War crimes arrest shows Nebraskans helped

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The hundreds of Nebraska National Guard members who served in the Balkans must be pleased with the way things are playing out in that war-torn corner of the world.

Arrest of war crimes fugitive Radovan Karadzic this week is a sign that Serbia has turned a corner toward alignment with the European Union and other western democracies.

Karadzic was indicted in 1995 for masterminding a campaign to eliminate Muslims and ethnic Croats from Bosnia. He and his military commander Ratko Mladic are allegedly responsible for slaughtering about 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica. Mladic is still on the run.

It is widely suspected that the only reason that Karadzic evaded capture for 13 years was with the acquiescence of Serbian authorities, as well as ultranationalists within the Serbian population.

When Karadzic was arrested on a city bus in Belgrade, he was living openly under an assumed identity as a practitioner of alternative medicine, disguising his appearance with a long white beard.

The political dynamics in Serbia changed this May when the pro-Western Democratic Party won a plurality of the vote. Many observers believe that efforts to find Karadzic became much more aggressive when the new regime took power.

Richard Holbrook, who negotiated the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia, said new President Boris Tadic “deserves great credit” for the arrest, and added, “it removes from the scene a man who was still undermining peace and progress in the Balkans.”

Now Karadzic is headed to The Hague in The Netherlands. The historic moment is a benchmark that shows how much progress has been made since 2001 when the Nebraska National Guard first played a role in the Balkans at Camp Able Sentry, processing soldiers, equipment and supplies for U.S. armed forces in Kosovo.

On a separate assignment, about 450 local Guard members later served as peacekeepers in Bosnia. In a 2003 Local View column in the Journal Star, then-adjutant general Roger Lempke wrote, “I truly believe that the region can become a peaceful and productive member of the world community within a generation or so. Right now our National Guard soldiers are providing the vital stability essential for the majority to prevail.”

Certainly many challenges lie ahead in Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo. But bringing Karadzic to justice shows that genuine change is under way. The event was celebrated with joyous street celebrations in Sarajevo. It’s also cause for a special sense of accomplishment in Nebraska.