WHO IGNITED THE WAR? IZETBEGOVIC or KARADZIC?

Serbs (in general) tend to scapegoat Alija Izetbegovic, former president of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, for igniting the war with his separatist policies. Since the beginning of his genocide trial, Radovan Karadzic has been tirelessly trying to prove that Izetbegovic started the war. He even mocked the victims for their demise. A world renowned expert on the Balkan history, Robert Donia, disagreed with Karadzic. Here is a short, but interesting report from SENSE Tribunal - (what led to the tensions and subsequent war?):

"Karadzic put it to the witness that the ‘first and foremost’ reason why tensions increased in BH was a policy shift on the part of the SDA leader, Alija Izetbegovic. In Karadzic’s opinion, until 30 January 1991 Izetbegovic was in favor of preserving Yugoslavia. Then, all of a sudden, Izetbegovic announced he intended to declare BH’s independence. This raised tensions, the accused contended.

The US historian didn’t agree with Karadzic’s suggestion, noting first that in late January 1991 Izetbegovic spoke about ‘a sovereign BH’, not about independence. Donia went on to list a number of even more relevant reasons why tensions increased in BH: the JNA [Yugoslav Peoples Army] support to the Serb separatists in Croatia, deployment of military forces along the border on the BH territory, parties arming their members, and the transfer of the JNA Uzice Corps to BH in September 1991.

‘The first and foremost’ priority of the Bosnian Serb leadership was to keep Yugoslavia going, because the Serbs had considered it as ‘their home’ from 1918. Donia agreed with that but rejected Karadzic’s claim that the Serbs favored an integral BH for as long as it was possible to keep Yugoslavia alive. ‘No’, Donia replied to Karadzic, ‘you engaged in separatist activities long before Yugoslavia ran out of options’."

Link: You can read the full article at this link.

And Dr. Donia spoke the truth. For example, in the Srebrenica region, Serbs were grilling paramilitary groups and arming local Chetniks in the surrounding Serb villages since 1987 (5 years before the war). In his book, "Srebrenica: 1987-1992", local historian Prof. Besim Ibisevic's gave an insight into the pre-war activities of the Serbian secret agents in the region. Also, in the judgement rendered against Miroslav Deronjic (2004), Karadzic had intentions to divide Bosnia-Herzegovina even before the Bosnian war started. In April 1991, one year before the independence of B&H, Karadzic confided his plans to Deronjic:

"In April 1991 a plenary meeting was held in Sarajevo... in the course of the meeting, it was stated by Radovan Karadzic that if there was no longer a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (hereinafter "SFRY"), Serbs would only have one option left, and that is "Greater Serbia." After that official meeting, a more informal meetin in a smaller circle took place in the National Restaurant in Sarajevo, where it was stated by Radovan Karadzic that it was agreed that Bosnia and Herzegovina would be divided up." More on Deronjic case here>>>