March 14, 2006 7:16 AM

Too little information, too much paranoia

Suspicion continues over Milosevic’s death

Milosevic may be buried in Belgrade, officials say

One Man’s Crimes: Slobodan Milosevic will be remembered as the last of the power-craving nationalists who all but destroyed Europe in the 20th century

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - A swirl of suspicion surrounded Slobodan Milosevic’s death, with evidence emerging today that the former Yugoslav leader took medication he wasn’t supposed to. Among the scenarios being floated: Drugs smuggled into prison, a poisoning plot and the possibility Milosevic was undermining his own treatment in hopes of being sent to Moscow, where his wife and son live in exile.

It’s a scenario ripe for dark conspiracy theories…and few people like their conspiracy theories darker than Serbs. The national “everyone is against us and wants to destroy us” paranoia found in Serbia is truly the stuff of legend. Of course, if you think about it, there’s a fair amount of arrogance at work here. Serbia, a small country tucked away on the Danube River, assumes that the rest of the world actually CARES about it. Hell, most Americans couldn’t find Serbia on a map of Europe if you took their finger and placed it on Serbia.

With the death of former Serb despot and “Butcher of the Balkans” Slobodan Milosevic over the weekend, and the murky circumstances surrounding his demise, conspiracy theorists throughout Serbia are hard at work. Milosevic was worried he was being poisoned…he should have been so lucky. The mere suspicion of foul play is more than enough to convince your average hard-care Serb nationalist that Milosevic was murdered by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The lack of hard information and the potential to draw a maximum of conclusions from a minimum of information is perfect for the Serbian mindset, which seems preternaturally disposed to creating insidious plots from whole cloth. Hey, it’s a cottage industry in Serbia….

The assessment by Donald Uges - based on blood tests carried out in recent months - raised questions about security at the prison and echoed past accusations by the trial’s leading attorney that Milosevic repeatedly ignored medical advice and prescribed himself drugs….

Milosevic was found dead in his prison cell in The Hague on Saturday, just hours after writing Russian officials a letter alleging that an “extremely strong drug” was found in his bloodstream. Zdenko Tomanovic, his family lawyer, said Milosevic was “seriously concerned” he was being poisoned.

Who knows what the truth is here? IF we ever find out what really happened- and it may be as simple as Milosevic suffering a massive heart attack- the truth will be spun so many ways it will make the casual observer dizzy. The only truth that matters to hard-core Serb nationalists is that their hero is now a Serbian martyr, who gave his life for the cause of “Greater Serbia”

Samo sloga Srbina spasova…. Only where there are only Serbs will Serbs be safe.

The real fun is going to begin when the arguments concerning where to hold Milosevic’ funeral commence. HIs wife, Mirjana Markovic, wants the funeral held in Russia because of the standing arrest warrant out for her in Serbia. Nationalists, though, want to be able to properly lionize their hero, although you have to think that the Serbian government is probably trembling over that possiblity.

There was also concern that a funeral in Serbia could ignite nationalist passions and cause turmoil for the pro-democracy authorities who toppled Milosevic in 2000….

Serbian President Boris Tadic said the U.N. war crimes tribunal was responsible for Milosevic’s death, though he added that it would not hamper Serbia’s future cooperation with the court. Serbia was the dominant republic in the former Yugoslavia.

“Undoubtedly, Milosevic had demanded a higher level of health care,” Tadic said in an interview with The Associated Press. “That right should have been granted to all war crimes defendants.”

He added, “I think they are responsible for what happened.”

It appeared increasingly probable the body would be returned to Serbia for a politically charged burial that could be a rallying point for nationalists.

And THAT should be a good time, eh?

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on March 14, 2006 7:16 AM.

Just as long as someone else's kids are doing the fighting and dying, eh? was the previous entry in this blog.

With friends like this, who needs enemas? is the next entry in this blog.

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