Ante Gotovina - A man with interesting friends in Virginia

Former Croat general Ante Gotovina, wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), was arrested in Spain yesterday, which set off riots in Zagreb among his nationalists supporters.

Demonstrators earlier threw stones at the building housing the Croatian government, which assisted in the arrest of general Ante Gotovina in Spain.

Gotovina, who is a former French legionnaire and mercenary, retired from the Croatian army in 2000 after earning a hero's status (memorably by Croatian tennis star Goran Ivanisovic at the 1991 Wimbledon Championships), in the 1991- 95 war for Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia.

He became a fugitive a year later when the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicted in the deaths of Serb civilians and other atrocities committed by his troops.

Those interested in his activities and In Operation Storm which led to the atrocities for which he has been arrested might like to take some time to look at the record of some interesting people who helped him.

Military Professional Resources Inc.
1201 E. Abingdon Dr
Alexandria, VA

MPRI reported annual sales of $95 million from numerous contracts with the U.S. and foreign governments to provide military training and consulting, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

In 1994 and 1995, MPRI was paid millions of dollars under a U.S. government-sanctioned contract to train the Croatian military. In August 1995, the previously inept Croatian army launched "Operation Lightning Storm," a U.S.-style military offensive designed to take back part of the country held throughout the war by rebel Serbs. Some photos taken at the time are said to show Gotovina together with US military advisors (See pic. Gotovina 2nd from left).

"Operation Lightning Storm", was launched against the Krajina region in which Serbian villages were sacked and burned, hundreds of civilians were killed and 170,000 were left homeless. The operation was a textbook illustration of western military doctrine. "The Croatians did a good job of coordinating armor, artillery and infantry", says Roger Charles, a retired marine lieutenant colonel and military researcher. "That's not something you learn while being instructed about democratic values."

The truth is the United States which provided logistical support, jammed Serbian radio communications and radar, and closely monitored all Serbian troop movements using unmanned spy planes (UAV's), which operated from Brac island just off the Croatian coast (ops later moved to Sepurina airport nr. Zadar after being exposed on New Years Day by the German Embassy staff). All the resulting information was passed on immediately to the Croatian armed forces, with Washington hoping that the Serbs would be beaten back quickly and thus forced to agree to take part in negotiations.

Critics charged that MPRI provided training and tactical skills that enabled the Croatian military to perpetrate one of the largest episodes of ethnic cleansing in the breakup of former Yugoslavia, in an offensive that left hundreds dead and 150,000 homeless. MPRI denied those charges. A fterwards, the Croatian government expressed its gratitude to MPRI for its help in training its military. MPRI was later hired to train the new Bosnian army after the Dayton Peace Accords ended the war in former Yugoslavia.

In early 1996 Assistant Secretary of State, Richard Holbrooke told Congress that the training of Bosnian forces by MPRI "can begin as soon as the contracts are worked out" --that's contracts, plural, because the $400 million program was paid for largely by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait.

Mr (General ?) Gotovina might have some interesting tales to tell the ICC, as will Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic when they are apprehended. But then of course the US doesn't recognise the court - I can think of several reasons why they don't.

By the way, Michael Meacher my EX MP also wrote about this in the Guradian last year, he claims (typically exaggerating) ethnic cleaning of 200,000 Serbs.

Recent blogs on same topic here

Poster of wanted persons by ICTY here

A very useful and detailed site about US involvement in "Operation Storm" here