Il giornalista investigativo Kit Klarenberg analizza le trascrizioni di conversazioni tenute all'interno della leadership secessionista croata e tra questa e l'inviato speciale statunitense Richard Holbrooke, dalle quali si evince la complicità e l'appoggio materiale degli USA nella pulizia etnica operata contro i serbi della Croazia nell'estate 1995. Nessuno dei responsabili di quella "Operazione Tempesta" è infatti stato condannato in via definitiva dal "Tribunale ad hoc" dell'Aia.]
Holbruk u tajnosti priznao Tuđmanu da SAD podržavaju etničko čišćenje Srba!
Etničko čišćenje stotina hiljada Srba koje je sproveo hrvatski lider Franjo Tuđman uz pomoć Sjedinjenih Država bilo je unapred smišljeno, prema novootkrivenim dokumentima koji otkrivaju planiranje operacije. Nakon što se krvoproliće stišalo, Ričard Holbruk, visoki američki diplomata, uverio ga je: „Javno smo rekli… da smo zabrinuti, ali privatno, znali ste šta želimo.“
4. avgusta 2025. godine obeležava se 30. godišnjica operacije „Oluja“. Malo poznata van bivše Jugoslavije, ova vojna kampanja je pokrenula genocidnu kataklizmu koja je nasilno proterala celokupno srpsko stanovništvo Hrvatske. Nazvano „najefikasnijim etničkim čišćenjem viđenim na Balkanu“ od strane švedskog političara Karla Bilta, hrvatske snage su divljale po UN zaštićenim područjima samoproglašene Republike Srpske Krajine, pljačkajući, paleći, silujući i ubijajući kroz pokrajinu. Do 350.000 meštana je pobeglo, mnogi peške, i nikada se nisu vratili. U međuvremenu, na hiljade njih je pogubljeno po kratkom postupku.
Dok su se ove jezive scene odvijale, mirovne snage UN zadužene za zaštitu Krajine posmatrale su „Oluju” bez intervencije. U međuvremenu, američki zvaničnici su snažno negirali da su užasni masakri i masovno raseljavanje predstavljali etničko čišćenje, a kamoli ratne zločine. Vlade zemalja članica NATO-a bile su daleko više zainteresovane za „sofisticiranost“ zagrebačke vojne taktike. Jedan britanski pukovnik koji je predvodio posmatračku misiju UN u tom području je rekao: „Ko god da je napisao taj plan napada, na bilo kojem NATO fakultetu u Severnoj Americi ili Zapadnoj Evropi dobio bi ocenu 10.“
Krajnje zapostavljeni dokumenti koje je „The Grayzone” pregledao pomažu da se objasni zašto su hrvatske snage tako visoko ocenjene: operacija „Oluja” je u svakom pogledu bila NATO napad, koji su izveli vojnici naoružani i obučeni od strane SAD i direktno koordinisani sa drugim zapadnim silama. Uprkos javnom odobravanju dogovorenog mira, Vašington je privatno ohrabrivao Zagreb da upotrebi maksimalnu ratobornost, toliko da su njihovi ultranacionalistički hrvatski posrednici planirali da napadnu sa takvom svirepošću da je celokupno srpsko stanovništvo zemlje „praktično izbrisano“.
Usred razgovora o političkom rešenju u Ženevi, visoki hrvatski zvaničnici privatno su razgovarali o metodama za opravdanje svog predstojećeg blickriga, uključujući napade pod lažnom zastavom. Uvereni u kontinuiranu podršku svojih zapadnih pokrovitelja usred krvoprolića, hrvatski lideri su se hvalili da samo treba da unapred obaveste svoje NATO pokrovitelje o svojim planovima. Kada se prašina slegla i srpsko stanovništvo je potpuno očišćeno iz Hrvatske, hrvatski zvaničnici su se tajno sastali sa američkim zvaničnicima kako bi proslavili svoj „trijumf“.
Ričard Holbruk, veteran američke diplomatije koji je tada služio kao pomoćnik državnog sekretara u administraciji Bila Klintona, rekao je predsedniku Hrvatske da, dok su SAD „javno rekle… da su zabrinute“ zbog situacije, privatno, „znali ste šta želimo“. Kako je jedan od Holbrukovih pomoćnika napisao u belešci koju je diplomata kasnije otkrio, hrvatske snage su „unajmljene“ kao vašingtonski „psi sa otpada“ da unište Jugoslaviju.
Nakon proterivanja srpskog stanovništva sa tada novonastale zemlje, moglo se računati na novoformirani hrvatski režim da sprovede američku dominaciju ne samo nad Balkanom, već i nad Evropom šire. Etničke tenzije koje je NATO podsticao u regionu i dalje tinjaju i iskorišćene su za opravdanje stalne okupacije.
Bivša Jugoslavija ostaje duboko oštećena operacijom „Oluja“. Međutim, iz perspektive NATO-a, vojna kampanja je pružila plan za naredne posredničke sukobe i vojne udare. Vašington je ponovo stvorio strategiju naoružavanja ekstremističkih stranih boraca kao udarnih trupa na nizu terena, od Sirije do Ukrajine.
Fašisti koje podržava Zapad teže etnički čistoj Hrvatskoj
Tokom 1980-ih, zapadne sile – posebno Velika Britanija, Nemačka i SAD – tajno su sponzorisale rast nacionalizma u Jugoslaviji, nadajući se da će podstaći raspad multietničke federacije. Njihov izabrani zastupnik u Hrvatskoj, Franjo Tuđman, bio je fanatični etnonacionalista, otvoreni poricatelj Holokausta, katolički fundamentalista i bivši pristalica secesionističkih ekstremističkih grupa. Ove frakcije su započele teroristički pohod početkom 1970-ih, otimajući i dizajući u vazduh avione, napadajući jugoslovenske diplomatske objekte u inostranstvu, a 1971. godine ubivši Vladimira Rolovića, ambasadora Beograda u Švedskoj.
Nakon porasta hrvatskog separatističkog nasilja u Jugoslaviji, Tuđman je zatvoren u martu 1972. godine zajedno sa svojim bliskim saveznikom Stepjanom Mesićem zbog njihovih ultranacionalističkih stavova. Kada je Zagreb 18 godina kasnije održao svoje prve višestranačke izbore od Drugog svetskog rata, Hrvatska demokratska zajednica (HDZ) koju su formirali ova dvojica osvojila je većinu glasova i većinu poslaničkih mesta. U tom procesu, Tuđman je postao predsednik, a Mesić premijer. Kako je hrvatski nacionalizam rastao, Srbi su masovno proterivani iz državnih institucija.
Tokom predizborne kampanje, Tuđman je obožavao „Nezavisnu Državu Hrvatsku“, marionetski entitet koji su stvorili nacisti, a kojim su divljački upravljali lokalni kolaboracionisti od aprila 1941. do maja 1945. godine, opisujući fašističku konstrukciju kao „izraz istorijskih težnji hrvatskog naroda“. Posle je otvoreno rekao: „Hvala Bogu, moja žena nije ni Srpkinja ni Jevrejka“.
Ove izjave odražavale su živom monstruoznu strategiju koju je Tuđman izložio u februaru 1990. na javnom skupu u Klivlendu, Ohajo, u vreme kada se HDZ priprema da preuzme vlast:
„[Naš] osnovni cilj… je da odvojimo Hrvatsku od Jugoslavije“, objasnio je Tuđman. „Ako dođemo na vlast, onda je u prvih 48 sati, dok još traje euforija, neophodno da se obračunamo sa svima koji su protiv Hrvatske.“
„Spiskovi takvih osoba su već sastavljeni“, nastavio je. „Srbe u Hrvatskoj treba proglasiti građanima Hrvatske i nazvati ih pravoslavnim Hrvatima. Naziv ‘pravoslavni Srbin’ biće zabranjen. Srpska pravoslavna crkva biće ukinuta… biće proglašena hrvatskom za one koji se ne presele u Srbiju.“
Mnogi Tuđmanovi sledbenici su se divili ustašama, tvrdokornim fašistima koji su vladali „Nezavisnom Državom Hrvatskom“ tokom Drugog svetskog rata. Njihovi zločini su se kretali od pogubljenja žena i staraca, preko metoda poput odsecanja glava i davljenja. U međuvremenu, ustaše su upravljale mrežom logora smrti širom Jugoslavije koju su okupirale sile Osovine, sa posebnim jedinicama za decu. Njihovo surovo varvarstvo prema Srbima, Jevrejima i Romima odbijalo je čak i njihove nacističke pokrovitelje. Stotine hiljada ljudi su ubile ustaše, čiji je oficirski kor uključivao brata i oca Tuđmanovog ministra odbrane, Gojka Šuška.
Ovi užasni događaji ostali su duboki urezani stanovnicima istorijske srpske teritorije Krajine, koja je administrativno dodeljena jugoslovenskoj socijalističkoj republici Hrvatskoj nakon Drugog svetskog rata. HDZ je dobijao finansiranje od ustaških prognanika u zapadnim zemljama i odmah po stupanju na dužnost preimenovao je zagrebački kultni Trg žrtava fašizma u Trg hrvatskih plemića, dok su hrvatske paravojne jedinice ponosno isticale ustaške pokliče i simbole. Dok je Tuđmanova vlada otvoreno raspirivala plamen etničke mržnje, Srbi u novoj zemlji počeli su da se pripremaju za građanski rat.
Nakon što su u Hrvatskoj u martu 1991. godine izbile međuetničke borbe, jedinice Jugoslovenske narodne armije raspoređene su da čuvaju Krajinu, gde su stanovnici proglasili uspostavljanje autonomne Republike Srpske Krajine dok se ne postigne međunarodni mirovni sporazum. Tadašnji predsednik Jugoslavije Borislav Jović svedočio je pre svoje smrti da je cilj bio „zaštita srpskih teritorija dok se ne pronađe političko rešenje“.
Hrvati tajno planiraju da „izbrišu“ Srbe
U avgustu 1995. godine, to „političko rešenje“ izgledalo je na ivici realizacije. Posebna Kontakt grupa UN vodila je mirovne pregovore u Ženevi između vlasti Krajine i Zagreba. Predlog koji je imao za cilj da okonča hrvatski sukob, poznat kao Zagreb 4 ili Z-4, sastavile su EU, Rusija i SAD. Ambasador Vašingtona u Zagrebu, Piter Galbrajt, igrao je ključnu ulogu u pregovorima o uslovima sa liderima krajiških Srba.
Prihvaćen 3. avgusta 1995. godine, Z-4 je predviđao da područja sa većinskom srpskom većinom u Hrvatskoj ostanu deo zemlje, iako sa određenim stepenom autonomije. Istog dana, Galbrajt je potvrdio na lokalnoj televiziji da je dogovorena „reintegracija područja pod kontrolom Srba u Hrvatskoj“. U međuvremenu, američki posrednici u Ženevi izjavili su da zbog velikih srpskih ustupaka „nema razloga da Hrvatska ide u rat“. Konačno, scena je postavljena za mirni dogovor.
Optimistični zvaničnici krajiških Srba objavili su da su dobili uveravanja od Vašingtona da će intervenisati kako bi sprečio hrvatsku vojnu akciju protiv Krajine ako se pridržavaju uslova Z-4. Ipak, pre kraja dana, hrvatski zvaničnici su odbili Z-4, napustivši pregovore. Operacija Oluja je počela sledećeg jutra.
Dokumenti koje je pregledao The Grayzone otkrivaju da Tuđman nikada nije imao nameru da obezbedi mir na konferenciji.
Umesto toga, dosijei pokazuju da je učešće Hrvatske u Ženevi bila prevara čiji je cilj bio da se stvori iluzija da Zagreb traži diplomatsko rešenje, dok je tajno kovao planove za „potpuno [pobeđivanje] neprijatelja“. Plan je otkriven u zapisniku sa sastanka od 31. jula 1995. između Tuđmana i njegovih najviših vojnih zvaničnika u predsedničkoj palati na Brionskim ostrvima. Tokom razgovora, Tuđman je obavestio okupljene: „Moramo da nanesemo takve udarce da će Srbi praktično nestati.“
Takve izjave, koje predstavljaju jasan i nedvosmislen dokaz genocidne namere, nisu bile ograničene samo na predsednika. Neizbežnost etničkog čišćenja priznao je Ante Gotovina, viši general koji se vratio u Jugoslaviju da predvodi operaciju „Oluja“ nakon bekstva početkom 1970-ih. Odlučan i kontinuirani napad na Krajinu značio bi da nakon toga „neće biti toliko civila, samo onih koji moraju da ostanu, koji nemaju mogućnost da odu“, rekao je Gotovina. Bivši komandant francuske legije stranaca, koji je nekada bio zaposlen kao obezbeđenje za francuskog krajnje desničarskog Žan-Marija Le Pena i radio je kao štrajkbreher u suzbijanju sindikalnih radnika CGT-a, kasnije će biti oslobođen odgovornosti za svoju vodeću ulogu u operaciji „Oluja“ od strane međunarodnog tribunala kojim dominira Zapad.
Za one Srbe koji su tada bili zarobljeni u neprijateljskoj etničkoj enklavi, Tuđman je predložio masovnu propagandnu kampanju usmerenu na njih lecima koji proglašavaju „pobedu Hrvatske vojske koju podržava međunarodna zajednica“ i pozivaju Srbe da ne beže – u očiglednom pokušaju da daju inkluzivni izgled svom predlogu o prisilnom raseljavanju civilnog stanovništva. „To znači da im se pruži izlaz, dok se istovremeno pretvara [kurziv dodat] da se garantuju građanska prava… Koristite radio i televiziju, ali i flajere.“
Generali su razgovarali o drugim propagandnim naporima da opravdaju predstojeći napad, uključujući i napade pod lažnom zastavom. S obzirom na to da „svaka vojna operacija mora imati svoje političko opravdanje“, Tuđman je rekao da bi Srbi „trebalo da nam pruže izgovor i da nas isprovociraju“ pre nego što napad počne. Jedan zvaničnik je predložio: „Optužujemo ih da su pokrenuli sabotažni napad protiv nas… zato smo bili primorani da intervenišemo“. Drugi general je predložio izvođenje „eksplozije kao da su udarili svojim vazduhoplovstvom“.
Bil Klinton je dao „sva odobrenja“ za masovno ubistvo
Krajem 1990. godine, jugoslovenska obaveštajna služba je tajno snimila hrvatskog ministra odbrane Martina Špegelja kako kuje zaveru za čišćenje srpskog stanovništva republike. Na jednom snimku, rekao je kolegi zvaničniku da svako ko se protivi nezavisnosti Zagreba treba da bude ubijen „na licu mesta, na ulici, u kompleksu, u kasarni, bilo gde“ pomoću „pištolja… u stomak“. Predviđao je „građanski rat u kome nema milosti ni prema kome, ženama ili deci“, a sa srpskim „porodičnim kućama“ se postupalo „sasvim jednostavno – granatama“.
Špegelj je nastavio da otvoreno zagovara „klanje“ kako bi se „rešilo“ pitanje Knina, glavnog grada Krajine, čime bi grad „nestao“. Hvalio se: „Za to imamo međunarodno priznanje“. SAD su nam već „ponudile svu moguću pomoć“, uključujući „hiljade borbenih vozila“ i „potpuno naoružavanje“ 100.000 hrvatskih vojnika „besplatno“. Željeni krajnji rezultat? „Srba u Hrvatskoj više nikada neće biti tamo.“ Špegelj je zaključio: „Stvorićemo državu po svaku cenu, ako je potrebno, i po cenu prolivanja krvi.“
Podrška Zapada užasima planiranim i počinjenim tokom operacije Oluja takođe je bila naglašena tokom sastanka 31. jula 1995. godine. Tamo je Tuđman rekao svojim generalima: „Imamo prijatelja, Nemačku, koja nas dosledno podržava.“ Hrvati su samo morali da ih „unapred obaveste“ o svojim ciljevima. „I u NATO-u postoji razumevanje za naše statove“, objasnio je, dodajući, „uživamo u simpatijama SAD.“ Nemački list „Špigl“ je 2006. godine potvrdio da masakri nose otiske Vašingtona, pozivajući se na hrvatske vojne izvore koji su tvrdili da su uživali „direktnu, mada tajnu, podršku i Pentagona i Centralne obaveštajne agencije u planiranju i izvođenju ofanzive ’Oluja’“.
„U pripremi za ofanzivu, hrvatski vojnici su obučavani u Fort Irvinu u Kaliforniji, a Pentagon je pomagao u planiranju operacije“, objavio je list. Američka podrška je išla daleko dalje od onoga što je javno priznato, a to je da su hrvatske snage samo prošle kroz vežbe obuke koje je sproveo američki privatni vojni izvođač radova MPRI, otkrio je Špigl. „Neposredno pre ofanzive, tadašnji zamenik direktora CIA Džordž Tenet sastao se sa Gotovinom i Tuđmanovim sinom – tada zaduženim za hrvatsku obaveštajnu službu – radi konsultacija u poslednjem trenutku. Tokom operacije, američki avioni su uništili srpske komunikacione i protivvazdušne centre, a Pentagon je prosledio informacije prikupljene satelitom [hrvatskim snagama].“
Na sastanku kabineta 7. avgusta 1995. godine, Tuđman se hvalio kako je Vašington „morao biti zadovoljan“ načinom na koji je hrvatska vojska izvela operaciju Oluja. Njegov premijer, Ivo Sanader, zatim je razgovarao o koordinaciji napora sa američkim zvaničnicima, koji su „radili u ime“ potpredsednika Ala Gora. Uverio je okupljene da je „sva odobrenja… direktno odobrio“ američki predsednik Bil Klinton i da Hrvatska stoga može „očekivati kontinuiranu podršku“ od Vašingtona dok su se masakri odvijali.
Američki diplomata klica genocidnom „trijumfu“
18. avgusta, u zagrebačkoj predsedničkoj palati održan je samit sa visokim američkim diplomatom Ričardom Holbrukom. Kao stalni deo establišmenta spoljne politike „Beltveja“, opsednutog intervencijama, Holbruk je imao oko na blistava imenovanja pod Bilom Klintonom i kasnije – možda pod budućom administracijom Hilari Klinton. Uspešan raspad Jugoslavije bi pružio gorivo njegovim ambicijama.
U transkriptu koji je pregledao The Grayzone, Holbruk je ulizično opisao Tuđmana kao „oca moderne Hrvatske“ i njenog „oslobodioca“ i „stvaraoca“. Primetivši sa odobravanjem da je silač „povratio 98 procenata vaše teritorije“ – bez pominjanja da je očišćena od Srba – američki diplomata je sebe opisao kao „prijatelja“ novonezavisne države, čije je nasilno ponašanje nazvao legitimnim.
„Imali ste opravdanje za svoju vojnu akciju u Istočnoj Slavoniji“, obavestio je Holbruk Tuđmana, „i ja sam je uvek branio u Vašingtonu.“ Kada su neki u SAD predložili obuzdavanje Zagreba, Holbruk je tvrdio da Hrvati treba da „nastave“ ipak, izjavio je.
Što se tiče operacije Oluja, Holbruk je priznao: „Javno smo rekli, kao što znate, da smo zabrinuti, ali privatno, znali ste šta želimo.“ Nazvao je užasavajući blickrig „trijumfom“ sa „političke i vojne tačke gledišta“, što je izbeglice ostavilo kao „jedini problem“ iz perspektive Zagreba. Efektivno manipulišući hrvatskim predsednikom, Holbruk je savetovao Tuđmanu da „održi govor u kojem će navesti da je rat završen i da se [Srbi] trebaju vratiti“. Iako je predviđao da se „većina neće vratiti“, Holbruk je očigledno smatrao da je važno da barem ostavi ponudu otvorenom javno.
Hrvatske vlasti su se pozabavile ovim „problemom“ donošenjem diskriminatornih zakona koji su raseljenim Srbima učinili praktično nemogućim povratak, dok su im oduzimale imovinu. Uprkos postojanju ogromnih dokaza o teškim ratnim zločinima.
Kit Klarenberg / The Grayzone
US backed ethnic cleansing of Serbs, top diplomat secretly told Croat leader
The ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Serbs by a US-backed Croatian leader was premeditated, according to newly-uncovered files revealing the operation’s planning. After the bloodshed subsided, Richard Holbrooke, a top US diplomat, assured him: “We said publicly… that we were concerned, but privately, you knew what we wanted.”
August 4, 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of Operation Storm. Little known outside the former Yugoslavia, the military campaign unleashed a genocidal cataclysm that violently expelled Croatia’s entire Serb population. Dubbed “the most efficient ethnic cleansing we’ve seen in the Balkans” by Swedish politician Carl Bildt, Croat forces rampaged UN-protected areas of the self-declared Serb Republic of Krajina, looting, burning, raping and murdering their way across the province. Up to 350,000 locals fled, many on foot, never to return. Meanwhile, thousands were summarily executed.
As these hideous scenes unfolded, UN peacekeepers charged with protecting Krajina watched without intervening. Meanwhile, US officials strenuously denied the horrifying massacres and mass displacement amounted to ethnic cleansing, let alone war crimes. NATO member state governments were far more interested in the “sophistication” of Zagreb’s military tactics. One British colonel heading a UN observer mission in the area gushed, “whoever wrote that plan of attack could have gone to any NATO staff college in North America or Western Europe and scored an A-plus.”
Widely overlooked documents reviewed by The Grayzone help explain why Croatian forces were graded so highly: Operation Storm was for all intents and purposes a NATO attack, carried out by soldiers armed and trained by the US and directly coordinated with other Western powers. Despite publicly endorsing a negotiated peace, Washington privately encouraged Zagreb to employ maximum belligerence, even as their ultranationalist Croat proxies plotted to strike with such ferocity that the country’s entire Serb population would “to all practical purposes disappear.”
In the midst of talks on a political settlement in Geneva, high-ranking Croat officials privately discussed methods to justify their coming blitzkrieg, including false flag attacks. Assured of their Western patrons’ continued backing amid the bloodshed, Croat leaders boasted that they merely needed to inform their NATO backers in advance of their plans. Once the dust settled and Croatia’s Serb population was entirely cleansed, Croat officials met in secret with US officials to celebrate their “triumph.”
Richard Holbrooke, a veteran US diplomat then serving as Assistant Secretary of State in the Bill Clinton administration, told the president of Croatia that while the US “said publicly… that we were concerned” about the situation, “privately, you knew what we wanted.” As one of Holbrooke’s aides wrote in a note the diplomat later reproduced, Croatian forces had been “hired” as Washington’s “junkyard dogs” to destroy Yugoslavia.
After expelling the newly-independent country’s Serb population, the newly-formed Croat regime could be counted on to exert US dominance not only over the Balkans, but Europe more widely. The ethnic tensions fomented by NATO in the region still simmer, and have been exploited to justify perpetual occupation.
The former Yugoslavia remains horribly scarred by Operation Storm. From NATO’s perspective, however, the military campaign provided a blueprint for subsequent proxy conflicts and military strikes. Washington has recreated the strategy of weaponizing extremist foreign fighters as shock troops in an array of theaters, from Syria to Ukraine.
Western-backed fascists seek ethnically pure Croatia
Throughout the 1980s, Western powers – in particular Britain, Germany, and the US – covertly sponsored the growth of nationalism in Yugoslavia, hoping to encourage the multiethnic federation’s breakup. Their chosen proxy in Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, was a fanatical ethnonationalist, outspoken Holocaust denier, Catholic fundamentalist, and alumni of secessionist extremist groups. These factions embarked on a terrorist rampage throughout the early 1970’s, hijackingand blowing up airliners, attacking Yugoslav diplomatic sites abroad, and in 1971 assassinating Vladimir Rolovic, Belgrade’s ambassador to Sweden.
Following an upsurge of Croatian separatist violence in Yugoslavia, Tudjman was jailed in March 1972 along with his close confederate Stepjan Mesic due to their ultranationalist views. When Zagreb held its first multi-party elections since World War II 18 years later, the pair’s Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won a plurality of votes, and a majority of parliamentary seats. In the process, Tudjman became President, and Mesic Prime Minister. As Croatian nationalism soared, Serbs were purged en masse from state agencies.
On the campaign trail, Tudjman eagerly venerated the “Independent State of Croatia,” a Nazi-created puppet entity savagely run by local collaborators from April 1941 to May 1945, describing the fascistic construct as “an expression of the historical aspirations of the Croatian people.” Elsewhere, he openly remarked, “thank God, my wife is neither a Serb nor a Jew.”
These utterances reflected a monstrous strategy Tudjman laid out in February 1990 at a public meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, for when HDZ took power:
“[Our] basic goal… is to separate Croatia from Yugoslavia,” Tudjman explained. “If we come to power, then in the first 48 hours, while there is still euphoria, it is indispensable that we settle scores with all those who are against Croatia.”
“Lists of such persons have already been drawn up,” he continued. “Serbs in Croatia should be declared citizens of Croatia and called Orthodox Croats. The name ‘Orthodox Serb’ will be banned. The Serbian Orthodox Church will be abolished… it will be declared Croatian for those who do not move to Serbia.”
Many of Tudjman’s adherents adulated the Ustase, hardcore fascists who ruled the “Independent State of Croatia” during World War II. Their crimes ranged from executing women and the elderly by the hundred through methods including beheading, drowning. Meanwhile, the Ustase managed a network of death camps across Axis-occupied Yugoslavia, with dedicated units for children. Their ruthless barbarity towards Jews, Roma, and Serbs repulsed even their Nazi patrons. Hundreds of thousands were murdered by the Ustase, whose officer corps included the brother and father of Tudjman’s Defense Minister, Gojko Šušak.
These horrific events remained visceral for residents of the historic Serbian territory of Krajina, which was administratively assigned to the Yugoslav socialist republic of Croatia following World War II. HDZ received funding from Ustase exiles in Western countries, and immediately upon taking office renamed Zagreb’s iconic Square of the Victims of Fascism as Croatian Nobles Square, while Croat paramilitary units proudly touted Ustase chants and symbols. As the Tudjman-led government openly fanned the flames of ethnic hatred, Serbs in the fledgling country began preparing for civil war.
After interethnic fighting broke out in Croatia in March 1991, Yugoslav People’s Army units were deployed to guard Krajina, where residents declared the establishment of an autonomous Serb Republic until an international peacekeeping deal could be brokered. Yugoslavia’s then-President Borislav Jovic testified before his death the objective was “to protect the Serb territories, until a political solution [could be] found.”
Croats covertly scheme to make Serbs ‘disappear’
In August 1995, that “political solution” appeared on the brink of fruition. A dedicated UN Contact Group was conducting peace negotiations in Geneva between Krajina authorities and Zagreb. A proposal intended to bring the Croatian conflict to an end, known as Zagreb 4 or Z-4, was drafted by the EU, Russia, and the US. Washington’s ambassador to Zagreb, Peter Galbraith, played a key role in negotiating terms with Krajina-Serb leaders.
Accepted on August 3rd 1995, Z-4 envisioned Serb-majority areas in Croatia remaining part of the country, albeit with a degree of autonomy. That same day, Galbraith confirmed on local TV that “reintegration of the Serb-held areas in Croatia” had been agreed upon. Meanwhile, US mediators in Geneva declared that due to major Serb concessions, there was “no reason for Croatia to go to war.” At long last, the stage was finally set for a negotiated peace.
Upbeat Krajina-Serb officials announced they’d received assurances from Washington that it would intervene to prevent Croatian military action against Krajina if they complied with Z-4’s terms. Yet, before the day was over, Croatian officials rejected Z-4, walking out of negotiations. Operation Storm began the next morning.
Now, documents reviewed by The Grayzone reveal that Tudjman never had any intention of securing peace at the conference.
Instead, the files shows that Croatia’s participation in Geneva was a ruse intended to create the illusion Zagreb was seeking a diplomatic settlement, while it secretly crafted plans for “completely [vanquishing] the enemy.” The scheme was revealed in the minutes from a July 31, 1995 meeting between Tudjman and his top military brass at the presidential palace on the Brionian Islands. During the conversation, Tudjman informed those assembled: “We have to inflict such blows that the Serbs will to all practical purposes disappear.”
“I am going to Geneva to hide this and not to talk… I want to hide what we are preparing for the day after. And we can rebut any argument in the world about how we didn’t want to talk.”
Such statements, which constitute clear and unambiguous evidence of genocidal intent, were not limited to the President. The inevitability of ethnic cleansing was admitted by Ante Gotovina, a senior general who returned to Yugoslavia to lead operation Storm after fleeing in the early 1970s. a decisive and sustained attack on Krajina would mean that afterwards, “there won’t be so many civilians, just those who have to stay, who have no possibility of leaving,” said Gotovina. The former French foreign legion commander, who was once employed as security for France’s far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen and worked as a strikebreaker cracking down on CGT union workers, would later be acquitted for his leading role in Operation Storm by a Western-dominated international tribunal.
For those Serbs who were now trapped in a hostile ethnic enclave, Tudjman suggested a mass propaganda campaign targeting them with leaflets declaring “the victory of the Croatian Army supported by the international community,” and calling on Serbs not to flee – in an apparent attempt to lend an inclusive veneer to their proposal to forcibly displace the civilian population. “This means giving them a way out, while pretending [emphasis added] to guarantee civil rights… Use radio and television, but leaflets as well.”
The generals discussed other propaganda efforts to justify the impending attack, including false flags. Given that “every military operation must have its political justification,” Tudjman said the Serbs “should provide us with a pretext and provoke us” before the strike began. One official proposed, “we accuse them of having launched a sabotage attack against us… that’s why we were forced to intervene.” Another general suggested carrying out “an explosion as if they had struck with their airforce.”
Bill Clinton provided ‘all clearance’ for mass murder
In late 1990, Yugoslav intelligence secretly filmed Croatia’s Defense Minister Martin Spegelj covertly plotting to purge the republic’s Serb population. In one tape, he told a fellow official that anyone opposed to Zagreb’s independence should be murdered “on the spot, in the street, in the compound, in barracks, anywhere” via “[a] pistol…into the stomach.” He forecast “a civil war in which there is no mercy towards anyone, women or children,” and Serb “family homes” were dealt with using “quite simply grenades.”
Spegelj went on to openly advocate “slaughter” to “resolve” the issue of Knin, Krajina’s capital, making the city “disappear.” He boasted, “we have international recognition for that.” The US had already “offered us all possible assistance,” including “thousands of combat vehicles” and “complete arming” of 100,000 Croat soldiers “free of charge.” The desired end result? “Serbs in Croatia will never be there again.” Spegelj concluded, “we are going to create a state at all costs, if necessary, at the cost of shedding blood.”
Western support for the horrors planned and perpetrated during Operation Storm was also writ large during the meeting on July 31, 1995. There, Tudjman told his generals, “we have a friend, Germany, which consistently supports us.” The Croats just had to “inform them ahead of time” of their objectives. “In NATO as well there is also understanding of our views,” he explained, adding, “we enjoy the sympathy of the US.” In 2006, German outlet Der Spiegel confirmed that the massacres bore Washington’s fingerprints, citing Croatian military sources who claimed they’d enjoyed “direct though secret support from both the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency in planning and carrying out the ‘Storm’ offensive.”
“In preparing for the offensive, Croatian soldiers were trained at Fort Irwin in California and the Pentagon aided in planning the operation,” the outlet reported. US support went far beyond what it publicly acknowledged, which was that Croatian forces merely underwent training exercises carried out by US private military contractor MPRI, Spiegel revealed. “Immediately prior to the offensive, then-Deputy CIA Director George Tenet met with Gotovina and Tudjman’s son – then in charge of Croatian intelligence – for last minute consultations. During the operation, US aircraft destroyed Serbian communication and anti-aircraft centers and the Pentagon passed on information gathered by satellite to [Croatian forces].”
At an August 7 1995 cabinet meeting, Tudjman bragged of how Washington “must have been pleased” with how Croatia’s military executed Operation Storm. His premier, Ivo Sanader, then discussed coordinating the effort with US officials, who “worked in the name of” Vice President Al Gore. He assured those gathered that “all clearance… was approved straight” by US President Bill Clinton, and that Croatia could therefore “expect continuous support” from Washington as the massacres unfolded.
US diplomat cheers a genocidal ‘triumph’
On August 18, a high-level summit with senior US diplomat Richard Holbrooke was convened in Zagreb’s Presidential palace. A fixture of the intervention-obsessed Beltway foreign policy establishment, Holbrooke had his eyes on plum appointments under Bill Clinton and beyond – perhaps under a future Hillary Clinton administration. The successful dismantling of Yugoslavia would provide fuel for his ambitions.
In a transcript reviewed by The Grayzone, Holbrooke fawningly described Tudjman as the “father of modern Croatia” and its “liberator” and “creator.” Noting with approval that the strongman had “regained 98 percent of your territory” – without mentioning that it had been purged of Serbs – the American diplomat described himself as “a friend” of the newly-independent state, whose violent conduct he framed as legitimate.
“You had justification for your military action in Eastern Slavonia,” Holbrooke informed Tudjman, “and I defended it, always, in Washington.” When some in the US suggested reining in Zagreb, Holbrooke argued Croats should “continue” anyway, he declared.
Regarding Operation Storm, Holbrooke admitted, “we said publicly, as you know, that we were concerned, but privately, you knew what we wanted.” He dubbed the horrifying blitzkrieg a “triumph” from “a political and military point of view,” which left refugees as “the only problem” from Zagreb’s perspective. Effectively stage-managing the Croatian president, Holbrooke advised Tudjman to “give a speech stating that the war has finished and that [Serbs] should return.” While forecasting “the majority would not return,” Holbrooke apparently felt it important to at least leave the offer open publicly.
Croatian authorities dealt with this “problem” by passing discriminatory laws making it virtually impossible for displaced Serbs to return, while seizing their property. Despite possessing overwhelming evidence of grave war crimes, the NATO-funded International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia did not indict anyone responsible for Operation Storm until 2008. Many culpable officials, including Tudjman, died in the intervening time. Three surviving military commanders were eventually prosecuted in 2011. One was acquitted and two convicted, although this was overturned on appeal in 2012.
That ruling reached several other extraordinary conclusions. While accepting “discriminatory and restrictive measures” were employed by Zagreb to prevent displaced Serbs from returning, this did not mean their departure was forced. Although civilians had been murdered in large numbers, including the elderly and infirm who couldn’t flee, Operation Storm somehow didn’t deliberately target non-combatants. And despite the explicitly stated desire of Spegelj and Tudjman to make Serbs “disappear,” neither government nor military officials were found to have specifically intended to expel Croatia’s entire Serb minority.
The anniversary of Operation Storm is now celebrated as ‘Victory Day’ in Croatia. The attack’s success is venerated in Western military circles today, and the effort may have influenced similar operations in other theaters of proxy conflict. In September 2022, the Kyiv Post cheered Ukraine’s unexpectedly successful counteroffensive in Kharkov as “Operation Storm 2.0,” suggesting it was a harbinger of Russia’s impending “capitulation.”
Almost three years later, Kiev’s forces are collapsing throughout the Donbass. Unlike in Croatia, the latest crop of ultranationalist US proxies appear unlikely to prevail.
Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions.