Montenegro, Croatia close to reparations agreement

Wow. Seriously, this is mad. It has already been shown that the Dubrovnik damage was blown WAY out of proportion, proven by several western diplomats that visited right after the war. This is a scam. Type in "dubrovnik destruction blown out of proportion" into Yahoo or Google and see for yourselves.

Even if it was being blown out of proportion does not mean damage wasnt done. There were no serbs to protect in Dubrovnik and Dubrovnik is proof that Milosevic wanted to carve up Croatia.

Daniel, the JNA operation in Dubrovnik was aimed at expelling the ZNG (Croat National Guard) which had been launching attacks against Montenegro. At the time in question, Dubrovnik was part of Yugoslavia and the JNA was the only legal armed force in the country. Slobodan Milosevic was President of Serbia and therefore had no command over the JNA in any case so by claiming it is proof that he wanted to "carve up Croatia" is a nonsense.

Philip,

No offense, and with all due respect, I beg to differ. Croatia had already seceded months before, no matter that international recognition was still pending. I'd be curious to see your source of information on Croatia's attack on Montenegro -- I've never heard of such an event. Common sense would dictate that Croatia would have focused what military resources it had at the time on battling the Serbs in Krajina and Eastern and Western Slavonia. As for Milosevic not controlling the JNA -- that point, too, strikes me as a stretch. I think it is well-documented fact that such senior JNA officers as Zeljko Kadijevic and Momcilo Perisic were firmly behind Milosevic and Borisav Jovic in those days. The fact that a fair number of non-Serbs continued to serve in the army once war had errupted makes no difference. It was a Serb-Montenegrin army where it mattered most -- at the top (Mamula, Zec, et al were all Serb/Montenegrin). While it's true that the Belgrade politicians' agenda may have differed somewhat from that of certain senior JNA individuals, I argue that Milosevic wielded effective control over the military. Even after it became clear that he had no serious intention of keeping Slovenia in the fold -- thereby demonstrating that he did not share the hope of some JNA leaders of keeping Yugoslavia intact -- the JNA did his bidding in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina. Some like to claim that the JNA was playing the part of referee in those republics, but there is plenty of evidence, it seems, that the JNA was an active participant in suck atrocities as the sieges of Vukovar and Mostar. I hope anyone reading this who spots any factual errors in my argument will point them out.

You can be certain that such an arrangement is also designed to benefit Montenegro in many ways: perceived increase in international credibility, perceived example to Serbia, and especially, a means by which some corruption in Montenegro may be curbed without causing serious internal political disturbances.

Wow. Seriously, this is mad. It has already been shown that the Dubrovnik damage was blown WAY out of proportion, proven by several western diplomats that visited right after the war. This is a scam. Type in "dubrovnik destruction blown out of proportion" into Yahoo or Google and see for yourselves.

Even if it was being blown out of proportion does not mean damage wasnt done. There were no serbs to protect in Dubrovnik and Dubrovnik is proof that Milosevic wanted to carve up Croatia.

Daniel, the JNA operation in Dubrovnik was aimed at expelling the ZNG (Croat National Guard) which had been launching attacks against Montenegro. At the time in question, Dubrovnik was part of Yugoslavia and the JNA was the only legal armed force in the country. Slobodan Milosevic was President of Serbia and therefore had no command over the JNA in any case so by claiming it is proof that he wanted to "carve up Croatia" is a nonsense.

Philip,

No offense, and with all due respect, I beg to differ. Croatia had already seceded months before, no matter that international recognition was still pending. I'd be curious to see your source of information on Croatia's attack on Montenegro -- I've never heard of such an event. Common sense would dictate that Croatia would have focused what military resources it had at the time on battling the Serbs in Krajina and Eastern and Western Slavonia. As for Milosevic not controlling the JNA -- that point, too, strikes me as a stretch. I think it is well-documented fact that such senior JNA officers as Zeljko Kadijevic and Momcilo Perisic were firmly behind Milosevic and Borisav Jovic in those days. The fact that a fair number of non-Serbs continued to serve in the army once war had errupted makes no difference. It was a Serb-Montenegrin army where it mattered most -- at the top (Mamula, Zec, et al were all Serb/Montenegrin). While it's true that the Belgrade politicians' agenda may have differed somewhat from that of certain senior JNA individuals, I argue that Milosevic wielded effective control over the military. Even after it became clear that he had no serious intention of keeping Slovenia in the fold -- thereby demonstrating that he did not share the hope of some JNA leaders of keeping Yugoslavia intact -- the JNA did his bidding in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina. Some like to claim that the JNA was playing the part of referee in those republics, but there is plenty of evidence, it seems, that the JNA was an active participant in suck atrocities as the sieges of Vukovar and Mostar. I hope anyone reading this who spots any factual errors in my argument will point them out.

You can be certain that such an arrangement is also designed to benefit Montenegro in many ways: perceived increase in international credibility, perceived example to Serbia, and especially, a means by which some corruption in Montenegro may be curbed without causing serious internal political disturbances.