He claimed the program distorted the statements of UN tribunal prosecutor Louise Arbour at a September 26 news conference. In the footage, Arbour chided Pale residents for not capturing Karadzic, who was indicted for alleged war crimes by the imperialist tribunal, and called for NATO troops to step up their efforts to hunt down Karadzic.

That same day, a German court convicted Nikola Jorgic, a Bosnian Serb, on 11 counts of genocide and 30 counts of murder. The so-called war crimes tribunal court in The Hague, Netherlands has requested authorities in other countries to assist in trying alleged war crimes suspects.

Hours after the NATO troops seized the transmitters October 1, television broadcasts were resumed by supporters of Plavsic from her base in Banja Luka, as U.S. troops along with Russian, French, Italian, and other soldiers set up road blocks at some sites to prevent protests. Washington has thrown its weight behind Plavsic, herself a chauvinist Serb leader who supports aspects of the Dayton "peace" agreement imposed on Bosnia in 1995.

The military assault occurred a few hours before NATO defense ministers began a two-day meeting in Maastricht, Netherlands, to discuss how to maintain the imperialist occupation force in Bosnia.

The government officials will also discuss how to merge the armies of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into NATO's military structure. The governments of the three countries are scheduled to join the military alliance in 1999.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home