12.07.2015 Views

C. Wiebes - Intelligence en de oorlog in Bosnië 1992-1995. De rol van de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten - Engels

C. Wiebes - Intelligence en de oorlog in Bosnië 1992-1995. De rol van de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten - Engels

C. Wiebes - Intelligence en de oorlog in Bosnië 1992-1995. De rol van de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten - Engels

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

124told by the Head of the MIS that the M<strong>in</strong>ister’s eye had be<strong>en</strong> drawn to a number of word<strong>in</strong>gs that <strong>in</strong> hisview showed too much sympathy for Serbian military action <strong>in</strong> Kosovo. 584MIS/Air Force analysts confirmed that there was <strong>in</strong><strong>de</strong>ed sometimes an elem<strong>en</strong>t of politicized<strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce <strong>in</strong> the direction of the s<strong>en</strong>ior military officers and m<strong>in</strong>istry officials. MIS/Army officialslikewise stated that <strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce was sometimes used <strong>in</strong> support of the ‘good guys’ versus ‘bad guys’sc<strong>en</strong>ario. 585 Certa<strong>in</strong> politically s<strong>en</strong>sitive issues were sometimes dropped from the weekly <strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>cesummaries. The overall climate dictated that the report<strong>in</strong>g to the lea<strong>de</strong>rship of the M<strong>in</strong>istry of <strong>De</strong>f<strong>en</strong>cehad to be ‘politically correct’. Therefore what w<strong>en</strong>t to the s<strong>en</strong>ior officers and officials was ‘politicized<strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce’. Examples <strong>in</strong>clu<strong>de</strong>d the mortar attack <strong>in</strong> Sarajevo or the secret flights to Tuzla. While therewere no <strong>in</strong>structions that reports should be politically correct, the politicized aspects still crept <strong>in</strong>gradually and unconsciously. 586Almost all the MIS officials <strong>in</strong>terviewed admitted that account was tak<strong>en</strong> of pro-Bosniaattitu<strong>de</strong>s at s<strong>en</strong>ior political and military level with<strong>in</strong> the M<strong>in</strong>istry. The prevail<strong>in</strong>g political prefer<strong>en</strong>ce<strong>de</strong>f<strong>in</strong>itely <strong>in</strong>flu<strong>en</strong>ced perceptions. It was repeatedly po<strong>in</strong>ted out that foreign <strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce sources, such asthe NATO network LOCE, were also not <strong>en</strong>tirely free of a political pro-Bosnia slant. 587 On the subjectof political <strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce a former head of the MIS/Army stated that ‘as far as I am concerned it shouldnot’ have existed. But he too had to admit that the political mood was <strong>in</strong><strong>de</strong>ed tak<strong>en</strong> <strong>in</strong>to account. For<strong>in</strong>stance, he was able to recall that once after Srebr<strong>en</strong>ica he had giv<strong>en</strong> Voorhoeve a Serbian book on theABiH hit and run operations from Srebr<strong>en</strong>ica to the surround<strong>in</strong>g villages with Bosnian Serb resid<strong>en</strong>ts.The M<strong>in</strong>ister did not appear particularly pleased. 588Voorhoeve obta<strong>in</strong>ed no <strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce via a direct connection with the Head of the MIS. Therewas no structural contact; the Head almost never met Voorhoeve. Neither was there a particularlyregular pattern of report<strong>in</strong>g. The Head reported to the M<strong>in</strong>ister via the CDS and the Secretary-G<strong>en</strong>eral.The Head always s<strong>en</strong>t memos <strong>de</strong>st<strong>in</strong>ed for the M<strong>in</strong>ister via the Secretary-G<strong>en</strong>eral, as <strong>in</strong> <strong>De</strong>cember1994, wh<strong>en</strong> it was reported to Voorhoeve that the VRS and Croatian Serbs had approximately 140American St<strong>in</strong>ger anti-aircraft missiles at their disposal. The pres<strong>en</strong>ce of these arms could repres<strong>en</strong>t anadditional risk to Dutch air operations over Yugoslavia. 589The limited frequ<strong>en</strong>cy of the contacts was partly due to the CDS’s conviction that the Head ofthe MIS was un<strong>de</strong>r his authority. Voorhoeve changed this situation by summon<strong>in</strong>g the Head directly ona couple of occasions. He had the impression that the CDS and the Secretary-G<strong>en</strong>eral did not th<strong>in</strong>k thiswas normal. Voorhoeve requested the new Head, Knapp, to provi<strong>de</strong> him with <strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce moreregularly, and to draw up a periodic summary of all rele<strong>van</strong>t <strong>in</strong>ternational <strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce. This happ<strong>en</strong>edfrom mid <strong>1995.</strong> Voorhoeve th<strong>en</strong> received an <strong>Intellig<strong>en</strong>ce</strong> Summary (IntSum) two or three times aweek. 590 To sum up briefly, the MIS/CO played no c<strong>en</strong>tral <strong>rol</strong>e <strong>in</strong> the ‘daily political life’ of theM<strong>in</strong>isters Ter Beek and Voorhoeve.10. The MIS and Military SecurityIn addition to an <strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce compon<strong>en</strong>t, the MIS/CO also had a security compon<strong>en</strong>t <strong>in</strong> the form ofthe Military Security Bureau. On the one hand, its task came down to carry<strong>in</strong>g out security<strong>in</strong>vestigations as part of the <strong>de</strong>f<strong>en</strong>sive counter<strong>in</strong>tellig<strong>en</strong>ce task. The aim was to <strong>en</strong>sure the <strong>in</strong>tegrity andreliability of <strong>de</strong>f<strong>en</strong>ce personnel. On the other hand, this bureau conc<strong>en</strong>trated on collect<strong>in</strong>g data thatwere necessary to guarantee military security. This consisted of gather<strong>in</strong>g data on people and584 MoD, Archive Private Office of the M<strong>in</strong>ister, Voorhoeve to HMID, No. 1000, 26/06/98.585 Confid<strong>en</strong>tial <strong>in</strong>terview (34).586 Confid<strong>en</strong>tial <strong>in</strong>terview (37).587 Confid<strong>en</strong>tial <strong>in</strong>terview (26).588 Confid<strong>en</strong>tial <strong>in</strong>terview (36).589 MoD, Archive Memorandums M<strong>in</strong> <strong>De</strong>f 958 - 962, HMID Kok to the M<strong>in</strong>ister, No. DIS/94/095/2534, 01/12/94.590 Interview with J. Voorhoeve, 01/10/01.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!