Sorry, accidentally I managed to get my hands on the two free EXIT festival tickets, or I would have replied sooner.


Quote Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat View Post
Frag, Kukri, Banquo, Adrian, others - yes, you have got your heart in the right place and you show a willingness for self-criticism. Great.

However, you give the right answer to another question. This thread isn't about journalists. It is about Serbian mythification and victimization.

See what I mean?
There are two threads in one here. One: 'killing of journalists - yes or no'. Two: 'Serbia is the victim of foreign aggression!'
The second topic, the subtext, is the real topic of this thread. The question is not a question (the answer, though shrouded in shades of grey, is mostly a given). The question serves to impose a narrative. It is subtle propaganda. Not by Sarmatian, but indirectly. Indirectly because Sarmatian is merely faintly echoing the propaganda that fills Serbian television night after night.


Serbia is second only to North Korea in the extent, aggression and singular autism of its nationalistic discourse/propaganda. Today's propaganda/nationalist discourse about the NATO bombings is a direct continuation of the imagery of victimization of Serbia that led to the genocides and etnic cleansing in the 1990's. This, incidentally, is why I shot from the hip in the Iran thread.
It is an insult to the countless victims of Serbian nationalist aggression.
Like in the marbles thread, you again missed the point. It wasn't my intention to start another "Serbia thread". Maybe in a way, there are two threads here, the first one being the obvious. The second is: Is there hypocrisy among western, nato, democratic however-you-want-to-call-them politicians and media?

Bombing the TV station is really just an example. Whenever something like that happens, politicians and judiciary systems simply ignore it, media is disinterested in and various "experts" on and off the net won't mention it.

On the other hand, if a single journalists from some western media house is just imprisoned, all hell would break loose.

There are millions of examples. Racak, we now know, was a hoax. Is someone going to answer for that? Will someone even start an investigation? Even if it is only about William Walker. Report of Dr. Helena Ranta that "it might have been a massacre" made all the headlines and was often quoted by the politicians and the media. Her admission that she made that report because she was under immense pressure was ignored. You could have found it on the net if you knew exactly what were you looking for. Just typing Helena Ranta will give you thousands of links which lead to her original report.

We now know that there were no WMD in Iraq - is someone going to answer for that mistake? Saying that "Saddam was a bad guy anyway" isn't enough, or at least, it shouldn't be enough. Not to the thousands of Iraqi civilians. Or hundreds of thousands? Do we even know? Did someone bother to make a comprehensive report of civilian casualties in Iraq? Were those politicians who sent soldiers in Iraq talking about thousands of civilian casualties? Did some media house even bother to check? Is there a single legal action taken against someone because of that? Have anyone even lost his job because of that?

We know about the death of Neda, Neda is by now a household name, probably most spoken name in the world after Michael Jackson. Neda Agha-Soltan. Just typing "Neda" into google will give you hundreds of links - wikipedia, news reports, support groups and whatever. And yet, the only reason we know about it is because she died during protests against the current regime in Iran. How many Nedas there have been in Iraq, in Kosovo, in Afghanistan? We may choose to ignore it, but there was a lot.

Milica Rakic, three year old girl killed on her potty by a bomb.


Try typing just "Milica" in google, you'll get links to beauty salons and spas. Even typing her full name will yield only slightly better results.

I'm not even going to mention the blunders in Afghanistan. Again, no responsibility, even individual.

Now, you may choose to ignore it all. You may cover your ears and go: "La-la-la Iraq had WMD, those journalists deserved it la-la-la!!!" It won't make it any different. We will just sink deeper into it. And yes I use the word "we". Even though it looks different today, in 10-15 years Serbia will recognize Kosovo and become a full, upstanding NATO member, whether I or you like it or not.


Quote Originally Posted by Philipvs Vallindervs Calicvla View Post
That could only be true if the targeted civilian structure were of relevance to the war effort, arms factories, smelting works, radio relay stations, communications. Studios do not count, nor do other passive civilian structures.

There's a reason Bomber Harris doesn't have a statue.
Actually...



Or is there another Bomber Harris I'm not aware of?