Posted on 03/24/2009 6:19:39 AM PDT by Ravnagora
BELGRADE -- Today is the tenth anniversary of the NATO air strikes on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).
The scenes 10 years ago (FoNet, archive)
At midday, air raid sirens sounded throughout the country in a mark of remembrance for the victims.
The government, which has decided to build a memorial center dedicated to the victims of the air strikes, called on all citizens to stop whatever they were doing and respect the minute’s silence for the victims.
Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković said that the air strikes had been an illegal act that could have been avoided.
"Could the bombing have been avoided? We know the answer. Only reason can prevail over evil," he told a special cabinet meeting today.
Cvetković said that 1,002 soldiers and police officers had perished during the bombing, as well as around 2,500 civilians, including 89 children, while 12,500 people had been injured.
He underlined that the air strikes had not solved the problems in Kosovo, nor had they established the rule of law or peace in the province.
He said that Serbia had elected to resolve the problem using peaceful and democratic means, but that it would never recognize Kosovo's unilateral independence.
"The bombing led to long-term detrimental repercussions for Serbia. For the future of our children, we must not let this happen again," the prime minister stressed.
Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said that the bombing had been carried out without the UN’s authorization and that its result had been Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
"Whatever the cause was, that campaign should not have been carried out in a democratic, civilized world. That was a crime against our people,“ said Dačić.
He added that in the same way as the air strikes had been launched against Serbia, certain countries had recognized Kosovo’s independence in contravention of the principles of international law.
The anniversary of the bombing was also marked at the Russian House in a ceremony attended by representatives of the government, the Russian Duma, businessmen and politicians.
Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin said that now, instead of military bombs, bombs of a political nature were falling on Serbia.
“No-one had any illusion as to the intention of taking Kosovo from Serbia, while even now there are no illusions that the wish of the European presence in Kosovo, which is squeezing out the UN, is to implement the Ahtisaari plan. But even that’s not the last political bomb. From The Hague they’re bombing you with harsh condemnations of Serbs,” Konuzin stressed.
During the 78 days of the air strikes, in a campaign titled Operation Allied Force, over 3,000 people perished, while civilian and military infrastructure suffered severe damage. Economists have estimated the vale of the damage at USD 29.6 bn.
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One sided spin.
Trash, not news.
Disgraceful.
This was Clinton’s War to make people (the news media, actually) forget her impeachment. It was ALWAYS about Hillary’s run for the Senate - She needed war victims on trains to get the NY Jewish vote.
And she got the photo’s she needed.
The entire premise for the bombing was completely bogus.
“Only reason can prevail over evil...”
Umm, no, bombs work pretty good too! Ask Hitler...
My girl friends elderly father passed away 10 yrs ago this day and I think watching the news events of this day hastened his journey. She said he cried (he was of Serbian descent) as he watched the news
This is what you get from the Balkans. Nothing straight comes from that region of the world.
Slavic Serbians Are Good
Albanians Evil
Get It, Got It, You Betcha
"We have all these neat weapons. Why can't we use them?"And if any US (cough) 'officials' are to be dragged to the Hague for War Crimes, I've got three candidates...
Just to remind you. The bombing started just as the Juanita Broaderick rape allegations were beginning to get some traction with the press.
Holy New Priest Martyr Stefan of Kosovo, pray for us! Holy New Martyrs of Serbia, pray for us!
In the New Calendar, today is the Forefeast of the Annunciation. clinton and his allies not only chose that holy day to begin bombing, but continued bombing through BOTH Western and Orthodox Pascha and beyond!!!! Gospodi pomiliuj!
Holy Theotokos, intercede for us! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners!
Thanks for the reminder. BTTT
And what do you get in the US & the Western press?
“Albanian Are Good
Serbs are Evil
Get It, Got It, You Betcha”
There is NO straight story anymore, anywhere, Skenderbej — including here. Medias just tell the people of an area what they want to hear. We want to hear that we were justified in bombing Serbia — Serbs want to hear that it was a completely unjust action. There is no objectivity anywhere in the press.
A better question would be, “Was the 1999 NATO worth it to us as Americans?”
And my answer both as an American and as someone with old roots in that part of the world, is “NO!” We solved absolutely nothing and caused greater political problems for ourselves that we as Americans didn’t need. We backed the wrong side, not because they are “Albanians”, but rather because they were insurgents trying to steal a piece of another country’s territory against all international law, violating its sovereignty. And we spit on that international concept of sovereignty with the attitude of “We’re America and can do whatever we want, including redrawing borders.” That didn’t increase our respect with anyone over there, most people in Eastern Europe were simply horrified by our actions.
And how much US time, money and political energy has been spent on the NATO Bombing, “Kosovo nation-building”, and Kosovo “diplomacy” ego-trip over the last ten years? $$$$BIllions! And what have we got out of it? Nothing. Kosovo is still a black hole, with no sign of its appetite for our money & energy letting up. Ten years later the human rights problems in Kosovo are even worse than they were before the bombing, only reversed — now it’s Serbs who are an endangered species in Kosovo.
Kosovo was — and is — a tragic waste of our time, money and reputation in the world. And our involvement should have never happened. Balkan politics need to stay in the Balkans, because every outside force who has tried to come in there run roughshod over it — from the Ottoman Turks & Austro-Hungary to Germany (twice) — has sooner or later gotten its ass kicked, on a world-scale, as a direct result of that involvement. It’s not worth it.
The Clinton response was that they had looked at old maps and loaded the info based on said maps. The only thing that was there before the Chinese Embassy was an empty lot. Our sources from NATO told us that the Serbs were running communications out of the Embassy.
If not mistaken, as soon as Clinton's approvals went below 50%, he stopped the bombing raids.
And who can forget Gen. Wesley Clark ordering the British to launch an attack on the Russian military?
If we choose to protect the sovereignty of an ally, we do so because it is in our own interest, not because it is our job as the world's policeman to enforce so-called "international law."
In fact there are some good unintended consequences that came out of US actions. NATO and the cursed United Nations Organization have been set at odds and the spurious concept of "international law" has been dealt a devastating blow.
That the US had the ability to bomb Serbia does not alter the fact that choosing to so in order to assist the Jihadists in Kosovo while peddling lies about non-existent mass graves was absolutely moronic.
It's a vast right-wing (Serbian) conspiracy Hillary - ahem, sorry I mean, Red6.
No news. Trash. No different than the Green Helmet Guy in Lebanon.
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