Umro je Frank McCloskey (64) veliki prijatelj Bosne, i prvi koji se zalagao u americkom Kongresu za zracne napade protiv srpsko-crnogorskog agresora
Frank McCloskey: simple, humble, and straight
Objavljeno: 07. Nov 2003. 00:11:00
By Abdul Malik Mujahid
Those are words you'd rarely associate with politicians. But that is how I would describe former Representative Frank McCloskey. He died yesterday of bladder cancer. He was 64.
Despite his humility and simplicity, this Catholic, a Democrat who represented Indiana's 8th district until 1995, was the moral voice for Bosnia. McCloskey had no family or political connections in Bosnia. He did not profit from any post-war contracts. He did not have a Bosnian constituency in his district. Yet, he stood tall in Congress as the moral voice of America in favor of saving lives in the genocide of Bosnia. This was a very courageous and unusual stand at a time when our government was busy denying genocide, when Europeans were mum, and an Indian national UN commissioner was hiding the news of concentration camps for more than six months.
"In the wider world, a Milosevic victory will expose the end of America's military commitment to European peace and security," he wrote in the June 1993 issue of the magazine The Washington Report On Middle East Affairs. "It will reduce the power of the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council to that of the League of Nations in the 1930s. It will poison relations between the West and the Muslim world, and strengthen fundamentalist extremism in the latter. It will embolden aggressors and extreme nationalists everywhere, and drive them and their potential victims into arms races."
McCloskey was also determined to bring the crimes against Bosnians to light at a time when certain quarters were interested in covering up the concentration camps, rapes, torture, and murder.
"Milosevic's genocidal aims and utter bad faith are perfectly clear," he wrote in the Washington Report article. "The inadequacy of diplomacy, trade sanctions, and U.N. 'peacekeeping' to deter, contain, or reverse Milosevic's genocidal aggression is flagrant."
McCloskey also criticized then-president Bill Clinton's way of dealing with the conflict, going so far as to call for the resignation of Warren Christopher, who was then secretary of State.
In addition, he called for Serb leaders, especially President Slobodan Milosevic, to be brought to trial for war crimes.
McCloskey lost the election as Republican storm troopers took over Congress in 1994. His opponent declared him a congressman from Bosnia, accusing him of neglecting his constituency.
I met McCloskey only once, long after he had lost the election but won peace a chance in Bosnia. When I thanked him for his work, his response was as humble as he looked. He did regret losing his seat in Congress, but thought it was more due to a nationwide Republican mobilization than his opponent’s campaigning against his work in Bosnia. His sincerity towards the cause of Bosnia struck me as an extension of his honest personality.
He had agreed to speak at the Bosnia rally in Washington DC organized by the Bosnia Task Force, USA. He was, however, stopped by a member of his staff who thought that his standing with Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) on the same stage was wrong because of Yusuf Islam’s "controversial" position on Salman Rushdie. The staff member said it could be used by his opponents against the Congressman. McCloskey, nevertheless, personally called the office of Bosnia Task Force, USA to show his regret and full support for the cause.
On behalf of the now defunct Bosnia Task Force, USA, its volunteers, the Bosnian and the Muslim community in the USA, I would like to express my deep sorrow to the family of Frank McCloskey. I pray that we have more moral voices like his in America for the cause of justice in all quarters of the world. It is individuals like him who can once again make America great by being good.
Abdul Malik Mujahid was national coordinator of Bosnia Task Force, USA. This was an alliance of almost all national organizations of Muslims in the US, as well as Masjids across the country. BTF led the effort to mobilize America to stop the genocide in Bosnia with a rally attended by more than 50,000 people in Washington DC. It also led the move to declare rape a war crime. The Islamic Shura Council of North America was formed at the invitation of Bosnia Task Force, USA.
Frank McCloskey; supporter of Bosnia in US Congress
By Associated Press, 11/4/2003
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Former US representative Frank McCloskey, an outspoken champion of Bosnia during his 12 years in Congress, died Sunday at his home here. He was 64 and had bladder cancer.
Mr. McCloskey represented southwestern Indiana's Eighth District in Congress from 1983 to 1995.
"Frank always wanted to do good," said Dan Combs, chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Party. "I honestly wouldn't say that he was a good politician. He wasn't tricky, slick, or deceitful. He fought for things he thought were right." Combs said Mr. McCloskey's longtime interest in the Balkans began in the early 1990s as the former Yugoslavia disintegrated and violence escalated in the region.
"There's almost no benefit for a politician from southern Indiana becoming involved in the affairs of the Balkans, but he did it because he thought he could help those people," Combs said.
Mr. McCloskey, who made several trips to Bosnia during his years in Congress, called in 1992 for selective air strikes against Serb forces if they continued their siege of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He later criticized the Clinton administration's handling of the Bosnian conflict and called for the resignation of then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher, warning that Serbs were committing genocide in Bosnia.
Mr. McCloskey also called for war crime trials for Serb leaders, specifically Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who was ousted in 2000 and is currently on trial in The Hague, Netherlands.
Born in Philadelphia in 1939, Mr. McCloskey went to high school in Norristown, Pa., and entered the Air Force immediately after graduation. He served until 1961 before coming to Indiana University in Bloomington.
Mr. McCloskey worked as a reporter for the Indianapolis Star before being elected mayor of Bloomington in 1972, a year after he graduated from law school.
Rep. Frank McCloskey, 64, Dies; Democrat Spoke Out on Balkans
Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page B06
Frank McCloskey, 64, a Democrat who represented southwestern Indiana in Congress from 1983 to 1995 and became an outspoken advocate for ending war in the Balkans, died of bladder cancer Nov. 2 at his Bloomington, Ind., home.
As the former Yugoslavia disintegrated and violence escalated in the early 1990s, Rep. McCloskey, a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, was one of the first in Congress to call for airstrikes against Serbian positions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He said it was needed to prevent hostilities from spilling over into Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and other provinces, and he was later critical of the Clinton administration's handling of the conflict.
Rep. McCloskey, who also served on the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee, had shown little inclination to operate in the national spotlight until he made several visits to Bosnia. He had made waves only once earlier, in 1985, when his first reelection bid resulted in a fight in the House over who should represent Indiana's 8th District.
The Republican candidate, Richard D. McIntyre, was twice certified the winner of the seat by Indiana authorities. But the Democrat-controlled House refused to seat him and launched an elaborate recount that resulted in McCloskey winning a four-vote victory.
Democrats had been running the House for three decades, and Republicans felt abused by their leadership. For many, the dispute over who represented the 8th District was the last straw. It took a decade and the election of a Republican majority to see the results of this buildup in animosity. Many in both parties came to believe that the Gingrich revolution began the day McIntyre's election was overturned.
Rep. McCloskey went on to serve as a quiet, rank-and-file Democrat, engaging in policy-oriented committee work. Until a 1991 fact-finding trip to Bosnia grabbed his attention and passion, he voted for President Bill Clinton's programs more than any other member of the Indiana delegation. He became the de facto leader of an odd congressional coalition over the Balkans conflict that was unlikely to agree on any other issue.
Rep. McCloskey was a native of Philadelphia who joined the Air Force after high school. He was a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, the Herald-Telephone in Bloomington and the City News Bureau in Chicago before graduating from Indiana University in 1968 with a bachelor of arts degree. He was elected mayor of Bloomington in 1972, a year after he received a law degree from the university.
He was mayor for 10 years before being elected to Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1994 during a Republican sweep year and joined a law firm in Bloomington. Last year, he was named director of Kosovo programs for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, where he was teaching leaders how to govern democratically.
Survivors include his wife of more than 30 years, Roberta McCloskey, and two children.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report. )
Those are words you'd rarely associate with politicians. But that is how I would describe former Representative Frank McCloskey. He died yesterday of bladder cancer. He was 64. Despite his humility and simplicity, this Catholic, a Democrat who represented Indiana's 8th district until 1995, was the moral voice for Bosnia. McCloskey had no family or political connections in Bosnia. He did not profit from any post-war contracts. He did not have a Bosnian constituency in his district. Yet, he stood tall in Congress as the moral voice of America in favor of saving lives in the genocide of Bosnia. This was a very courageous and unusual stand at a time when our government was busy denying genocide, when Europeans were mum, and an Indian national UN commissioner was hiding the news of concentration camps for more than six months.
 Umro je Frank McCloskey (64) veliki prijatelj Bosne, i prvi koji se u americkom Kongresu zalagao za zracne napade protiv srpsko-crnogorskog agresora. U medijima je ukazivao na nuznost napada i zaustavljanja agresije. Ispred Redakcije i citatelja Web magazina BOSNJACI.net upucujemo iskrnu sucut njegovoj porodici i najblizim suradnicima. Bosna je zaista izgubila jednog velikog prijatelja, na nam je da se sjecamo i da ne zaboravimo ovog velikog covjeka. Molimo Boga da mu podari ljepote Raja. Redakcija! |
"In the wider world, a Milosevic victory will expose the end of America's military commitment to European peace and security," he wrote in the June 1993 issue of the magazine The Washington Report On Middle East Affairs. "It will reduce the power of the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council to that of the League of Nations in the 1930s. It will poison relations between the West and the Muslim world, and strengthen fundamentalist extremism in the latter. It will embolden aggressors and extreme nationalists everywhere, and drive them and their potential victims into arms races."
McCloskey was also determined to bring the crimes against Bosnians to light at a time when certain quarters were interested in covering up the concentration camps, rapes, torture, and murder.
"Milosevic's genocidal aims and utter bad faith are perfectly clear," he wrote in the Washington Report article. "The inadequacy of diplomacy, trade sanctions, and U.N. 'peacekeeping' to deter, contain, or reverse Milosevic's genocidal aggression is flagrant."
McCloskey also criticized then-president Bill Clinton's way of dealing with the conflict, going so far as to call for the resignation of Warren Christopher, who was then secretary of State.
In addition, he called for Serb leaders, especially President Slobodan Milosevic, to be brought to trial for war crimes.
McCloskey lost the election as Republican storm troopers took over Congress in 1994. His opponent declared him a congressman from Bosnia, accusing him of neglecting his constituency.
I met McCloskey only once, long after he had lost the election but won peace a chance in Bosnia. When I thanked him for his work, his response was as humble as he looked. He did regret losing his seat in Congress, but thought it was more due to a nationwide Republican mobilization than his opponent’s campaigning against his work in Bosnia. His sincerity towards the cause of Bosnia struck me as an extension of his honest personality.
He had agreed to speak at the Bosnia rally in Washington DC organized by the Bosnia Task Force, USA. He was, however, stopped by a member of his staff who thought that his standing with Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) on the same stage was wrong because of Yusuf Islam’s "controversial" position on Salman Rushdie. The staff member said it could be used by his opponents against the Congressman. McCloskey, nevertheless, personally called the office of Bosnia Task Force, USA to show his regret and full support for the cause.
On behalf of the now defunct Bosnia Task Force, USA, its volunteers, the Bosnian and the Muslim community in the USA, I would like to express my deep sorrow to the family of Frank McCloskey. I pray that we have more moral voices like his in America for the cause of justice in all quarters of the world. It is individuals like him who can once again make America great by being good.
Abdul Malik Mujahid was national coordinator of Bosnia Task Force, USA. This was an alliance of almost all national organizations of Muslims in the US, as well as Masjids across the country. BTF led the effort to mobilize America to stop the genocide in Bosnia with a rally attended by more than 50,000 people in Washington DC. It also led the move to declare rape a war crime. The Islamic Shura Council of North America was formed at the invitation of Bosnia Task Force, USA.
Frank McCloskey; supporter of Bosnia in US Congress
By Associated Press, 11/4/2003
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Former US representative Frank McCloskey, an outspoken champion of Bosnia during his 12 years in Congress, died Sunday at his home here. He was 64 and had bladder cancer.Mr. McCloskey represented southwestern Indiana's Eighth District in Congress from 1983 to 1995.
"Frank always wanted to do good," said Dan Combs, chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Party. "I honestly wouldn't say that he was a good politician. He wasn't tricky, slick, or deceitful. He fought for things he thought were right." Combs said Mr. McCloskey's longtime interest in the Balkans began in the early 1990s as the former Yugoslavia disintegrated and violence escalated in the region.
"There's almost no benefit for a politician from southern Indiana becoming involved in the affairs of the Balkans, but he did it because he thought he could help those people," Combs said.
Mr. McCloskey, who made several trips to Bosnia during his years in Congress, called in 1992 for selective air strikes against Serb forces if they continued their siege of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He later criticized the Clinton administration's handling of the Bosnian conflict and called for the resignation of then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher, warning that Serbs were committing genocide in Bosnia.
Mr. McCloskey also called for war crime trials for Serb leaders, specifically Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who was ousted in 2000 and is currently on trial in The Hague, Netherlands.
Born in Philadelphia in 1939, Mr. McCloskey went to high school in Norristown, Pa., and entered the Air Force immediately after graduation. He served until 1961 before coming to Indiana University in Bloomington.
Mr. McCloskey worked as a reporter for the Indianapolis Star before being elected mayor of Bloomington in 1972, a year after he graduated from law school.
Rep. Frank McCloskey, 64, Dies; Democrat Spoke Out on Balkans
Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page B06
Frank McCloskey, 64, a Democrat who represented southwestern Indiana in Congress from 1983 to 1995 and became an outspoken advocate for ending war in the Balkans, died of bladder cancer Nov. 2 at his Bloomington, Ind., home. As the former Yugoslavia disintegrated and violence escalated in the early 1990s, Rep. McCloskey, a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, was one of the first in Congress to call for airstrikes against Serbian positions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He said it was needed to prevent hostilities from spilling over into Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia and other provinces, and he was later critical of the Clinton administration's handling of the conflict.
Rep. McCloskey, who also served on the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee, had shown little inclination to operate in the national spotlight until he made several visits to Bosnia. He had made waves only once earlier, in 1985, when his first reelection bid resulted in a fight in the House over who should represent Indiana's 8th District.
The Republican candidate, Richard D. McIntyre, was twice certified the winner of the seat by Indiana authorities. But the Democrat-controlled House refused to seat him and launched an elaborate recount that resulted in McCloskey winning a four-vote victory.
Democrats had been running the House for three decades, and Republicans felt abused by their leadership. For many, the dispute over who represented the 8th District was the last straw. It took a decade and the election of a Republican majority to see the results of this buildup in animosity. Many in both parties came to believe that the Gingrich revolution began the day McIntyre's election was overturned.
Rep. McCloskey went on to serve as a quiet, rank-and-file Democrat, engaging in policy-oriented committee work. Until a 1991 fact-finding trip to Bosnia grabbed his attention and passion, he voted for President Bill Clinton's programs more than any other member of the Indiana delegation. He became the de facto leader of an odd congressional coalition over the Balkans conflict that was unlikely to agree on any other issue.
Rep. McCloskey was a native of Philadelphia who joined the Air Force after high school. He was a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, the Herald-Telephone in Bloomington and the City News Bureau in Chicago before graduating from Indiana University in 1968 with a bachelor of arts degree. He was elected mayor of Bloomington in 1972, a year after he received a law degree from the university.
He was mayor for 10 years before being elected to Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1994 during a Republican sweep year and joined a law firm in Bloomington. Last year, he was named director of Kosovo programs for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, where he was teaching leaders how to govern democratically.
Survivors include his wife of more than 30 years, Roberta McCloskey, and two children.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report. )