Srebrenica marks 14 years since massacre

How can ANYONE justify the deaths of thousands of people?

"Today also marks the 14th anniversary of the massacre in this eastern Bosnian town, when Bosnians Serb forces, led by General Ratko Mladić, committed genocide on over 8,000 Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims)."

WHEN ARE THE LIES AND PROPOGANDA GOING TO STOP concerning Srebrenica??? Yes, there were killings there- on both sides- but the media and NGO's keep repeating the trumped up figure of 8000, which is about three times the ACTUAL death count. The Bosnian Serb army fought against Oric's cutthroats, NOT against Muslim civilians. And neither Karadjic or Mladic had genocide in mind- only the protection of Bosnian Serb civilians, which has been well-documented! Many of the bodies "eventually found" were of Bosnian Muslim soldiers who had died in battle years before or after the fighting in Srebrenica. All of these truths are coming out- the latest effort is in the Swiss researcher, Alexander Dorin's new book, "Srebrenica Massacre- a Western Myth". The TRUTH must eventually "rise to the top"- and those who prefer to continue to propogate lies through ignorance instead of truths are just as guilty of "war crimes". Let the TRUTH be told!!!

However, the state parliament failed to adopt an initiative to have the day marked in the whole territory of Bosnia, since Serb MPs voted against, explaining they were opposed the idea to only mark wartime suffering of one nation.
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Absolutely, why should only one side be remembered? This is just a continuation of the old policy to keep the people divided. Lets all come clean and move on.

Absolutely, why should only one side be remembered?
(Zoran, 11 July 2009 13:05)

Because only one site was found to have committed genocide by an International court of law.

Thanks to Natasa Kandic that she reveled the truth with recorded film when several man and boys were killed and everything was on tape. they were from srebrenica and running for their lives, and everybody was a civilian. I don't know if that tape was shown on Serb TV, but the whole world saw it.

On this solemn anniversary, it is very hard to read some of the comments i see here, the hate and utter lack of guilt, of remorse that afflicts so many serbs. i am aware of mainstream opinions here but nevertheless during such a time one would expect at the very least silence. but even that expectation is too much.

it is an open secret that i have my differences with b92, many differences. sometimes it gets downright ugly. but at least they try to report on srebrnica, without sugar-coating it, without the lie of giving equal time to "both sides." there are 2 sides to genocide -- the perpetrators, and the victims. and of course the bystanders, which were (and are) us. do not obfuscate the truth!

i believe that it is the responsibility of each of us to not just commemorate genocide, honestly, but to determine that it doesn't keep happening. we say it, esp.ly we jews, but then it keeps happening, and talk is cheap, incl. mine, i am well aware of that.

as for srebrenica, it is such a basic insult and offense, above all else, that RS and serbia continue to shelter many, many of "their" war criminals, most esp.ly mladic. and pls don't ANYone throw me those lies about full cooperation with the hague, bla bla bla. save it for another day, another person. not I. not now.

all of those times when i suggested that some intrepid b92 investigative team spend time searching for mladic's whereabouts, i was either censored or just plain ignored. the truth is i never meant it facetiously. and when i've added that i would gladly take part in such a search, it wasn't for laughs or bitter irony. not even for the $$ (not that i would mind it.) it is because there can be no respite, no healing, until he is brought to justice, until serbia (and RS) decide just which side they are on.

i know some of the survivors fr srebrenica, and their frnds and family members. most beleive that another war will happen in the balkans, sooner or later. that serbia today is still essentially serbia of yesteryear. personally i believe in NATO, but i no longer question the survivors' wisdom.

i have said before that all war crimes, i mean ALL war crimes need to be adjudicated. that includes when there were specific crimes against individual serbs, whether in kosovo, bosnia, or croatia. certainly the postion of the blgd regime visa vis the wars of the 90s makes such prosecutions very problematic, not to mention unpopular in those countries. nevertheless they must continue.

finally, altho i believe that kosovo/a is progressing, slowly but surely, just the opposite is true for Bosnia. ultimately serbia is responsible for this tragic state of affairs, both in its decimation of the country during the 90s, and its continued implicit support for its destruction. i am not referring to extreme nationalist commentators, i am talking about the highest members of the belgrade regime and serbian institutions.

for all of the reasons mentioned, at least the dutch govt. has remained clear and consistent on its policies. thank you, holland, for that.

and thank you to each and everyone of you that has written in to show sympathy and respect to the victims of srebrenica and their families. it is a hard day, and we must try to maintain our dignity, our solidarity.

roberto
frisco

'roberto' from 'frisco'. On a solemn day like this you couldnt resist another cheap dig at the Serbian people. The Serbian nation unlike yourself is moving on and is burying the past in facing up to its past sins yet your pathetic anti Serb bashing is becoming repetitive at this stage. You have no proof that Mladic is in Serbia yet you continually use that as a stick to beat the Serb nation.

The most dignified response came from the RS parliament who wanted to use the day to remember all the victims of the Bosnian war needlessly murdered by the armies of all sides. Yet Sarajevo refused, prefering instead to politicise an even like this.

Make no doubt about it, what happened in Srebrenica was a war crime but surely to God, let all the victims of the Bosnian war be remembered and use this day to reflect, pray and remember. Let the victims rst in peace and quit the using them as some sort of political football.

Is that not too much to ask for now is it?

Yes in order to move on the world must forget the atrocities committed by the Serbs!

Roberto your comment is really beautiful and touching. I agree with everything that you have stated including the fact that Serbia needs to fully come to terms with its role in the Srebrenica genocide. The Serbian people themselves would benefit the most from such a national catharsis. Thank you for your kind words hopefully with time more and more people will think the way that you do and will work towards creating a just and lasting peace in the Balkans.

Thank you, defender-of-truth. i really tried, today,to keep ego at bay, and offer my deepest respect and love to those many family members and frnds of the genocide victims. i also wanted to point out the need to treat all real war crimes against civilians seriously. whatever their ethnicity or religion (or lack thereof) -- who cares?

here is a very good link to today's events on BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8146182.stm

defender-of-truth -- i am assuming that you are bosnian/bosniak? probably young? it doesn't matter. i can only say how terribly sorry i am that such horrors occurred in bosnia, while we were watching, from a distance, and we just repeated "tut tut" and isn't it a shame, like it was some kind of natural disaster. or worse. i have tried to come to terms with my own (relative) silence, and our complicity in allowing this to take place, even in facilitating the killing, the genocide. if that was going to happen, we should have just lifted the arms embargo and then pulled out, rather than actually making things worse, much worse. i knew better, somehow, and was a conscious adult at the time. had i not been so fearful of my person, i could have gone there, and tried to pitch in, as many others around the world did at the time. it wasn't apathy; i just have to live with my inaction. as does the free, "civilized" world.

also, thanks to b92 for printing my statement in full, word for word. if b92 and roberto can learn to get along, surely there is hope for peace in our time.

roberto
frisco

Thanks Roberto for this excellent analyses. Every objective reader could agree with you. Only a number of nationalistic Serbs failed to realize that they had committed genocide in Srebrenica and want to live in denial. Had they apologised earlier, Bosniak would also apologize since their crime wasn't even close what Serbs did in the last wars.

"Today also marks the 14th anniversary of the massacre in this eastern Bosnian town, when Bosnians Serb forces, led by General Ratko Mladić, committed genocide on over 8,000 Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims)."

WHEN ARE THE LIES AND PROPOGANDA GOING TO STOP concerning Srebrenica??? Yes, there were killings there- on both sides- but the media and NGO's keep repeating the trumped up figure of 8000, which is about three times the ACTUAL death count. The Bosnian Serb army fought against Oric's cutthroats, NOT against Muslim civilians. And neither Karadjic or Mladic had genocide in mind- only the protection of Bosnian Serb civilians, which has been well-documented! Many of the bodies "eventually found" were of Bosnian Muslim soldiers who had died in battle years before or after the fighting in Srebrenica. All of these truths are coming out- the latest effort is in the Swiss researcher, Alexander Dorin's new book, "Srebrenica Massacre- a Western Myth". The TRUTH must eventually "rise to the top"- and those who prefer to continue to propogate lies through ignorance instead of truths are just as guilty of "war crimes". Let the TRUTH be told!!!

Thanks to Natasa Kandic that she reveled the truth with recorded film when several man and boys were killed and everything was on tape. they were from srebrenica and running for their lives, and everybody was a civilian. I don't know if that tape was shown on Serb TV, but the whole world saw it.

Yes in order to move on the world must forget the atrocities committed by the Serbs!

However, the state parliament failed to adopt an initiative to have the day marked in the whole territory of Bosnia, since Serb MPs voted against, explaining they were opposed the idea to only mark wartime suffering of one nation.
--
Absolutely, why should only one side be remembered? This is just a continuation of the old policy to keep the people divided. Lets all come clean and move on.

How can ANYONE justify the deaths of thousands of people?

On this solemn anniversary, it is very hard to read some of the comments i see here, the hate and utter lack of guilt, of remorse that afflicts so many serbs. i am aware of mainstream opinions here but nevertheless during such a time one would expect at the very least silence. but even that expectation is too much.

it is an open secret that i have my differences with b92, many differences. sometimes it gets downright ugly. but at least they try to report on srebrnica, without sugar-coating it, without the lie of giving equal time to "both sides." there are 2 sides to genocide -- the perpetrators, and the victims. and of course the bystanders, which were (and are) us. do not obfuscate the truth!

i believe that it is the responsibility of each of us to not just commemorate genocide, honestly, but to determine that it doesn't keep happening. we say it, esp.ly we jews, but then it keeps happening, and talk is cheap, incl. mine, i am well aware of that.

as for srebrenica, it is such a basic insult and offense, above all else, that RS and serbia continue to shelter many, many of "their" war criminals, most esp.ly mladic. and pls don't ANYone throw me those lies about full cooperation with the hague, bla bla bla. save it for another day, another person. not I. not now.

all of those times when i suggested that some intrepid b92 investigative team spend time searching for mladic's whereabouts, i was either censored or just plain ignored. the truth is i never meant it facetiously. and when i've added that i would gladly take part in such a search, it wasn't for laughs or bitter irony. not even for the $$ (not that i would mind it.) it is because there can be no respite, no healing, until he is brought to justice, until serbia (and RS) decide just which side they are on.

i know some of the survivors fr srebrenica, and their frnds and family members. most beleive that another war will happen in the balkans, sooner or later. that serbia today is still essentially serbia of yesteryear. personally i believe in NATO, but i no longer question the survivors' wisdom.

i have said before that all war crimes, i mean ALL war crimes need to be adjudicated. that includes when there were specific crimes against individual serbs, whether in kosovo, bosnia, or croatia. certainly the postion of the blgd regime visa vis the wars of the 90s makes such prosecutions very problematic, not to mention unpopular in those countries. nevertheless they must continue.

finally, altho i believe that kosovo/a is progressing, slowly but surely, just the opposite is true for Bosnia. ultimately serbia is responsible for this tragic state of affairs, both in its decimation of the country during the 90s, and its continued implicit support for its destruction. i am not referring to extreme nationalist commentators, i am talking about the highest members of the belgrade regime and serbian institutions.

for all of the reasons mentioned, at least the dutch govt. has remained clear and consistent on its policies. thank you, holland, for that.

and thank you to each and everyone of you that has written in to show sympathy and respect to the victims of srebrenica and their families. it is a hard day, and we must try to maintain our dignity, our solidarity.

roberto
frisco

Absolutely, why should only one side be remembered?
(Zoran, 11 July 2009 13:05)

Because only one site was found to have committed genocide by an International court of law.

'roberto' from 'frisco'. On a solemn day like this you couldnt resist another cheap dig at the Serbian people. The Serbian nation unlike yourself is moving on and is burying the past in facing up to its past sins yet your pathetic anti Serb bashing is becoming repetitive at this stage. You have no proof that Mladic is in Serbia yet you continually use that as a stick to beat the Serb nation.

The most dignified response came from the RS parliament who wanted to use the day to remember all the victims of the Bosnian war needlessly murdered by the armies of all sides. Yet Sarajevo refused, prefering instead to politicise an even like this.

Make no doubt about it, what happened in Srebrenica was a war crime but surely to God, let all the victims of the Bosnian war be remembered and use this day to reflect, pray and remember. Let the victims rst in peace and quit the using them as some sort of political football.

Is that not too much to ask for now is it?

Roberto your comment is really beautiful and touching. I agree with everything that you have stated including the fact that Serbia needs to fully come to terms with its role in the Srebrenica genocide. The Serbian people themselves would benefit the most from such a national catharsis. Thank you for your kind words hopefully with time more and more people will think the way that you do and will work towards creating a just and lasting peace in the Balkans.

Thanks Roberto for this excellent analyses. Every objective reader could agree with you. Only a number of nationalistic Serbs failed to realize that they had committed genocide in Srebrenica and want to live in denial. Had they apologised earlier, Bosniak would also apologize since their crime wasn't even close what Serbs did in the last wars.

Thank you, defender-of-truth. i really tried, today,to keep ego at bay, and offer my deepest respect and love to those many family members and frnds of the genocide victims. i also wanted to point out the need to treat all real war crimes against civilians seriously. whatever their ethnicity or religion (or lack thereof) -- who cares?

here is a very good link to today's events on BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8146182.stm

defender-of-truth -- i am assuming that you are bosnian/bosniak? probably young? it doesn't matter. i can only say how terribly sorry i am that such horrors occurred in bosnia, while we were watching, from a distance, and we just repeated "tut tut" and isn't it a shame, like it was some kind of natural disaster. or worse. i have tried to come to terms with my own (relative) silence, and our complicity in allowing this to take place, even in facilitating the killing, the genocide. if that was going to happen, we should have just lifted the arms embargo and then pulled out, rather than actually making things worse, much worse. i knew better, somehow, and was a conscious adult at the time. had i not been so fearful of my person, i could have gone there, and tried to pitch in, as many others around the world did at the time. it wasn't apathy; i just have to live with my inaction. as does the free, "civilized" world.

also, thanks to b92 for printing my statement in full, word for word. if b92 and roberto can learn to get along, surely there is hope for peace in our time.

roberto
frisco