Thirty years ago today, I was in Bosnia commanding the northernmost British troops, closest to the beseiged town of Srebrenica, which had been a UN Safe Area for two years. I was in the middle of hosting a number of British and UN VIPs, including the Chief of the General Staff when we heard about the launch of the Bosnian Serb Army attack and the capture of the UN Observation Posts. Unfortunately, the Dutch Battalion and the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina capitulated and allowed General Mladic to take over the UN compound and surrounding area.
I had been attacked in a similar way when I arrived in Maglaj two months earlier. The Bosnian Serb Army had used white phosphorus artillery shells, mortars, rockets and a T-55 tank over a period of five days. However, with the use of British light tanks, Canadian TOW missiles and a New Zealand tactical air control party, we repelled the assault and saved the lives of thousands of civilians.
In Srebrenica, the world did nothing to intervene and as a result, over 8,000 men and boys were murdered in the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II. What has always shocked me was the testimony of a Dutch sergeant-major in Potocari, who was quoted in Newsweek as saying that his battalion knew the British had defeated the Bosnian Serb Army using TOW missiles, so he couldn’t understand why the Dutch did not use their missiles and call upon air support to defend their Observation Posts.
In 2003, I was responsible for planning NATO’s operations against the indicted War Criminals in Bosnia, when Bill Clinton took part in the dedication of the Srebrenica Potocari memorial and cemetery on 11 July. Later on, I visited the area with an American military colleague, with three aims in mind. First, to pay homage to the victims away from the hubris of the anniversary. Second, to see for myself the mass graves which were being exhumed to provide forensic evidence for the International Criminal Court (difficult because there were still many unaccounted mines in the area). Third, to assess from a military point of view whether the UN troops that were on the ground could have prevented the genocide.
What struck me most about that day was the suffocating sense of haunting that accompanied me as I walked alone through the rusty UN compound. It is a profoundly moving location in a way that is similar to visiting Ground Zero and the Belsen concentration Camp. I do hope the international representatives who attend the 30th anniversary this week take the time to look behind the scenes and reflect on how the international community can reassert the rule of law in today’s angry world.
July 1995 in Northern Bosnia with the Chief of the General Staff
Rupert Wieloch 