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Babo
484 pages, Unknown Binding
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July 24, 2017
The inside story of Milošević's Pauk ("Operation Spider") in 1994-1995, the objective of which was to take control of the Bihać pocket, a Muslim enclave disrupting communications between Serbia and Croatia, and tying up large numbers of Serb forces who could otherwise have been concentrated against Zagreb. The author is the commander of that operation, who is now 15 years into his sentence for assassinating the prime minister of Serbia in 2003. Legija called the operation "the battle we couldn't lose". However, lose it they did, when Croatia's Oluja ("Operation Storm") put an end to the Croatian Serb republic, shortly after the fall of Srebrenica and Žepa, two of the three Muslim enclaves in eastern Bosnia.
This book is valuable and fascinating on various levels. First, it gives the inside story as told by someone who was at the heart of the operation. Second, despite his rank, Legija spent most of his time on the ground where the action was, and his style is that of a front-line professional soldier, not that of an armchair military historian. The authenticity of his account has been confirmed to me by others who took part in the fighting. Third, it sheds light onto one of the most controversial and lied-about parts of the war, the tragically absurd intra-Muslim conflict. And finally, it allows the reader to hear the story from the horse's mouth of one of the most controversial and shadowy figures of the war, a former foreign legionnaire with links to the Serbian mafia. I met him once during the war, and I only regret I didn't engage him in conversation: I assumed because of who he was that he must have been of the same ilk as Arkan and other murderers, but in fact Legija has never been charged with war crimes, and is said to have been a professional soldier to the end.
This book is valuable and fascinating on various levels. First, it gives the inside story as told by someone who was at the heart of the operation. Second, despite his rank, Legija spent most of his time on the ground where the action was, and his style is that of a front-line professional soldier, not that of an armchair military historian. The authenticity of his account has been confirmed to me by others who took part in the fighting. Third, it sheds light onto one of the most controversial and lied-about parts of the war, the tragically absurd intra-Muslim conflict. And finally, it allows the reader to hear the story from the horse's mouth of one of the most controversial and shadowy figures of the war, a former foreign legionnaire with links to the Serbian mafia. I met him once during the war, and I only regret I didn't engage him in conversation: I assumed because of who he was that he must have been of the same ilk as Arkan and other murderers, but in fact Legija has never been charged with war crimes, and is said to have been a professional soldier to the end.
Displaying 1 of 1 review