The Politics of the Srebrenica Massacre

ZMAG (USA) ^ | July 07, 2005 | Edward S. Herman

[FormerLib]

Oh, and welcome to Free Republic.

Odd that you should be so familiar with the people to Ping on the Balkans discussions.

Been around here before? What name were you using the first time?

[mark502inf]

someone has the guts to stand up to them and do what is necessary

Murdering over 7,000 is to "do what is necessary?" In Christian theology, murder is wrong. And the definition or right and wrong is not based on the ethnicity or religion of the perp or of the victim.

Although you use the word "Republican" in your screen name, let's see what a real Republican says about Srebrenica:

U.S. Forces in the NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia (SFOR) participated today in the apprehension of Colonel Dragan Obrenovic, who is indicted by the UN War Crimes Tribunal for his involvement in the July 1995 attack on Srebrenica. … Srebrenica represents one of the darkest episodes in the recent tragedy that befell Bosnia. … This barbaric operation was conducted under the overall command of Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, who are also indicted by the UN and who also deserve to face justice in The Hague.

I also welcome the decision of the Tribunal convicting General Radislav Krstic of genocide in the 1995 massacre of Muslims from Srebrenica. I welcome and fully support the Tribunal's judgment. Those who commit war crimes must face justice.

[FormerLib]

Oh dear, I should have warned you that posting the truth in these threads gets the apologists for the islamofascists into an absolute hissy fit.

[mark502inf]

From your same source:

In no way does it diminish the guilt or responsibility of those who methodically organized and ruthlessly carried out the massacre

Regardless of what Naser Oric did to other Serbs, it does not justify the Serbs murdering 7,000 people at Srebrenica. F-Lib, ethnicity-based morality is anything but moral.

[Incorrigible]

From, left, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, International administrator for Bosnia Paddy Ashdown, Former Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul stand during a funeral of 610 Bosnian muslims killed by avdancing Bosnian Serb forces in Potocari, outside Srebrenica on the 10th anniversary of Srebrenica massacre, Monday, July 11, 2005. Nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed toward the end of Bosnia's 1992-95 war when Bosnian Serbs troops overran the eastern Bosnian enclave. After a religious service, the 610 caskets containing the remains of the most recently identified victims, were passed in a long line from hand to hand toward the grave pits and buried. (AP Photo/Hidajet Delic) AP - Mon Jul 11,10:38 AM ET		The U.S. Ambassador for War Crimes Issues, Pierre Richard Prosper, left, and Richard Holbrook, the architect of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which stopped the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, attend the funeral of 610 Bosnian muslims killed by advancing Bosnian Serb forces in Potocari, outside Srebrenica on the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, Monday, July 11, 2005. Nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed toward the end of Bosnia's 1992-95 war when Bosnian Serbs troops overran the eastern Bosnian enclave.(AP Photo/Hidajet Delic) AP - Mon Jul 11,10:09 AM ET
From left, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Theodore Meron, Croat President Stpie Mesic and President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivo Miro Jovic stand together during a funeral for 610 Bosnian Muslims killed by advancing Bosnian Serb forces in Potocari, outside Srebrenica on the 10th anniversary of Srebrenica massacre, Monday, July 11, 2005. Nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed toward the end of Bosnia's 1992-95 war when Bosnian Serbs troops overran the eastern Bosnian enclave.(AP Photo/Hidajet Delic) AP - Mon Jul 11, 9:52 AM ET		High Representative to Bosnia Paddy Ashdown (R) greets marchers as they arrive to a memorial centre for Srebrenica victims in Potocari July 10, 2005. Survivors of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre marched through the fields of Bosnia to re-enact a harrowing escape from Serb forces who slaughtered 8,000 of their Muslim kin. Tens of thousands of family members, foreign dignitaries and guests are expected to attend a ceremony in Srebrenica on July 11 marking the 10th anniversary of the massacre. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj Reuters - Sun Jul 10, 1:24 PM ET
People stand behind about 600 coffins containing remains of victims of the Srebrenica massacre, before a funeral in Potocari, July 11, 2005. Families buried the skeletal remains of Srebrenica victims on July 11 at the 10th anniversary of the massacre and the West acknowledged its failure to prevent Europe's worst atrocity in 50 years. Thousands of men formed long rows, passing the 610 green-draped coffins one by one above their heads to freshly-dug graves where women in white headscarves waited by wooden markers, many weeping or silently praying. ($Byline$/Reuters) Reuters - Mon Jul 11, 5:16 PM ET		A girl looks through barbed wire as Bosnian Muslims attend a ceremony for the reopening a rebuilt mosque in the village of Gornji Potocari, only a few hundred meters from a memorial center for Srebrenica victims, July 10, 2005. Survivors of the Muslim flight from Srebrenica came back to the scene of the massacre to bury some of the 8,000 men shot and bulldozed into the earth by Bosnian Serb forces 10 years ago this week. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) Reuters - Mon Jul 11, 5:16 PM ET
Bosnian Muslims pray behind some of the more than 600 coffins containing remains of victims of the Srebrenica massacre, before the funeral in Potocari, July 11, 2005. Relatives wept over coffins of victims of the Srebrenica massacre, dug out of death pits and awaiting burial on Monday at a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of Europe's worst atrocity in 50 years. The coffins contained the latest identified remains found in mass graves dug by Bosnian Serb forces to hide their slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men between July 11 and July 18, 1995. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) Reuters - Mon Jul 11, 3:55 PM ET		Bosnian Muslims carry coffins to their resting place during a mass funeral in Potocari July 11, 2005. Relatives wept over more than 600 coffins of victims of the Srebrenica massacre, dug out of death pits at a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of Europe's worst atrocity in 50 years. The coffins contained the latest identified remains found in mass graves dug by Bosnian Serb forces to hide their slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men between July 11 and July 18, 1995. (Danilo Krstanovic/Reuters) Reuters - Mon Jul 11, 5:16 PM ET

[Incorrigible]

Again with taking photos behind barbed wire fences for no apparent reason.

[republican2005]

It is estimated that over 200,000 people died from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (from the initial bombing and it's after effects) Should Harry Truman have been prosecuted for war crimes?

Those were mostly innocent civilians ....

Or did he just do what was necessary in a time of war?

There's a saying that if you fight a war like WW2 you will win like WW2. If you fight a war like Vietnam you will lose like Vietnam.

War isn't pretty, it's awful. Everyone likes peace, everyone would like to live in peace. But in order to have peace and enjoy the benefits thereof, war must end. By definition peace is the time between wars. If you want to have a long period of peace then you must do what is necessary to make the inevitable wars as short as possible. There is no glory to be had from prolonging a war, no honor to be gained from needlessly throwing away the lives of our best and brightest to spare the enemies families and homes.

War is horrible, but we are trying to make it painless to our enemies and we wonder why they continue to attack us. If they feared for their families... if they feared for their cities, if they feared that their very way of life would be wiped from the face of the earth if they dared attack us ... then they wouldn't.

But what have they to fear from us? seizure of their bank accounts? a trial that they will probably win if caught? an extended vacation in Cuba? world condemnation? laughable.

[IronMan04]

...and even after 9-11 we wont do what is necessary to defeat the Muslims.

Our Boys are giving their lives to bring Democracy to Iraq and you want to defeat the Muslims?

[republican2005]

Our soldiers are dying fighting the war on terror. Setting up a democracy in Iraq is a means to that end, not an end unto itself.

President Bush would never have sent troops into Iraq for the sole purpose of liberating the Iraqi people. It is a real nice side benefit, and it makes for great talking points, but in reality it's just a means to an end.

President Bush is of the belief that free/democratic nations aren't warmongers (arguable). Knowing that all people yearn to be free, he is using that longing as a weapon, hoping to set off a string of events which will lead to the democratization of the entire region, which he hopes will then put a damper on the Islamic radicals.

[republican2005]

In my opinion President Bush is doing this to avoid the hard choices.

He is trying to come up with a new option, a way of winning the war without having to make the hard choices. I wish him luck in this regards. I hope for all of us he is correct.

But history leads me to believe it's folly.

I believe that you must utterly destroy your opponents will to continue fighting. You must make him see that their is no hope in continued fighting, and you must threaten to destroy all that he holds dear if he continues to fight. The combination of hopelessness and the treat to the people, places, and ideals that he holds dear will in the end destroy his will to continue fighting.

[IronMan04]

Are you willing to trust Democracy to a Muslims?

[FormerLib]

Regardless of what Naser Oric did to other Serbs, it does not justify the Serbs murdering 7,000 people at Srebrenica. F-Lib, ethnicity-based morality is anything but moral.

You poor sot, you've got yourself all bent into thinking that I'm justifying what happened there!

Anyone even passingly familiar with my posts knows that I've never supported any actions by the paramilitaries since most of those guys were the thugs who helped keep the Communists in power.

The fact is that the terrorists actions forced a response and the guys who showed up were a pack of thugs who would kill a kid so that he wouldn't become a threat.

This was not a good thing, you see, and the UN forces could have prevented ALL of it by stopping Oric and his murderous thugs. But they didn't even try because that would have had them defending Serbs.

It's a thought process that you seem to share, judging from some of your posts.

What I categorically deny is that Serbs how bear some sort of "mark of Cain" upon them that justifies attacking them on the slimmest, most-fabricated of reasons and that we fought on the wrong side in Kosovo.

Let me know if any of this ever sinks in, ok?

[ma bell]

Now the number is up to 8,000 dead...?

ahhh, they must have found the deathly remains of more bodies...of dead Serbs, so they keep the identity hush, so they say Bosniak/n.