The New York Times
October 3, 1997
By CHRIS HEDGES
(EXCERPTS)

For fair use only
Published under the provision of
U.S. Code, Title 17, section 107.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- The Muslim-led government in Sarajevo appears to be intensifying a clandestine program to arm and train its military, and senior NATO officials say it is close to -- or may already have achieved -- the ability to mount a crushing offensive against the Bosnian Serb-held part of Bosnia.

"The question no longer is if the Muslims will attack the Bosnian Serbs, but when," said a senior European NATO commander. "The only way to prevent such an attack, at this point, is for the peacekeeping mission to extend its mandate."[S-M: Excuses, excuses for NATO's indefinite retention of the Bosnia conquest.]

The NATO officials were united in favoring an extension of the NATO peacekeepers' mandate, and none of them suggested that the Sarajevo government would attempt a military offensive with NATO troops still in place. The peacekeepers are scheduled to leave next June...

It appeared that the NATO officials' willingness to talk about the Muslim buildup was an attempt to influence the debate on Capitol Hill.

NATO aside, all other factors point toward renewed military confrontation. The NATO officials noted that while the Muslims are busy building a formidable military machine, the Bosnian Serb army is imploding under the weight of the current power struggle, a lack of funds, poor morale, a severe shortage of spare parts...

There have been several indications over the last few weeks that the Bosnian [Muslim] government's secret weapons acquisition program and clandestine training has been stepped up. For example, an Egyptian freighter sailing under a Ukrainian flag sits quarantined under NATO guard in the waters off the Croatian port of Ploce, its hold filled with 10 Soviet-built T-55 tanks that were to be delivered as part of a secret arms shipment to the Bosnian Muslim army.

All weapons deliveries are supposed to be shared between Muslim and Croatian units in the united force established under the peace accord. The Muslim-Croat force exists largely on paper, however, and NATO officials said the T-55s were to be delivered only to the Muslims.

...[O]ther shipments have managed to elude NATO monitors and have been delivered. There have been reports in recent weeks of heavy arms shipments arriving in the Croatian port of Rijeka, which is not monitored by NATO soldiers as Ploce is, senior [NATO] officials said.

These officials also said that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general was posted to the Iranian Embassy in Zagreb, Croatia's capital, and that since his arrival in August he has apparently been working out deals with the Croats to smuggle more weapons to the Muslims. And NATO officials say they have received several intelligence reports of clandestine infantry training for Bosnian Muslim soldiers in Iran and Malaysia.

[ S-M: Notice that Iran-Croatia-Bosnian Muslim arms pipeline is exactly the one set covertly by the Clinton Administration in the times that preceded Dayton "peace agreement." We described this shameless Washington dealing in our chapter "Devil's Triangle." ]

The clandestine effort to build up the Bosnian army is in violation of the Bosnian peace agreement, which sets strict limits on the number of heavy weapons possessed by each side. The rearmament effort comes in parallel to a Washington-backed program, known as "equip and train," that provides instruction and NATO armor and artillery to the Bosnian Croats and Muslims. The $300-million program, which has included the delivery of advanced American tanks two generations ahead of anything in the Bosnian Serb arsenal, has in the eyes of many senior NATO officials, including the British, already tipped the military balance in favor of the Muslims.

Senior Russian commanders, who are increasingly nervous about the Muslim buildup against their traditional Serbian allies, recently met with senior Bosnian Serb generals and handed them classified NATO satellite photos of military training camps set up for Bosnian Muslims in an effort to warn the Serbs of the impending debacle, according to Western diplomats.

"The Bosnian Serb generals were stunned," said a senior Western diplomat who was informed of the meeting. "The mood in the room was very black."

The Bosnian Muslims insist that they are only acquiring weapons and training under the strict limits set down by the Bosnian peace agreement and under the guidelines of the "equip and train" program.

...

NATO strategists, who expect the Muslims to first try to seize the Serb-held lands in eastern Bosnia, say the region could fall "in a matter of days."

"We also expect most all of the Serbs there to be driven into Serbia," said a senior NATO commander, "an event that could force Belgrade, even against its will, to intervene. This is a high-risk operation."

The officials also outlined a scenario in which the Bosnian Muslims and Croatia would resume the joint offensive in northwestern Bosnia that they pursued with such success in the final months of the war. The Muslims and Croats recaptured (sic!) large chunks of territory in August and September 1995 and threatened Banja Luka, the largest town under Bosnian Serb control, before Washington imposed a cease-fire. Muslim and Croatian commanders often speak bitterly of Washington's decision to intervene.

[ S-M: That Muslims and Croats would be bitter of Washington is hypocricy of the highest rank. If Washington did not arm and train both Croats and Bosnian Muslims - and then supported their advance by bombing Serbs from the air and shelling them (through use of French and British artillery - known as "Rapid Reaction Force") on the ground the Washington Nazi-Jihad alliance would NEVER advance an inch on the Serbs who were only defending their villages. ]

Croatia, which has a larger military budget at $1.4 billion than Poland, a much larger country, is as busy rearming as the Muslims, cutting arms deals worth tens of millions of dollars with companies in Turkey and Israel, these NATO officials said.

"The Croats are very interested in getting their hands on western Bosnia," said a NATO official. "The attitude is that they will get whatever they can get now by helping the Muslims drive out the Serbs. They think they can deal with the Muslims later."

Washington's "equip and train" program, despite all the mounting danger signs, plows ahead as if the peace agreement was on the verge of fulfillment. It is touted by Washington as an effort to build a joint 45,000-strong force of ethnic Croats and Muslims. The Bosnian Croats and Muslims are nominally part of a federation, but their continued antagonism has so far made a mockery of American efforts to form joint units and commands.

Military Professional Resources, a Virginia-based private contractor that is carrying out the training, has 200 American trainers, all retired (SIC!) U.S. Army officers or non-commissioned officers, currently in Bosnia. Since Aug. 1, 1996, the contractor has trained close to 5,000 soldiers, most of them Muslims under the 70-30 ratio that is supposed to exist between Muslims and Croats in the putative federation army.

The trainers, accompanied by translators, conduct classes on the operation and maintenance of the donated equipment each day at the old Yugoslav tank base in Hadzici, 15 miles south of Sarajevo.

The warehouses on the base, once filled with old Soviet-style tanks, are now occupied with modern weapons, including 45 American M-60A3 tanks, 12 130mm field guns, 12 122mm howitzers, 36 105mm howitzers, 80 M-113A2 armored personnel carriers, 31 French troop transport vehicles, and 31 French armed scout vehicles donated by the United States, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.

A factory in Travnik, controlled by the Muslims, is producing about 50 more 122mm howitzers and the United States is scheduled to provide 116 of the biggest guns in its field artillery arsenal, 155mm howitzers.

The federation is permitted, under the quota imposed by the Dayton agreement, to have 273 battle tanks(!) and 1,000 pieces of artillery.

The trainers said the hardware being provided to the federation outclassed anything the Bosnian Serbs could put in the field. The M-60A3 tank's gun has a longer range than that of the T-84, a Ukrainian variant of a Soviet design that is the Bosnian Serbs' best tank.

"This gun can put out four to five rounds a minute with a good crew," said John Reed, 40, from Killeen, Texas. "I would put it up against a T-84 or a T-72 in a minute. It is the best tank in Bosnia."