[tkathy]

It's quite simple. If Bush had bombed and done the exact same way that Clinton did, the media would be howling with daily stories.

[Bob Eimiller]

Another brick in the Clinton Legacy.... Any wonder there is almost a Balkans aftermath major media news black out?

[Support Free Republic]

Support Free Republic!

[Gaetano]

Talk about a quagmire, Ms. Albright, General Clark, Senator Clinton.

It is not like the the Serbs have moderated themselves either. They assasinate Zoran Djindjic, their reformist Prime Minister. Then, they turn around and elect a bunch of ultra-nationalist Milosevistas to their parliament.

Good thing they don't have any oil.

[getgoing]

"The public has a right to know what is happening in the Balkans." We also have responsibilities - a public apology would be a good place to start.

Thank you for posting, great article.

[Zipporah]

At the time it did seem strange to me.. as Serbs have traditionally been our ally.. the entire 'affair' was confusing.

[The Duke]

Why was there no media follow- up of the accomplishments of peace-loving and newly liberated Kosovo Albanians?

Maybe for the same reason the media has been strangely reluctant to report on the paradise we created in South Africa?

[CPOSharky]

But isn't this the area to which Weasley Clark brought "peace" and "harmony"?

Weasly says so, it must be true.

[Doctor13]

The Clinton agenda against the Bosnian Serbs (and eventually against all Serbs) was set into motion by the first Bush administration.

In his book, "The Politics of Diplomacy: Revolution, War and Peace, 1989-1992," former Secretary of State James Baker significantly wrote, "After the meeting, I had Larry Eagleburger take [Haris] Silajdzic [former Bosnian Prime Minister] to see the EC troika political directors (who happened to be visiting the Department) and asked Margaret Tutwiler to talk to the foreign minister about the importance of using Western mass media to build support in Europe and North America for the Bosnian cause. I also had her talk to her contacts at the four television networks, The Washington Post, and the New York Times to get more attention focused on the story."

In other words, President George Bush, the First, Mr. Baker, Mr. Eagleburger, et. al, never intended to be impartial in theBosnian civil war and were willing, if necessary, to present a distorted, anti-Serbian bias to the American people and a favorable image of the Bosnian Muslims regardless of their shadowy part in the war. This, then, was to be our foreign policy and we are reaping what we have sown.

[Cronos]

Waddya mean We?? It was Clintack. That attack was really "Not in my name"

[DoctorMichael]

...but....but....the movers-and-shakers of America's foreign policy, like Christiann Amanpour, assured us that we should be helping the poor Muslims.

[wtc911]

A good friend served in the 'Vo with the 101st. He's now in Iraq. He saw the facts on the ground. His take is simple...the place is a sleeping volcano with both sides gathering strength and steeling will. As soon as we leave it will explode in a fast, violent spiral that will kill thousands upon thousands.

[Nov3]

This was a disgrace for America and when the Russians pimp slapped General Clark at Pristina I couldn't have been happier!

[Destro]

Kosovo's terrorists continue to wage war

[A. Pole]

While on a border patrol, monitoring Albanian rebel insurgency, the U.S. unit I was working with came under direct mortar fire in a village named Krivenik. An Associated Press journalist, Kerim Lawton, was seriously injured. I administered first aid and attempted to stop the bleeding from the dozens of shrapnel wounds he incurred, to no avail. He died shortly afterward. How was this incident portrayed to the media?

As a "friendly fire"? Heck, the 9/11 could be classified as such :(

[mark502inf]

Here's some brave words from Ms. Gavrilovic spoken to the Washington Post in 1999:

Tanja Gavrilovic, 24, of Cleveland, said she is angry NATO is interfering in an internal crisis. "If I were to die, I'd rather die fighting for a noble cause," she said. "For Serbia . . . this is my cause."

She obviously has an agenda that pre-existed her time as a translator in Kosovo. And perhaps its time to update her quote--just substitute the words "write newspaper columns" for "die" and "die fighting".

[mark502inf]

Germany's military contingent used bright yellow tape to mark large Xs on Serbian homes throughout their designated area of responsibility. Similar to the 1940s Nazi-style branding of Jews and other minorities deemed unworthy of life.

Give me a break. After the NATO bombing campaign, returning Albanian refugees & KLA were taking revenge on the Serbian residents of Kosovo. The Germans' idea was for their patrols to be able to readily identify the Serb homes so as to better protect them from the Albanians. As a translator working for KFOR, Ms.Gavrilovic knows that, but has chosen to deliberately mischaracterize their actions.

[Stew Padasso]

...and no thanks to the RP leadership for this mess either.

[mark502inf]

While on a border patrol, monitoring Albanian rebel insurgency, the U.S. unit I was working with came under direct mortar fire in a village named Krivenik. An Associated Press journalist, Kerim Lawton, was seriously injured. I administered first aid and attempted to stop the bleeding from the dozens of shrapnel wounds he incurred, to no avail. He died shortly afterward.

Tending to Mr. Lawton must not have left Ms. Gavrilovic the time to administer first aid to any of the 16 Albanians, including two who died, who were also injured in the mortar shelling. But now that she's back safe and sound in America and writing about the incident, you'd think she could at least mention the Albanian casualties. But why ruin a good story?

How was this incident portrayed to the media? In a noncommittal diplomatic fashion, officials announced that, "An investigation will take place as to the day's chain of events," from all sides, U.S. Army, NATO and U.N.

Well, here's what they could have said: There are NLA guerillas to the south of Krivenek along the Kosovo-FYROM border. The NLA is shooting to their south at the Macedonian army. Krivenek is north of the guerillas--behind them. The Macedonian Army is shooting back, i.e. north toward the guerillas and Krivenek. The Macedonian Army has 120 mm mortars firing in support of their troops. The gun-target line from the Macedonian mortar position to the NLA, when extended, goes directly to Krivenik. It is most likely that the mortar rounds came from the Macedonian Army and that they were fired across the border from FYROM into Kosovo. Having said that, when I left they still hadn't figured who fired those mortars--there were actually several incidents that day. KFOR soldiers were doing crater analysis to dtermine approximate back azimuths to gun positions and caliber of the weapons. Don't recall the exact azimuths, but they were to the south and the mortars were definitely 120mm. Most likely the rounds came from the Macedonian Army, either as overshoots--the most common mortar error--or as an effort to hit Krivenik as a presumed source of NLA forces crossing the border into FYROM. The lesser possibility is NLA forces doing the shooting to cause casualties that could be blamed on the Macedonians. The purpose would be an attempt to disrupt the emerging KFOR-Macedonian military cooperation that was recently having better effect on interdicting NLA border crossings. Bottom line, there was an extensive investigation and although we were pretty certain it was the Macedonians, we couldn't figure it out for sure. Again, Ms Gavrilovic knew this and chose not to let those facts get in the way of her story.

[Iris7]

All this stuff is common knowledge amongst those interested enough to open their eyes to the world around them. Most people are not.