First, Tudjman's national-populist, sub-fascist regime did not then and now get enough attn. from the pro-interventionists. That said, what are leftists doing supporting the Bosnian Serb enclave in Krajina?When Milosevic saw it was convenient to dump Karazdic in 95, he did.Cynic that he is.
The below looks like a Croat nationalist summary but, compared to Greg Elich in CAQ or Ed Herman in Z or the IAC book, "NATO In The Balkans, " at least it presents some facts.
And, Brad, I'd think Nathan would not wish that Iraq would bomb Israel, since you think he thinks only about the ends not the means and actors. And Don't y'all usually say that Iraq has no WMD anymore, anymore, anyway?That it's just a lie of Richard Butler et. al. Would you gloat if Iraq threw some more scuds into Israel? BTW, I oppose the Bush war plans on Iraq because I think the consequences for the Iraqi people would be catastrophic, the INC and the two main Kurdish factions of Barzani and the other warlord won't oust the regime, and, Saddaam would probably bomb Israel. Which, however, like Nathan in that thought experiment, I would support bombing Tel Aviv if international pressure does not compel then to leave the occupied territories. Get that circuitous logic. Bomb 'em with U.S. bombs. Not Iraqi ones.Oy vey, the things I type sometimes!Do I really believe this? I need to argue with liberals and conservatives rather than fellow leftists. Neo-Conservative Tendencies With "Neo-Marxist" False Consciousness As The Bad Sub-Conscious Is Controlling My Discourse! Calling Dr. Castoriadis!Oh, he's dead. Dr. Lacan? Doug, does Zizek have a recommendtion for a Freudian-Marxist in S.F.? Michael Pugliese, truly going off the deep end now...Calling my shrink to jack up my dose of meds. I'm just too pissed off this week at the internut left. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 &q=Operation+Storm+Krajina+&btnG=Google+Search http://www.cdsp.neu.edu/info/students/marko/slodal/slodal7.html A CHRONOOGY OF OPERATION "STORM": 84 HOURS OF WAR
Slobodna Dalmacija, Split, Croatia, August 5 1996
Friday 4th August 1995
5:00 - Croatian armed forces launch a military operation to liberate the occupied territories of Knin, Gracac, Lapac, Korenica, Slunja, Glina, Dvor, and Petrinja, with the aim of returning these areas to the constitutional control of the Republic of Croatia. In only the first clash, the rebel Serbs' lines are pierced in thirty places, in the municipalities of Bjelovar, Zagreb, Karlovac, Gospic, and Split, with Croatian forces penetrating up to 15 kilometres into enemy-held territory. Operation "Storm" is now under way and events continue to unfold at lightning speed.
Meanwhile, Croatian radio broadcasts a message by the Croatian president, Dr. Franjo Tudjman, in which the president calls on Croatian citizens of Serbian ethnicity in the occipied territories to remain in their homes and not to fear the Croatian authorities, which will respect their minority rights.
The Fourth and Seventh brigades of the Croatian army go into action to liberate Knin. North of the city, they launch a swift attack in the direction of Polygon "Crvena zemlja". After a 9-hour battle, the first Chetnik lines are broken and Knin is practically on the verge of falling. In only the first day of the operation, it becomes just a question of hours when the Croatian forces will enter the town itself. Meanwhile, in the former sector North, the Croatian army, from the direction of Sunja and Jasenovac, launches an attack to liberate Dubica, and special forces of the Interior Ministry, from the direction of the Velebit mountains, launch an attack to liberate Gracac and Lika. Air-raid sirens are sounded at 5:05 in Sibenik, at 5:15 in Zadar and Sisak, at 5:30 in Novska, and at 7:00 in Dubrovnik.
19:00 - Two NATO war planes, which take off from the air carrier Theodor Rooselvalt in the Adriatic Sea, attack Serbian rocket positions near Knin.
20:17 - Serbian artillery attack on Zupanja. According to early reports, in the first day of the operation, 720 square kilometres had been liberated, the first areas being Sveti Rok and Lovinac, near Gracac.
Saturday 5th August 1995
3:35 - Serbian artillery attack on Osijek.
3:40 - Air-raid sirens are sounded in Vinkovci.
5:00 - Serbian rocket and artillery attack on Sisak. Meanwhile, Bosnian and Croatian Serbs launch an attack on the town of Bihac.
6:15 - Serbian artillery attack on the Dubrovnik coastland.
10:00 - Soldiers of the Fourth and Seventh brigades victoriously enter Knin and completely liberate the town. Brigadier Ivan Korade, commander of the Seventh brigade, is the first to raise the Croatian flag on the fortress in Knin.
By this stage, the towns of Gracac, Ljubovo, and Zitnic have also been liberated. In the early hours of Saturday, Dubica is also liberated, which opens the way for the advance on Kostajnica. In the south, the Serbian forces totally collapse, amd flee towards Drvar, while the Serbian civilian population, under the orders of Mile Mrksic and Mile Martic, flee in the direction of Licka Kaldrma and Srb, through the corridor left open by the Croatian army. By this time, Mile Martic has already fled in the direction of Srb.
12:35 - The Croatian army liberates Vrlika and Kijevo. Before noon, the Croatian forces also liberate the town of Drnis.
15:00 - The Croatian army and the 5th corps of the Bosnian army meet on the border of their respective countries, at Trzackih Rastela. Croatian General Marijan Marekovic and Bosnian General Arif Dudakovic shake hands. The connecting of the Croatian and Bosnian armies effectively means the deblokade of the Bihac enclave.
18:00 - The liberation of Benkovac.
18:45 - Air-raid sirens are sounded in Zagreb. Petrinja is surrounded and on the verge of falling.
Sunday 6th August 1995
7:12 - The liberation of Petrinja. Croatian forces advance on Kostajnica, which is in turn liberated. The focus then moves towards the final battle for Glina.
9:00 - Fierce Chetnik rocket and artillery attack on Karlovac, resulting in the wounding of 20 civilians. The town of Obrovac is liberated.
16:30 - Dr. Franjo Tudjman visits the liberated town of Knin, along with Defence Minister Gojko Susak, Foreign Minister Mate Granic, Minister Ivan Jarnjak, and other government officals. Dr. Tudjman arrives by helicopter, and salutes the Fourth and Seventh brigades of the Croatian army, and then makes his way to the top of the fortress.
Also on this day, Minister Jarnjak opens the police station in Knin, Drnis, and Kijevo, and in the remaining liberated areas, Croatian authority is established.
In an afternoon news conference in Zagreb, Army chief-of-staff General Ivan Tolj, declares the operation is close to successful completion, and that the so-called Serbian Krajina no longer exists. The towns of Korenica, Slunj, Bruvno, Vrhovine, Plaski, Cetingrad, and Plitvice are liberated.
17:00 - Croatian radio "Radio Knin" commences broadcasting.
21:00 - Karlovac is again fiercely attacked, this time with multiple rocket- launchers from Polygon Sanac, Streskovac, and Turanj, where the enemy continues to put up strong resistance. In the late hours, Serbian war planes, which take off from the Banja Luka airbase, fiercely attack the chemical plant in Kutina.
23:00 - The town of Glina is liberated.
Monday 7th August 1995
11:20 - In the skies above the Daruvar and Pakrac counties, two Serbian war planes are downed. Turanj is liberated.
18:00 - Dvor na Uni is liberated.
At an evening press conference in Zagreb, Defence Minister Gojko Susak announces the conclusion of the operation, adding that the only remaining issues are the neutralising of the battered Chetnik formations and their surrender. Up to this stage of operation "Storm", 118 Croatians have died in battle, and 620 have been wounded.
The following day, on Tuesday 8th August, the final stages of the operation take place. By 16:00, special forces of the Interior Ministry liberate Gornji and Donji Lapac, and the Croatian army liberates Vojnic.
On Wednesday, 9th August, at 19:00, the 21st corps of the Serbian forces from the Kordun region begins its surrender. Colonel Bulat declares this surrender to General Petar Stipetic, and surrenders his corps with around 5,000 soldiers and 25,000 civilians in the Topusko area. The defeat of the Serbian army is complete. They have experienced a military, moral, and political defeat by a stronger, better, and more-motivated Croatian army, which in less than 84 hours completed its set task, and with a speed twice as fast as anticipated, liberated the occupied territories of the Croatia.