"Army knew about NATO attack on RTS"

This is non-story from B92 and its Belgrade NGO partners.

If Dragoljub Milanovic disobeyed orders from the government to evacuate the Belgrade TV studios, then he is rightly in jail. However, doesn't that also prove that the government and military were fully aware of NATO's plan to bomb RTS and silence the only voice of dissent left in Europe. Why all the fuss about "transcripts?"

While Milanovic's crime (if he is indeed guilty) is one of breaching Health and Safety rules, the real warcrime is that of the Americans and their NATO allies who launched an unprovoked attack against a sovereign nation which posed no threat to NATO.

NATO bombed homes, schools, hospitals, bridges, churches and places of work.

You will hear no condemnation of these crimes from these six NATO-financed NGOs.

This is very sad.
I bet, then President Miloshevich told them to not take any action, like letting them know so they can escape the bomb, so it would look worse then it was, NATO bombing a media house.
For all those with DSS, Radicals and Miloshevich,
YOU SHOULD GO TO JAIL and they should throw the keys away.

yeah, actually whole serbia knew it, isn´t it so?

b92 and all the others can try for another 8 years to whitewash the murder and war crime of their western friends, but it will still stay a murder and war crime as stated by the geneva convention.

Bombing a TV station is a crime to start with never mind everything else that followed after the fact. During times of war TV stations are vital for emergency announcements. Destroying a TV station is a direct assault on civilians and a cowardly act!

Who cares if they knew or didn't know, that is not the issue!! It is still a war crime. Plain and simple, a war crime, just like the entire 78 day illegal bombing of a nation and at the same time supporting KLA terrorism. It is ridiculous to even talk about these things. The responsibility for the deaths of those civilians in the RTS buildings is 100%, I repeat, 100%, with NATO - Wesley Clark, Madeline Albright, James Rubin, Bill Clinton, Sandy Berger, William Cohen, Richard Hollbrooke....the list is long. May these names live in shame forever for these cold blooded murders.

The point here is not what someone feels or believes but what the facts are, and they are that milosevic and his criminal group at rts knew the building would be bombed because they were alerted and decided not to evacuate so as to use these deaths in their propaganda war with nato. Very simple.
No well known joutrnalist or editors stayed, they sactificed technical staff. Their parents in their tragedy know this adn the court in belgrade knows this.
As for nato in war as in war. They actually had the decency to be selective and warn ahead a lot of the times. Their main sin is that they did not bomb in november 1991 or thereabouts and save thousands of balkan lives everywhere. They should have stopped us all because we were not acting sane, i mean everyone not just serbia. But your regime was not nationalist or patriotic it was criminal, aimed at looting money and destroying everythign in its path serbia included. MILOSEVIC DENIERS are antiserbs. But so be it, matter for serbs to sort out.
Greetings from free Montenegro.

It really depends on when the timing of such transcripts occurred. Moreover if it was considered as a bluff or a real threat. One needs to remember at the time many volountered to stand on bridges with targets on their back - thus who's to say that by withholding the information it did not stop even more deaths of such volunteers of which I am certain their would have been hundreds! Beyond that I am certain that the defense team had hundreds upon thousands of transcripts of 'possible' attacks aganist the WHOLE state but under such conditions whose to say if it was real or bluff? Michael is right in that the ones to blame are the one who did the actual bombing and it would be more credibile Human Rights protections if these NGO's slammed the agressor first and foremost!

I’m friends with a reporter for RTS. She was in the building when it was bombed. She was completely shocked that the US would do such a thing against International Law. Trust me, it came as a very big surprise for her and her co-workers at the time.

After that bombing many US citizens believe it was legal to bomb Journalists if they engaged in “propaganda”, despite the fact that its not. Is it any wonder Al Jazeera gets bombed “accidentally” in every country the US goes into?

The pilots of the USAF are highly competent professionals but at the same time moral human beings and I am sure the pilot who was ordered to do this is probably having nightmares for the rest of his life having been ordered to bomb a civilian installation which cost the lives of innocent human beings regardless of what their political orientation was.Shame on the person who gave the orders to commit such an inhuman act.May the souls of the departed rest in peace.Shalom

«During times of war TV stations are vital for emergency announcements»

I wonder in what kind of a world you are living.

Milosevic 's television was only used for his propaganda, and not for 'emergency' announcements, as you suggest.

During the war in Bosnia, the only thing the Serbs could watch on RTS was what happened during WW2 and how the Serbs died in Jasenovac.

The television was used to rouse hatred against the Croats and the Muslims.

NATO was right in bombing this propagandist tool and make it definitively silent.

I recall watching a RTS anchor women making a statement or commentary concerning NATO airstrikes on Serbia during the NATO air raids. She said something along the line "here is our RTS address", or, I got the impression that she said, or read, ‘you can bomb us too; we’re not going anywhere’. Those are not the exact words but it’s as best as I can remember or recall. Maybe it’s my impression and perception of her words that I recall the most.

I spoke to a person who worked at a state run building and they said they were warned in advance of a possible bombing by NATO. There were no media reports concerning their opinion of a possible NATO airstrike on them. They evacuated the building immediately. NATO bombed their building with direct hits. They are still alive today. The name and place of the building is withheld for privacy reasons, and the fact that I had the hots for one of the beautiful hottie women working there.

Silent response

"Army knew about NATO attack on RTS"

It is now September 2007. How is this 'news'?

Just about everybody knew that the RTS building was about to be hit before it happened. The US had told as many people as it could think of in an attempt to ensure that they hit an empty building - but were then able to pronounce a military success!!!

Somebody decided that a few dead Serbs would be a propaganda coup... Do not look further than a certain ex. (now dead) politician to work out who!

How does an inflight R/T conversation of the pilot, Major John A M****E, to confirm that he still had authorisation to strike the target, make this 'news'.

I can see that Belgrade 'news' media are still gripped with the same fervour of regurgitating the same political propaganda that they were 10-15 years ago. :(

I thought NATO stated it would only bomb the transmitters, not the building.

There was also the set up with Larry King's show which sent the Serbian Information Minister a fax for a show and told him to be ready for makeup an hour before the interview, around 2 a.m. Serbian time.

Right at the time he was supposed to be getting his makeup for the interview, NATO slammed missles into the makeup room and killed the makeup ladies. The Serbian Information Minister wasn't killed because he was running late.

It seems to me NATO specifically wanted to target and terrorize the people.

Also, it's known that CNN was using the facilities of the bombed building and that they were secretly warned and left the day before without telling their Serbian collegues.

So it appears westerners who knew in advance are not attacked by the western-sponsored NGOs.

“NATO was right in bombing this propagandist tool (Victor, 6. September 2007 00:48)”

As I’ve said many people now believe its legal to bomb TV stations to stop propaganda. Its not Victor, it’s a war crime. Rather odd to see you of all people supporting war crimes.

The Propaganda argument was condemned and dismissed by the ICTY itself, and I quote:

“While stopping such propaganda may serve to demoralize the Yugoslav population and undermine the government’s political support, it is unlikely that either of these purposes would offer the "concrete and direct" military advantage necessary to make them a legitimate military objective... it was not claimed that they were being used to incite violence akin to Radio Milles Collines during the Rwandan genocide, which might have justified their destruction”

“At worst, the Yugoslav government was using the broadcasting networks to issue propaganda supportive of its war effort: a circumstance which does not, in and of itself, amount to a war crime”

http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/nato061300.htm#IVB3

Clearly the Western Media was also in engaging in propaganda claiming 200,000 Bosniaks killed, 50,000 raped, 100,000 Albanians murdered before even the start of the NATO bombing, etc etc. Victor would you support bombing these Western Media outlets as well?

The ICTY let NATO off the hook because “TV transmitters were not targeted directly but that "in Yugoslavia military radio relay stations are often combined with TV transmitters”

As far as warnings and foreknowledge go, the ICTY had this to say…

“some doubts have been expressed as to the specificity of the warning given to civilians by NATO of its intended strike, and whether the notice would have constituted "effective warning … of attacks which may affect the civililan population, unless circumstances do not permit" as required by Article 57(2) of Additional Protocol I.”

“knowledge on the part of Yugoslav officials of the impending attack would not divest NATO of its obligation to forewarn civilians under Article 57(2)”

This is very sad.
I bet, then President Miloshevich told them to not take any action, like letting them know so they can escape the bomb, so it would look worse then it was, NATO bombing a media house.
For all those with DSS, Radicals and Miloshevich,
YOU SHOULD GO TO JAIL and they should throw the keys away.

The point here is not what someone feels or believes but what the facts are, and they are that milosevic and his criminal group at rts knew the building would be bombed because they were alerted and decided not to evacuate so as to use these deaths in their propaganda war with nato. Very simple.
No well known joutrnalist or editors stayed, they sactificed technical staff. Their parents in their tragedy know this adn the court in belgrade knows this.
As for nato in war as in war. They actually had the decency to be selective and warn ahead a lot of the times. Their main sin is that they did not bomb in november 1991 or thereabouts and save thousands of balkan lives everywhere. They should have stopped us all because we were not acting sane, i mean everyone not just serbia. But your regime was not nationalist or patriotic it was criminal, aimed at looting money and destroying everythign in its path serbia included. MILOSEVIC DENIERS are antiserbs. But so be it, matter for serbs to sort out.
Greetings from free Montenegro.

«During times of war TV stations are vital for emergency announcements»

I wonder in what kind of a world you are living.

Milosevic 's television was only used for his propaganda, and not for 'emergency' announcements, as you suggest.

During the war in Bosnia, the only thing the Serbs could watch on RTS was what happened during WW2 and how the Serbs died in Jasenovac.

The television was used to rouse hatred against the Croats and the Muslims.

NATO was right in bombing this propagandist tool and make it definitively silent.

"Army knew about NATO attack on RTS"

It is now September 2007. How is this 'news'?

Just about everybody knew that the RTS building was about to be hit before it happened. The US had told as many people as it could think of in an attempt to ensure that they hit an empty building - but were then able to pronounce a military success!!!

Somebody decided that a few dead Serbs would be a propaganda coup... Do not look further than a certain ex. (now dead) politician to work out who!

How does an inflight R/T conversation of the pilot, Major John A M****E, to confirm that he still had authorisation to strike the target, make this 'news'.

I can see that Belgrade 'news' media are still gripped with the same fervour of regurgitating the same political propaganda that they were 10-15 years ago. :(

This is non-story from B92 and its Belgrade NGO partners.

If Dragoljub Milanovic disobeyed orders from the government to evacuate the Belgrade TV studios, then he is rightly in jail. However, doesn't that also prove that the government and military were fully aware of NATO's plan to bomb RTS and silence the only voice of dissent left in Europe. Why all the fuss about "transcripts?"

While Milanovic's crime (if he is indeed guilty) is one of breaching Health and Safety rules, the real warcrime is that of the Americans and their NATO allies who launched an unprovoked attack against a sovereign nation which posed no threat to NATO.

NATO bombed homes, schools, hospitals, bridges, churches and places of work.

You will hear no condemnation of these crimes from these six NATO-financed NGOs.

yeah, actually whole serbia knew it, isn´t it so?

b92 and all the others can try for another 8 years to whitewash the murder and war crime of their western friends, but it will still stay a murder and war crime as stated by the geneva convention.

It really depends on when the timing of such transcripts occurred. Moreover if it was considered as a bluff or a real threat. One needs to remember at the time many volountered to stand on bridges with targets on their back - thus who's to say that by withholding the information it did not stop even more deaths of such volunteers of which I am certain their would have been hundreds! Beyond that I am certain that the defense team had hundreds upon thousands of transcripts of 'possible' attacks aganist the WHOLE state but under such conditions whose to say if it was real or bluff? Michael is right in that the ones to blame are the one who did the actual bombing and it would be more credibile Human Rights protections if these NGO's slammed the agressor first and foremost!

I’m friends with a reporter for RTS. She was in the building when it was bombed. She was completely shocked that the US would do such a thing against International Law. Trust me, it came as a very big surprise for her and her co-workers at the time.

After that bombing many US citizens believe it was legal to bomb Journalists if they engaged in “propaganda”, despite the fact that its not. Is it any wonder Al Jazeera gets bombed “accidentally” in every country the US goes into?

Bombing a TV station is a crime to start with never mind everything else that followed after the fact. During times of war TV stations are vital for emergency announcements. Destroying a TV station is a direct assault on civilians and a cowardly act!

The pilots of the USAF are highly competent professionals but at the same time moral human beings and I am sure the pilot who was ordered to do this is probably having nightmares for the rest of his life having been ordered to bomb a civilian installation which cost the lives of innocent human beings regardless of what their political orientation was.Shame on the person who gave the orders to commit such an inhuman act.May the souls of the departed rest in peace.Shalom

I recall watching a RTS anchor women making a statement or commentary concerning NATO airstrikes on Serbia during the NATO air raids. She said something along the line "here is our RTS address", or, I got the impression that she said, or read, ‘you can bomb us too; we’re not going anywhere’. Those are not the exact words but it’s as best as I can remember or recall. Maybe it’s my impression and perception of her words that I recall the most.

I spoke to a person who worked at a state run building and they said they were warned in advance of a possible bombing by NATO. There were no media reports concerning their opinion of a possible NATO airstrike on them. They evacuated the building immediately. NATO bombed their building with direct hits. They are still alive today. The name and place of the building is withheld for privacy reasons, and the fact that I had the hots for one of the beautiful hottie women working there.

Silent response

Who cares if they knew or didn't know, that is not the issue!! It is still a war crime. Plain and simple, a war crime, just like the entire 78 day illegal bombing of a nation and at the same time supporting KLA terrorism. It is ridiculous to even talk about these things. The responsibility for the deaths of those civilians in the RTS buildings is 100%, I repeat, 100%, with NATO - Wesley Clark, Madeline Albright, James Rubin, Bill Clinton, Sandy Berger, William Cohen, Richard Hollbrooke....the list is long. May these names live in shame forever for these cold blooded murders.

I thought NATO stated it would only bomb the transmitters, not the building.

There was also the set up with Larry King's show which sent the Serbian Information Minister a fax for a show and told him to be ready for makeup an hour before the interview, around 2 a.m. Serbian time.

Right at the time he was supposed to be getting his makeup for the interview, NATO slammed missles into the makeup room and killed the makeup ladies. The Serbian Information Minister wasn't killed because he was running late.

It seems to me NATO specifically wanted to target and terrorize the people.

Also, it's known that CNN was using the facilities of the bombed building and that they were secretly warned and left the day before without telling their Serbian collegues.

So it appears westerners who knew in advance are not attacked by the western-sponsored NGOs.

“NATO was right in bombing this propagandist tool (Victor, 6. September 2007 00:48)”

As I’ve said many people now believe its legal to bomb TV stations to stop propaganda. Its not Victor, it’s a war crime. Rather odd to see you of all people supporting war crimes.

The Propaganda argument was condemned and dismissed by the ICTY itself, and I quote:

“While stopping such propaganda may serve to demoralize the Yugoslav population and undermine the government’s political support, it is unlikely that either of these purposes would offer the "concrete and direct" military advantage necessary to make them a legitimate military objective... it was not claimed that they were being used to incite violence akin to Radio Milles Collines during the Rwandan genocide, which might have justified their destruction”

“At worst, the Yugoslav government was using the broadcasting networks to issue propaganda supportive of its war effort: a circumstance which does not, in and of itself, amount to a war crime”

http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/nato061300.htm#IVB3

Clearly the Western Media was also in engaging in propaganda claiming 200,000 Bosniaks killed, 50,000 raped, 100,000 Albanians murdered before even the start of the NATO bombing, etc etc. Victor would you support bombing these Western Media outlets as well?

The ICTY let NATO off the hook because “TV transmitters were not targeted directly but that "in Yugoslavia military radio relay stations are often combined with TV transmitters”

As far as warnings and foreknowledge go, the ICTY had this to say…

“some doubts have been expressed as to the specificity of the warning given to civilians by NATO of its intended strike, and whether the notice would have constituted "effective warning … of attacks which may affect the civililan population, unless circumstances do not permit" as required by Article 57(2) of Additional Protocol I.”

“knowledge on the part of Yugoslav officials of the impending attack would not divest NATO of its obligation to forewarn civilians under Article 57(2)”