Buckley, the Butcher of Belgrade, and blood money

Stonewall Review Gay News "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when
his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
-- Upton Sinclair

The Raymond Buckley criminal investigation has taken an especially bizarre turn. Buckley is the New Hampshire Democratic Party officer and National Stonewall Democrats board member who has been accused of criminal possession of child pornography.

The latest accusation is that Buckley was, or expected to be, in the pay of one-time Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic. If true, it means that gay Democrat Buckley was willing to turn a blind eye to the Butcher of Belgrade's well-known enmity to both democracy and gays in exchange for a big payout.

Since the Buckley story broke on Friday, January 5, numerous sources have reported that he and accuser Steve Vaillancourt had a falling out years ago over rent that Buckley owed former landlord/housemate Vaillancourt. According to columnist Kevin Landrigan in today's Nashua Telegraph,

"Some claim that an out-of-court settlement put $1,000 in Vaillancourt’s pocket [even though] the alleged delinquency reached $20,000, according to Vaillancourt.

"On Thursday, Vaillancourt said Buckley assured him of being paid back because he expected a $100,000 payment from former [New Hampshire Democratic P]arty Chairman Chris Spirou for work the two did for ex-Serbian strongman dictator Slobodan Milosevic."

It turns out that Buckley's associate Spirou is a Milosevic henchman from way back. Spirou was an active participant in the Dayton Accord talks of 1995, in which Serbian, Bosnian, and Croatian negotiators met at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, to hammer out an agreement to end the vicious Bosnian war that Milosevic had launched.

Spirou was not, as one might expect, a member of or advisor to the American delegation. He served the Serbian delegation -- which was headed by Milosevic himself -- and not merely as an advisor. According to the February/March 1996 edition of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,

"...serving as the only non-Serb member of the 10-person Serbian delegation, was former Democratic minority leader in the New Hampshire state legislature Chris Spirou....Spirou was born in Greece and shares an Eastern Orthodox religious tie with the Serbs. He told journalists he had "worked closely" with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, whose dream of "greater Serbia" is blamed by many Balkan experts for starting the whole imbroglio that has led to more than a quarter-million deaths in former Yugoslavia since 1991. "Our joint commitment is to bring peace to the Balkans," Spirou maintained.

The New York Times of November 18, 1995, was more succinct and more damning:

"...the Serbs have made an American a participating member of their delegation -- Chris Spirou, the former head of the Democratic Party in New Hampshire and a man who introduces himself as a 'close friend' of President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia."

Spirou later showed up during the 2000 Serbian presidential elections that Milosevic tried unsuccessfully to rig to maintain his grip on power. Spirou served as a supposedly unbiased official observer. In the days after the election, as Milosevic's attempts to steal the election were denounced by world leaders such as Bill Clinton, Spirou insisted that all was fine. According to the Serbian Ministry of Information, Spirou told the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation:

"...I was very impressed with the way the elections were held at the polling places I visited. I saw a very civilized atmosphere in which people expressed their electoral will. I would especially emphasize that I did not see any policemen at the polling places. Everything was regular, I did not hear any complaints from any of the political parties' representatives. It was a normal civilized process in a democratic country...."

After mass demonstrations following the disputed election, Milosevic eventually conceded defeat and resigned. Less than a year later, he was extradited to The Hague to stand trial before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal on war crimes charges. Milosevic died in prison before his trial was completed.

The Landrigan column does not specify the work that Spirou and Buckley supposedly performed together on Milosevic's behalf. We will aver that it would make a fascinating story.

Was Buckley in the pay of the Butcher of Belgrade? If so, did any of that money find its way into the coffers of the New Hampshire Democratic Party or the National Stonewall Democrats? And if so, given the violence that Milosevic did to both democracy and gays, will either entity divest itself of those funds?

Buckley's devotion to right-wing U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman and to the conservative Democratic Leadership Council look downright quaint at this point.

The Landrigan column in the Nashua Telegraph is at www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070114/COLUMNISTS12/201140441/-1/opinion .

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs article is at www.wrmea.com/backissues/0296/9602048.html .

The New York Times article is at http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10F14FA395D0C7B8DDDA80994DD494D81 .

The Serbia Ministry of Information article is at http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2000-09/26/20719.html .