storm - Hrvatski memorijalno-dokumentacijski centar Domovinskog ...

INTRODUCTION
Few people in Croatia remain indiff erent to the word Storm. From the Croatian
perspective, Storm is synonymous with victory, it is the symbol of the successful
end of a years-long war. From the perspective of the Serbs, and not only of the
Serbs in Croatia, Storm is an entirely diff erent symbol. Th e reason is simple: a diff erent
view of the recent past and its interpretation. Ever since it has become the object of ICTY
interest and proceedings, Storm has been a topical issue in Croatian everyday political
life and not only a compelling event from the recent past.
Apart from the press, in which it has been directly or indirectly a constant topic,
Operation Storm is also the theme of papers having a more ambitious scope than a daily
press release. In spite of the uncritical and celebratory texts of the Political Directorate
of the Ministry of Defence, 1 the groundwork of Storm was matter-of-factly presented by
the former Chief of the HV General Staff , Staff General Janko Bobetko (ret.). In his book
All My Battles Bobetko published the complete directive which formed the basis for the
subsequent execution of Operation Storm, 2 although the publication of the war plan of
an army so soon aft er its draft ing was a rather unusual event. However, it could be said
that Bobetko’s interpretation of Operation Storm is not correct, in principle, because he
obviously was not familiar with the changes which were made aft er his retirement and
which brought about modifi cations of the war plan. Th is is particularly the case with the
presentation of the operation in the Banovina area, which totally omits the role of the
Bjelovar Corps District, about which Bobetko knew nothing because he had not even
envisioned it when he signed the directive for Storm-1 in June 1995. Operation Storm
was also highlighted in the papers and a book by another Chief of the HV General Staff ,
Admiral Davor Domazet Lošo (ret.), 3 although some authors challenge his claim that
Storm was an air&land battle. 4 Th e Operation was also given due coverage in publications
1 Oluja/Storm, Hrvatska vojna glasila (Croatian military press), 1, October 1995; Oluja, Hrvatska vojna
glasila, 2, November 1995; Oluja, Hrvatska vojna glasila, 3, December 1995.
2 Janko Bobetko, “Sve moje bitke” (All My Battles), self-published; Zagreb, 1996, 422-432, 441-451, 462-475
and 484-491.
3 Davor Domazet-Lošo, “Završne operacije Hrvatske vojske - uvjerljivost vojne moći i/ili promjena strategijskog
odnosa (Final Operations of the Croatian Army - Convincing Military Power and/or Change of
Strategic Balance), Hrvatski vojnik, Zagreb, 22/1997, 12-21; ibid., Hrvatska i veliko ratište (Croatia and the
Great Battlefi eld), Udruga Sv. Jurja, Zagreb, 2002.
4 Ozren Žunec, «Operacije Bljesak i Oluja», Rat u Hrvatskoj i Bosni i Hercegovini, 1991-1995 (Operations
Flash and Storm; War in Croatia and Bosnia&Herzegovina, 1991-1995); Jesenski i Turk: Dani, Zagreb: Sarajevo,
1999, 100-101.
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