No one can deny that crimes were committed after Operation Storm, including steps aimed at preventing the Serbs from returning, Galbraith said on a Croatian Television show on Sunday afternoon.
In the case of Operation Storm, it was the Croatian forces that looted, burnt and killed. I was here at the time of the operation. It was clear that the Croatian army was in full control and that people who were going in, were doing so with the permission of the Croatian army and police, he said.
Galbraith stressed that people from the US Embassy had seen Croatian soldiers burning houses.
I think that the involvement of the Croatian authorities in what was going on was very clear in that case. It remains to be seen at what level, but the involvement existed, the former ambassador said.
Galbraith declined to answer the question whether Operation Storm was a joint criminal enterprise aimed at driving the Serbs out of the areas of Croatia which were under Serb occupation at the time, saying that the answer should be left to the Hague tribunal, which would make a judgement based on evidence.
Asked about arms shipments from Iran via Croatia to Bosnia-Herzegovina during the war in that country despite the international arms embargo that was in force at the time, Galbraith said that the US administration was aware of those shipments, but did not oppose them.
When the then president of Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, asked him about the US position on the arms shipments, Galbraith said he did not have instructions from Washington regarding that issue.
Speaking of the late Croatian president, Galbraith said that Tudjman was a great historical figure, a good leader, strict and authoritarian, but that his actions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and his undemocratic tendencies cost Croatia dearly.