"Few days ago in another criminal act they have seriously damaged monastery Rakovica, and yesterday their bombs fell on monastery Gracanica dated from 14 century which is under UNESCO protection as a monument of unspeakable culture value to the world.

"We Serbs have never attacked anyone, we have never taken anything from anyone but we have always protected ours, our country, our culture and our freedom."
              --"Students of Serbia"

"For us Serbs as nation with long history and tradition, nation anxious for peace and mutual life with everyone, bridges represents ties between nations and cultures, because of all this it is for us unthinkable that on the beginning of new millenium destiny of world civilization lies in the hands of an American sex maniac, his frustrated clerk and his dogs of war desperate for money and profit.

"As young people who believe in god and justice we can say You this: 'We Serbs have never attacked anyone, we have never taken anything from anyone but we have always protected ours, our country, our culture and our freedom...'"

--"Students of Serbia," 1 April 1999

"When American forces are engaged in combat, victory is the only exit strategy. And that requires a definition of issues that can survive scrutiny. The Administration, in pursuit of symbols that resonate with the public, has put forward three categories of argument. The most convincing is that suffering in Kosovo is so offensive to our moral sensibilities that we will use force to end it even absent traditional considerations of national interest. But since this leaves open the question of why we do not intervene in East Africa, Sri Lanka, Kurdistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan-to name just a few of the places where infinitely more casualties have been incurred than in Kosovo-the President has invoked historical analogies or current threats that are extremely dubious. Where he does injury to history:
"Slobodan Milosevic is not Hitler but a Balkan thug, and the crisis in Kosovo has no analogy to the events preceding World War I. Neither Milosevic nor any other Balkan leader is in a position to threaten the global equilibrium, as the president constantly asserts. Milosevic bears a major responsibility for the brutalities in Bosnia, and I strongly supported the American deployment there. But unlike Bosnia, Kosovo is a war for territory considered by the Serbs as a national shrine. This is why there have been few, if any, signs of opposition in Belgrade to Milosevic's Kosovo policy...

"I respect the humanitarian motive for intervention. But this does not absolve the democracies from the necessity of coming up with a sustainable solution. The Rambouillet agreement does not meet that test. Conducting a negotiation based on an agreement drafted entirely in foreign chancelleries and seeking to impose it by the threat of air bombardment has only exacerbated the crisis in Kosovo. The Rambouillet text was sold to the Kosovo Liberation Army-which initially rejected it-as a device to bring the full force of NATO to bear on Serbia, and it may have tempted Milosevic into accelerating the repression of the KLA before the bombs fell. Now it risks involving NATO and U.S. ground forces in policing an agreement neither side really wants. It was a grave error to abandon any effort to strengthen the observers already in Kosovo in favor of NATO peacekeepers who will find no peace to keep.

"...As the war continues, the Administration must redefine its objectives. NATO cannot survive if it now abandons the campaign without achieving its objective of ending the massacres. The Rambouillet agreement should therefore be stripped of its more esoteric components. The terms for ending the air war should be: an immediate ceasefire; the withdrawal of Serbian forces introduced after the beginning of the negotiations at Rambouillet, and the immediate opening of negotiations over autonomy for Kosovo. These negotiations are likely to be prolonged and bitter. But, at their end, Kosovar independence in some form is inevitable unless NATO insists by force on the kind of Serbian suzerainty which the President has promised-a course neither the alliance nor the American public will support.

"If a ceasefire on such terms is rejected by Milosevic, there will be no alternative to continuing and intensifying the war, if necessary introducing NATO combat ground forces-a solution which I have heretofore passionately rejected but which will have to be considered to maintain NATO credibility. Whatever the outcome, stationing of some NATO ground forces in either Macedonia or Kosovo will be necessary, to serve not so much as peacekeepers as to prevent the Balkan conflict from widening. I have consistently warned against such an outcome. But, as a result of hesitations and confusions, NATO now has little choice if it wants to avoid a larger war."

--Henry A. Kissinger, Newsweek International, 5 April 1999

"Kebra told me that many bombs have fallen on the different targets in town, but the bridge was some sort of a symbol for many people in Novi Sad... Biljana, Kebra's sister, went to see the remains of the bridge, and couldn't hold down the tears..."
              --Sasa

"We are finally coming to the crux of the Balkan war: Slobodan Milosevic, Serbian nationalism and the future of Serbia. Can we face the issue, or do we kick the can down the road once again?

"Unlike the two Balkan wars of the early 20th century, which were also deadly and brutal but short, the Balkan War at the end of the century has gone on, incredibly, for most of eight years. U.S. policy has gone from "we have no dog in that fight" in 1991, to American troops deployed in three countries -- soon a fourth -- while we are at war with a fifth. The mighty West has been held at bay by a country of 10 million people. The world has spent well over $50 billion in the former Yugoslavia, and the bill for Kosovo is not in.

"Again and again, the West chose not to focus on Serbia, the principal instigator of conflict in the region. It was too hard to think our way through the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Trying understandably to stop the immediate carnage -- first in Slovenia, then Croatia, then Bosnia -- has only bought us time between bloody outbreaks...

"First the realities: The West has three protectorates in the Balkans: Bosnia, Macedonia and Albania. The imperative political and humanitarian need to return the refugees to Kosovo will require a fourth. Ground forces will likely be needed in a permissive or nonpermissive environment.

"Regardless of how the war turns out, Serbia will again be the loser. Its ravaged economy declines further from shortages and the destruction of infrastructure. Its more democratic elements have been muted. Much of the population is traumatized, once detesting Milosevic but now rallying around him -- at least for the moment. Milosevic is almost at war with the Montenegro government. Given what's happened to the Kosovars, why would other minorities like the Hungarians in Vojvodina and the Muslims in Sanjak want to remain in today's Serbia? Many scared Muslims are already leaving Sanjak.

"But we can take no comfort from Serbia's plight. The West will ultimately have to pay the bills for reconstruction of Serbia and Kosovo. Even with its military degraded, Serbia remains the major power in the former Yugoslavia. Ultimately, there can be no stability or growth in the region without a constructive Serbia. That means a future Serbia that has yet to emerge. And that could take time.

"These are the realities we must deal with. We must also deal with major uncertainties within Serbia and within the Western alliance. I do not minimize the limitations of our knowledge and wherewithal to effect desirable outcomes. If Milosevic is removed, we do not know who will take power and how it will be exercised. Many feel his successor(s) could be worse. It is difficult to expect the more democratic elements to come to power at this time, or to know how they too would exorcise the Kosovo demon and virulent Serbian nationalism. We could well see a continued political and economic deterioration, deepening ethnic tensions and the growth of revanchism...

"Confusion and chaos are the collateral damage of war. We have two basic options.

"The first is negotiations again with Milosevic. He is not likely to simply accept what he has firmly rejected. He could propose a deal along the lines of Rambouillet but with less self-government for the Albanians and with changes in the nature of the international security presence. He could even offer partition. The alliance would welcome a respite from ethnic cleansing, the return of deportees and the avoidance of a ground war. It might believe that such a deal buys time for Serbs to realize the disaster Milosevic has brought them and to precipitate his political demise.

"The other option is finally to confront our Serbian problem with all its uncertainties. We would not only stick to all our present demands, we would declare him a war criminal. We would make it clear to the people of Serbia that peace is not possible if he remains in power. We would also state that Kosovo is no longer part of Serbia.

"Such actions could generate deepening responsibilities that we do not want and more pain; they do not ensure a satisfactory short term outcome. Getting the alliance to agree would be difficult. But we will never have more power to bring to bear on Milosevic's Serbia than we do now. If we want to bring Serbia into the West we should move in this direction. It is the beginning of the only real exit strategy."

--Morton Abramowitz, The Washington Post, 11 April 1999

"Recent news from the Balkans leave no doubt: after NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia, ethnic purges practiced by the Serbian army and police during their fight against Albanian separatists have turned into large-scale crimes against humanity, something Europe has not known since World War II.

"The current Belgrade regime's guilt in committing these crimes is evident and recognized by the whole world, with the exception of a group of Russian politicians and media. Yet, how could Western leaders' actions be qualified, when they have publicly announced their goal was to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the Balkans but actually triggered off this disaster?

"If some NATO politicians believed in earnest before bombardments began that air raids on Yugoslavia might save the Kosovo Albanians from being destructed by Serb units, this means gross professional incompetence.

"If the idea was "to punish Milosevic for being a hard-liner," this is gross irresponsibility. It is the hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians who came the first to be "punished." Milosevic' positions in the country seems to have been strengthened.

"Another side effect of the NATO military operation is increased probability of a communist revanche in several countries including Russia. The impact of anti-Western fundamentalist forces on Russia's foreign and home policy is quite significant even at this point of time; given the current situation, it is threatening to turn into a decisive one. If it does, events might begin evolving in an unpredictable and very dangerous direction.

"The international community's impotence to apply peaceful means for making the Yugoslav government observe the norms of humanitarian right in Kosovo came as a proof of the fact that the current system of international relations is highly deficient."
           --Memorial International Society

"Of course, it is not NATO leaders but Russian citizens who are responsible for the fate of Russian democracy. Of course, no general political considerations may outbalance massive killings. Yet, so far NATO politicos have simply endangered the prospects of bringing East and West - "the third world" and the developed democracies -- closer together, while the Kosovo Albanians' position is not relieved.

"The Alliance fell into the same trap where the Russian leaders found themselves four years before when they tried to use strength to liquidate the Dudaev regime in Chechnya. The disgraceful Chechen war discredited nobody but the emerging Russian democracy. A new war in the Balkans threatens to undermine the prestige of democracy as such.

"The international community's impotence to apply peaceful means for making the Yugoslav government observe the norms of humanitarian right in Kosovo came as a proof of the fact that the current system of international relations is highly deficient. Yet, the military operation destroying this system proved to be equally impotent.

"We thought a few years ago that the fall of communism would lead to a new world order based on law. This did not happen.

"The twentieth century is coming to an end in the same way as it began, i.e., with Balkan wars. Does the mankind remember one of these wars evolved into a world-wide one?

"Today, the only reasonable and moral policy is to use any chance, whatever tiny, if it allows to suspend hostilities, stop violence against civilians, and go back to negotiations, no matter how hard or even humiliating this step might look to one or another conflict participant. Yet, it seems that none of the parties (including Russia) involved in the conflict directly or indirectly has enough will, courage, common sense or simple humanity to pursue this policy."

--Board of Memorial International Society, 8 April 1999

"Again and again, the West chose not to focus on Serbia, the principal instigator of conflict in the region. It was too hard to think our way through the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Trying understandably to stop the immediate carnage--first in Slovenia, then Croatia, then Bosnia--has only bought us time between bloody outbreaks..."
            --Morton Abramowitz

"We, the members of the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine, believe that on the threshold of the third millennium, humanity must not solve conflicts in the same way as people from the Stone Age - by means of force and arms. Conflicts must be solved at the negotiation table.

"We do not believe that skilled diplomats from the UN and countries could not settle the conflict in Yugoslavia peacefully. We believe that instead governments of NATO member countries seek to satisfy the interests of international corporations, the military and industrial enterprises, who greatly benefit from the trade of arms. Additionally, the government of Yugoslavia, also in its own interest, is making hostages of people not only from its own country, but from all European nations...

"We consider all persons, who favour the producing, distribution and usage of arms, to be amoral. They should not be elected or appointed to high official positions, deciding the fate of billions of people. "We appeal to you to confirm that war and the decision to use force in the center of Europe are amoral. We appeal to you to demand the immediate dismissal of NATO Secretary General Javier Solana from office based on these amoral actions. We suggest you make lists of such amoral persons in your own countries...

"Only public opinion and the proactiveness of people can stop aggressive politicians, who in order to achieve their own political goals cynically expose the lives of other people to danger. We appeal to you join to this appeal and to bomb NATO with demands to stop the war on the Balkans, which is threatening the betterment of our world and could be the next World War."

--National Ecological Centre of Ukraine, 30 March 1999

This is utter propaganda!!!

"Nowhere does (the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine's) appeal ask for the same considerations for the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo who just want to live in peace in their own homes. The author never sent a similar appeal when the Serbs were slaughtering Muslims in Croatia and other Balkan nations. Where is the Ukrainian intervention to protect the Albanians from the genocide by the Serbs who must have been disciples of the fascists of WWII. But then again, history shows us that the Ukrainians know all to well about genocide and anti-Semitism. They aided the Nazis in the slaughter of millions of Jews just as they now seek to aid the Serbs in the slaughter of the Albanians. I never read a similar appeal to Milosevic to come to the negotiations table when it concerned the Albanians.

"In WWII the Allies did nothing and 6 million Jews were slaughtered. Humankind is fortunate that NATO leaders have the courage to act now where others would rather see millions slaughtered again instead of lifting a finger to halt the killing before the bombing started.

"If you are so concerned about environmental damage, where were you when the Serbs were bombing Kosovo?

"Before looking to others, you should start at home where you have enough injustices to correct."

Gershon B____, MD, MPH

"Guess what? Yesterday they haven't dropped a single bomb on Pancevo...But today early in the morning (5 AM) one of the bridges in the city of Novi Sad was destroyed after the NATO attack...The bridge is very close to the center of the town (a couple of hundreds of meters), and only by a strangest coincidence nobody was hurt...Still, the near by museum and buildings from the historic part of the town suffered some damage...The local bus and individual cars were just about to cross the bridge when the first projectile did hit the bridge just in front of them, creating a hole in the concrete...They were sober enough to turn their vehicles back before another bomb felt, and--before their eyes--sank the whole construction of the bridge into the river of Danube...

"Miroslav Mandic, the legendary performance artist and writer from Novi Sad, was in a house next to the bridge. When he heard the crashing sounds after the first bomb landed, he came close to the window to see what's happening. After the second explosion, he was lifted in the air together with the glass from the window pane...He is a very strong guy, so luckily he wasn't hurt...

"I also spoke to Kebra, singer and a leader of Obojeni Program, which is one of the most appreciated bands in Yugoslavia (Hey, Gordana and I were even singing "backing vocals" on their last album... We can't sing, but we yelled when they asked as to do so). Kebra told me that many bombs have fallen on the different targets in town, but the bridge was some sort of a symbol for many people in Novi Sad... Biljana, Kebra's sister and a drummer in another band (Boye), today went to see the remains of the bridge, and couldn't hold down the tears...

"The rumors are that NATO will bomb the other bridges around Novi Sad during the raids tonight... Let's hope that these are only rumors..."

--Sasa