I have always felt my day was incomplete until I turned on the nightly news or read the daily newspaper. Many experts say that it is not a good idea. It can set the stage for your entire day. The media focuses most of its attention on HORRIBLE atrocities. That kind of stuff sells their papers and programs! I always thought it was strange that on the CBS evening news… the last story of the newscast was a “bright and cheerful story”.. the rest of it showed death, violence, debt crisis, protests, political gridlock, etc… It also bothers me that independent news is gone! I consider myself a liberal but realize that a few news sources are prone to shaping a story from their point of view. The conservative side has control of the majority of national radio shows and Fox ….It is hard to know what to believe and what to flush down the toilet!!! Propaganda is something that every country uses to its advantage!! NO COUNTRY IS IMMUNE TO IT!!! My favorite spewer of propaganda is North Korea!! Just go to Youtube and type in North Korean Propaganda! It is priceless!!!
Let’s get to the subject at hand…. SERBIA and SERBS…… Prior to visiting this country and speaking to hundreds and hundreds of Serbs about their experiences, I believed that they were responsible for all the problems that existed in the Balkans over the last 20+ years. Well, to be honest, I never really let the subject cross my mind! I just remember the newscasts, Bill Clinton and many Hollywood movies “labeling” the Serb as the EVIL aggressor! I can hear the comments and emails now…. “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT WENT ON OVER HERE!!” “MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!” ” SERBIANS KILLED MY FAMILY!” etc… I have never insulted any of the surrounding countries or mentioned the wars! It is a sad part of world history! I am not saying that some Serbs didn’t do despicable things during these conflicts! My country has done some pretty despicable things in our past too!!! I just wanted to list a few things to show the rest of the world that the Serbian people have dealt with centuries of discrimination, genocide, ethnic cleansing, etc… The media likes to focus on one side!!!! That is so unfair!!!! Just like a coin…. every one has two sides!! I have had the opportunity to speak with many Serbians who told me they despised the USA and Americans. They said things that really made me angry and made me want to pack up and leave Serbia. I didn’t do that. I told myself to sit down, shut up and listen! This world would be a much better place if we would all put ourselves in the others guys shoes. This one student that was telling me of his hatred….mentioned that he was a small child when NATO forces bombed Serbia for 3 months. They had to go to a neighbors basement and sleep every night for 1 month! The father worked but because of sanctions the inflation ballooned to astronomical levels! They would get his paycheck and go to the store to buy bread and could barely pay for it with his monthly pay!!! That made me realize that there is some justification for his anger! If a country was bombing my hometown for 3 months I know how I would feel!! I was the first American he had ever met or had the chance to sit down and talk to. I felt great at the end of the conversation because he told me that he could see that AVERAGE Americans are just like AVERAGE Serbs! We have a great friendship now. You are not weak if you sit down and discuss things with your “enemy”. You are a strong and courageous for doing that! Not to stray off the subject but I had one little boy from Libya that sent me a Facebook message about 2 years ago. He said ” I have always wanted to say HI to an American but when I tell them I am Muslim they call me a terrorist and block me.” It broke my heart! I wrote back and we are still speaking to this day! You can never go wrong by being respectful, kind and acting interested in others. You never know, you might have inspired the next Nobel Prize winner or spoken to a future president. Damn, I always get off the subject.. The funny and sad part about the Serbian story is we NEVER HEAR THEIR SIDE!! George Clooney said that very thing… He said, when asked about his opinion of the Kosovo independence ” what bothers me is, we have never heard Serbias side of all this! We hear one one side!” I investigated some of this areas LONG history!!! There have been MANY accounts of HORRIBLE acts against Serbs. I don’t want to get into too much detail but will briefly discuss them below! Once again, I am not saying Serbs are all angels and sent here from heaven to spread love…. I am just showing that they have suffered more than many other people and they were not acting as aggressors ! They were defending their territory like any other nation would do!
Ottoman Rule ….
The Ottoman empire ruled over Serbian land for over 500 years! During that time, thousands of Orthodox Christians, the primary religion of Serbs, converted to Islam to avoid horrendous torture and certain death! Many young Serbian boys were taken from their parents and forced to fight for the Turkish military! Thousands of Serbs were killed during the reign of the Turks. One prime example of Ottoman brutality is the Skull Tower in Nis, Serbia. It is constructed out of hundreds of human skulls from Serbs killed in the Battle of Cegar.
Catholicism…..
The Catholic church was also guilty of crimes against the Serbian people! During the 1600-1700s, they forced many Orthodox Serbs to convert to Catholicism or face torture or death!
Albanization.….
There has been a long and bitter tension between Serbs and Albanians. Many believe that the majority of Albanians were Serbs that had adopted the religion and married into Albanian families to avoid death or persecution! Many writers and well respected men have noted that during their visits to Albania in the late 19th century, many of the Albanians were wearing Serbian clothes and speaking Serbian but claimed to be Turks or Albanian ethnicity.
Early 20th century……
The assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie is said to have started WW1. The man responsible was of Serbian decent. The after math led to a deep division between Serbs, Croats and Muslims. Croats and Muslims held large anti-Serb protests. The mob attacked Serbs, their churches, businesses. Two Serbs were killed and many injured and many homes and businesses destroyed by the mobs. Anti Serb sentiment spread all throughout the Austro Hungarian empire. There was a saying in Vienna that was popular at the time… “ALL SERBS MUST DIE!”
World War II…
Adolf Hitler was not only a hater of Jews. He despised Serbs too! He opened Jasenovac concentration camp. It is in present day Croatia and was ran by Croatian Ustasa. The numbers of Serbians killed in Jasenovac numbers between 200,000 and 217,000!!! Once again, many Serbs converted to Catholicism to avoid death!!! Present day Serbia was occupied by the Germans from 1941-1944. There are many numbers out there that list the amount of Serbs killed, raped and tortured. One source says 50K more were killed , 280K arrested, raped or tortured… while over 100K Serbs fled the country….
picture shows Ustasha troops getting ready to cut the head off a Serbian civilian…..
1990s……..
The wars with Bosnia and Croatia were the worst in Europe since WWII!! Thousands of innocent people were killed on all sides! The wounds from these wars are still fresh and hard to heal! I am not taking a stance on this issue and not blaming any side. I am just reporting about Serbian deaths and crimes committed against them. The loss of Croatian and Bosnians is very sad and you all have my heartfelt condolences. Thousands of Serbian civilians were killed , raped, tortured or forced out of Croatia and Bosnia during these wars! There are hundreds of first hand accounts on the brutality of the Croatian and Bosnian forces. The media in both nations are not immune to criticism either! A few examples are…….
*** Croatian patriot song reads “Dear mother, I am going to plant willows, we’ll hang Serbs from them. dear mother, im going to sharpen the knives, we’ll soon fill the pits again”
*** Bosnian newspaper said ” Each Muslim bust name a Serb and take an oath to kill him!”
*** Radio broadcast said ” Public calls for the execution of Serbs!”
These all led to beatings, torture, confiscation of property, desecration of churches, etc.. It also led to ethnic cleansing of Serbs from Croatia and Bosnia.. It is said that over 200K Serbs fled their homes for a new life in Serbia or abroad.
Kosovo….
This is a subject that is highly controversial! Kosovo is the autonomous region of extreme South Serbia. It is home to a majority of ethnic Albanians. NATO forces started Operation Merciful Angel on March 24, 1999. Kosovo decided to sever ties with Serbia and become their own independent nation. NATO took their side and reprimanded Serbia with sanctions and air raids for 3 months. Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Serbia, signed a treaty ending the war in June of 1999. Serbia and many countries of the world do not recognize Kosovo as a country. There are currently 89 countries that recognize it as independent and many that do not… including most of Asia, Africa and South America. This operation led to thousands of Serbs being beaten, thrown from their homes and farm land. One friend of mine told me a TERRIBLE story! He told me he was from Kosovo but living in Zrenjanin. One day a group of Albanians drove up to his families farm house in central Kosovo. They said ” If you want to live, leave NOW!” They barely had time to grab their clothes and leave. They fled to Serbia. I asked him “what did they do with your house and farm land? did they pay you?” He said “NO!! Someone is living in their old house and farming their land and they get nothing!” I couldn’t imagine how I would feel or my family would feel if something like this happened to us!!! Kosovo is also the heart of Serbian Orthodoxy! It is filled with hundreds of monesteries and churches. Many of them have been desecrated, destroyed or burned by Albanians. 
You can see that Serbs have had their share of HELL! The world loves to talk about everything they have done but never wants to mention the brutality, torture, murder and discrimination they have gone through! Once again…. I am not condoning ANY BRUTALITY, DISCRIMINATION, MURDER, ETC!!! I am not taking sides in any affair! I am just providing some information so people can see the WHOLE picture!! I don’t care if its an American, Albanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Saudi, Frenchman, Aussie….. any senseless death is a crime against all of us!!! Peace is the only answer..
Thanks for reading…..
Serbia through American eyes 
g.
April 5, 2012 at 12:15 pm
great article! appreciate this!
cather76
April 5, 2012 at 12:23 pm
😉 thanks for reading…
Vladimir Milisavljevic
May 11, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Charles positive thing is that you will learn history of Europe better
Tina Jones-Jovanovic
April 5, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Bravo! Great job.
cather76
April 5, 2012 at 12:27 pm
hvala puno, sestro!!! thanks for reading..
v.
April 5, 2012 at 12:33 pm
you should’ve mentioned the albanian riots in march, 2004… 35 orthodox churches were destroyed and burned to the ground in kosovo! hey, we’re living in the 21st century and look what’s happening!? it really makes my heart ache.
cather76
April 5, 2012 at 1:33 pm
thanks for the link, my friend!
TeacherMare
April 5, 2012 at 12:50 pm
You have a pljeskavica and pivo (when i come back from Thailand) from me,for this text 🙂 Thanks Charles :)))
cather76
April 5, 2012 at 1:33 pm
awesome… i wont forget!!! hahaha
Milena
April 5, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Odlično, Charles ! 🙂
cather76
April 5, 2012 at 1:34 pm
😉 ❤ thanks for reading!
Petar
April 5, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Nazis killed 700 000 Serbs in Jasenoac, not 200 000. But great job!
cather76
April 5, 2012 at 1:29 pm
DAMN! The link i read said 200-217K!!! It is all SICKKKKKKK!!! thanks for the info!
Dragan
April 7, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Zile Friganovic,Pero Brzica and some guy last name Metikos i dont remember ,they bet in 10 L rakije who will knife more Serbians
After like 3-4 hours Zile Friganovic become a winer with 1360 civilyans ,for that time Pero Brzica and other guy have betwen 600-700.
It is a story about some old man Vukasin when he get his turn to bein choped Friganovic ask him what are u looking at u old psh and ask him to say god save Ante Pavelic or if you not i cut your ear off ,he didnt say
nothing again say it or i cut u another one,he didnt , say it or il cut your neck of ,the old man just turn to his face and said “just do your job kid” that was the last victim for Zile after 1360
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:22 pm
damn!!!!!!!!!!! that just gave me goosebumps… terrible!!!
Adr385
August 24, 2014 at 7:01 am
He is liar and he know that. They doing that all the time. They started at 300 000 in ’91 and ended at 2 000 000 victims in Jasenovac around 2005. Serbian propaganda !
Real number is 70 000. Use Google if you don’t believe me.
Dimitrije
April 5, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Excellent article Cather!
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:37 pm
thank you very much, Dimitrije!!! it means a lot…
БелиОраоСрбија
April 5, 2012 at 11:17 pm
Kosovo has become a terrorist state under the KLA Albanian Mafia Prime Minister Hashim Thaci where his seized Pristina government in Kosovo is now under the complete control of the Muslim KLA Albanian drug mafia and their kingpin Naser Keljmendi.
Yesterday, while the Serbian Prime Minister Boris Tadic was resigning saying that he would never recognize Kosovo which is a Province of Serbia, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agregiously and reprehensibly declared her full support of the KLA Albanian Mafia controlled government of KLA Hashim Thaci! The same criminal who corroborated in the kidnapping of young Serbs off the streets of Kosovo and sent them to that “yellow house” in the Albanian mountains to harvest their organs for sale on the European Black Market and who has never been held accountable by the EU and so is free to commit further crimes against humanity!
Hillary Clinton is counting on the fact that America will never find out what is going on there in the Balkans, and how they have facilitated these KLA Albanian Mafia’s infiltration into all the Republics of the former Yugoslavia and have caused them one by one to seceed from Serbia, and turn into terrorist states! She is shamelessly standing with this KLA criminal Hashim Thaci and declaring her full support of him on behalf of all America!
Will we stand by and watch the former Yugoslavia turn into a terrorist State and a part of a Turkish Caliphate, or will we stand up against it? It’s time to take a stand and expose these globalist criminals and oppose this treacherous and grievous alliance of this Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, with KLA Hashim Thaci!
We at the ADL demand that our government investigate this and expose these terrorist alliances by our Secretary of State Clinton that are infiltrating into America and causing all kinds of havoc here as well, as evidenced by the foiled terrorist attack by Sami Osmakac the 25 year-old immigrant who plotted a suicide terror attack in Tampa, Florida in January of this year. Not to mention that 13 of the 16 911 hijackers were trained in Bosnia where Bill Clinton allied with the al Qaeda and Mujahedeen there and built a monument to them in the heart of Bosnia with one million of our taxpayer dollars!
SO What do you think about your clintons and obama now ?
Dario
April 5, 2012 at 11:56 pm
Man relax, either way you look at it the chinese will rape us all in 20-30 years.
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:23 pm
ahahah… they will do that to the entire planet!!! 😉
Charlie
April 8, 2012 at 5:27 am
Many Americans realize that our country has essentially become a totalitarian oligarchy run by an elite globalist banking cartel, however, we feel mostly powerless to do anything about it. The election process in the US is basically rigged (in my opinion). Just look at the media blackout of Ron Paul’s campaign; the man obviously is more popular than any other candidate, yet unfortunately the controlled media pretends otherwise. Ron Paul is akin to a lone man crying in the wilderness, since most bought and paid-for politicians in the US are too corrupt and spineless to stand up against the Federal Reserve like he has done, for fear of being called “anti-semites,” and of losing their privileged status. Sadly also, is the fact that many Americans are too spaced out on consumerism, sports, athlete and celebrity worship, degenerate garbage television programming, fast food, and debt slavery to take enough time to become aware of the greater picture. Many Americans are basically trained to be drone-minded zombies and sheep. True critical thinkers are persecuted heavily via social osctracism in the US by those who are of the hive mind.
There is no real freedom of speech in America, and in fact Americans are socially programmed to be fearful of going against the grain, and of openly expressing opinions which may be politically incorrect. The only real unique right Americans have is the right to bear arms, however, it has almost become necessary to carry a gun in the US in many places because of how dangerous our cities have become, since the elite who control America are constantly promoting violence with their satanic media, as well as fueling the flames between various ethnic groups in order to take attention away from the ‘man behind the curtain’ (the old ‘divide and conquer’ strategy). What kind of an environment is that to live in? Personally, I see it as a psycho-spiritual hellhole.
As for the Clintons and Obamas, I think they are scumbags. I used to think Clinton was okay, but you have to understand that Americans are constantly brainwashed, and kept in the dark about the true nature of our evil government. At heart, I believe, most Americans are actually honest and very decent people, however, we are like David fighting Goliath here. This is a very difficult country for free thinkers and skeptics to live in. Even the so-called “non-conformists,” such as hippies and the alternative lifestyle crowd here in the US, are in actuality nothing more than communist degenerate agitators, with rich parents, who think of themselves as unique, even though they are just cliquish hypocrite conformists who all act and think alike. True freethinkers and real non-conformists are shunned and rejected by American society. This is why many of us become expats. (/rant)
Charlie
April 8, 2012 at 5:31 am
BTW, that was a response to БелиОраоСрбија, since he seems to assume that all Americans are ignorant fucks who automatically believe that our government is always innocent.
Vladimir Milisavljevic
May 11, 2012 at 8:34 pm
Man first time that i am listening American and he thinks the same as I, the first time that I have nothing to add or take away from your observations, i am so glad that people started to wake up coz your mainstream media with government control do not brainwash you they did a complete lobotomy entire nation., bravo for comment.
Anti-Serbism (@AntiSerbism)
April 6, 2012 at 11:06 pm
Thanks for bringing Serb victims and sufferings to light.
The problem with the ethnic bias in war crimes coverage is that it kills the very notion of justice. The justice that all those victims need so desperately, and we who stayed alive even more so – if we want to prevent history of repeating itself.
If it was some other people in the region whose victims were omitted, and their suffering turned upside-down (victims declared criminals and the other way round), we would have the same moral obligation towards that people. Right now, Serbs are that people.
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:24 pm
yes sir… thanks for reading and thanks for your comment!
Jeri
April 7, 2012 at 8:40 am
Thanks for this. I’ve just had my eyes opened recently to the other victims (Serbs) All through and after the war Serbs were demonized by the Canadian media. I know an older Serbian man who went through hell. He and his family lived in a village where Serbs were the minority. When the war started they could no longer get medical treatment at the hospital because they were told by a Muslim nurse (who they knew) that if she helped any Serbs her throat would be slit. He got his wife and kids out to relatives in Germany and stayed to try to protect their home and orchard. One day while he was not there his 70 year old mother was raped by a group of Muslim men. She left to live with relatives in the city and her son, who now lives in Canada, escaped by bicycle to Germany. On the way he was even beaten by the Serb army – ribs on one side almost completely broken – beaten because he would not join the army in the crazy/mad war. In Germany Serbs were treated like monsters. Funny, because his father had hidden Jews from the Nazis in WWII and spent 4 years in a concentration camp for his trouble. Of course his family home was taken by others without any compensation. He drinks of course and get very sad. I admire him so much through because even though his station in life is now very poor, he is not bitter. He’s only angry about the propaganda that demonized the Serbs and the political correctness that does not let them tell their side and show their wounds.
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:29 pm
OMG!! What a story!!!! I would love to meet this man!!! What a person!!! It breaks my heart!! God bless him!!! thanks for sharing!
Tina Jones-Jovanovic
April 7, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Thanks for posting this. It is great. I posted a link it on my blog today. I hope that is cool. 🙂
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:33 pm
awwwww.. thanks Tina… It means a lot , my friend!!!!! nema na cemu!!!
Andjelka
April 7, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Thank you Charles you had a good will to open your eyes for all the serbian sufferings and then share your opinion! Serbs are still being victims of all the mean media intensions and have also suffered in a way or another from the US propaganda, but you already know that. Thanks again and welcome back to Serbia whenever you want! 🙂
cather76
April 7, 2012 at 5:31 pm
thanks for reading, my friend… nema na cemu!! i am living over here… thanks
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:21 pm
hi there.. thanks so much for reading… it means a lot!!! glad to make you smile!
AFRODITA N.
April 7, 2012 at 8:36 pm
FINALLY SOMEBODY WRITE THE TRUTH ABOUT SERBS! THANK WHO EVER YOU ARE!
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Nema na cemu…. thanks for watching reading my blog… have a great day!!
Adr385
August 24, 2014 at 7:02 am
Truth ? LOL
Ana
April 8, 2012 at 10:57 am
Thanks Charles, again, but…
These are issues that can go on forever…
A few weeks ago I led a discussion with some Montenegro guy over YouTube about these topics. And he said that we deserved to suffer because we are horrible people (and so many other things). I mean, come on, a guy from Montenegro!?! We were one country for centuries. 50% of their population is in Serbia, study, work, live… So if a person from Montenegro could say something like that, and we have never been in war with Montenegro, imagine what a Bosnian or Croatian guy has to say…
So you will always find someone who’ll say ”They deserve that… we suffered more”…
It’s endless…
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:35 pm
ughh.. i hear ya… you can’t get through to everyone… gotta just smile and move on… hahaha.. thanks for reading!!
marjan pavlovic
April 9, 2012 at 1:44 pm
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:20 pm
i loved this one!!! I wrote a blog posting about it.. did you read it??
Stx
April 10, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Hey Charles,
first of all I would like to thank You for everything You are doing for Serbs and Serbia.
Now I’m not sure if your Serbian friends told You about this so I will. It’s about a WW2 crime that
happened in Kragujevc and was committed by German forces. They took out all the students from high school who were having class at the time and shot them with their teachers in front of the high school. That is one of most remembered and hated crimes that was committed during WW 2 in Serbia. There were many more and worse crimes but this one is just cut deep in our national being. Our (Serbian) poet Desanka Maksimović wrote a poem about it and it’s called “Krvava bajka” (“Bloody tale” or “Bloody fairytale”, I’m not sure exactly how to translate it for it keep it’s meaning and poetic strength). It is considered one of best and strongest poems in Serbian history and i would really recommend reading it. I’m sure someone can translate it for You, but if not contact me and I will do it.
Here is a link to the Serbian version of poem
http://guskova.ru/~mladich/Desanka_Maksimovich/krvava_bajka_sr
During rule of post WW 2 communism here, it was mandatory for every elementary school student to know this poem.
I just thought this might be interesting to you. Peace, and thank You again!
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:20 pm
damn!!! that is terrible!!! thanks for the info.. i will have to read up!!! thanks again for reading1
Dejan Milovanov
April 13, 2012 at 9:23 pm
Thank you…
cather76
April 13, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Hey bro… thanks for reading my blog! You are a good man!!! Hope you found a new band!!
illyria007
November 30, 2012 at 3:55 pm
You do not represent “America’s view of Serbia” JUST AN AMERICAN INDIVIDUAL SINGLE OPINION….. ONE OUT OF OVER 300,000,000…………
cather76
December 14, 2012 at 6:42 pm
thanks for reading…. we are all free to express our individuality, my friend… have a nice day
Branko Ilic
April 18, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Branko Ilic
April 18, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Branko Ilic
April 18, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Mališa
October 5, 2012 at 12:59 am
illyria007
November 28, 2012 at 6:23 pm
If one was to use your twisted and demented “logic” then I suppose Germans of WW2 also suffered and their were also “German victims of Jewish crimes”.
Can you see how insane your comments are?
illyria007
November 28, 2012 at 6:45 pm
Infamous Serbs attacked Slovenia,Croatia,Bosnia and Kosova.
Committing Genocide,War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.
The Hague is over flowing with CONVICTED SERB NAZIS.
AND THEN THERE YOU ARE …….
Ignorant of SERB MISDEEDS……………
NOTICE HOW MANY ENEMIES AGGRESSOR CREATE ALL BY THEM SELVES?
cather76
December 17, 2012 at 9:28 pm
hi… thanks for reading my blog all the time.. i have never disrespected those that have suffered from criminal acts.. any act committed against an innocent human is wrong.. i am providing info that we never hear… i am an impartial guy that has a love and respect for the Serbian AVERAGE JOE. 🙂 have a nice day..
cather76
December 14, 2012 at 6:43 pm
some of the citizens probably did… i don’t talk about soldiers… have a nice day
MR
December 11, 2012 at 6:45 am
I was curious about the willow poem, and I looked it up. Turns out, that was not Croats. Well, I’m sure there was similar stuff though. Everyone had their version of this kind of crap..
Counter-claims of Yugoslavia of 22 July 1997 (Counter-Memorial)
“3. Bosnia and Herzegovina is responsible for the acts of genocide committed against the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and for other violations of the obligations established by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
— because it has incited acts of genocide by the ‘Islamic Declaration’, and in particular by the position contained in it that ‘there can be no peace or coexistence between “Islamic faith” and “non-Islamic” social and political institutions’,
— because it has incited acts of genocide by the ‘Novi Vox’, paper of the Muslim youth, and in particular by the verses of a ‘Patriotic Song’ which read as follows:
‘Dear mother, I’m going to plant willows,
We’ll hang Serbs from them.
Dear mother, I’m going to sharpen knives,
We’ll soon fill pits again.’
makouras
June 7, 2013 at 2:20 am
Great article, given great value by the fact that it was written by an American. Every country the US has invaded/bombed in the past century has to be demonized and dehumanized. From the ‘Empire of Evil’ that was USSR, to Serbia and the Muslim world. What most Americans fail to realize is that the US acts with its military simply because it can, and not because of some higher purpose. Ethnic cleansing? Where was the US during all the countless times that such atrocities took place in the past years? The US acts like a superpower, the way a superpower is supposed to act, but the portrayal of ‘the enemy’ even at this very day in the media is simply disgusting. Great to see there are views and minds in this great country that can see through the brainwashing and the lies (when I’m referring to the US I am talking of course about the government and its foreign policy, not in any way to the American people and society).
Also, the history of the Balkans is one filled with hatred and national fanaticism. Being a Greek myself, I hear everyday views and opinions that are blatantly racist, concerning Albanians, Turks and Bulgarians. The signs are right there that culturally, socially and even genetically (if you want to make a fuss about that) the Balkan people are tightly related. Yet ethnic pride and years of brainwashing have poisoned people’s brains. Each Balkan nation believes they are the heir to a rich and ancient people, unique, with a destiny of their own, fearing that every other nation is trying to wipe them off the planet. The governments even jeopardize the professional integrity of historians, scientists who have studied the truth but are forced to alter their own science, for the benefit of mass indoctrination.
So one can understand what a delicate matter the Albanian-Serbian conflict is. There’s no doubt atrocities have been made by both sides. But as the whole world after WWII realized, it is not a certain nation or country that is to blame, but rather the system of beliefs and ideas. Do we want to be torn apart in warring states, stuck to the ‘rich and glorious past’, not moving an inch forward while the rest of the planet prospers? Or do we realize the few things that make us different should be celebrated and not become the reason for the horrible atrocities that took place in the past.
Again, thank you for a great article!
jigdood
July 11, 2013 at 5:03 pm
you could also say Germans suffered and Hitler’s crimes are understandable, .
albanian@gmail.com
May 30, 2014 at 8:21 pm
What a body of work. You’re drunk on Serbian Kool-Aid you’ve been fed. Hashim Thaci is a hero to the Albanian people. These wounds are deeper than you realize and as you stated hard to heal. Stop this unnecessary campaign of hate by strictly documenting the loss of Serbian life. All sides involved in the conflict lost lives.
dragan
August 5, 2014 at 12:00 am
but only one side lost the organs on the way…ask your hero taci about it.And no need to worry what goes around comes around,it has been so many times here on Balkans and especially on Kosovo and Metohija.See you again in a fiew decades as usual
Adr385
August 24, 2014 at 6:59 am
“The numbers of Serbians killed in Jasenovac numbers between 200,000 and 217,000!!”
Number of all victims ( including croatians ) are around 70 000 !!! Stop spreading serbian propaganda !
jamioni25
February 16, 2015 at 12:23 am
Ne seri leba ti..gde si iskopao brojku 70 000? Ja je nigde nisam pronasla.samo Srba je bili preko 200.000 jer to je bio plan pavelica,jedan deo pokatoliciti,jedan proterati,jedan ubiti,tome je blagoslov naravno dala i varvarska katolicka crkva koja je cinila toliko odvratnih stvari tokom istorije,ne samo prema pravoslavcima.
PUNCH PAVLE
May 24, 2017 at 10:46 pm
Peace is the only answer 🌐🗺My greatgrandfather Milan escaped a Nazi Death Camp and walked home to Vrćin .
The Black Hand movement will rise up again if they rise up against Serbs . They are very good people indeed and there are very bad one’s also . I am an American Serb . And I see everything from here . Peace is the only Answer .
Don’t break a peace treaty.
Miroslav
October 24, 2017 at 6:34 pm
Operation Noble Anvil was the name of 1999 Bombing Merciful Angel is mistranslated name of a misheard name