>I do not know the point that Jim H is making abour the suspension of
>democracy in Bosnia. I do not know the details or the underlying policy.
>
>Perhaps for bad and discreditable reasons Bosnia wished to secede from the
>Yugoslav federation. My understanding is that the Serb nationalist response
>was to attack to split is and dominate as much of the land as possible in
>ethnically pure territories. The Croats then moved to grab other areas. Am
>I wrong in that?
I am a bit surprised that you have not interested yourself more in the fascinating political experiment that has been undertaken in Bosnia. Now under the rule of the OSCE, UN and Nato, its constitution contains some truly intriguing features.
First the Dayton Agreement puts all powers ultimately in the hands of the UN High Representative; the governor of the central bank is constitutionally barred from being a citizen of Bosnia (!) and is appointed by the IMF; all elections are run by the OSCE, which has final decision over the eligibility of candidates, and publicity (see below); Annex 1-A to the Dayton agreement gives Nato complete control of military activity within the state, article IV giving the IFOR forces 'complete unimpeded movement' throughout Bosnia; Finally the citizens of Bosnia are constitutionally barred from changing their own constitution, leading Michel Chossudovsky to ask the pertinent question whether it could even be called a constitution.
The powers of the OSCE and the High Representative in determining the outcome of elections has been used freely. The OSCE ruled not only that candidates who opposed the Dayton agreement would be automatically barred from standing, but that those who did not openly express their support for it would also be disciplined. Furthermore, the OSCE acted against television stations (generally Serb ones) who failed to endorse Dayton.
The details of the bastard constitution of Bosnia and its dictatorial powers over the Bosnian people can be seen in
David Chandler, Bosnia: Faking Democracy After Dayton, Pluto Press, 1999.
also worth reading is the chapter on Bosnia in
Chossudovsky, Michel, The Globalisation of Poverty: Impacts of the IMF and World Bank Reforms, Zed Books (1997)
Of course this kind of cancellation of democracy under Western domination is never examined. And yet this is the regime that the West is seeking to impose no upon Kosovo. Independence, anyone? -- Jim heartfield