of Esta te Rights as sta te Rights
4. The Hypoc risy of a Po wer ful Cat ho lic
Gu es sing at the re a sons for the ear li er do ubts of Ame ri ca re la ted to sub se qu - ent an ti-Ser bian me a su res, Me lady re du ces them to clo se per so nal re la ti ons bet we - en for mer and pre sent Ame ri can of fi ci als and the Bel gra de po li ti cal cir cles. Ho we - ver, he co uld not ke ep si lent abo ut one very im por tant fac tor. “It was not only be - ca u se the Sta te De part ment was blin ded by the Bel gra de go vern ment un der Ser bian con trol, which had been de ve lo ping for al most fo ur de ca des, but they al so felt re - pug nan ce to wards Cro a tia and its ro le in World War II. I co uld un der stand that re - pug nan ce, be ca u se Cro a tian le a ders from the pe riod 1940-1945 had si ded Cro a tia with the Na zis. The cri mes of An te Pa ve lić and his co horts of the then In de pen dent Sta te of Cro a tia had been bru tal. Re li a ble esti ma tes te stify that, bet we en 1941 and 1945, mo re than a mil lion Jews, Ro ma ni es and Ort ho dox Serbs we re kil led. Mo re - o ver, in Cro a tia, the re is a no to ri o us de ath camp cal led Ja se no vac. One can still feel the re stra i ned at ti tu de of the Sta te De part ment to wards Fra njo Tuđ man, the pre sent Cro a tian Pre si dent, and his un wil ling ness to con demn the mis de eds of Cro a tia in World War II. Ho we ver, in Fe bru ary 1994, Tuđ man apo lo gi sed for ha ving writ ten a bo ok that de nied the ho lo ca ust. Ho we ver, the an ti-Cro a tian at ti tu de of the Sta te De part ment over lo o ked one im por tant fact: only the Ser bian le a ders in Bel gra de had pos ses sed drafts of ex pan si o ni stic ten den ci es beyond the ir bor ders, and they al - so in clu ded a con cept of et hnic cle an sing. Furt her mo re, the idea of ‘Gre at Ser bia’ had been a part of Ser bian cul tu re for cen tu ri es” (p. 166-167).
In or der to gi ve ad di ti o nal vent to his ex pres si ve hypoc risy, Me lady even com pla - ins that his Cat ho lic fa ith re pre sen ted a sort of han di cap for him, be ca u se he co uld not ex press his pro-Cro a tian at ti tu de mo re ener ge ti cally and mo re ent hu si a sti cally, as he pri va tely wan ted. He go es on to ex pla in it: “In No vem ber 1991, ap pro xi ma tely at the ti me when I was ma king pre pa ra ti ons for Pre si dent Bush’s vi sit to the Po pe for the first (and only) ti me du ring my am bas sa dor ship, I felt that my Cat ho lic fa ith was a han di -
cap when con si de ring the ca se of Yugo sla via. An im por tant aspect of my du ti es as the US Am bas sa dor to the Holy See was to con vey in for ma tion gi ven by the Va ti can of - fi ci als and to sta te my own re com men da ti ons. I held that the Va ti can’s stan ce, that advo ca ted im me di a te re cog ni tion of Slo ve nia, Cro a tia and Bo snia-Her ze go vi na, was highly no te worthy. Tho se sta tes had the ir in di vi dual tra di ti ons, cul tu res and lan gu a ges. They wan ted to be in de pen dent. The Uni ted Sta tes of Ame ri ca was ar dently sup por - ting the in de pen den ce of co un tri es in Afri ca, Asia and the Ca rib bean islands. If To go, Be nin and Bu run di co uld be in de pen dent, why co uldn’t the mo re vi tal co un tri es of ex- Yugo sla via be so as well?
“Sin ce the Holy See to ok a firm stand, espe ci ally con cer ning the right to in de pen - den ce of pre do mi nantly Cat ho lic co un tri es, Slo ve nia and Cro a tia, the who le mat ter lo - o ked li ke a Cat ho lic pro ject. The Euro pean press lar gely re por ted that the Holy See sup por ted the go vern ments in cli ned to Cat ho li cism, whe re as the So ci a list go vern - ments of Euro pe we re aga inst the re cog ni tion and sup por ted the stand of the USA. Furt her mo re, the Ame ri can church hi e rarchy com ple tely ap pro ved of the Va ti can po - si tion con cer ning Slo ve nia and Cro a tia. Alt ho ugh Ame ri can Cat ho lic le a ders had di vi - ded at ti tu des to wards the Va ti can ap pro ach to the Gulf War and, in ear li er years, to - wards the Va ti can po si tion re la ted to the Ni ca ra gua is sue, now they firmly bac ked the Va ti can sup port for early re cog ni tion of the in de pen den ce of the re pu blics that com pri - sed Yugo sla via. As I was known as an ac ti ve Cat ho lic lay per son, I felt that I was not in the po si tion to advo ca te my per so nal opi nion: na mely, that the Va ti can’s stand was the right one and that, con se qu ently, it wo uld be in everybody’s best in te rest if the USA re cog ni sed the parts of old Yugo sla via as in de pen dent and so ve re ign sta tes. I tho ught that the USA sho uld al so be awa re of the hypoc risy of the Yugo slav go vern ment con - trol led by the Serbs” (p. 168).
In vo lun ta rily, he ad mits that he was war ned by his su per vi sors con cer ning the mat ter, but he tri es to gi ve tho se war nings an in for mal cha rac ter. Ac cor dingly, he wri - tes: “Du ring my con sul ta ti ons in Was hing ton in 1991, I con fer red with an old fri end, who was a high of fi cial in the Sta te De part ment. He war ned me aga inst asking po li ti - cal qu e sti ons con cer ning this mat ter, be ca u se pe o ple al ready knew that I was an ac ti - ve Cat ho lic and that the re was a risk that the le a ding gro up in the Sta te De part ment co - uld ac cu se me of be ing un der the in flu en ce of Cat ho li cism and, ac cor dingly, of re pre - sen ting the Holy See in Was hing ton and not the Uni ted Sta tes at the Holy See. He tho - ught that the ove rall at mosp he re was so strongly fa vo u ra ble for Bel gra de that I co uld lo se cre di bi lity. He was con vin ced that they co uld con si der me ‘a su bject’ of the Po - pe’s ide as and, in that way, my abi lity to in flu en ce po li tics wo uld be di mi nis hed in all mat ters. That was a strong per so nal chal len ge for me. Ho we ver, af ter a few months, the US po li tics to wards ex-Yugo sla via was sig ni fi cantly chan ged anyway. Al so, Was - hing ton fi nally con fir med the en ga ge ment of Ser bian mi li tary com man ders in the ter - ro rist at tacks aga inst ci vi li ans in Bo snia-Her ze go vi na and an no un ced that it wo uld de - mand trial for the per pe tra tors of the se atro ci o us war cri mes.
“The po li tics of the USA to wards Yugo sla via in the pe riod 1989-1992 was mo - ti va ted by the good in ten ti ons of pre ser ving the fe de ra tion. We tho ught it wo uld be use ful for all the na ti ons who li ved the re – espe ci ally eco no mi cally; ho we ver, it was
a con fir med fact that the na ti ons in Slo ve nia, Cro a tia and Bo snia-Her ze go vi na wan - ted fre e dom. The plans of fo re ign po wers co uld no lon ger be im po sed on di ver se et - hnic com mu ni ti es in the for mer Yugo sla via. Af ter mo re than fo ur de ca des of cruel Com mu nist-style go ver nan ce, tho se na ti ons, ob ser ving the ex pan si on of fre e dom and in de pen den ce in the world, did not want to re no un ce the ir right to in de pen den - ce. The chan ge in the US po li tics ca me la te, in 1992. Now it is pa ral lel with the di - rec ti ves of the Va ti can po li tics. They only ha ve dif fe rent vi ews on how to end this tra gedy” (p. 168-169).
As for the war in Bo snia-Her ze go vi na, Me lady eva lu a tes that it is a mis for tu ne “that the USA and the Va ti can had dif fe ren ces in opi nion re gar ding the dif fi cult Yugo - slav si tu a tion at the be gin ning of the 1989-1991 bre ak-up. Ho we ver, the pre sent co- ope ra tion bet we en the Holy See and the USA, which al so in clu des the Uni ted Na ti ons and co un tri es in Euro pe, is able to put an end to the most sha me ful si tu a tion in the he - art of Euro pe ... When the kil lings in Bo snia ca me to the po int that chil dren we re kil - led whi le playing in the snow, on 23 Ja nu ary 1994, Po pe John Paul II sum mo ned the world com mu nity to con si der the use of for ce in or der to stop qu o ti di an atro ci o us acts. Si mi larly, in the past cen tu ri es, the Po pe’s pre de ces sors had ju sti fied the use of for ce when it ser ved a cle ar ir re pres si ble mo ral pur po se and when the re was no ot her way of sol ving the pro blem” (p. 170). Even to day, Me lady is pro bably un con sci o us of the fact that, with this bo ok, he unin ten ti o nally con tri bu ted, to a gre at ex tent, to re ve a ling the com ple te Va ti can po li tics in the pro cess of bre a king up Yugo sla via.