Monday, March 02, 2009

Serbia's Top Spy Was CIA

Oh my.

Sunday's LA Times reveals that Serbian spymaster Jovica Stanisic was a CIA asset during the Balkans wars of the 1990s.

Normally I'd get all worked up over the rather vile Serbophobic propaganda (e.g. "regime that gave the world a chilling new term: 'ethnic cleansing'," or "Stanisic was setting up death squads for Milosevic that carried out a genocidal campaign") and whoppers (Ottoman Turks were "mostly Muslim"?) contained within the story. Or the fact that portions of it seem to be a PR piece for the Hague Inquisition. But the revelation that Stanisic was CIA - and his argument that this should entitle him to a measure of mercy from the Empire - is far more important.

More about this in a day or two, as I digest all the information now coming from Serbian sources that have picked up the story. For now, I'll just say two things.

Those "conspiracy theories" about Imperial involvement in the Balkans? Not so conspiratorial now. Also, Stanisic will probably get as much in the way of mercy as Biljana Plavsic.

10 comments:

robert49rml said...

Wasn't Noriega C.I.A. asset?

CubuCoko said...

So I've heard, yes. Generally, those who have collaborated with Washington have never fared particularly well once they'd outlived their usefulness.

Suvorov said...

Is it true that Arkan was a CIA asset? Have you heard anything about that?

CubuCoko said...

I know he worked for the Yugoslav security service (DB) at some point, but I am not aware of any connections to the CIA.

Robstar said...

Well wasn't Osama bin Laden a CIA asset in the early to mid 80's?

CubuCoko said...

Sure was, along with the other jihadists recruited to fight the USSR in Afghanistan.

Robstar said...

Doesn't say much for the standards of the CIA does it.

CAP said...

But how reliable do you think these allegations about Stanisic really are?

OK, CIA has spies everywhere, and Stanisic was a Serbian spy, but what was to be gained from any 'betrayal' here?

CubuCoko said...

Well, Stanisic hasn't denied doing the favors to the CIA described in the article (based on the 2004 affidavit the CIA sent to the ICTY), so there's that. I don't know what he thought to gain; even if his motives were pure, and he thought he could help Serbia by collaborating with the Empire... well, that somehow never happens, now does it? None who have tried this have succeeded. Maybe there's a message in that.

Johan said...

“... he thought he could help Serbia by collaborating with the Empire... well, that somehow never happens, now does it? None who have tried this have succeeded. Maybe there's a message in that.”

A Serbian folk proverb would say, “Who grows pumpkins in pact with the Devil, has those pumpkins break against his head".