<nettime> Kouchner Flip Flops

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo {AT} balkansnet.org>]

Summer 92, war in Bosnia. Bernard Kouchner and his "Doctors of
the World" (M=E9decins du monde) broadcasted into the press and on the 
walls in Paris an advertisement, outstanding and expensive. The 
photograph showed prisoners of a Serbian camp in Bosnia. Behind 
barbed wires, Kouchner sticking the picture of a watchtower from 
Auschwitz. His text blamed Serbians for "mass executions".

Was it right or wrong? Wrong, admits Kouchner twelve years later. His
latest book, The Warriors for Peace, recounts an interview with
Izetbegovic, in his deathbed:

- Kouchner: those places were awful, but they didn't exterminate
consistently. Did you know about that? 
- Izetbegovic: Yes. The assertion was false. There were no 
extermination camps even if those places were terrible. I thought 
that my revelation would bring faster bombings.

(source:
http://www.michelcollon.info/mailinglist_en.php)

They did, indeed.

But why would Izetbegovic recant? Maybe Kouchner came up with both 
stories opportune at different times to bolster his stature?

ivo ---------------------------------------------------------
Ivo Skoric
19 Baxter Street
Rutland VT 05701
802.775.7257
ivo {AT} balkansnet.org
balkansnet.org


#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo {AT} bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime {AT} bbs.thing.net