I don't know that NATO misread the situation other than giving Milosevic too much credit for compassion and for assuming that he would act for the good of his people instead of for himself. He has now proven irrevocably that he will see Yugoslavia and it's people destroyed before he relinquishes his power over them.
Milosevic, on the other hand, probably misread NATO's willingness to deal out destruction until he meets their terms. The only thing holding NATO back right now are their efforts to limit civilian casualties.
Unfortunately, the longer Milosevic maintains his death grip on power, the more civilian casualties there are going to be.
Those of you that are interested should check out www.gov.yu , the official website of the Federal Government of Yugoslavia. It would be almost entertaining if it wasn't so pathetically biased and untruthful. Before now, I never doubted the Serbs claims that they have been the victims of oppression and ethnic violence during several periods over the last 600 years. Now, reading their bullshit claims that they are innocent victims of NATO's brutal aggression and that they have never done anything to deserve it, makes me realize that they could well have been lying about the previous events too.
Be sure to check out the one interview of the incompetent Yugoslav air force pilot that survived getting shot down by "better equipped, better paid, fully insured" NATO pilots. He said that the Yugoslav air force has shot down "hundreds" of NATO aircraft and only lost a few, because of their superior "heart".
The Yugoslav people aren't really buying this crap are they? If they are, no wonder they let themselves be led into such a shitstorm. |
