Ratko Mladic: Tragic Hero [Paperback]

Milo Yelesiyevich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2006

"Ratko Mladic: Tragic Hero" is the first book-length study to appear in English about the controversial Serbian general. It departs radically from mainstream news coverage of General Mladic because it presumes him to be innocent of charges of war crimes and genocide until he has been proven guilty. Furthermore, Ratko Mladic: Tragic Hero presumes that the West has been acting against its own best interests by supporting Islamic fundamentalist terrorism in the former Yugoslavia, while at the same time attempting to prosecute General Mladic for alleged crimes for which there is still no proof, even after the passage of more than a decade. Genegal Ratko Mladic was the first General to fight Islamic fundamentalism in Europe. Why has he been demonized while others, who have done little or nothing—or who have even aided and abetted the rise of Islamic fundamentalism—have been praised? "Ratko Mladic, Tragic Hero" consists of an abridgment of Mr. Stojadinovic’s book, "Ratko Mladic, Hero or War Criminal?" (Evro, Belgrade: 2001) which discusses Mladic’s biography, his successes and failures as a general, the dilemmas he faced as a soldier, and tries to answer the question: how good a general was he? and is he a war criminal? It is followed by "Bringing Democracy to Bosnia," by Gregory Elich, a respected journalist whose work has appeared on counterpunch.org and Covert Action, which examines the results of the Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia, and demonstrates that the West has imposed a dictatorship in Bosnia that benefits only globalists and multinational corporations. Background chapters provide a context for the Bosnian War that the mainstream media has systematically ignored. "Bosniacs, Nazi Muslims, Mujahideen, and Bin Laden" traces the rise of Bosnian Muslim fascism and its connection to Islamic fundamentalism as exemplified by the Nazi SS Handzar Division during WWII, which was organized by Himmler and Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Alija Izetbegovic, former President of Bosnia-Herzegovina, began his career as recruiter for the Handzar Division and acted as a historical link, connecting resurgent Muslim fascism and fundamentalism in Yugoslavia in the 1990s to that of WWII. "Ustashi, Murderer Monks, and the Modern Croatian State" examines the Ustashi Nazi Puppet state created by Hitler in Croatia during WWII, and the involvement of the Roman Catholic clergy in the administration of the Jasenovac death camp, as well as many others like it. The contemporary Croatian state is shown to be a direct heir to the Croatian Nazi puppet state of WWII. The most controversial chapter is "Srebrenica, the Phantom Massacre," which analyzes the alleged "Srebrenica Massacre" and challenges the groundless accusation that "7,000 Muslim men and boys" were killed there. This analysis relies on mainstream news coverage of The Hague Tribunal, the work of independent analysts, and the Srebrenica Report (authored by Darko Trifunovic) that was issued by the Republika Srpska in 2002. UN High Representative Paddy Ashdown dismissed this 2002 Report without ever having read it. The analysis argues persuasively that at most about 1,800 armed Bosnian Muslim soldiers died in combat, and that about 100 were killed in summary executions. In other words, there was no massacre—only combat fatalities. Seventy pages of interviews with General Mladic appear in English for the first time, along with appendices that reprint key articles by David Binder, A.M. Rosenthal, Chris Hedges, Kosta Cavoski, and T.W. Carr. The Hague indictment is also reprinted "Ratko Mladic: Tragic Hero" will contribute to a greater understanding of General Mladic’s role in the Bosnian war that will benefit scholars, historians, journalists and students, as well as Americans who want to take a more critical look at U.S. military adventures overseas. Ratko Mladic is a tragic hero because he fought the rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism and neo-fascism in the Balka

Editorial Reviews

Review

Read this and make up your mind whether Ratko Mladic is guilty until proven innocent ... or innocent until proven guilty. --David Binder began covering the Balkans for the New York Times in 1963

Product Details

• Paperback: 730 pages
• Publisher: Unwritten History, Inc. (January 21, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970919808
• ISBN-13: 978-0970919809
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,378,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very important work, March 28, 2008

By 

Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ratko Mladic: Tragic Hero (Paperback)

Most know him only as war criminal if they know him at all. Ratko Mladic, the commander of the Bosnian-Serb army in the early 1990s gained famed for his blunt speech and his military brilliance fighting Islamic extremism and Croatian fascism. However the West conspired to revitalize Nato and using the EU and the UN launched a brutal war against the Serbian people. Mladic served for years against this onslaught as world opinion was fed propaganda images and as the world was told that the Serbs were the 'new Nazis' and the Bosnians were the 'new Jews'. With the 'massacre' at Srebrenica the world was told that the Serbs had committed the worst 'act' of genocide since the Holocaust.

This book dares to present a very different one than the western media has created. In this book we learn about Mladic's journey from communist officer in Tito's army to patriotic defender of his people as they are being ethnically-cleansed and butchered by Bosnians and Croats. In the end we read about a tragic figure who has been betrayed by the world and even by his own backers in Belgrade. We see that military brilliance and honor are not values that can save one when the entire Muslim and western worlds are against them. Thus Mladic, like the Serbian people, is labeled 'war criminal' and must go into hiding.

But this book is far more than biography. It combines both biography and vignettes of Serbian and Balkan history that seek to show the reader the many sides of what took place in the Balkans in the 1990s. Articles illustrate the history of Croatian Nazism, the Ustasha movement, the role of Islamic fundamentalism among the Bosnians, an analysis of what really happened at Srebrenica and the true workings of the 'international Criminal Court' at the Hague.

This book is more than just a book about Mladic, a minor figure in world history, it is a tale about the modern world and the way in which western idealism and 'good intentions' combined with Islamic fundamentalism conspire to destroy unique and diverse peoples, peoples like the Serbs who fought against Totalitarian imperialism in the 19th century, against imperialism in the 1914 and against Nazism in 1941, only to be betrayed by the West and trodden under foot. The West found itself aiding people like the president of Croatia, a holocaust denier, and Islamic fundamentalists in Bosnia in their quest to destroy hundreds of Serb villagers and continue the genocide of the Serbs that had begun with the Nazis.

This book is a virtual encyclopedia of these histories. It is a condemnation of western policy and a wake up call to Americans and English speaking audiences who have never been exposed to this sort of material before. Here are revealed for the first time in English the words of Serbian women and men, witnesses, who saw the way in which the Croats, Bosnians and their Nato allies butchered Serbs, cleansed them and even beat old women and priest. Unspeakable stories of torture and genocide are revealed, ones that will shock readers and perhaps make a few people think about the policies the west has had towards Serbia and the policies it still has. A brilliant collection of essays and stories that anyone interested in the history of American foreign policy, the Balkans, Islamism, or modern Europe should not be without.

Seth J. Frantzman

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars different view to "Bosnian Butcher", August 24, 2011

By 

Martin Oprendek - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ratko Mladic: Tragic Hero (Paperback)

Wery good book, its reveals another important things about war in Bosnia. Few days ago I was in Srebrenica , now its a small mine city in mountains. I saw the Potocari monument about that "genocide" . And I had a trip throuht the hills around the city where I saw abandoned houses , many small cemeteries of serb people. But if you want to know more about that wars you need to read another books too . Maybe "Seasons in Hell: Understanding Bosnia's War" from Ed Vulliamy - its so probosniak muslim book (like many american) and some book from Croats side. Then you can think serious about that times and you will find that Mladic wasnt any "butcher" and if yes , then there was a little more "butchers" on other sides.

14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Effort, March 1, 2009

By 

JoyBoy (Detroit, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ratko Mladic: Tragic Hero (Paperback)

One word describes this book...chore: as in "it's a chore to get through it."

Mladic: Tragic Hero is actually a collection of works from various sources, written by various authors - compiled, translated, edited and supplemented by Milo Yelesiyevich.

It begins with Yelesiyevich waxing Greek tragedy style about what is a tragic hero and why Mladic is a classic example thereof...then the train rolls off the tracks....

Part one of the book opens with an abridged version of Serb author Ljubodrag Stojadinovic's study of another Serb author's (Heroj Evro) work "Ratko Mladic: Hero or War Criminal. A good start so it would seem, except the writing is all over the place, skipping from one topic to the other in seemingly no rational order. It's filled with anecdotes, but when and where they are inserted seem to have little to do with what's being covered in that particular paragraph(s). Often when there's a quote, it's hard to know who said it due to the way it's placed within the paragraph. There are also several times in the text where question marks appear in parenthesis (?) at the end of quotes and paragraph's, leaving the reader wondering what's being questioned.

Also, if you're going to read this book, you should have a greater knowledge of the Yugoslavian conflicts than just a novice level. Yelesiyevich explains some things, but totally misses explanations on more complicated topics...leaving it up to the reader to know the rest.

As for the actual writing, it contradicts itself consistently. One paragraph says Mladic was a wise, instinctually keen, general of superior tactics and battlefield knowledge, yet doesn't to address how he failed to see the tables had turned so squarely against him at the war's end. Milosevic had cut off money, military support and political backing of the Srpska Republik, Russia had turned it's back and the "West" had formed an international coalition against it and wasn't even in negotiations in Dayton with SDS officials. Yet Mladic saber-rattled endlessly. It completely fails to address the simple fact that the ARS (Army Republik or Srpska) bit off more than it could chew. A nearly 2,000 mile battle front with nowhere near enough men and material (much like the US in Iraq). Mladic failed to take Sarajevo or close out battles along the Drina Valley.

This from page 100: "Mladic would not have been Mladic without his creative arrogance. If he had behaved as a polished & humble parlimentarian, he would have, if necessary, made new allies, and adapted himself to the situation. Instead, Ratko Mladic tried to do the opposite, to adapt the situation or at least the presentation of the situation, to himself. It turns out that such an adaptation was impossible..."

It says it always conducted himself like a soldier with respect and that he was fighting the good fight for the Serbian people, yet then follows with examples which make him seem petty, self-obsessed, insecure and at times, downright childish. (ie - his early talks with Gen. Wesley Clark). When Mladic is rude, arrogant or abrupt the author shrugs it off as "Well, that's just Ratko...", but when Clark acts the same way, the author labels him as "rude and arrogant" & a "pathological anti-Serb." (page 97)

It also tries to portray Mladic as an honorable soldier on the battlefield, yet a few paragraphs later says the prolonged bombardment of Sarajevo became and inexplicable obsession with Mladic and that the Sarajevo siege "was not a noble undertaking for a commander, but a unique sort of military horror, an act of unconcealed sadism" (page 56) and this from page 55, "It is obvious that rational military targeting was not possible from the hills around Sarajevo. From these positions, there was no justification for the heavy bombardment of Sarajevo, and the systematic "murder" of the city."

It also says he had great control and mystique over his troops, yet failed to control their actions when things went bad (ie - Srebrenica). The author seems to verbally shrug and say, "Well, who could control those men?" (page 77)

The section dealing with whether Mladic should be labeled as war criminal merely skims the topic, offers no real insight and is only 5 pages long!

And that's sort of what the entire book does...skims the topic of Mladic but offering few insights or strong arguments for his case. In fact, at times it seems to argue more against rather than for him. "General Mladic's obstinacy, which he demostrated by behaving rudely toward one and all, but especially toward those who weilded the most power, was certainly a prejudice above and beyond rational decision." (page 54)

Part II of the book is series of essay & articles from various authors which have virtually NOTHING to do with Mladic, yet it comprises 268 pages...well over a third of the book's 700 plus pages!! I thought "we" were discussing Mladic here. Finally, the last section of the book are the speeches and interviews of Mladic. This is by far the most interesting section of the book.

There is very little unbiased "truth" in war...conflicting sides see events through their own nationalistic and often religious eyes and things are rarely as they appear...and victors ALWAYS write history...so I was very excited to read this book...I wanted to hear good arguements against Mladic's war criminal charges. I wanted to hear and understand the other side. That didn't happen with this book. It uncovers little more than I already knew about Mladic and offers little to dispute the idea that the villain the West has painted of Mladic is incorrect.

There may be a compelling, strong case to be made that Mladic is NOT a war criminal, but sadly it's NOT in the pages of this book.