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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JBL who wrote (12130)	6/15/1999 11:35:00 PM
From: Bill	Respond to of 17770

Agreed. After about a week, it was obvious that NATO would need to backtrack on its inflamatory rhetoric once reporters were allowed to check out the real facts in Kosovo. This war was run just like the rest of the Clinton Propaganda Presidency. Phony baloney.

To: JBL who wrote (12130)	6/16/1999 12:09:00 AM
From: George Papadopoulos	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17770

>At this point, I just want to find out the truth of what happened there. The complete truth would start appearing a few decades from now...when classified documents will be released showing the systematic media campaign to demonize the Serbs. >Are we talking a systematic campaign of killings, organized by the Government and the Serb Military itself, or were these atrocities mostly the work of paramilitary groups ? There were no "atrociities" done by the Yugoslav military. There were some isolated "atrocities" done by paramilitary groups in response to KLA's atrocities. The bombing sure contributed to any atrocities that did occur...How would you feel if you kept hearing reports of Nato bombs destroying your bridges, hospitals, factories, water and electric plants, civilian trains and buses, and seeing your friends killed while the Albanians are cheering "Nato, Nato". Another factor is that it was very hard to distinguish KLA fighters from innocent civilians since they took cover in their large homes in the areas they infiltrated.... >If they were the work of paramilitaries mostly, were they acting with the backing of the army and the Government? Absolutely not. Perpertrators of crimes have been arrested, tried and imprisoned...the more the bombs fell while Albanians were cheering "Nato Nato"..I am sure the army and police were not as vigilant in their duties. >What was the situation in the days leading to the bombing? KLA terrorists (hell bent on independence) were terrorizing the Serb civilians, police and army along with Albanians who did not agree with them. The Albanian civilians nice to them were not harmed by the KLA and were, in fact, their homes were used for hiding and launching terrorist attacks against mostly civilians and police. The initial bombing allowed the Yugoslav military to make a big push against the KLA (that of course included shelling of their positions......which included some homes undoubtedly) and drive them pretty much into Albania...A lot of Albanians fled their villages due to Nato bombing and the intense fighting between KLA and Serbs....That is when Slobo decided to give in after seeing his civilian population in mainland Serbia terrorized and its infrastructure demolished....The Yugoslav Army feels betrayed by their govt because they feel that they had succeeded to drive the KLA out of Kosovo and they could have hold out quite a few more months... > How many victims are we talking about? Exactly we will never know for sure. Probably about 1,500-2,000 Serb civilians and about 1,000 Serb army/police/paramilitary dead. As far as Albanians my guess would be between 1000 to 2000, probalby half due to bombing. >Thousands ? Tens of thousands ? Hundreds of thousands? A few thousand at the most. The other numbers have been thrown out from the govt here to justify its moronic policy. And the spin intensifies as days go by. >After a few days of bombing, I did not trust what I heard from the mouth of Jamie Shea much more than some of the Serbian propaganda. Good point. But if I had to choose I would sure choose the Serb side, it is more grounded in reality and logic. >I can distinctly remember Defense Secretary Cohen talking about 200,000 Kosovar men "missing". What is the truth ? That is another "number" that is usually thrown out to shift the public opinion in order to justify at what has happened here. I am sure you have seen the scenes of the little car being showered with bullets in Pristina right? The official explanation was that there were Serbs shooting at them. The Greek TV news showed a continuation of the bloody scene with the Serbs' guns nowhere in sight and the passenger, all bloody, telling the cameraman...."Why did they shoot us.....please help me....stop filming and help me please.....why did they have to shoot us?" The German journalists were killed by Serbs we are told. Says who? Anyway, the big lie goes on and as long as there are a lot of people like Barry believing every word they are told we will keep electing these idiots! While the Serb forces are honoring their agreement they signed, the Nato forces are not disarming the KLA bandits...no wonder the Serb army feels betrayed...but they are not too far away...I think this tragic episode in Balkan history is far from over, unfortunately. A different perspective FWIW