Yeah I Said That

In response to the opinions put forth in Lies of “Bosnian Atlas” by Mr. Tokaca:

I am relatively well versed about the Bosnian war, particularly what happened in and around Srebrenica in 1995. I have not read the material you are referring to but based on what you have written I do have a couple of questions for you.

Number one: You refer to the “Srebrenica myth” what exactly do you mean by this term? Are you saying that Serb forces didn’t storm the town, kidnap and kill many men and boys?

Number two: You mention that some of the victims seem to have been killed several times. There are many people in those areas with the same names. Did the Atlas list dates of birth as well? Or just names? If it was the latter isn’t it possible the author was referring to more than one person with the same name?

Both sides have some blood on their hands but I think anyone would be hard pressed to NOT see the Bosniaks as the victims and the Serbs as the perpetrators. Let’s face it, they did a lot more killing. They had the manpower and the arms that the Muslims simply didn’t have access too.

Don’t forget that it was the Serbs that choked off both their food and medical aid as well. When the surrounding Serb villages were raided it wasn’t just by soldiers. There were plenty of everyday Bosniaks who were starving and were left with no choice but to steal food where they could to keep their families alive.

I think it is a little hypocritical of you to on one hand say Naser Oric led attacks that killed many Serbs in towns like Kravica, though he was never convicted of any war crimes whatsoever, and then later state that “basic honesty and respect for users of the Atlas require that it be duly noted that this is not yet a judicially settled fact” when talking about crimes Serbs may be responsible for.

Unfortunately neither side will ever agree on what they are responsible for. And while my comments may make it sound as though I agree with the tactics of Tokaca in his presentation of “the facts” I do not. Until people start looking at what happened in BiH in an unbiased manner no one is ever going to know the truth.

There is plenty of blame to go around but you have to ask yourself, if you were a starving, freezing refugee with a suffering family, what would you do to keep them alive?