Replies

If we lighheartedly hold the whole Serbian leadership responsible for "command responsibility" in civilian casualties in Kosovo, how can we honestly avoid holding the whole U.S. leadership for unquestionably higher civilian casualties and destruction in Iraq?

No comparison. In Kosovo, the Serbs deliberately targeted the civilian population. In Iraq, it is the policy and practice of the United States to avoid civilian casualties. If you read post 3 above, the links lead to Crosland's earlier testimony at the Milosevic trial. He describes in detail the Serbian attacks against civilians.

>>>> In Kosovo, the Serbs deliberately targeted the civilian population<<<<

Your belief does not constitute firm evidence nor fact. Especially when you compare two different conflicts (Kosovo and Iraq)

But your use of term "the Serbs" documents your racist attitude against Serbs as a people.

Just like U.S. forces in Fallujah and everywhere in Iraq, Serb forces in Kosovo knew very well that insurgents deliberately mix with the civilian population, often wearing civilian clothes themselves and often sheltering in mosques, snipe at the army and then cry foul (making excellent propaganda points) when troops get scared and angry for the deaths of their colleagues and start shooting indiscriminately against anything that moves.

Both the Serbian and the U.S. military in Kosovo and Iraq respectively have had explicit orders to avoid civilian casualties. The notion that their political or military leadership gave orders or implicit encouragement for the shooting of civilians makes no sense (and therefore reeks of hypocrisy), because, if for no other reason, such orders would be politically and militarily extremely stupid. More than 200 Yugoslav army troops were court martialed for war crimes in Kosovo. In Iraq, despite the higher number of civilian casualties, fewer troops are publicly known to have been disciplined.