NATO Bombing of Serbia ‘Was Right’

Belgrade | 23 March 2009 |

Richard Holbrooke

NATO's air attack on the former Yugoslavia a decade ago was "the right thing to do" and had improved the lives of Kosovo Albanians and Serbs, the US envoy Richard Holbrooke argues.

Speaking at the Brussels Forum conference on Saturday, Holbrooke, a former envoy to the Balkans and currently United States President Barack Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, recalled how 10 years ago this week he had given the final ultimatum to former strongman Slobodan Milosevic to comply or face air strikes.

"I look back on it and I think that sometimes it's necessary to use force, and the result was good in the end," he told reporters.

"The people of Kosovo are better off than they were as part of Serbia, and Serbia is better off facing the future rather than working back to a mythic past," he said.

"I look back on that extraordinary last meeting with Milosevic, with a feeling that what we did was necessary and the right thing to do."

NATO launched its bombing campaign in 1999 to halt a violent crackdown on separatist Kosovo Albanians by forces loyal to Milosevic, who later died in a prison in the Netherlands before he could be tried for war crimes.

Current NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer also added that though “the intervention was criticised from various angles,” the bombing was indispensable, reports the ANSA agency.

Kosovo proclaimed unilateral independence from Serbia in February 2008.

It is now recognised by 56 countries including the United States and 22 of the European Union's 27 member states. Serbia is backed by its old ally Russia in its opposition to the move.

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Comments:

comment
2009-03-23 11:27:09

What is right and what is wrong is a matter of serious political discussion. But I can say what is wrong. It is wrong to accidently or purposely target civilians or civilian buildings. It is wrong to use depleted uranium (or any chemical weapons) in bombs. It is wrong to use cluster bombs (and other dirty weapons such as mines which affect civilians mostly) in civilian areas. I unreservedly condemn the use of such practice of war, no matter who uses it. On the topic, in the end prevention is better than cure and I remember a time when Holbrooke and company were calling Milosevic a peacemaker (1996), whilst the Serbian opposition was calling for him to be rejected by the west. Those calls were completely ignored. We all know what happened a couple of years later.

Letting the genie out of the bottle
2009-03-23 12:18:45

Sure, right thing to do if you want to perpetuate hate and tensions. Right thing to do if you wanted to legitimize S.Ossetia and Abhazia. Right thing to do if you wanted countries like Iran to distrust even more US and NATO assurances. Like the original Ahtisari plan and assurances that Kossovo would remain a part of Yugoslavia.

Shameful
2009-03-23 14:26:28

Bombing Serbia was one of the most shameful things the US has ever done. A travesty in every respect. We lied, we cheated, we killed innocent people who were once our allies.

:)
2009-03-23 14:40:41

NATO's air attack "was right", becouse it was not an military aggresion with hundreds of killed civilians but "peaceful, humanitarian action" (this is official NATO propaganda) ;)

2009-03-23 15:22:42

If killing ppl regardless the reason of doing that , it is ''right''.... I wonder what is wrong :(

boooooom
2009-03-23 16:13:22

Beautiful. One of the best days on my life when NATO started bombing serbia. It was the time for a little taste for you people of how does it feel to get bombed. You guys should feel pretty lucky since NATO (USA) didnâ€™t send the ground troops!!!! I bet that was also youâ€™re best day, because you thought that your heroes would dump all Albanians from Kosova, NATO would stop the bombing with some kind of agreement (lies) from your side and then claim Kosova territory as some kind of republika-srpska-kosovska-slobovska-shampita â€“ or another usual stupid names that you people come up with.

One word
2009-03-23 16:21:58

There is only word I can say in regards to the illegal bombing NATO performed on Serbia...DISGUSTING!!!

Anything for a buck
2009-03-23 17:23:55

Who is Herr Holbrooke? A freaking BANKER? How can he possibly justify targeting civilians with cluster bombs? What else is the troll-coward going to say? "We actually bombed our allies under the pretence of caring about some Albanians, so we can install the largest military base on the planet." To "IlirUSA" - If you think that Holbrooke gives a rat's butt about Albanians, think again. While you were safely tucked away in your cave, many Albanians lost their lives to the same bombs. NATO wiped out a whole Albanian family RETURING to the farm on their tractors! And speaking of rediculous terms - "KosovA" is a meaningless bastardization of the original "KosovO i Metodhija". It's bad enough that the Albanians steal a portion of a neighbor's country to create a "greater albania" - but they don't even have the creativity to come up with an Albanian name - or flag - that's another joke.

sinisagrcic@hotmail.com
2009-03-23 17:30:09

This is disgusting.

WOW
2009-03-23 17:52:33

So you think America can call a country like Serbia an ally. A country made up of people who can't even recognize the dirty things they did in the Balkans. A people who instead should say, well if our army has discraced us buy the way they acted doring the wars. Then it serves us right. But instead chooses to show the world that it has no remorse for what it has done. Oh how I wish all the suffering you have brought to the Balkans would one day burn into your soles. The rapeings the children you have killed the women you have left widowed the unjustifybul murdering of people you Serbia should be ashamed for what you have done, not NATO. An what you are still doing. The totoal lack of respect you had for Albanian life then an the constent reminder of that by your prosuit of kosova/dardania. Clean your hands of the blood that stains them. An leave kosovo alone.

Bom...bom....bom..... BOooooooooooooooMB
2009-03-23 18:57:58

cry Serbia cry.....

whooped up
2009-03-23 19:03:43

Oh vera you bet your ratâ€™s but that Holbrook doesnâ€™t care about Albanians in KosovA. But hey, it was him who whooped your ratâ€™s buts, and for me he is a great friend. As far as greater Albania, well it is a Great Albania hehehehehehe. With roads being built, access to the ports, soon we will close the borders with srpska drzava. Also donâ€™t forget to apply for visa next time you want to visit KosovA. Iâ€™m sorry whoâ€™s allies did they bombed???????? Your ally for the moment is mother russia and thatâ€™s it. Oh wait, I get it, USA is your ally hahahahaha because your drzava is on the edge of being bankrupt and you need USA to push FMN for some free cash. Let me ask you something, how come you are not asking mother russia (now that you sold all your possessions to them for few dollars) for some free cash?????

.
2009-03-23 19:07:44

No, this is not disgusting. The thing that is disgusting is the serbs ethnic cleasning of Kosova. Not this.

ferizaj_-_92@hotmail.com

Wow!!
2009-03-23 19:47:05

Targeting civilians,HHUMM, you said a mouth full! It truly WOWS me that a Serb can talk about that with any creditbilty. You truly are a strange and sad people. The mere fact that you try and hide behind the NATO bombing as though you were the victims is truly a testement to your charectcher. Who is it that Serbs can blatenly act as if they have done nothing to deserve this so called atrosity by NATO. You are truly pothetic.

2009-03-23 19:50:45

Serbian people should never forget shamefull and disgusting, better say, cowordly, bombing one nation whose dont deserved that. Double standards after illegal proclamation of so called "state" Kosovo is obvious... But every unjustice have his own end. and I hope, very soon end...

2009-03-23 20:02:05

>. "many Albanians lost their lives to the same bombs. NATO wiped out a whole Albanian family RETURING to the farm on their tractors!" ...and? Servs killed some 12,000 on purpose. NATO bombing was right, but the intensity was too low. Now that Albania and Croatia are joining NATO watch out! Srbia the problem child of the Balkans is check matted by NATO now

nato bombing
2009-03-23 20:28:03

This sordid little war criminal should be in a war crimes court,the man is a fascist.

Ehhh
2009-03-23 23:20:30

As a Bosniak I rejoiced, not that I have any love for the U.S. and their globalist allies. Finally the Serbs were feeling the heat. Since then the Serbs were like the U.S... always attacking other countries with no conflict within their own borders. Perhaps some Serbs were against Bosnia (and other countries) being attacked. BUT TO ME: ALL OF THEM ARE GUILTY.. for either not caring and approving or not caring enough to raise a big discussion. While Serbs were either rejoicing and supporting their corrupt governments actions my people were dying... most of the "good people" of Serbia remained very silent. Like ze Germans under Hitler. Some voiced their dissatisfaction with the state of affairs. But only a very limited number of people, I'm sure. It was a wake up call. Interestingly enough, Serb aggression did decrease. Would it have decreased through diplomacy? They discussed Bosnia for many years.. and my people kept dying. I think that says enough about diplomacy with the Serb gov. at that time.

The best decision ever.
2009-03-24 02:26:46

Bombarding serbia was the best decision that NATO has ever made. Just wished that it had done it earlier. So many victims in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo....all because of serbs.

bombing Serbia
2009-03-24 03:04:05

First, Ilir, your words are pure hate and evil and you have done a great job of showing us who Albanians are and what they think. Thank you for that. Nobody can say that this is Serbian propaganda. You have uttered the words yourslef. Second, bombing of Serbia will go down in history as one of the most shameful acts of American imperialism. I wonder if ordinary Americans agree with what their government has done in their name. I would guess not. This bombing had nothing to do with justice, but everything to do with politics and camp Bondsteel.

Good riddance
2009-03-24 03:50:42

The Serbians poured millions of dinars into kosovo over the decades to try to improve the lives of the people who lived there both Serb and albin. And how did they get repaid? With a knife in the back from the KLA. As long as kosovo is run by albanians they will always be loosers , just like albania.I say good riddance , Let the U.S. and E.U. liberal jackasses pour a fortune into this black hole! Good Riddance!

The right thing then, the right thing now, and the right thing for history
2009-03-24 04:46:31

That was the greatest Day of my life when the bombing started.. Yugoslavia died Tito, and the Slavidov Serbians, Took the army that was built by All the republics of Yugoslavia to ethnically clense everyone.. First Slovinia than Croatia, Bosnia and finally Kosova.. What did you think was going to happen?? Who do you Slavidovs think you are? We can't have a russian Satellite State in the hart of europe, performing mongolian like atrocities at will. Serbians have a Darwinian fear of her nabors because fear that in a far market they can not compete or survive. Why else all the Violence??

2009-03-24 10:29:45

Only one thing to say; After WW2... a European country was bombed by US and allies once again! The funny thing is... the country that was bombed was the one that fought more (with 1 million gorillas!) than any other European country against Nazism. Back then.. allies... now enemies. Wellcome to Pax Americana..

2009-03-24 12:49:33

Disgusting.

Realist
2009-03-24 13:17:44

Shame America shame! Bombing your allies through both wars.

2009-03-24 13:31:18

"After WW2... a European country was bombed by US and allies once again!" Maybe if they hadn't committed the first genocide since the N@zis Servs would not have been bombed. Act as them, be treated as them. "The funny thing is... the country that was bombed was the one that fought more (with 1 million gorillas!) than any other European country against Nazism." Please stop making us laugh, Serbia was the first Judenrein city in Europe and Milan Nedic and Draza Mihailovic were both Nazi collaborators. Yugoslavia (led by serbs) surrendered in 11 days without a fight.

he is stating that bombing has improved my life
2009-03-24 14:02:23

I feel sorry for Pakistan and Afganistan having MR Holbrooke there to solve their local ,problems. In Serbia all what we can do is to remmeber the bombing which was done with out any reason, and to pray that people like Holbrooke will not be around to do the same thing again unpanished to other nations .

NATO
2009-03-24 14:07:52

all what we Serb can do now is to pray and not to forget,

Was a big mistake!
2009-03-24 16:42:10

We targeted the wrong people! It all came to light after the war and continues to come out now! The world and NATO were tricked into this. So sick of hearing about all the lies that Serbs did this and that. It's been documented that the KLA (Albanian Terrorist Group who support Al Qaeda and often have Turkish coffee together while discussing how to make more problems for good people in the world) actually dragged bodies of people that they killed and said that the Serbs did these crimes and created mass graves while also forcing thousands of Albos to leave their homes. The retarded media in the US and Britain reported this and voila! Duh, let's bomb our ally Serbia. Sadly, the world will see what they really supported in time. Had they supported Serbia, an entire terror network could have been crushed. Did you know that there are ties to the WTC in NY with Albos in Kosovo? I wonder how involved Holbrooke is with them?

2009-03-24 20:23:41

Serbs will remember the suffering of this day of bombing just as I remember my country Bosnia bieng murdered and raped by them between 1992-1995....Still today I suffer from what Serbia has done to me and my family

to Ilir and the rest of Albanians
2009-03-24 23:34:39

Only evil can rejoice in the killings of innocent. Don't forget, many civilians including over 80 children were killed. How can you possibly justify and rejoice in that is beyond me. I am happy that you all came out and have shown us who you relly are and how much you rejoice in spilling of innocent blood (remember the children who were killed). I am glad that you, yourselves are showing us how evil you are so you cannot say it was Serbian propaganda. You have signed your names to these posts. Enjoy yourselves as NATO will never repeat this. NATO will not be your personal army any more and the world has woken up to your crap. Only you still spew this propaganda about the Serbs. More and more people around the world are seeing the whole truth not just your version of it.

Alban
2009-03-25 06:32:03

Thats right an Albanian would know more about Serbian history then what a Serb would. Why don't you give us a history lesson on nazi collaborators Mr Albanac? What about the KLA? Are you aware of what the Cetnik's were and what they stood for? Are you aware of Ante Pavlevic and the ustashe? What about Stepanic? What about Tito and his communist regime? You disrespect this day! That is your shame! No innocent person deserves to die! We constantly hear about the Bosnian, Croatian, Albanian sufferings. What about the Serbian suffering? what about operation storm? what about the Serbs that were driven out of their homeland Kosovo? What happened to all those Serbs that have disappeared, been slaughtered, raped and tortured? Was it the Serbs that killed their own people? I think not. There is a 2 sides to every story. The 10th anniversary of the terrorist act by USA/NATO upon Serbs is a day of rememberance for all those that lost loved ones through this evil. Have you been to Beograd or the rest of Serbia after the bombing? I can tell you that although they bombed military buildings, there was a lot of bombs falling on civillian buildings, villages. The Western world is so embroiled in this propoganda. Well what else can you think when the so called prime minister for Kosovo was a leader of the KLA! That's right did people forget that the KLA were considered a terrorist organisation by the very people that are supporting this fake independent kosova!

How could it be the right thing for the People in Kosovo
2009-03-25 07:52:52

Since NATO troops entered South Serbia (Kosovo & Metohija)10 years ago, more than 300,000 serbs have been forced away from their homes by the albanians in Kosovo. Tens of thousands have been murdered or are missing and several hundreds of churches, monastaries and invaluable historical monuments have been destroyed by the albanians. Richard H, how could it be the right thing for the People in Kosovo?

to Peggy
2009-03-25 09:41:00

Wake up Peggy and see ALBANIANS reality. I feel sorry for you that you worry so much for albanians and what people around the world think.

The NATO bombing
2009-03-25 19:54:22

I agrre with Holbrooke. NATO was right in bombing Serbia, because Milosevic dictatorship had to be stopped and the only way to do that was by military force. Due to NATO action, today we have a relatively peaceful and democratic Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro.

Gossamer
2009-04-03 09:29:17

FYI, Milosevic was elected....

ILLegal!!!!
2009-04-03 16:31:47

jesus christ how could he say that it was right thing to do. By far it was illegal:they used cassette bombs, on purpose bombed civilian trains and buildings. they threw cluster bombs on the marketplace full of civilans!! we hated MiloseviÄ‡ too and just about the democratic peaceful cup sucsseded warplanes came PS watch the movie Savior its real, not dramatized, although before these bombings

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NATO Bombing of Serbia ‘Was Right’