but they did not take into eonsiderationrnthe official Red Cross, U.N., andrnAmnesty hiternational figures.rnThe hnal stage eoneerned the ill andrnthe young, how they had been deniedrnmedieal help and had to be transportedrnby air to European and American hospitals.rnOf course, the press would not showrnany wounded Serbian children, as if theyrndid not exist.rnSo, all of this contributes to the idearnthat one side is good and the other isrnbad. And the really grotesque thing isrnthat when the Muslims realized the powerrnof these images, they started to victimizernthemselves, as in the staged massacrernof Markala. David Bynder, an Americanrnjournalist, had to wait four months tornpublish an article about this staged massacre.rnQ: So you believe p.r. agencies havernbeen able to manipulate the press. However,rnmany Western journalists are here,rnin Bosnia. How do you explain the factrnthat almost all of them are—in yourrnopinion—prejudiced against the Serbs?rnA: I think that there are several reasons.rnFirst, there arc more Americanrnjournalists in Muslim areas than in Serbianrnareas. Most of them only occasionallyrncome to us and, therefore, receivernmost of their information from Muslimrnor Croatian sources. Moreover, the editorialrndepartments play an importantrnrole. I had a long interview with JohnrnBurns that was never published. When Irnasked him why it never saw print, he toldrnme that it was the editorial board’s decisionrnand not his. Some other journalistsrnalso told me that they wrote accurate reports,rnbut that their editors said “No, werndo not want this, we want somethingrnelse.” So I cannot blame all the journalists,rnalthough there are some who havernbeen biased from the beginning.rnQ: Do you plan to use p.r. techniquesrnin order to change your image?rnA: No, we do not. It is too late for us,rnand it costs a lot. We do not have thernmoney of the Islamic world. What wernare trying to do is to organize the Serbs ofrnthe Diaspora. Letter writing campaignsrncan greatly help. Our philosophy is thernfollowing: we know that TV is the mostrnpowerful medium. It has a strong emotionalrneffect, but it does not last long.rnAfter the first impression, people startrnasking questions and want more information,rnfacts, reasons. That is why Irnthink that the written and spoken wordrnwill help us reveal the truth. Publishingrnbooks and articles also helps, despite thernfact that we are unable, at this point, tornpenetrate Western libraries.rnQ: Do you believe that this is a cultural,rnreligious, or a nationalist war?rnA: The simplest description of thisrnwar would be a civil war. However, allrnthe three things you mentioned are interrelated.rnLet me explain. All peoplernhave a basic need for identity. The mostrnmature form of group identity is the nation.rnSo these different groups, Croatsrnand Serbs, felt that they belonged in differentrngroups. Muslims are a differentrncase because they were Slavs who eonvertedrnto Islam. All these groups wantedrnto have equal rights. And before the war,rnDr. Karadjie and I suggested the creationrnof a Council for National Equality,rnbecause very important questions—likernindependence—can only be solved byrnconsensus. If the Croats and Muslimsrnhad accepted this proposal, the warrnwould never have occurred. In thisrnsense, it is an ethnic war. Three ethnicrngroups are fighting each other. On thernother hand, after years of studyingrnShakespeare, I realized that every culturernhas its cult, that every culture is based onrna certain religious system. For example,rnProtestants emphasize personal purity,rnwhile the Orthodox stress brotherhood.rnSo, in this respect, this war is also a religiousrnone.rnQ: What about the maps, and the effectrnterritorial divisions have on thernprospects for peace?rnA: The division of land is not so big arnproblem that it could not be overcome.rnIf we stop the war, if wc try to identifyrnthe important strategic interests of eachrnside, it will be easier to draw a satisfactoryrnmap. Let me give you an example.rnWe know that the Muslims need accessrnto the sea, a connection with the rest ofrnthe world. We understand this interestrnand are willing to negotiate. Theyrnshould likewise understand our interestrnin the Breko corridor, because we need tornhave compact territory that connects usrnwith Serbia proper. Their interest in thernarea is only to prevent our interest. So,rnwe need to identify the strategic interestsrnof each side and try to turn each politicalrnentity—the Serbian Republic of Bosniarnand the Bosnian Federation—into a viablernstate. The problem we have now isrnthat our state is not viable economicallyrnin terms of communications, energy, andrninfrastructure.rnQ: Let us assume that the war is overrnand a loose federation is created. Wouldrnthe Bosnian Serbs be satisfied with thisrnor would they try to become a part ofrnSerbia?rnA: It is quite natural that we will bernconnected with Serbia, when the peacerncomes, because we belong in the samernnation. The natural inclination will bernfor the Serbs to come together into onernstate. It does not have to be a GreaterrnSerbia, a term that the Western press insistsrnon. After all, we have lived here forrnhundreds of years. We have not “recently”rnoccupied these territories. If we havernpeace, then we can use democraticrnmeans. We can ask the people of thernSerbian Republic of Bosnia if they wantrnto have a confederation with Serbia orrnwith the Bosnian Federation.rnQ: There is a lot of discussion aboutrnlifting the arms embargo. What do thernBosnian Serbs think about this?rnA: I think this would be a real catastrophe.rnPeople who argue about this, especiallyrnUnited States Senator Bob Dole,rnarc not aware of the consequences. Thernwar will escalate not only in Bosnia butrnthroughout the Balkans. I don’t thinkrnthat those people who support the liftingrnof the arms embargo are geographicallyrnand historically aware of the region’srnproblems. They are 3,000 miles away,rnand it is easy for them to talk about it inrna rather irresponsible way. On the otherrnhand, I see that Europe is stronglyrnagainst the American proposal becausernEuropeans are aware of the consequences.rnThere is another positive sign:rnthe speed of political negotiations inrnBosnia. It shows that Europeans are veryrnkeen to have peace in Bosnia before thernwhole thing blows up in the UnitedrnStates Congress. This is the positive sidernof the American proposal.rnQ: My last question is about the accusationsrnof ethnic cleansing and genocide.rnCould you comment on this?rnA: Of course atrocities take place inrnany war. What has been hidden in thisrnwar is that atrocities have been committedrnby all sides. It was only when 10,000rnCroats were forced [by Muslims] to leavernCentral Bosnia in 1993—and we helpedrnthem—that the world had to admit thatrnthe Serbs were not the only ones whornwere doing terrible things. I think thatrncrimes have to be investigated in arndemocratic and legal way.rnQ: What about the internationalrncommunity establishing a war crimesrntribunal?rnA: What is strange about this tribunalrnis that it looks more like political pressurernthan legal justice. The most modernrnAUGUST 1995/37rnrnrn