The friends of the pro-war left

Many thanks to Ian Johnson for sending this one in.

When the Yugoslav forces were trying to hold the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia together during the 1990s they faced Izetbegovic's Islamic fundamentalists in Bosnia, the gangsters and heroin smugglers of the KLA in Kosovo and the resurgent fascists in Croatia, all three backed by the Western powers and cheer-led by sections of the 'pro-war' Left here in Britain. Below is an insight into who they cheered for.



http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20157307-23215,00.html
THE AUSTRALIAN Croatia fans mar win
From correspondents in Livorno, ItalyAugust 17, 2006
*********************************************
The Australian
Letter to the editor(s)
17 August 2006
There is more to the story of 17 August titled, "Croatia fans mar win " stating, Croatia's victory was overshadowed by unsavory scenes at the beginning of the match, when its fans formed a human swastika in the stand."
Consider the following:
In 1997, NEWSWEEK reported Croatians greeting NATO German "peacekeepers," with the infamous Sieg Heil without any condemnation from the media nor from politicians, yet when Serbian troops held up the three fingers representing the Holy Trinity, they were accused by the media of having given the fascist salute.
Â
This is the same Croatia about which columnist A. M. Rosenthal, in the New York Times of April 15, wrote: "In World War II, Hitler had no executioners more willing, no ally more passionate, than the fascists of Croatia. They are returning, 50 years later, from what should have been their eternal grave, the defeat of Nazi Germany. The Western Allies who dug that grave with the bodies of their servicemen have the power to stop them, but do not." This is the same Croatia about which The Washington Times reported ("Pro-Nazi extremism lingers in Croatia, June 15, 1997): "A German tank rolls through a small village, and the peasants rush out, lining the road with their right arms raised in a Nazi salute as they chant "Heil Hitler." Mobs chase minorities from their homes, kicking them and pelting them with eggs as they flee into the woods. Europe in the 1940s? No. Croatia in the 1990s."
In the '90s, over 650,000 Serbs were ethnically cleansed from Croatia, 250,000 alone from their ancestral land in the Krajina by Croatian forces during Operation Storm. During Serbian exodus, Croatian jets strafed fleeing refugees, again without any condemnation from an unsympathetic world.
Hatred of the Serbian people became obvious when The Guardian (UK) on 1 September 1995, and The Washington Times on 5 September gave similar reports that Croatian soldiers were given shots of heroine or cocaine in order to "To attack villages, to cut throats and to kill in cold blood," in order to carry out their gruesome task.
In World War II, over a million Serbs, Jews and Gypsies were exterminated so brutally in Croatia's death camps that even the German Gestapo was appalled.
Today, Croatia has its pure Croatian state that Hitler could only promise.
Stella L. Jatras
USA
(The article was also reported by other news sources. This is just another one of them below. Stella)

Region
Croatian football fans form swastika using their bodies
Zagreb, 17.08.2006 12:11
A 200 strong group of Croatian fans formed a swastika symbol by using their bodies at the friendly soccer match between Italy and Croatia that took place in Livorno on Wednesday, Croatia media reported.The provocation of the Croatian fans was interrupted after a while by intervention of the Italian police officers.Livorno has a reputation of a leftist-oriented city. The fans of the local football team are accustomed to displaying pictures of Che Guevara, Tito, Mae Zedong, as well as flags of the former SFRY while attending matches.A flag of Tito's Yugoslavia was displayed at a stadium's stand at yesterday's game, which prompted Croatians to form a swastika, aimed at provoking the Italian supporters.