Paul Greenberg
They got another one. First it was the world's most wanted man, who was living comfortably in a Pakistani resort -- until those Navy SEALs came calling. Result:
Then, just in time for
But the world will never forget -- let's hope -- what
But what's a little blood, or even a lot, to the World Leaders ensconced at
The name
Of all General Mladic's crimes, Srebrenica had to be the worst. Indeed, it was the worst massacre on the European continent since the Second World War, an era that's hard to top in the genocide department. Maybe impossible to top, let's hope.
But hope is no substitute for justice as a corrective, which is why last week's news was so welcome. Particularly because the "hero" of Srebrenica was arrested by Serbia's own domestic intelligence agency. Indeed, that country's now democratic government had put a
The general's arrest reminded the world that this is a new Serbia with a new leader who was able to announce with some pride last week that, by arresting this orchestrator of terror, his country had finally "removed the stain from the face of Serbia ."
How ugly was that bloody stain? At last count, some 8,000 men and boys were slaughtered during those ten days of murder, rape and torture at Srebrenica in July of 1995. As for the pro-forma protests of the international community, they were not just ignored but mocked at the time by the Serbian general.
There was nothing scientific or efficient about the murder and rapine at Srebrenica in 1995; they were the old-fashioned kind, prompted by nothing but hatred and brutality. Once again
Among all the memories of the massacre, the most haunting image may be that of the Bosnian Serb commander patting a young boy on the head and assuring him: "You have nothing to fear. You will all be evacuated." That was
As usual in these horrific cases, the UN's
Serbia's courts having done their duty with dispatch, Ratko Mladvic now has been sent to stand trial at
As for
The international tribunal in
Srebrenica is the story not just of the evil that men do but the evil they let be done. When the West wasn't giving its consent by a studied silence, it was blaming both victim and aggressor with fine impartiality. That was essentially the non-response of the nonentity who was American secretary of state at the time, one
How little we have learned since Srebrenica. See the empty statements out of the
"The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of evil that Dickens loved to paint but is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried and minuted) in clear, carpeted, warmed, well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices."
Yes, there were a few who protested as the atrocity in Srebrenica was being prepared. Senators like
Once again those voices are being ignored. Free
This much good the massacre at Srebrenica accomplished: The world, and especially
Let's hope the Libyans don't have to wait that long for liberation.
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Available at Amazon.com:
Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World
Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East (The Contemporary Middle East)
The End of History and the Last Man
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics
The End of the Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations?
Running Out of Water: The Looming Crisis and Solutions to Conserve Our Most Precious Resource
Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water
Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization
At War with the Weather: Managing Large-Scale Risks in a New Era of Catastrophes
Friendly Fire: Losing Friends and Making Enemies in the Anti-American Century
Dining With al-Qaeda: Three Decades Exploring the Many Worlds of the Middle East
Uprising: Will Emerging Markets Shape or Shake the World Economy
Copyright 2011, JOEL BRINKLEY; DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.