Cazinska Krajina, centered in the town of Velika Kladusa, in the far northwest corner of Bosnia, was once the most prosperous and peaceful region in Bosnia, in spite of the constant warfare that has bedeviled the region since the breakup of Yugoslavia. For this was the home base of Fikret Abdic, the remarkable and well-loved local entrepreneur who rose from nothing to become the country's biggest industrialist: it was Abdic who transformed a poor area into a highly profitable center of industry through his company, Agrokomerc. It was Abdic who provided the highest wages in the region, and this economic powerhouse gave the locals the highest standard of living in Bosnia. Persecuted by the Yugoslav Communists, who naturally resented a successful entrepreneur, he was jailed for two years without being charged with a crime, and released in 1989. He restarted his business, was more successful than ever, and ran for the Bosnian presidency on a moderate platform of economic revival as the key to reconciliation between the religious and ethnic factions. Abdic beat out Muslim fundamentalist Alija Izetbegovic – although the latter was mysteriously declared the "winner."
BABO AND ECONOMY
Abdic retired from the national political scene, and decided to go back to Cazinska Krajina with the tacit understanding that he would be left alone by the central government to do his own thing – which was making money not only for himself but for his people. Abdic opposed the radical Islamic fundamentalism of Izetbegovic and proclaimed himself a follower of Western-style capitalism. In Balkan Odyssey, Lord Owen, the British diplomat, described him as "forthright, confident and different from the Sarajevan Muslims. He was in favor of negotiating and compromising with Croats and Serbs to achieve a settlement, and scathing about those Muslims who wanted to block any such settlement." As one Abdic supporter succinctly put it: "Alija Izetbegovic is the biggest Muslim fundamentalist. Fikret Abdic is the best economist and smartest man.
THE RAPE OF WEST BOSNIA
The Bosnian Army launched a deadly offensive against Abdic on June 10, 1994, and they were joined by their newfound allies, the Croats. The Bosnian 5th Corps attacked Velika Kladusa in a campaign of murder, terror, and rapine that equals any of the more widely-touted atrocities, such as the "rape" of Srebenica, in which the Muslims are always the victims. Well, here it was Muslims victimizing other Muslims: but since that didn't fit into the neat victimological categories established by the Western media, it was studiously ignored.
The Croatian government has given in to the ICTFY's pressure, and is sending some of their military leaders, who are widely viewed as heroes in their own country, to the Hague. According to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting: "The authorities in Croatia are arresting innocent Serbs to diffuse nationalist anger over the detention of Croat war crimes suspects." A few months ago, after Croatia arrested several of their own military personnel on "war crimes" charges, they also arrested eighteen Croatian Serbs. The men declared their innocence, and began a hunger strike, at which time Yugoslav President Kostunica accused Croatia of violating their human rights. But who will defend a Muslim hated by the Bosnian Muslim government?
