Date: November 14, 1994
Author: Eric Margolis, Foreign Editor, The Toronto Sun
Addressed to: Valentina Krčmar, Director, Bedem Ljubavi – Mothers for Peace
View the Original Letter: krcmar book 2_Part152 20.pdf
About This Letter
This letter, written on November 14, 1994, by Eric Margolis, then Foreign Editor of The Toronto Sun, was sent in response to an inquiry from Valentina Krčmar, Director of Mothers for Peace (Bedem Ljubavi).
Krčmar had reached out to confirm a claim made by General Lewis MacKenzie, who alleged that Margolis had privately admitted his reporting on the Yugoslav Wars was “full of errors.” In this short but definitive reply, Margolis dismisses the accusation outright.
“As usual, General MacKenzie is not being accurate. I have never admitted that my articles were ‘full of errors.’ All of the statements that I made remain valid and I stand behind them.”
Margolis’s words reaffirm his journalistic integrity and his continued belief in the accuracy of his coverage — particularly his critical reporting on Serbian aggression and Western inaction during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The exchange reflects a broader ideological divide that characterized Canadian media discourse at the time. While General MacKenzie publicly questioned the objectivity of journalists sympathetic to Croatian and Bosnian suffering, Margolis stood out as one of the few Canadian correspondents willing to expose the atrocities committed by Serbian forces and to condemn the failures of international diplomacy.
Krčmar’s decision to verify and preserve this correspondence — later referencing it in her own letter to MacKenzie in January 1995 — demonstrates her meticulous approach to truth and accountability. Together, the two letters form a powerful pair: Margolis defending truth in journalism, and Krčmar defending truth in history.
