{"id":22817,"date":"2020-07-31T11:59:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T15:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=22817"},"modified":"2020-07-31T11:59:06","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T15:59:06","slug":"why-did-nato-really-bomb-yugoslavia-for-78-days-in-1999","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=22817","title":{"rendered":"Why did NATO really bomb Yugoslavia for 78 days in 1999?"},"content":{"rendered":"

20 years since NATO bombed Yugoslavia for 78days<\/h1>\n

by Shenali Waduge<\/span> \u00b7

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From 24 March 1999 to 9 June 1999 NATO forces (19 nations) bombed Yugoslavia \u2013 38,004 sorties including 10,484 strike sorties, 23,614 air munitions were released of which 35% were precision-guided. NATO dropped 6303 tons of munitions. The bombing damaged 25,000 houses and apartment buildings & destroyed 470km of roads & 600km of railway. This was the first time NATO went to war and first time NATO went to war illegally without UN sanction. The 78-day campaign was known as Operation Allied Force. While 24 March marks 20 years of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia it also marks 20 years of NATO troops in Yugoslavia too. NATO bombing was supported by US President Bill Clinton and British PM Tony Blair. \u201cHumanitarian\u201d intervention was the excuse to justify NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. The collateral damage included destruction of 300 schools, libraries, and over 20 hospitals. 40,000 homes were either completely eliminated or damaged and about 90 historic and architectural monuments were ruined. Long-term harm was caused to the region\u2019s ecology and, people\u2019s health, as well as the billion-dollar economic damage. More than 2000 civilians were killed and at least 6000 were injured.<\/p>\n

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Was NATO bombing legal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NATO bombing was illegal as the 19 member states did not have UNSC sanction and \u2018humanitarian intervention\u2019 was used to justify the bombing. How can anyone claim to be doing a humanitarian service by dropping bombs on a nation that would hit unarmed civilians? NATO conducted all of its bombing from altitudes above 5,000 metres. <\/strong>Belgrade alone lived through 146 air raid alerts, for a combined duration of 774 hours \u2013 an average of 9 hours and 55 minutes per day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Why did NATO bomb Yugoslavia?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yugoslavia refused to comply with Kosovo Liberation Army demands for self-governance in Kosovo. The NATO bombing as to force President Milosevic to accept the terms of an agreement & end his military campaign against the KLA.<\/p>\n

The Racak massacre (trigger point) claiming \u2018mass killing of civilians\u2019 of Albanians by Serbia was used to justify NATO operations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (Russia\u2019s representative at UN from 1994-2004) says Moscow insisted on an investigation and EU commissioned a group of Finnish forensic experts and the report was handed by EU to the ICTY (Tribunal for Yugoslavia) but the full report was not made public but parts of report was leaked & quoted by media saying victims were not civilians, the bodies found in Racak were in disguise & bullet holes on clothes & bodies did not match and no one was killed at short range. However, the report was never made public.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

When did the 78day bombing by NATO end<\/strong><\/p>\n

What started out on 24 March 1999 ended on 10 June 1999 with the signing of Kumanovo Agreement and the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Yugoslavian army left Kosovo and 36,000 international peace keepers arrived in Kosovo.<\/p>\n

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What are the Rambouillet Talks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Milosevic refused to sign the Rambouillet agreement as he didn\u2019t want international forces deployed in Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n

Henry Kissinger described the failure of these talks as an \u2018excuse to start bombing\u2019 Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n

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Was there an international investigation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, that international investigation investigating the bombing concluded that the bombing was \u2018illegal but legitimate\u2019 \u2013 this is why Sri Lanka refuses any time of international interference or investigations.<\/p>\n

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What was the collateral damage from the NATO \u2018humanitarian\u2019 78 day bombing campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n

There was massive collateral damage \u2013 80% \u2013 87.5% of victims died during or after Operation Allied Force. Schools were closed, payments to retirees were halved. Oil, sugar, washing soap, diapers, cigarettes and other basic necessities became scarce. Traveling became difficult \u2013 longer & dangerous. Phone lines cut made it impossible to connect with relations\/friends.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NATO bombing destroyed 50 highways, railway bridges, radio & television installations & heat plants. Attacks on electric power installations caused electricity blackouts & lack of running water to cities, towns and villages. <\/strong><\/p>\n