Your reference, comes from the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade for Goodness sake. That's not an unbiased source. Where do you think the spin is coming from in the first place, in addition to the Muslims side. We supported the Muslims in Operation Flash, therefore, our spin will be in favor of the Bosnian Muslims, which by the way, included Muzzies from the ME. This is basic politics 101.....
The besieged forces could have easily defended the enclave,
(FR posters note:) I have been there to the Sreb mountains. You CAN NOT use vehicles at all! There is no passage, non defensible nor in an offensive nature. Only down in the town itself or on the roads. From the raods, they are like a salamander, winding and you can't visual at all. When I get my site back up before I head out, you will see for yourself.
Being a Tanker, I know this from tactical analyzation. (end of FR posters note)
at least for much longer, if they had been well led. It proved convenient to let the enclave fall in this manner. Since the enclave was doomed to fall, it was preferable to let this happen in the most beneficial manner possible. But this would only have been viable if Sarajevo had political initiative and freedom of movement, which would never occur at the negotiating table. The deliberate fall of the enclave might appear to be an act of terrible machiavellian orchestration, but the truth is that the Sarajevo government had much to gain, as proved to be the case. Srebrenica was not a zero-sum game. The Serbians won a military victory but with highly negative political side-effects, which helped result in their definitive ostracization.
We might add a final curious note. As the UN observation posts were attacked, and proved impossible to maintain, the forces withdrew. The barricades set up by the Muslim army did not let the troops past. These troops were not treated as soldiers fleeing from the front line, but rather with a sordid differentiation.
The Muslims not only refused to fight to defend themselves, they forced others to fight on their behalf. In one instance, the commander of a Dutch vehicle decided after conversations with ABiH to pass the barrier. A Muslim soldier threw a hand grenade whose fragments mortally wounded him. The only UN soldier to die in the Srebrenica offensive, was killed by the Muslims.