Steve you wrote:Page 6 of the New York Times (July 4 Week in Review) clarifies the diversionary tricks of the Serbs. It seems that NATO destroyed "only" 110 of the 300 Serb tanks instead of 150. Not a shabby record. Even more important, it shows how shrewd and dangerous the Serbs and their government really are -- and how harshly they need to be chastised in defeat.
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My comment:
As usual, the US "free" media never tells the truth to the American people. You are referring to an article printed in the NewYork Times on July 4. Since June 24, British papers started talking about how poor the results of the air raids were. The "only" 110 destroyed tanks, as you put it, turned out to be only 13. This shameful record doesn't only show how shrewd the Serbs are but how dumb the smart bombs are. I am attaching here 4 articles, 2 of them published in The Times and the other 2 in The Telegraph which, I hope, will show you that this whole Kosovo campaign is not really what the US media wants us to believe it is (see link to the articles at the end of the letter). As long as you don't diversify your sources of information you will remain uninformed, if not misinformed. European papers, in general, are more independent and objective in their reporting than the US papers. This information about the results of the air raids is just the beginning. More will be revealed in the future about other aspects of the Kosovo war, one of them being how hollow this supposed victory was.
One more thing. I don't know how you can use the word "defeat" to describe an army that, one, didn't fight, or should I say was not given the opportunity to fight, and, two, withdrew with all its equipment almost intact. All that the air raids from 15,000 feet have accomplished, besides hitting dummy objectives and decoys, is destroying empty buildings and barracks as well as the CIVILIAN infrastructure of the country. How more cowardly can you get? I am talking here about Clinton, not the US army, which also was not given the opportunity to fight. What Clinton did is a crime against humanity because not only was this war launched for other than the stated humanitarian reason but also targeted the civilian infrastructure of the country. I don't think that any rational person can be proud of this kind of an accomplishment.
Medhat
July 7, 1999Nato dropped thousands of bombs on dummy roads, bridges and soldiers ... and hit only 13 real Serb tanks, The Times, 24 June 1999
How Tito's training destroyed Nato hopes of a clean war, The Telegraph, 27 June 1999
US overestimated raid damage, The Telegraph, 3 July 1999
Ex-Army chiefs seek answers on Nato bombing, The Times, 7 July 1999
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Medhat,
The NewYork Times article in question directly quoted US General Clark. You know a great deal and you certainly read widely in the foreign press, but I find it totally amazing that you never write a single word condemning the deliberate Serb government policy of rape and murder to further political goals.
Steve* * *
Steve,
To make my answer really short, I condemn both the past deliberate Serb government policy of rape and murder as well as the KLA past (when they were just guerillas or terrorists as the State Department used to call them a year ago) and present behavior (after NATO forces helped them come back to Kosovo). I condemn any violence committed by whomever for whatever purpose, even it was committed by Palestinians. That doesn't mean that I don't try to analyse the situation in order to understand the reasons behind such actions. Unfortunately, the press in most cases does not do that. The Serbs committed those atrocities against the Albanians because they perceived them as NATO allies and they were not able to fight NATO forces. The Albanians are today committing atrocities as a reaction to what the Serbs did to them. This is the legacy of the Kosovo war.
Medhat
July 8, 1999