Always Learning wrote: > Having been very emotional distraught circa 1992-1994 when I repeatedly > argued passionately with my work colleagues that western (i.e. British) > aircraft attacking Serbian tanks and artillery would stop the massacre > of thousands of civilians from all parts of Yugoslavia, I wish to assert > that genocide and mass murders by any bunch of people is fundamentally > wrong. It is still happening today in Africa and probably elsewhere. I will be very brief, but we can communicate off-list. That was misconception. JNA, Yugoslav army, was at that time multi-national, mixed on purpose from all sides of the country. In Slovenia, first to secede, JNA soldiers were sent in tanks without ammunition and were gunned down by sedition soldiers. > > I saw the horrific scenes from Yugoslavia on television night after > night while the rest of the world was uncaring and inactive despite the > urgency of a determined military response to protect the civilians. Civilians were fighting each other. JNA was actually a buffer at the first part of the civil war but was attacked for their superior weapons. > > When limited UN Forces intervened, I remember with pride a British army > colonel (now a Conservative MP (member of the British Parliament)) > angrily telling the murdering military that unless they stopped he would > instruct his force to open fire on them. > > I visited Beograd during the UN sanctions and witnessed the run-down > conditions and the ad hoc petrol filling stations along the main roads - > cars parked at 90 degrees to the road with a large plastic container on > the bonnet. They said Hungarian petrol (bezine) was best because it > contained less water. > > I stayed at the Beograd hotel where people were gunned-down. I had a > meeting in a building in the middle of the freezing winter with all the > windows wide open because the stench of dead bodies from the floor > beneath us was overpowering. That must have been some organized crime related shooting. Belgrade was 200km away from fighting. > > I am glad peace has come and I hope Europe never ever again tolerates > such a shameful period in its history. > > Being friends, working together and respecting others is best. I totally agree on this one. I apologies for such off-topic violation to everybody, I am done with this tread on-list. Please send replies to my personal mail if you feel the need to respond. Ljubomir