Croatian Defence Council - Roots of Creation

Roots of Creation

The organization, arming, and military training of the Croat community in Bosnia and Herzegovina began in 1991 when the Bosnian Croats realized that they were next on the Serb agenda and that the newly independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s government, led by Alija Izetbegović, and its Muslim population were either incapable of or unwilling to take decisive defensive measures against a probable attack by the Bosnian Serbs and their allies. At the time, the Muslim-dominated government in Sarajevo was declaring that "it is not our war", and HVO veterans later charged that Izetbegović was actually cooperating with the Serbs. Even the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s chief of staff, Sefer Halilović, has expressed disgust with Izetbegović’s coterie of Serbian agents, confidence in the JNA’s good intentions, and refusal to take even the most basic steps to organize his country for defense. Moreover, the apparent emphasis Izetbegović placed on Islam as the foundation of the new Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was taken as a threat to the continued existence and freedom of the Catholic Croat community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.