The Guardian: US and Britain sacrificed Srebrenica

New research shows that Britain and the US knew six weeks before the Srebrenica massacre that the enclave would fall, but sacrificed it, writes The Guardian. Srebrenica was sacrificed in efforts to achieve peace, the London-based newspaper reports, as carried by the Patria news agency. 

In an article titled "How Britain and the US decided to abandon Srebrenica to its fate," the authors, journalist Ed Vulliamy and former Hague Tribunal spokesperson Florence Hartmann, state that "there is now a mass of evidence that the fall of Srebrenica was part of the policy of three great powers - Britain, France and the US - and the UN leadership, in pursuit of peace at any cost, peace at the expense of Srebrenica." 

-Until now, it has always been emphasised that the so-called „endgame strategy“ that led to the peace agreement and the post-war map of Bosnia was a consequence of the „reality on the ground“ after the fall of Srebrenica. What is now being revealed is that the „endgame“ preceded that fall and, as it turns out, depended on it, the authors state. 

The article presents a chronology of events related to Srebrenica and statements from actors that support the notion that the crime in Srebrenica was expected. 

The authors note that in April 1993, the UN Security Council submitted a report warning of a potential massacre if Serbian forces entered Srebrenica. The writers of the article in The Guardian explain how the great powers aimed to abolish the existence of the enclaves, were aware that ethnic cleansing of Srebrenica would follow, and how UNPROFOR troops left civilians unprotected and refused to help them. 

-According to declassified US cables, details of the crime reached Western intelligence agencies long before it began on July 13, and CIA operatives watched an almost 'live’ feed from a location in Vienna, writes The Guardian.  

The article also describes meetings between Western officials and Bosniak representatives, as well as with Slobodan Milošević, Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić. 

-No politician, diplomat or senior military official saw fit to resign over the betrayal of Srebrenica. It will be interesting to see if anything resembling an apology will be heard next Sunday (at the commemoration in Potočari) from Britain, America or France, the authors conclude, noting that many of those involved were "promoted or moved to lucrative positions."