Although this article discusses a particular Serbian paramilitary faction's
war crimes, I wanted to use the article as a gateway to discussing a little bit
of the history surrounding this very interesting, very heated conflict.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Kosovo's majority population, ethnic Albanians,
began a movement for seeking independence from the government in Belgrade. By
the middle of 1998, the stage was set for all out war to be fought primarily
between Yugoslav national forces and the paramilitary factions within Kosovo,
namely the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The war would result in over 10,000
deaths and another 800,000 being displaced.
As this article highlights, war crimes were an enormous aspect of this
conflict, as was the case with both the Croatian and Bosnian wars for
independence. Yugoslav forces, the majority of which were Serbian soldiers,
were charged with the use of ethnic cleansing techniques, including the
perpetration of genocide, as well as rape and theft. However, it is important
to note that war crimes occurred on both sides of this conflict. KLA members
were, at times, equally as brutal in their wartime methods, many of which go
unaccounted for. The reason why so many of the KLA's war crimes went, and still
go, unprosecuted is because of the organization's use of Western media outlets
during the war, using the world stage as a means t portray themselves as
victims and, subsequently, the Yugoslav forces as brutalizers. In doing so, the
KLA were able to win popular support from much of West, eventually culminating
In the NATO bombing of Belgrade in March, 1999. To that point in history, these
bombings were the only joint military action taken by NATO.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/us-serbia-warcrimes-idUSBREA1A16Y20140211
war crimes, I wanted to use the article as a gateway to discussing a little bit
of the history surrounding this very interesting, very heated conflict.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Kosovo's majority population, ethnic Albanians,
began a movement for seeking independence from the government in Belgrade. By
the middle of 1998, the stage was set for all out war to be fought primarily
between Yugoslav national forces and the paramilitary factions within Kosovo,
namely the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The war would result in over 10,000
deaths and another 800,000 being displaced.
As this article highlights, war crimes were an enormous aspect of this
conflict, as was the case with both the Croatian and Bosnian wars for
independence. Yugoslav forces, the majority of which were Serbian soldiers,
were charged with the use of ethnic cleansing techniques, including the
perpetration of genocide, as well as rape and theft. However, it is important
to note that war crimes occurred on both sides of this conflict. KLA members
were, at times, equally as brutal in their wartime methods, many of which go
unaccounted for. The reason why so many of the KLA's war crimes went, and still
go, unprosecuted is because of the organization's use of Western media outlets
during the war, using the world stage as a means t portray themselves as
victims and, subsequently, the Yugoslav forces as brutalizers. In doing so, the
KLA were able to win popular support from much of West, eventually culminating
In the NATO bombing of Belgrade in March, 1999. To that point in history, these
bombings were the only joint military action taken by NATO.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/us-serbia-warcrimes-idUSBREA1A16Y20140211