Retired Admiral Davor Domazet Lošo claims that the intelligence operation Manjinjorgo, launched immediately after Operation Storm, prevented a new war and led to the peaceful reintegration of the Danube region.
Retired Admiral Davor Domazet Lošo, author of the book "The War in Which Genocide Was Prevented," has revealed previously unknown details about a secret intelligence operation that followed immediately after the military-police operation known as Operation Storm. According to him, this was Operation Manjinjorgo, known only to then-President Franjo Tuđman and the Minister of Defense.
"The last operation in the Homeland War was not Operation Storm, nor Maestral, nor Southern Move. The last operation was Manjinjorgo, a word from the Dalmatian hinterland used to scare children. It started right after Operation Storm, and Granić and those like him were not supposed to know about it," Lošo stated for Dnevno.hr.
According to Lošo, the operation unfolded on two levels. The first was the psychological exhaustion of Serbian forces, particularly the 11th Corps of the RSK army under the command of Dušan Lončar. Lošo reveals that he personally intercepted conversations of then-Serbian President Slobodan Milošević.
"The effect of Operation Storm was psychological; I was tapping Milošević, so the commander of the 11th Corps, Dušan Lončar, thought we were tapping him too. Panic set in, and he turned off all phones," Lošo recalls. The second key element was instigating conflict between Milošević and Serbian paramilitary commander Željko Ražnatović Arkan. "First, we set Arkan and Milošević against each other," Lošo said.
The climax of the intelligence game came when the Croatian side learned that a Hungarian envoy was working for Serbian services. Through him, disinformation was planted that Croatia had missiles and planned to target Belgrade. "By the next day, we learned that the Serbs had been informed. All this happened during the Dayton Agreement, where Mate Granić was present," Lošo stated.
The result of this operation, he claims, was direct. "And in the end, we listen to Belgrade concluding: 'We won't lose another war.' That's exactly why the Serbs from the occupied Danube region suddenly agreed to peaceful reintegration on November 12, 1995," Lošo explained.
In case the intelligence operation failed, Croatia had a plan ready for the military liberation of the Danube region. The operation, named "Fiery Chariots," envisioned the engagement of between 30,000 and 50,000 soldiers from five guard brigades, with an additional 100,000 soldiers in reserve in case the Yugoslav Army became involved. In the occupied area, the Serbs had about 25,000 soldiers.
"As one of the planners of that action, who gave it its name in honor of our Slavonians who love horses, I can say that in combat terms, that action would have surpassed Operation Storm. We would have reached the Danube in 48 hours, meaning 5 guard brigades would stand between the Sava and Danube, with 250,000 soldiers behind them," Lošo recounted. He added that President Tuđman was surprised by the tactical concept of the operation but "crossed out the name 'Fiery Chariots' and called it 'Vukovar Dove'."
Lošo concluded that the success of Operation Manjinjorgo was crucial in avoiding further casualties. "But thank God Operation Manjinjorgo succeeded, because there had already been enough victims," he said.
