Talk:Janko Bobetko

WP:MILHIST Assessment

A nice start, with a picture and infobox. But it is quite short overall, and is not written in the most formal of ways. For example, Tito's name and title should be given in whole, and the phrase "5 decades of military service - although intermittently" should probably read something closer to "five decades of intermittent military service", or even simply "his career of military service spanned five decades." Copy-edit, expand a bit, and we can move this up to B-class. LordAmeth 14:57, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Bobetko's remark on "minimal" casualties

"In 1993, during Operation Medak pocket against Serb Krajina strongholds that controlled the town of Gospić, the Croatian soldiers were accused of committing crimes against humanity and violating the laws or customs of war, which Bobetko denied, describing casualties were "minimal"."

I think that the sentence in the article gives the wrong context to Bobetko's remark about "minimal" casualties, because the sentence in his book is actually referring to casualties that Croatian Army had in Operation Medak Pocket, not the victims of war crimes.

Here's the English translation of original text from Bobetko's book:

"Personally I am pleased. In three or four hours, how much the operation lasted, with minimal casualties to gain control over these objectives is a proof that the army is well prepared, that decision was made right, that our forces during the execution were absolutely brought in right, that Croatian Army in system of warfare on such terrain mastered all the elements, that participation of all the elements involved in such a special mission functioned well, otherwise it couldn't be completed in such a short period of time."

Sve moje bitke, page 384

I suggest rewording of that paragraph. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.205.99.196 (talk) 15:56, 23 November 2017 (UTC)

Looking at the NYT article, which is the source for the "minimal" quote, the context is indeed quite different:

"Although United Nations peacekeepers had accused Croatian troops of alleged atrocities against civilians long before the memoir was published, General Bobetko barely mentioned local Serbs. Some fled, some surrendered, he wrote. Elderly, women and children were released, he wrote. The casualties were only minimal."

I agree that this is not an adequate interpretation, so I've removed it, although it is true that Bobetko denied any wrongdoing by the Croatian troops. (Except on one occasion which I distinctly remember - it was a TV interview with Romano Bolković - when he basically admitted it.) In the end, it was the very Operation Medak pocket that got Bobetko indicted. The article is sketchy on many details, and is not fully balanced. GregorB (talk) 20:02, 19 April 2018 (UTC)