WHEN THE COMMANDER IS ANNOYED WITH THE JOURNALISTS

YOU WILL ALL BE SENT TO THE FRONTLINE!

AIM, SARAJEVO, May 16, 1995 If you do not change, I will send you to the front - this, to put it briefly, is the contents of the letter addressed to Tuzla media by the Commander of the 25th Division of the 2nd Corps of the Army of B&H, colonel Refik Lendo. It seems that something snapped inside the Commander, and he imagined that the difficult status of his soldiers could be resolved by introducing order in the media - probably governed by the idea that every soldier would feel much better if he knew that the others were in just as difficult a situation as he!? Having decided that this was the ideal way to make life easier for the combatants, the colonel sat down and wrote a threatening message to the journalists in his bleak soldier's language. Then he sent it to editorial offices of Television Tuzla, district television stations and Radio Tuzla. Accompanied, of course, with a note that he demanded that the integral text be read during their news programs.

The Commander began his letter with, unfortunately, sad, but to a certain degree true allegations. "The war in our homeland is raging for more than three years now. Its best sons are fighting battles with the criminals every day, they are bleeding and being killed every day. We are aware that, simultaneously with the struggle, we must build our state. That is why we are also aware that not everyone can and must carry a gun. Everyone should give a contribution to the defence of homeland in one's own way. We are aware that health services, judiciary, education are necessary and badly needed... The media are also necessary, especially those which will help the struggle against Chetniks' propaganda." At this point, the Commander's letter, from a passive introduction made by a patriot who decided to contemplate about everything that his states needs, developed into a somewhat more aggressive criticism of the media (to a certain exent of other institutions of civilian life too), which according to the opinion of this resolute soldier, did not seem to be aware how wrong and bad they were.

"But, the very manner in which individuals and institutions", the Commander continues, "are carrying out, or better still, are not carrying out their tasks in the sense of support to the armed struggle, is the reason why we are writing this letter. The fact which is evident and irritates the combatants is that the work of all institutions and agencies is proceeding completely as if at a time of peace. The life and work in all spheres are taking such course that one can conclude that the civilian authorities and the citizens are becoming estranged from their combatants." After this, a part devoted to the hard life of the soldiers of the Army of B&H follows. The Commander listed a series of truly impermissible failures of the Bosnia-Herzegovina authorities (the same ones who had sent their own sons to the safety of Western capitals a long tim ago) in relation to the members of the Army, from the unsecured social, health or financial status of the combatants to the instances of their evictions, soldiers thrown out of public transportation vehicles by force, or abolishment of privileges to the families of killed soldiers of the Army of B&H.

But, in his effort to protect his warriors, instead to seek answers to all irregularities in the competent institutions such as various ministries or the secretariat for veterans' affairs (especially since army commanders are as a rule members of the ruling Party of Democratic Action and they can find out many things in their party organizations), this Commander decided to declare that journalists and their media are guilty. Because, as this soldier claims, one of the causes of such a situation are program structures of radio and tv stations!? As an experienced connoisseur of the role of the media in a state which has aspirations to be democratic, this Commander entered into evaluation of journalistic work, assessment of the quality of cultural manifestations, into Bosnian history even, and seasoning it all with concern for the national consciousness of the Boshniaks (he is probably not too concerned with other nations) and "state-building consciousness (?) of the citizens of the Republic of B&H". He then says as follows:

"Instead of the contents which should, in respect to the current military and political situation in the former Yugoslav space, affirm the Army of the Republic of B&H and its armed resistance, arouse national consciousness of the Boshniak people and the state-building consciousness of the citizens of the Republic of B&H, raise the fighting spirit both of the combatants and the civilian population, advertisements of various private enterprises are winning more and more space on television and radio receivers, as well as amateurish contributions about generally poor cultural manifestations. Patriotic songs originated in the war are becoming scarce, and for quite some time, Tuzla journalists have not been seen on duty at the first frontlines... The most glorious pages of Bosnian history are being written in blood of our combatants, and each and every one of them deserves to have an entry made about him on a video or audio tape".

This is where the Commander loses control. Afraid that such, as he calls them "peacetime media" are actually dangerously "pacifying the citizens of Tuzla, which is not at all desirable", the Commander's firm military spirit breaks out, and he unquestioningly orders that the media change, because, if they remain as they are now he "will not be able to tolerate them any more", or else...

"... if the program structure of your radio and tv stations does not change soon, we will be forced to replace your arms which are very weak and inefficient in the struggle against the aggressor with real arms which destroy enemy soldiers in biological sense. We will be forced to do it! Both for the sake of the people and for your own sake. Unless you soon begin to do your duty like you should, only in this way will you give a true contribution to the general resistance to the greatest evil of the 20th century - the Serb fascism."

And this is how the Commander ends his letter. Will someone explain to this soldier that patriotic songs, regardless of their quantity and even quality, if there is any, cannot feed hungry stomacks, heat freezing families of the combatants, build a roof over their heads or give them back their killed sons? Or will someone, at least, once his rage dies down, point out to him that he directed the letter asking for the truly needed help for the combatants to a completely wrong address.

DRAZENA PERANIC