I kindly asked Para to share his recollection of the number of the dead with us, and he will do tonight, I was not asking you to comment on Buja.
But since you have mentioned Buja,I would like to hear your opinion. In ICTY testimony, Buja admitted that he killed Serbs (police, military and perhaps others) before the bombing started. Yet, he faced no consequences after the testimony.
Killing police and military personnel is an act of terrorism in U.S. of A. Do you consider Shukri Buja to be a terrorist?
Good question. I caveat my answer up-front that I do not know the details of what Buja did. I do know that he was a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army fighting for independence from Serbia. If his actions were directed solely against the Serbian security forces within Kosovo and conducted within the normal rules of warfare, then I do not believe him to be a terrorist, but an insurgent.
If he had been captured by the Serb government forces, then they would be entirely within their rights to try him under their laws and apply the appropriate punishment. That's the difference between being a soldier in a conventional state-on-state war where captured combatants are simply held until the war is over versus being a soldier in a rebel army where, if captured, you are not just a combatant, but are liable for crimes such as sedition or treason.
Now, if he deliberately targeted noncombatants or killed prisoners, etc; then he is a murderer and should be tried as such just as is occurring right now at the ICTY with three KLA members.
Here are some U.S. Department of Defense definitions:
terrorism
(DOD) The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.
revolutionary
(DOD) An individual attempting to effect a social or political change through the use of extreme measures.
insurgent
(DOD) Member of a political party who rebels against established leadership.
insurgency
(DOD, NATO) An organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government through use of subversion and armed conflict.