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

155preferred provider of weapons to the Bosnians. If the Administration has aproblem with Iran arming Bosnia, it should be prepared to do something aboutit’. 760Dole therefore appears to have been aware of the Croatian pipeline, and of Iran’s involvement insecretly providing Bosnia with arms. The fact that he was aware of the supply of arms was denied bythe Republican party. On the other hand, Senator Lieberman (Connecticut) pointed out that Dolecould not have failed to notice the article in the Washington Times of 24 June 1994 regarding the Iraniansupplies; Dole said nothing then and he did not demand that Clinton do something. 761Clinton remained set against lifting the arms embargo, but openly stated that he was no longerprepared ‘to enforce the arms ban’. Washington itself would supply no arms, but neither would itintervene if other countries were to do so. 762 Dole was not the only important politician who supportedlifting the arms embargo. For example, in August 1995 he quoted from a letter from the former BritishPrime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who said the following to Dole:‘I am writing to express my very strong support for your attempt to have thearms embargo against Bosnia lifted (...) The safe havens were never safe; nowthey are falling to Serb assault. Murder, ethnic cleansing, mass rape and tortureare the legacy of the policy of the last three years to the people of Bosnia. It hasfailed utterly’.With this attitude she was (not for the first time) publicly turning against the British Conservativegovernment’s national security policy. 763The Croatian pipeline after 1994Meanwhile, arms flowed liberally through the Croatian pipeline. In early 1995, Iranian cargo aircraftlanded in Zagreb three times a week. The CIA and the White House and State Department continuedto have different opinions, this time regarding the scale of the military support via the Croatianpipeline: the CIA settled on 14,000 tons between May 1994 and December 1996. According to theState Department from May 1994 to January 1996 Iran delivered a total of 5000 tons of arms andammunition via the Croatian pipeline to Bosnia. The clandestine Iranian arms supplies were to stoponly in January 1996, after American ground forces were stationed in the region. 764Sarajevo would nevertheless have felt uncomfortable at the time. The fact is that the ABiH wascompletely dependent on Zagreb’s cooperation. Croatia could stop or reduce the transit at anymoment. The Bosnian government will also have been disturbed by Croatia’s ‘skimming’ of thesupplies that were destined for it. According to Lord Owen, the percentage of arms that Croatiaconfiscated was fifty per cent or more. 765 Turkey and Saudi Arabia possibly exerted pressure in thebackground to allow fewer arms to flow via the Iranian connection. These two countries had in the760 See: http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1996, Christopher Cox, House Republican Policy Committee: Policy Perspective, p.2.761 See: http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1996, Congressional Record, ‘Arms Shipments to Bosnia from Islamic Countries(Senate - April 17, 1996), speech by Senator Lieberman.762 The Washington Post reported on this matter on 14 & 15 April 1995. For this see for example:http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1996, Congressional Record, ‘Arms Shipments to Bosnia from Islamic Countries (Senate -April 17, 1996), speech by Senator Lieberman.763 See: http://www.fas.org/irp/news/1996, Christopher Cox, House Republican Policy Committee: Policy Perspective, p.2.764 J. Risen & D. McManus, ‘U.S. OK’d Iran Arms for Bosnia, Officials Say’, Los Angeles Times, 05/04/96 and James Risen,‘Iran gave Bosnia leader $ 500,000’, Los Angeles Times, 31/12/96.765 Owen, Balkans Odyssey, p. 47.