Well, this is just great:
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic -- who spearheaded the revolt that toppled former President Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000 -- was assassinated Wednesday by gunmen who ambushed him outside the government complex, police sources said.
"Gunmen"? Oyyyy.... why can't they say "assassins" or "murderers"? Sigh. And I do so love the way history seems to be caught in some kind of repeating loop in the Balkans. I don't know anything about the late prime minister, but the fact that he was one of those who helped bring down Milosevic, and was pro-Western, makes me think that there is more behind this than mere local "politics." Do you think this will get some of the European nations (cough France cough) to get their heads out of their posteriors about this terrorist problem? Yeah, me neither.
(Via On the Third Hand.)
Posted by Andrea Harris at March 12, 2003 11:08 AMThere appears to be some involvement by organized crime figures, who ruled the roost under Milosevic and his thug of a son. It reminds me of the many murders after the breakup of the Soviet Union. If this is the right way to look at it, there may be no international implications or repercussions. It's a hard road from totalitarianism to anything resembling freedom and unfortunately men like Dzindzic who point the way often pay for their courage and principles.
Posted by: Robert Speirs at March 12, 2003 at 01:31 PMI have to agree, though only up to a point. There are far more than enough domestic political divisions in Serbia so that one shouldn't first assume any outside involvement. OTOH, it's the Balkans, so it's not really possible to rule out anything completely.
Posted by: David Jaroslav at March 12, 2003 at 03:55 PMI Googled Djindjic before blogging about his assassination, and I found several hits to Raimondo & Co. It was only then, by the visceral hatred of the antiwar.com thugs, that I realized the magnitude of our loss in the wake of Djindjic's death. Like Robert, I'm assuming this was a mafia-related killing, not necessarily the work of a foreign power. That makes it no less tragic and forboding for the future of Serbian democracy, however.
Posted by: Matthew at March 12, 2003 at 04:41 PMOh yes, Matthew: he was definitely one of the good guys, and this is a terribly tragic loss. I interned at the US Information Agency in 1997-98 (before it was foolishly rolled into the State Department), and we always hoped for positive impressions of him in the polls we conducted in the region.
Posted by: David Jaroslav at March 12, 2003 at 05:38 PMWell, I'm generally with you on your complaints about terminology, but "assassinated by assassins" does sound rather... repetitive. I think they made it rather clear that he was, in fact, assassinated. And people who assassinate are assassins. Kinda tends to happen that way.
Posted by: Adrianne at March 12, 2003 at 07:30 PMBesides, assassination doesn't necessarily imply the use of guns. They could have used a car bomb, or catapulted a giant wooden rabbit on top of him.
Posted by: Kevin McGehee at March 12, 2003 at 09:02 PMIndeed - your mafia guess is right - the following day (today) he was due to sign a newlaw which would enable them to arrest 20 of the biggest, baddest, and ugliest of the crime bosses operating in Belgrade. Incredible timing for a gunman to turn up. Sorry, assassin.
Posted by: Phil at March 13, 2003 at 09:38 AM