Draxblog III

Rakar Released

Marko Rakar, Croatian top political blogger, was released late last night. He left a brief post on his popular Pollitika.com blog denying any wrongdoing. Later he compalined about his computers being impounded and his G-mail accounts being mysteriously blocked.

Rakar's former employer, President Ivo Josipovič, on the other hand, indirectly blamed Kosor's government for the leak.

BREAKING NEWS: Top Croatian Blogger Arrested

Marko Rakar, one of Croatia's best known political bloggers, (in)famous as one of current president's campaign managers, is arrested by Croatian police. So far, nobody knows why this happened, but most speculations point towards the yesterday's Internet leaking of controversial Patriotic War veterans list.

Hearts of Iron III - First Impressions

70th anniversary of World War Two is good time to share few impressions about Hearts of Iron III, the latest installment of war game series by Paradox.

Basics of the game didn't change much compared to Hearts of Iron II. The major blocs  - Axis, Allies and Comintern - are same, as well as the time span (1936 - 1948). Unlike Doomsday expansion for HOI 2, HOI 3 doesn't appear to allow player to continue playing until 1955. On the other hand, some improvements are more than obvious - graphic is impressive, and the number of provinces wars are going to be fought over  - 14000 - is mind-numbing.

Even better is the lower level of land forces organisation - brigades instead of divisions in HOI 2. Player is, on the other hand, given opportunity to create divisions out of those brigades, which looks quite neat.

Introduction of leadership as new concept could also give more depth and detail to the game. Difficult decisions about research are now separated from "guns and butter" considerations in production menu. Politics menu, on the other hand, has many details - political parties and their organisation - that aren't likely to have obvious impact for the game.

The best thing about HOI 3 appears to be AI option for various menus. Player now can allow computer to handle diplomacy, production, technology (leadership), politics and intelligence. Player can also let particular HQs to be handled by AI,. The only problem appears to be AI behaviour, which leaves much to be desired. In all games I played so far, AI had nasty tendency to request strong air force, which often led to AI-controlled production menu directing all ICs (industrial capacity) to production of tactical bombers, while not allowing any updates of tragically antiquated infantry equipment. One example is South Africa whose army - made out of 9 garrison brigades - had 19th Century Henry-Martini rifle as its standard infantry weapon.

AI looks even worse when handling other nations. While the events in some cases follow historical pattern and look plausible (Ethiopia falls to Mussolini, Nationalists win in Spain, Hitler gets Anschluss etc.), at other times history look quite different. For example, Japanese forces almost always are being creamed by Nationalist Chinese, and Germans at times happen to successfully invade Karachi and Hong Kong. This looks quite implausible.

Another, even more annoying, problem is slow tempo of the game which makes Road To War campaign boring - especially when small and neutral nations are played.

HOI 3 is in many aspects disappointing, but novelty of some features will please hard-core grognard fans. Few good patches should, in most likelihood, solve some of the more annoying problems and make playing HOI 3 as good as playing HOI 2 and HOI 1.

Convenient Death of Simo Dubajić

Simo Dubajić, retired Lt. Colonel of Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), died in Belgrade on Wednesday, aged 86. His death has probably ended one of the longest sought criminal proceedings in recent Croatian history. In March, Dubajić became target of Croatian State Attorney's Office due to his role in 1945 massacres in Kočevski Rog.

Kočevski Rog, an area in Slovenia, is site where at least 13000 Axis POWs (most of them belonging to forces of Independent State of Croatia) were executed by victorious Yugoslav Partisans, after being handed over by British near Bleiburg in Austria in May 1945, few days after Axis forces capitulation. Killings in Kočevski Rog is just one part of the campaign called Bleiburg Massacre which killed around 55000 people, making it into one of the more spectacular Allied war crimes of Second World War.

Bleiburg was taboo in Tito's Yugoslavia, only to become one of the topics most talked about after the break-up of the federation. This was especially evident in Croatia, where it became part of nationalist mythology and its victims became celebrated martyrs. The massacre also became formidable propaganda weapon against Social Democratic Party, successor of Communist Party of Croatia, political entity directly or indirectly associated with Partisans who took part in it.

However, despite all the talk about Bleiburg after 1990, there were very few attempts by Croatian authorities to prosecute those responsible. There are many speculations about resons for such reluctance, most of them based on the fact that Franjo Tuđman was Partisan in 1945 and, directly or indirectly, associated with massacres. Furthermore, Tuđman's idea of National Reconciliation - one of the basis of his party's ideology and one of pre-conditions for successful drive towards Croatian independence and victory in Patriotic War - would be compromised if there was widespread prosecution of Partisans. Since most of the suspects are in mid 80s, the prosecutions and trials could be as uncathartic and pathetic as 1986 trial Communist Croatia had against Andrija Artuković in Zagreb.

Lack of Partisan prosecutions in last 18 years was explained with the alleged non-participation of Croatian Partisan units in the massacres. Atrocities were instead committed by ethnic Serbs in Partisans and motivated by their "inherent and centuries old hatred of everything Croatian".

Dubajić, who is the only Partisan to actually become part of investigation, fits such description perfectly. In 1990, like some of his former comrades, he passionately embraced the cause of Serbian nationalism and even took part in organising paramilitary formation of Republic of Srpska Krajina.

Another, even more important reason why Dubajić was perfect is the fact that he is the only Partisan to actually admit killings and his role in it. In 1990 he gave interview to Svet, Belgrade weekly, in which he bragged about murdering "30000 Ustashas".

In 2006 Dubajić wrote a book in which he tried to give full account of his crimes, expressing regret for his actions. Most importantly, he named names and described how the killings in Kočevski rog were committed by members of 11th Dalmatian Brigade, which was manned mostly by ethnic Croats. Those claims - if taken seriously - could shatter the myth of Croatian Partisans being "clean" and serve as excellent propaganda fodder for Croatian right wing which became stronger during last two years of Sanader's mandate.

However, with Dubajić conveniently dead, it seems that there would be very little chance of Partisan prosecutions going any further. Perhaps that was the plan all along. Dubajić's death should mark the final curtain for Second World War in this part of the world. Or, at least, that is what any sensible person should hope for.

Unfortunately, experiences with Serbia and Battle of Kosovo show that there aren't historical traumas distant enough for contemporary politicians not to use them in order to create new ones.

 

Glavaš Ran Away

Anyone expecting Glavaš coming behind bars after today's war crimes verdict got another chapter in what appears longest and most embarrasing soap opera in recent Croatian political history. Despite the verdict, Glavaš could get in jail only if he chose to, since his immunity was still valid. Sabor, despite previous speculations, chose not to strip him from his immunity until Mandate & Immunity Committee meets next week. In the mean time, Croatian police couldn't arrest Glavaš nor prevent him from leaving Croatian soil.

The latest information tells that Glavaš found sanctuary in Bosnia-Herzegovina where he allegedly has citizenship. Bosnia-Herzegovina can't extradite its citizens, just like Croatia, and this was abused by many celebrity criminals from both sides of the border. HRT quotes sources that saw Glavaš publicly drinking coffee in Tomislavgrad.

In the meantime, HDSSB issued video-message by Glavaš in which he explains that he was arrested twice and that he won't be arrested for the third time. So, Croatia got itself a remake of a Gotovina Saga, while today's events - whatever you may think about Glavaš's guilt of innocence - represent utter mockery of Croatian justice system and failure of Croatia as a state.

Another Romantic Revolutionary Ends in Bolivia

Hungarian media reports that one of the men killed by Bolivian police while allegedly plotting to assassinate plot against Evo Morales is Eduardo Rozsa-Flores, former Latin American leftist revolutionary who fought on the side of Croatia as leader of international volunteers during Patriotic War 1991. Those exploits were covered in Chico, 2001 film in which Rozsa-Flores played the main character - his alter ego. (Hungarian link).

May Games Are Here Again

It is that time of a year again. Spring in Croatia is in the past few years less associated with warmer weather or need to go on fast diet and more with activity Jutarnji list recently branded "May Games". This season, like many before, are going to be time when Croatians become obsessed with their nation's increasingly distant and decreasingly relevant past - usually at the expense of present day and future.

The season unofficially begins with April 10th - 68th anniversary of the creation of Independent State of Croatia, which is opportunity to all those closet or open sympathisers of that entity to express their feelings towards that chapter of Croatian history. Then comes April 22nd - 64th anniversary of liberation of Jasenovac Concentration Camp. Next important day is May 4th - 29th anniversary of Josip Broz Tito, which is opportunity of all of his supporters and fans to express their sadness over premature passing of a man who could have, in their way, prevented misery in which many live now. Then comes May 8th - 64th anniversary of a day when Tito's Partisans entered Zagreb, which some call liberation, while other call occupation.

Then comes May 15th - 64th anniversary of a surrender of Axis forces in Balkans, which triggered series of events in Croatia known as Bleiburg massacre. The season ends with 68th anniversary of formation of Sisak Partisan Detachment, the very first partisan unit in Croatia, former Yugoslavia (and, according to some hagiographic sources, entire Europe). The last day is also celebrated as public holiday in Croatia, known as Antifascist Struggle Day.

Needless to say, any mention of such days during May History season is opportunity for supporters of WW2 winners and losers to attack each other, treating any celebration or memorial service of such dates as unforgivable crime against historical memory and hundreds of thousands of innocent victims. Another ingredient of a debate, which tends to increase in intensity with each passing year, is discreet involvement of government and establishment media whose commentators tend to suggest - although not with much vigour and conviction - that modern Croatia has evolved out of "tragic ideological differences of 20th Century" and became "modern European liberal democracy".

Unfortunately, May History season of 2009 coincides with local elections which means that ruling HDZ party will shift to the right and give tacit blessing to the expressions of righteous right-wing anger over "evil Communists butchering innocent Croatian patriots" at the end of WW2. One of such examples happened during 2007 parliamentary elections campaign when Ratko Maček, while discussing mass graves in Slovenia, briefly mentioned that Tito and his Partisans murdered 450,000 people - which is probably on the same levels of historical accuracy as Serbian claims of 1 million Serbs butchered in Jasenovac.

This time, the major theme of May Games season is "discovery" of a mass grave in Huda jama in Slovenai, where remains of hundreds, probably thousands people have been found. This isn't something of a news in Slovenia - where it was, predictably, already used in their own Left vs. Right struggle. However, in Croatia it created sensation despite the fact that nobody knows whose remains were in that pit. Until proper investigation - for which few people have some palpalbe interest - is conducted, the mass grave could be filled with remains of Croatian Ustashas, Slovenian Home Guard, Russian anti-Communist volunteers (Circassians), Serbian Chetniks, Wehrmach soldiers or - which is probably most likely - mix of all above.

Faced with outrage over Partisan crimes, Mladen Bajić, Prosecutor General of Croatia launched high-profile investigation against alleged perpetrator. The name of a target shows how serious this investigation is going to be. Simo Dubajić, Partisan commander who took part in massacre and in early 1990s publicly bragged about "killing Ustashas" as born-again Serb nationalist only to express remorse in 2006 tell-all book, is 86-year old man at deathbed in Belgrade. If that man ever goes on trial - which is, based on the state of his health, highly unlikely - the public perception is going to be as pathetic and anti-cathartic as 1986 process that former Yugoslav authorities had against Andrija Artuković, Pavelić's minister of internal affairs, who was condemned to death only to have his execution postponed due to senility. And even if Serbia allows its citizen to be extradited, it is very possible that jurisdiction dispute with Slovenia (where crimes actually took place) would further complicate already bad relations between two countries.

That doesn't mean that there won't be any trial. In absence of government reacting against Communist crime, few enterprising individuals gathered in Croatian Cultural Movement (Hrvatski uljudbeni pokret) are announcing their brand of vigilante. After creating their own self-appointed Lustration Court, they are going to picket homes of old Partisans and Communist-era officials allegedly involved in Bleiburg massacre and "other crimes against Croatian people" and demand that the accused come out and "publicly express regret". Needless to say, most people associated with their movement used to belong to the far right of Croatian politics in 1990s. Their crusade, if put in practice, is most likely to resemble burning crosses and other acts of extremist intimidation in American South.

In normal circumstances, all this could be brushed away as inevitable election season folklore. In these economic conditions, however, exploiting ideological divisions for the purpose of short-term political gain might have same disastrous long term consequence as in 1930s.

"All White People Look the Same To Me"

News about alleged arrest of Ratko Mladić in Kenya wasn't the most shining chapter in recent history of Croatian journalism. The brief ecstasy created by the thought of Mladić finally getting behind bars was understandably followed by huge disappointment. Even more so when it turned out that the alleged Bosnian Serb war criminal happened to be Igor Majeski, Croatian expatriate who came to live in Kenya years before the start of late unpleasantness in former Yugoslavia.

Croatian media, of course, couldn't miss opportunity for outbursts of outrage. After touching stories about Majeski having to spend unpleasant hours in Third World jail some commentators accused Kenyan police of gross incompetence. Majeski doesn't happen to look like Mladić at all, so how could those African Keystone cops mistake innocent Croat for the worst war criminal in recent memory? (One blogger tries to explain the mistake with "cultural facial recognition patterns").

Of course, in all that outrage it was conveniently forgotten that Kenyan neighbourhood had its share of "unplesantness" in past years, as well as various characters whose deeds in terms of bodycount and cruelty dwarf everything Bosnian Serbs did. Needless to say, many Croatians couldn't show Sierra Leone, Rwanda or Congo on world map and it is even bigger stretch of hope that they could know the names of people responsible for those horrors. If any of them happens to walk in busy Zagreb or Dubrovnik street, I doubt that any passeby would call police.

Defending the Indefensible

Yesterday Stipe Mesić said that he would use his presidential prerogatives and revoke all military decorations given to General Vladimir Zagorec. (Whole list of decorations is available here.) Mesić repeated well-established notion of convicted criminals being unworthy of Croatian military honours.

However, Mesić forgot another well-established notion in Croatia - only those persons whose sentences have been upheld by Supreme Court are considered to be convicted criminals. While pending appeals, those persons still enjoy the presumption of innocence and, therefore, can't be deprived of their legal privileges.

Another, more troublesome issue with Mesić's decision is his apparent double standards when dealing with convicted criminals. Namely, there are two Croatian generals who managed to keep their ranks despite being convicted war criminals - Tihomir Blaškić and Mirko Norac. Therefore, in Mesić's worldview simple emblezzment is much more severe crime than butchering innocent women and children.

Faced with criticism from usually dependable suppprters from the left portion of Croatian public, Mesić decided to spin this thing by annoucing that he would take away medals from Blaškić and Norac.

Thankfully, Hague tribunal doesn't seem likely to pass verdict against Ante Gotovina before Mesić term in office expries, thus saving him from some unpleasant decisions in the future.

BREAKING NEWS: Vladimir Zagorec Gets 7 Years of Prison

Croatian judiciary apparently decided that the affair that indirectly led to two major assassinations on the streets of Zagreb must have some sort of closure.

The "rule of law triumphs" spin in government media is inevitable. And the fact that 5 million US$ of embezzled diamonds would get General Zagorec in jail is going to sit well among impoverished voters before local elections.

UPDATE: Short English summary of the case could be found here.