Please read Part 1, Part 2a, and Part 2b for background info that will be used in the text of this post.
During the research for and from personal knowledge of the subject of the Balkans, I kept running across evidence and stories and facts that do not add up to the story that the Western Press fed the American People about the wars in the Balkans during the latter part of the 20th Century. The topic of the Srebrenica massacre always seemed to be one sided and made almost no tactical/operational sense if the Western Press reports were 100% accurate. In the following post I have tried to be as concise as possible and to double check all claims and reports with credible sources because frankly, there is an awful lot of half truths, lies, and omissions out there. This post is in no way claimed to be the authoritative end all for this discussion.
The first part of this problem is the lack of coverage by the Western media on any war crimes or even so much as an errant bullet from the Muslim side against the Serbs. The Muslims in this fight with the Serbs were portrayed as the poor victims; totally innocent of any wrong doing. Given the history of the Balkans, I find this impossible to believe. I find it impossible because of documents like the 132 page report form the UN called the “Memorandum on War Crimes and Crimes of Genocide in Eastern Bosnia (communes of Bratunac, Skelani and Srebrenica) committed against the Serbian population from April 1992 to April 1993” (I have a Lexis-Nexis account, and there is no mention of this document in English language press. The Security Council admitted the study as an official United Nations document. The documents are linked here: 1 , 2, 3, 4, . The Western Press was, in my opinion, criminal in repeatedly and systematically omitting the Serb side of the story. I suppose carrying water for Bill Clinton was more important than getting both sides of the story out.
The geography of the Srebrenica area is very rugged with steep valleys, forests, and winding, easily defended roads. In this sort of terrain, the defenders have the advantage. The Muslims were defending Srebrenica. Oddly, they did not mount a serious defense, nor did they utilize their heavy artillery (protected and supported by the UN) which would have been devastating if aimed at choke points, passes, and Serb troop/equipment concentrations. The Muslims launched many violent and bloody raids against Serb civilians in the area but would not mount a real defense of Srebrenica. Why? The Muslims were very smart in this case, they saw that the Western media was focused on this area as a De-Militarized Zone. It was in fact, a very heavily armed area. There was, within striking distance of the exhausted Serb Drina Corp, the 2nd Corp of the Muslim Army. They were not ordered into combat by Sarajevo. Had they attacked, they would have split the Serb forces and devastated the material that was rapidly building up in the area, effectively ending the action.
However, if the Muslims fought back, they would loose the valuable and well polished myth that they were the “victims” in this fight. As the Serbs drew nearer, the upper echelon of the Muslim command departed, the War Criminal Naser Oric and his commanders left Srebrenica; leaving their troops and mid-level commanders to fight for themselves. The Muslim myth of Victim is fine for the lower ranks, but not for the leaders, the leaders left their soldiers to die.
I will not get into the numbers of Muslims killed in Srebrenica, the Serbs allowed the women and children to leave the area safely. The Serbs attacked from the south only, the allowed the west and north as escape routes, if they meant to do genocide, they would have initiated a siege that would have sealed the area. The official numbers range from 2,000-8,000 men, 2,000 were confirmed killed in Srebrenica.
The UN documents (documents like the 132 page report form the UN called the “Memorandum on War Crimes and Crimes of Genocide in Eastern Bosnia (communes of Bratunac, Skelani and Srebrenica) committed against the Serbian population from April 1992 to April 1993” (I have a Lexis-Nexis account, and there is no mention of this document in English language press. The Security Council admitted the study as an official United Nations document. The document linked here). Witnesses, like Carlos Blanco, linked below, state that Mladic and the Serbs allowed the women and children to leave the area safely. The Serbs attacked from the south only, the allowed the west and north as escape routes, if they meant to do genocide, they would have initiated a siege that would have sealed the area. The official numbers range from 2,000-8,000 men, 2,000 were confirmed killed in Srebrenica. According to one Portugese UN officer (now professor, and this page is a must read from an eye witness), Carlos Martins Branco, The mass graves are filled by a limited number of corpses from both sides, the consequence of heated battle and combat and not the result of a premeditated plan of genocide, as occurred against the Serbian populations in Krajina, in the Summer of 1995, when the Croatian army implemented the mass murder of all Serbians found there. In this instance, the media maintained an absolute silence, despite the fact that the genocide occurred over a three month period. The objective of Srebrenica was ethnic cleansing and not genocide, unlike what happened in Krajina, in which although there was no military action, the Croatian army decimated villages.
