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• /Archive1: Discussions from 2004
• /Archive2: The Role of the Drina Corps in the Srebrenica Crimes
• /Archive3: US resolution
• /Archive4: Discussions from January – July 2005
• /Archive5: Discussions from August – December 2005
• /Archive6: Discussions from January – July 2005

Srebrenica genocide denial and revisionism

This section is: 1. not sourced 2. quite partisan 3. I'm not sure there even is such a thing as "Srebrenica genocide denial/revisionism", isn't it just a label used on opponents? I believe this section should be taken out, as the topic is already covered in the previous section. Osli73 14:36, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

That section is well sourced but you didn't read it. There is a source for a part that you removed: "The Myth Of Bratunac: A Blatant Numbers Game" IDC research about Serb propaganda. This is also confirmed in Naser Oric judgement. --Emir Arven 14:40, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

I see this as an act of denial of genocide and sneaky vandalism. --Emir Arven 14:40, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Emir Arven,

the whole Srebrenica genocide denial and revisionism section is completeley unsourced. Yes, there are people who have a different interpretation of event and even those who claim that the massacre didn't happen (though I imagine that they are few, I've never heard of anyone). This is discussed/presented quite well in the preceeding Denial of the massacre, revisionism and scepticism section. However, the term "Srebrenica genocide denier/revisionist" is not established. If there is such an established term, show me.

I moved the Serb casualties around Srebrenica section out of the Denial of the massacre, revisionism and scepticism since that topic is not related to denial of the massacre.

The IDC report is on Bratunac municipality only and I can only find a press release, no original documentation or other references.

Finally, calling me a Srebrenica genocide denier just because I don't agree with your exact interpreation of events / analysis is childish. I've never said that the massacre didn't happen or that some 8,000 people weren't killed or how it happened. I don't dispute the Bosnian Serb/Yugoslav complicity in the massacre(s). What I object to is how some of these and related events are presented in the article. If this topic is too sensitive for you to be able to discuss sensibly and rationally, then I think you are better off editing other articles. Osli73 14:56, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Osli, you removed the whole section. That shouldn't be done. It is not Wikipedian way. We can go through every sentence that you want to remove and discuss about it. The source about Bratunac is very important, because Bratunac is used in this story by Serb politicians, and other deniers as an argument for relativization of genocide that happened in Srebrenica. So its place is here. IDC presented its research and showed that Serb politicans manipulated with numbers. Manipulation is a kind of revisionism. --Emir Arven 19:47, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Emir Arven and Dado, I completely fine with discussing changes before making them, as long you are willing to enter into a discussion with an open mind.

I don't see how the Genocide deniers section in question is warranted as it is not adding any sourced information to the article. Instead, it's quite clearly an attempt to label/taint all of those who hold a different interpretation of events, akin to calling all those who dare oppose Israeli policies as "anti-Semites" or, for that matter, all those Croats who support an independent Croatian state "neo-Ustasha" or "fascists" and then going on to say that these people, incorrectly, try to call themselves "anti-Zionists" and "anti-Communists". It's simply not a very encyclopedic way of presenting the issue and it lowers the overall quality of the aticle.

I absolutely believe that the Bratunac research by the RDC should be mentioned. I just believe that it's one of several sources that should be mentioned as there doesn't seem to be any consensus on the total number of Serb casualties around Srebrenica. By the way, only the press release is available on the RDC website, has anyone found the entire report? Any other mentions of it?

Finally, I realize that the whole Serb casualties issue is often used by Serb nationalists as a way to justify or diminish the Srebrenica massacre (or other crimes). However, there seems, maybe because of this, to be similiar knee-jerk reaction by Bosniaks to diminish the magnitude, nature of and consequences of the crimes against Serbs. There is a pretty good recent article from Transitions Online on this in relation to the verdict in the Naser Oric case at the ICTY (read the end). I recommend it. Osli73 07:33, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

There's a text in the Casualties section of the Bosnian War article that I find as quite good regarding different estimates of the numbers of people killed. It reads:

Large discrepancies in all these estimates are generally due to the inconsistent definitions of who can be considered victims of the war. Some research calculated only direct casualties of the military activity while other also calculated indirect casualties, such as those who died from harsh living conditions, hunger, cold, illnesses or other accidents indirectly caused by the war conditions. Original higher numbers were also used as many victims were listed twice or three times both in civilian and military columns as little or no communication and systematic coordination of these lists could take place in wartime conditions. Manipulation with numbers is today most often used by historical revisionist to change the character and the scope of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, most of above independent studies have not been accredited by either government involved in the conflict and there are no single official results that are acceptable to all sides.

I think something like this (granted that the number of people killed in Srebrenica is better documented) is what is needed for the Srebrenica massacre article. Also with regard to the Serb casualties section. Osli73 07:42, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

Any reactions, comments? If noone is willing to enter into a (serious and open minded) discussion of my proposed changes on these Talk pages I might as well edit the article directly.Osli73 08:11, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Dado, I see that you added the Srebrenica Blogspot as a source for your Srebrenica genocide denial section. I'm sorry, but a Bosniak nationalist blog (the kind that likes to present Naser Oric as a war hero, etc) isn't exactly a credible or relevant source. The Srebrenica genocide blogspot is exactly the kind of site that is trying to use the massacre to hit political opponents over the head with, which is what I feel this article sometimes does as well (in sections such as this).Osli73 10:03, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

You put false info in the article. Without source and proof. It is not accepted by all sides that large number of Serbs were killed between 92-95, neither by ICTY nor by IDC, just by Serb propaganda, and you said that you are not Serb, yes sure ordinary Swedish guy...If you want to write about Serbs casulates then write it in Bosnian War or similar articles, but don't spread propaganda. --Emir Arven 08:33, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Emir Arven, it's sad to see that your knee jerk reaction to someone challenging your interpretation of events is that they must be a Serb nationalist. Did you read the suggested articles I mentioned above? You reaction is exactly the kind which is described in the Transitions Online article I mentioned earlier.

It is sad to see that you pretend to be a Swedish guy, but you are a Serb. --Emir Arven 10:46, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Emir, I'm sorry to have to say this, but your focus on and disbelief in my nationality is symptomatic of true nationalists. You really see the world in black and white, either with me or against me.Osli73 12:31, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

You don't have to hide the fact that you are a Serb. You don't have to pretend to be a Swedish to make a point. I didn't focus on your nationality because you are a Serb, but because of your manipulations. --Emir Arven 15:40, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

The Serb casualties around Srebrenica are a part of the background to the massacre, as they go some way in explaining the viciousness of the Serb forces towards the inhabitants of the town. I'm not trying to diminish the 1995 massacre, just explain the context in which it happened.

False. Serbs are trying to present their military casualties in fights as "a part of the background to the genocide". --Emir Arven 10:46, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Emir, the reason the Naser Oric case (and its outcome) gained so much attention (despite him being a minor player) was precisely because some Serbs see it (and the killing of Serbs around Srebrenica 92-93) as a way to put the Srebrenica massacre into a greater context while Bosnian Muslims see it as a threat to their role as the only victims in the tragedy that was the Bosnian war. Please read the Transitions Online article I mentioned earlier.Osli73 12:31, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

"Killing the Serbs" around Srebrenica is propaganda, as it is showed in ICTY judgements. Are you talking about Serb soldiers or civilians? According to the judgement: "As for the destruction in the villages of Kravica, Siljkovici, Bjelovac, Fakovici and Sikiric, the judgment states that the prosecution failed to present convincing evidence that the Muslim forces were responsible for them, because the Serb forces used artillery in the fighting in those villages. In the case of the village of Bjelovac, they even used the warplanes." But Serbs claimed that this villages were destroyed by Bosniak foreces, as you do. --Emir Arven 15:40, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

As to the exact number of persons killed, well... no-one seems to know exactly. It seems that numbers range from some 500 to over 3,000. I haven't seen any of the studies (the RDC material is only a pressrelease, which, to me, doesn't sound too academic in its language). So, why not leave it at that?

Because Carla del Ponte and Naser Orić judgement showed that Serb numbers are propaganda. --Emir Arven 10:46, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Emir, no neither CdP or the Naser Oric judgement said anything about the number of Serbs killed around Srebrenica (what source do you base this on, by the way). The number of Serbs killed around Srebrenica was not part of the indictment against Oric. Finally, you must not mix up history and legal process - just because someone isn't convicted in a court of law of for a specific crime doesn't mean that they, in the eyes of history, are not guilty or did not play a part in it. Slobodan Milosevic was never convicted of anything and even if he hadn't died prematurely it is not unlikely that he would have been acquitted on quite a few of the charges made against him. Did this / would that have made him any less complicit in what happened?Osli73 12:31, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes it said that seven people (Serb prisoners) were killed in police station during two years. I just showed you a part of his judgement. In its case, the prosecution tried to show that Oric was responsible for the destruction of about 50 Serb villages in the Bratunac-Srebrenica area in 1992 and 1993. Those acts are described in four counts of the indictment, and are qualified as violations of laws and customs of war. The prosecution claims that Oric, as the commander of the Srebrenica armed forces, is responsible for the "preparation, direction and implementation" of crimes alleged in the indictment, and for failing to prevent them or punish their perpetrators. Prosecution based its case on documents that Serbs prepared for them. But the judgement was totally opposite. It showed that in number of villages Serb forces used artillery in the fighting in those villages. So you are talking about people killed in this fight? --Emir Arven 15:40, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

The ICTY case you are referring to (the Naser Oric one, I presume) only established whether Naser Oric could be personally tied to some specific deaths and cases of torture, not whether, or how many, Serbs had been killed by Bosniak forces around Srebrenica 1992-95.

No it showed that Serbs lied about number of people killed (soldiers and civilians) as well as destroyed villages. They showed completely opposite picture than presented by Serbs. Serbs commited massacers in every town in eastern Bosnia between 92-95, Foča, Trebinje, Bileća, Višegrad, Rogatica, Vlasenica, Kalinovik, Bratunac etc. so we should include all these massacers as "a part of the background to the genocide". --Emir Arven 10:46, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Emir, again, the Naser Oric case did not prove anything regarding the number of Serbs killed. And, as I said above, the Serbs certainly saw the Bosniak attacks on Serbs around Srebrenica 92-93 as background to their attack on Srebrenica in 1995. The issue is also give quite a lot of space in the Dutch government report on the Srebrenica affair (see article external sources).Osli73 12:31, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes it did. It destroyed Serb myth about 50 villages allegedly destroyed by Naser forces, and number of Serbs killed in Srebrenica. Serbs didn't see "Bosniak attacks on Serbs around Srebrenica as background to their attack" because Srebrenica was under the Serb siege and fire before that, Serbs just see this as an opportunity to justifay that horrible genocide, which was carefully planned and executed with participation of 20.000 Serb soldiers. As I said if you want to talk about casualties before Srebrenica genocide then we must explain about Višegrad massacres (just in one day Serb authorities in Višegrad gathered 70 Bosniak women and burned them in a house, before that they raped them), Bijeljina massacre, Foča massacre, Trebinje and Bileća massacres, Vlasenica massacre, Kalinovik massacre etc. There is more then 400 mass graves of Bosniak civilians found so far in Republika Srpska. That is a proof that no one can deny. So we should write it, as a background of Srebrenica genocide. Emir Arven 15:42, 3 August 2006 (UTC)--15:40, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Emir, no, the judgement really only stated that Oric could not be tied directly / closely enough to the events for the court to convict him. And, as I have stated before, the significance of the Serb casualties around Srebrenica in 92-95 is that it gave Serb forces a motive for revenge for the massacre, providing an explanation for the savage treatment of the population of the enclave.Osli73 20:28, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Cheers,Osli73 09:56, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

The savage treatment of the Bosniak population by nationalist Serbs thoroughly refered to here by Emir started in 1992. It was not revenge, it was unprovoked aggression for the sake of creating an ethnically cleansed greater Serbia. Those who implemented the genocidal policies of the greater Serbia project try to hide behind the falsehood that nationalist Serbs were only defending themselves against Islamic fundamentalists or western imperialism or responding to attacks against them. What the Srebrenica article communicates is that the massacre was a part of the ethnic cleansing policy of the greater Serbia project as it should... free of revisionists who want to insert the current nationalist Serb campaign to re-write history. The Srebrenica massacre was part of a policy of ethnic cleansing that started in 1992. There is no equivalent of the Srebrenica massacre. Oric's soldiers did not murder over 3,000 Serbs. That is simply not true despite Seselj's camp's repeated attempts to get those numbers accepted. Those blatantly inflated numbers are definitely not going to be accepted in this article as remotely legitimate. They are not. Fairview360 16:58, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Info. box on when, where and how many people were killed

As the article is quite long I think it would be helpful if some sort of info. box were added summarizing where, when and how many people were killed. Maybe even a map, if anyone has time/ability for that. Any takers? Osli73 20:45, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

"Serb Casualties"

Several problems with the "Serb casualties" section.Live Forever 19:20, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

First of all, thank you for being willing to engage in discussion, which few seem ready to do (most seem to scream Serb propagandist, or similar):

1. "It is accepted by all sides that Bosniak forces killed a large number of Serbs". "Large" relative to what? Sentence is also misleading in this context as it doesn't mention that the significant majority of these Serb "casualties" were soldiers killed in military confrontations.

Well, with estimates ranging between 500 to over 3000 I would say that it is safe to call it a "large" number. These are also stated in the ICTY Press Briefing mentioned below as well as by the NIOD report (which is already used as a source in the "1992 ethnic cleansing campaign". Why is "casualties" misleading? With regard to the RDC figure, I have specified the estimated number of soldiers and civilians. As for the other estimates, we just don't know.

Osli73 22:28, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

It is pretty clear that the majority of the killed Serbs in the region were soldiers; this is confirmed not only by the RDC findings (which, as I said earlier, are far superior to the other sources presented and deserve to be treated as such) but also by various other sources such as the VRS' own report on Kravica. Kravica, taken by some of the biased pro-VRS sources to be the epitome of ARBiH brutality against civilians, turned out to only have resulted in the death of a dozen civilians and a much greater number of soldiers. The nature of the Serb casualties can also be surmised by any nonpartisan observer merely from the basic facts surrounding the situation: ARBiH forces did not go about rounding up civilians and executing them, but conducted raids against VRS villages and positions which were met with armed resistance. To neglect mentioning that the majority of the Serb casualties were soldiers killed in military confrontations implies that they are comparable to the Bosniaks murdered two years later; exactly what pro-RS sources who gloss over these established facts are attempting to insinuate by doing so. Live Forever 13:28, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

2. "The extent" to which these killings motivated the VRS forces to seek revenge on the Bosniak inhabitants of Srebrenica isn't disputed; the very assertion that these killings at all "motivated" the VRS to seek revenge on the Bosniak inhabitants of Srebrenica is disputed. VRS forces had been attacking Srebrenica for years, and had already conducted massive massacres in comparable near-by towns that they had managed to take over. What were these massacres "revenge" for? To many (including the United Nations, a fairly neutral source) such opinions are simply apoligism and excuses, no different than earlier claims that the mass killings the VRS conducted throughout Eastern Bosnia were "revenge" for the Ottoman conquest. It should certainly be noted that Serb apoligists regularly claim the Srebrenica massacre was "motivated" by these killings, but to accept it as fact is preposterously POV.

"The extent" wording could certainly be qualified. However, I recall seeing quite a few sources which state that the Serb lust for revenge for losses 92-93 may have motivated their behavior in June 1995. For example, the Dutch govt. (NIOD) report says (see bottom of the page):

The Muslim attacks during the first year of the war appear to have caused the most resentment among the Serbs, who felt deeply humiliated by Oric. It is primarily defeats in places such as Zalazje, Podravanje, Fakovici and Kravica that Serbs wanted to avenge. Probably, that thirst for vengeance was one of the main driving forces behind the massacres in July 1995.

Calling the Dutch govt. Serb apologists seems a bit paranoid. Also the NIOD report has already been used as a source in the "1992 ethnic cleansing campaign" section. I'm sure there are plenty of other non-Serb sources as well (By the way, why would a Serb source be less qualified tha, for example, the Srebrenica genocide blogspot, which seems to be a very popular source here?).

Osli73 22:28, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

The NIOD is, as far as I can tell, a fairly unreliable source with wildly flawed information that seriously jeopardizes the validity of its conclusions. Please refer to the section where the report talks about the "total annihilation" of the population of Kravica. If it adopts such well-documented Serb propaganda as that into its findings, then it is no wonder that it would also adopt the pro-RS stance that the killings "motivated" the Srebrenica massacre. If the NIOD is used as a source elsewhere in the article, then I suggest it's immediately taken out and replaced with more credible material. Considering the well-documented nature of the section you mentioned (i.e. "1992 ethnic cleansing campaign"), finding a superior source should not be hard to find; I myself have several candidates. Basically, this article is supposed to deal with facts and there is simply no way to firmly establish the "motives" of those who perpetrated the Srebrenica massacre (are we to assume that had it not been for the ARBiH raids the VRS would not have conducted mass killings of Bosniaks upon taking over the city, even if they had already done so in Bratunac, Bijeljina, Visegrad, etc.?). Thus, putting them forward as facts is simply wrong. The only thing that could be written that is factually accurate is that VRS sympathizers have put forward these raids as having motivated the Srebrenica massacre (although, in this case, the wild exaggerations of documented casualty numbers put forward by these groups would have to be noted). The fact that non-Serb (and presumably impartial) sources also put forward this "theory" is irrelevant, as because we are dealing with "motives" it is evident that they are merely echoing the Serb sentiments. As for your question in which you brought up the validity of Serb sources and the Srebrenica genocide blog, you're completely missing the point in your witch-hunt for fallacies. The Srebrenica genocide blog is a perfectly valid source because the information posted there that is used on Misplaced Pages, as far as I can tell, is original material from the ICTY, United Nations, etc. If you can find Serbian sources not based on original material but information from credible and legitimate sources, then perhaps they can be worked into the article. Unfortunately, sensationalistic Belgrade media posting inflated victim numbers do not fit these criteria. Live Forever 13:28, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

3. The section conveniently glosses over the fact that the Serb "villages" the ARBiH troops were raiding weren't simply civilian communities of Serb peasents as the name implies.

Again, only the RDC pressrelease comments on the breakdown between soldiers and civilians, which I have included in the text. I'm certainly not trying to gloss anything over. Otherwise we might as well state in the intro what portion of the 8,000 killed and missing were soldiers/of military age.

Osli73 22:28, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't know if it's because you're contorting my arguments into ones you feel you could answer or because you're woefully uninformed, but my comment was not related to "the breakdown between soldiers and civilians" per se, but rather to the proven and well-document nature of many Serb villages as military outposts - facts which your section on Serb casualties wholly ignores. As for your contention that the RDC press release is " only" source that comments on the above-mentioned "breakdown between soldiers and civilians": false. Once again, as the RDC represents the only professional multiethnic effort to carefully document and analyze the casualty figures of the Bosnian war it deserves to be given more weight, but either way there are numerous sources and facts which testify to the fact that most Serbs killed in the region around Srebrenica were soldiers. Live Forever 13:28, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

4. Quoting Lewis MacKenzie is simply pathetic. Not only was MacKenzie outside of Bosnia for two years by the time the massacre in Srebrenica happened (not to mention that considering his location in Sarajevo, general ineptitude, and overall lack of UN presence in Srebrenica at his time, the extent to which he is qualified to talk of Srebrenica is minimal), but he is also funded by Serb lobby groups and accused of rape.

MacKenzie was the commander of the UNPROFOR during 1992, so he would have had a good insight into the events discussed here. As for the smear campaign directed against him by the Bosnian government the Journal of Conflict Studies gives a good overview of it:

Part of the propaganda war was a successful Bosnian government campaign to discredit MacKenzie personally (including stories that his wife was a Serb). The UN's response was to ignore such stories, rather than take action to refute them, and by June they had reached such a level that MacKenzie asked to be relieved as he could no longer function without risk to his troops, identified as "MacKenzie's men." In November 1992, coinciding with the Islamic Conference in Saudi Arabia, the Bosnian government claimed that MacKenzie had raped and murdered three or four Muslim girls obtained for him at a Serb concentration camp. By 1995, this story was being reported as regular visits by MacKenzie to a Serb camp brothel stocked with Muslim girls.

Osli73 22:28, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, the chief source for the journal you provided is MacKenzie's own book "Peacekeeper". The Bosnian government's "smear campaign" that you refer to includes the testimony of a Serb eye-witness as well as video evidence testified to by witnesses in a special briefing conducted by Helsinki Watch for Congressional staffers. Asides from this lies my point which you completely ignored; the fact that MacKenzie made speaking tours in the United States funded at $15,000 per engagement by Serb lobby groups. As for your contention that MacKenzie's status as commander of UNPROFOR in 1992 means he has "good insight into the events discussed here", were you familiar with the situation in Srebrenica in 1992 and 1993 you would know that UN presence was marginal and minimal, and MacKenzie's ability to have "good insight" while situated in besieged Sarajevo (never mind his apparent pro-Serb sympathies) is highly questionable. Live Forever 13:28, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

5. The Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo presented as just another source. In fact, as it has a multiethnic staff and open, detailed, professional, and extensive research into the number of casualties during the Bosnian war, it should be presented with the credibility it deserves. Especially considering that other sources with figures in the section are random Serb media outlets, the Serbian government, and a disgraced general.

Well, I am citing it so it's there. I suggest reading this briefing with Florence Hartmann, Spokesperson for the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICTY specifically on the subject of the number of Serbs killed. Basically, she recognizes that there is a wide range in the estimates, which is exactly what I do as well. Again, the NIOD report has been used as a source elsewhere in this article, why not on this topic?

Osli73 22:28, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

It might be cited in the article, but the manner in which is done is wrong (see above). As for the briefing with Florence Hartmann you provided, it takes place well before the RDC date pertaining to the issue was released, but still reinforces most of the points I've raised. While it is important to maintain an N-POV on Misplaced Pages, this does not mean treating all sources in a debate equally despite an obvious gap in credibility. Live Forever 13:28, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Jitse, don't you think it would make more sense to move this section to after section 1.1.2, which, in my opinion, leads more naturally to the "Serb casualties" issue?

Cheers Osli73 09:37, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360,

I read your text on the "Serb casualties" section. Although I am not against editing the previous text I feel that your suggested text is not presenting the various findings in a NPOV way instead of letting the sources speak for themselves. Please see Misplaced Pages on Let the facts speak for themselves and what Wikiepdia says about Fairness of tone:

"Even when a topic is presented in terms of facts rather than opinion, an article can still radiate an implied stance through either selection of which facts to present, or more subtly their organization — for instance, refuting opposing views as one goes along makes them look a lot worse than collecting them in an opinions-of-opponents section.

"We should, instead, write articles with the tone that all positions presented are at least plausible, bearing in mind the important qualification about extreme minority views. Let's present all significant, competing views sympathetically. We can write with the attitude that such-and-such is a good idea, except that, in the view of some detractors, the supporters of said view overlooked such-and-such a detail."

Regards Osli73 11:07, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

"Please be clear on one thing: the Misplaced Pages neutrality policy certainly does not state, or imply, that we must "give equal validity" to minority views. It does state that we must not take a stand on them as encyclopedia writers; but that does not stop us from describing the majority views as such; from fairly explaining the strong arguments against the pseudoscientific theory; from describing the strong moral repugnance that many people feel toward some morally repugnant views; and so forth."

I don't know if you've seen the above section of Misplaced Pages's NPOV policy (that you apparently skimmed through for aspects that support your position), but it does a nice job summarizing exactly what is wrong with what you're doing here. Although the controversy regarding the number of Serb casualties perhaps deserves to be mentioned, the views of biased Serb sources, political propagandists, and sparse international figures that are clearly grounded on demonstratably false facts certainly do not deserve to be given equal validity to the facts of the matter expressed by credible international humanitarian organizations, courts, the United Nations, etc. Live Forever 12:20, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, you need to be more specific about which sentences you dislike. For instance, I do not agree with the following fragment:

"The investigation further established that of 383 Serb victims buried in the Bratunac military cemetery, 139 (or more than one third of the total) had fought and died in a different region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite this, the buried at the military cemetery are presented as having been killed as the result of actions taken by ARBiH units from Srebrenica."

The logic indicated by the "despite this" seems to be wrong here. The fact that the 139 victims have not died in Bratunac does not mean that they haven't been killed as the result of actions taken by ARBiH units from Srebrenica. In fact, according to the RDC, 38 were killed in Srebrenica itself.

The sentence "Many consider that such insinuations about the motivations for the Srebrenica massacre are merely revisionist attempts to justify the genocide that ensued" has no source. It is certainly not supported by the quote from the UN report that follows, which says merely that the Bosniaks did no major raids out of the safe haven after it was established.

I think that RDC's estimate for the number of victims (300-1000, namely 3-9 times smaller than the "over 3000" mentioned by Serbia) should also be mentioned. In fact, if this is the most credible estimate, then it should be mentioned at the very beginning. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 14:27, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Please disregard the last paragraph. The "3 to 9 times smaller" refers to the total number killed (civilians and soldiers) in the Bratunac region. I did not find an estimate from the RDC for the number of civilian victims (in Bratunac and elsewhere) of attacks out of Srebrenica. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 14:40, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't see what there is to disagree with in that statement? Some 1/3 of the people buried in the cemetary were found to have died fighting in completely different regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina; namely around Sarajevo during fighting in the siege of that city. After the war their remains were reburied in Srebrenica. Now every year, coincidentally coinciding with the anniversary of the genocide in Srebrenica, Serb politicians pose in front of cameras at the cemetery and present it's buried as victims of "Naser's rampage". Live Forever 17:03, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

NPOV dispute

Dado, why have you added the NPOV dispute tag? defines NPOV as "In a neutral representation, the differing points of view are presented as such, not as facts." This is precisely what I am doing!

I suspect you put the tag there simply because it goes against your own ideological conviction (Misplaced Pages warns that "For example, ideologues, when presented with an article that has exemplary neutrality (as per our policy), will consider the article biased precisely because it does not reflect their own bias enough.).

Maybe I should enter a NPOV dispute tag on the sections of the article which I feel are biased as well. Osli73 22:39, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Final Notice to Osli73

You can agree or disagree, it's up to you. However, we will not let you post already discredited Serbian information and present it as a fact in Srebrenica Massacre article. Although I salute your decision not to deny Srebrenica genocide, I must condemn you for spoiling the article with moral relativism and already discredited Serbian sources (e.g. the number of Serbs killed, adventures of accussed concentration camp raper and Serb lobbyist Gen. Mackenzie, etc). --Bosniak 01:31, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, you are bent on calling anyone who challenges your highly biased presentation and analysis of events as "vandalism" or "moral relativism". I get the feeling that you see the Srebrenica massacre as more of a political than a historical topic. You choose to only present your numbers and dismiss any source or text which does not fit your view as "Serb propaganda". And, no, Lewis MacKenzie was no "concentration camp raper" - as I explained/showed above to Dado, that was a smear campaign by the Bosnian government during the war. Cheers Osli73 06:30, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

NIOD REPORT IS BIASED

Read here: RELATIVISM OF JUSTICE: Thoughts on Noam Chomsky, NIOD Report, Dutch Government, U.N. & more... --Bosniak 01:47, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, the NIOD report has been criticised by some (mainly for being too large or being used by political opponents), but that is something that is always going to happen in such a controversial issue as the Srebrenica massacre. Certainly, Bosniak nationalists seem very intent on pinning as much blame as possible on the Dutch government for the massacre.

Finally, nationalist blogs such as the Srebrenica Genocide blogspot are not very good sources. Otherwise I could easily start referring to the rantings of a slew of Serbian nationalist blogs. Osli73 06:25, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

The first sentence

I think the changes need to be discussed one by one instead of the wholesale reversions that seem to have become the norm. So let's look at the first sentence:

"The Srebrenica massacre was the July 1995 killing of up to 8,373 (killed or missing) Bosniak males, ranging in age from teenagers to the elderly, in the region of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of general Ratko Mladić."

The question is whether to include the parenthetical remark "(killed or missing)". I think that the sentence does not make much sense with it, in the view of the word killing before. On the other hand, the list where the number 8373 comes from indeed talks about "missing or killed". Finally, I think that mentioning the number "up to 8373" suggests a precision which is simply unattainable. For that reason, I prefer a vague formulation like "the July 1995 killing of around eight thousand Bosniak males". In a footnote, or perhaps a section further down the article, we can justify the number 8000 by mentioning different estimates like the Federal Commission for Missing Persons and the first ICTY judgment against Krstic (the latter says that the number is likely to be within the range 7000 - 8000). -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 09:11, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Jitse, I think your suggestion is good. I think it would be good to include a summary stating how many are confirmed dead and how many are missing as well as providing information where what number of persons were killed, f.ex. how many were executed in Srebrenica and how many were killed while making their way towards Tuzla.

Cheers Osli73 10:59, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm just trying to think which sources would be able to provide information about how many people were killed where. Except in cases where limited numbers were involved all estimates seem to be pretty imprecise. The only people who might be able to provide reasonably accurate information would seem to be the people involved in making the logistic arrangements. As the number of people confirmed dead is almost certain to continue rising as identification of the remains proceeds, distinguishing between the number of those confirmed dead and those still missing would require a long-term commitment to regular updating of the balance of the numbers. It doesn't seem unreasonable to use the vague formulation "around eight thousand Bosniak males" and immediately after that estimate to add "( named individuals confirmed dead or listed as still missing by the Bosnian Federal Commission for Missing Persons as of )". I'm not sure what real purpose is served by not accepting the FCMP list of names as representing, eleven years after the event, a reasonably accurate figure for the number of the dead. If that's not 8373 the likelihood is going to be that the figure will increase with additions from the 500 reported missing still being investigated rather than reduce. Is any real information about the magnitude of the atrocity conveyed by giving separate figures that distinguish the "Confirmed dead" from the "Listed as missing"? Opbeith 21:49, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Srebrenica Massacre Article Placed on Protection

I have placed the article on protection due to never ending vandalism. We cannot allow people to delete factual statements if they don't like them, nor we can allow already discredited Serbian sources to be entered into the article. --Bosniak 23:16, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Placing Template:Sprotect on the article does not place it under protection. In fact, you cannot place an article under protection yourself, only administrators can do that. I suggest you read our protection policy for further information, including the steps to take to request protection. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 03:25, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

That's just silly, frankly - semi-protection only protects the article against editing by new and anonymous users. If you have a content dispute I suggest you work it out with the other editors. -- ChrisO 11:06, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Genocide

I noticed that there is a disagreement about whether the sentence that the Srebrenica massacre was the first legally established case of genocide in Europe. This is actually correct - nobody was prosecuted for genocide over the Holocaust, for the simple reason that the offence of genocide didn't exist in international law until 1948. The first convictions for genocide were in Rwanda in 1998, and Krstic was only the third person (and the first European) to be thus convicted. See Genocide Convention for more. -- ChrisO 11:06, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli73 is wrong, yet another time!

You stated that this statement is not in reference to the ICTY:

"By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide."

Yet, another time, I am proving you wrong, read here: http://www.un.org/icty/krstic/Appeal/judgement/krs-aj040419e.htm --Bosniak 20:56, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, again, you didn't read my text "the reference isn't to the ICTY document, but to some Bosniak NGO". I was referring to the reference, not the text. Pls read more carefully.Osli73 21:10, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Revert and protection of the article

Why was the article reverted and then protected? I have a long history on Misplaced Pages, I have offered to discuss my changes (but received no reply), explained the changes that I have made, and included plenty of reliable sources and references to the edits I have made.

So, please explain exactly what it is that you will not accept? Osli73 21:14, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

I have now made a request to unprotect the article.Osli73 21:27, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

As you may have noticed, the article was never protected. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 11:53, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, rather than finding excuses to erase statements that anyone familiar with the Srebrenica massacre know are true, for example, that some preteen children were killed, why not help find better primary source material? You could contribute your time to researching ICTY or ICMP documents. Your penchant for erasing accurate statements or relegating them to obscure places in the article creates the impression that your goal might be to obfuscate what happened rather than make it more clear. As it stands now, you erased the statement that preteen children were killed because the source material was not sufficient in your opinion and yet the source material included verbatim text from the ICTY? Why would you erase the statement that preteen children were killed? If you want to improve the article, then find better source material. --Fairview360 22:00, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

As I see it, that statement is not important enough to be included in the lead section. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 11:53, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Regarding that sentence (a) the quote was from a rather nationalist blog (even though the source stated that it was from the ICTY document). This makes it difficult to know in what context that quote was made and (b) I'm not sure it is necessary to include that information in the introduction, which should be a summary of the article.Osli73 15:46, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Adjustments

The article is good, mainly because it contains a lot of information about the massacre. However, it has some faults as well, mainly relating to the tone in which it is written and that it, in some places, only present one of several common interpretations of events. I have focused on three areas where this is evident before:

1. Introduction: the text talks about "up to 8,373 Bosniak males" when in fact the figure quoted is typically 7-8,000 and that includes missing. Also, the Holocaus was never legally defined as Genocide.

1. Stuggle for Srebrenica: this section glosses over the effect which the Bosniak offensive 1992-93, including the killing of a large number of Serb civilians, had on the behavior of Serb forces in 1995. I provided several sources which stated that Serb losses during this period gave rise to feelings for revenge.

1. Serb casualties around Srebrenica: this section only presents one study's findings on this issue instead of presenting the range of estimates which are out there (and which are quoted). I sources this from the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor's press brief regarding the Naser Oric trial. I also included the RDC finding. You also omit any text about the significance of these losses, which is what is at the root of the controversy - that Serbs feel their losses are being neglected while Bosniaks feel that discussions about Serb civilian losses somehow reduces their status as victims.

These are only three sections of the article which the Bosniak editors refuse to accept, even though I have provided plenty of reliable sources (ICTY, Dutch government reports, etc., compared to the natinalists blogs which are used by some as a source). Instead, these sources, which don't fit your view, are leballed as "vandalism" and "Serb lies". If you are not able to discuss this topic rationally, then maybe you should not be editing the article.

Please provide me with some comments.Osli73 16:02, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, if a mafia boss gives the order to have someone murdered as part of a turf war, the salient issue is that there was a turf war going on. Why was the order given? Because there was a turf war. If Luka Brossi the hitman takes pleasure in the killing for personal reasons of revenge, yes that is relevant, but it should not be construed as the reason for the murder. The murder occurred because orders were given as part of a turf war. Where did they come from. Why were they given. Ultra-nationalist Serbs -- Milosevic, Seselj, Arkan, etc -- had a goal of creating an ethnically pure greater Serbia. That is the underlying reason why the Srebrenica massacre occurred. Orders were given as part of a well thought out plan. So be careful in explaining why you want to include an explanation as to the particular glee some individuals took in slitting the throats of innocent people because you border on blaming the victims of Srebrenica for their own massacre when it was behind a desk in Belgrade that the relevant decisions were made, not in the heads of some hate-filled individual executioners. --Fairview360 16:02, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360, holy wise fairness personified; Milosevic was a Socialist, do you remember? just tapping your brain for bugs... --Arsenio 23:32, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Arsenio, do you really believe Milosevic was a Socialist? Really I think he was only acting in one role or another and that he did not believe in anything. He was not a Socialist, a nationalist, nor a Yugoslav, nor an anti-imperialist. He was just an opportunist who wanted power and simply did not care what effect his choices had on everyday people in the former Yugoslavia. What do you think?Fairview360 00:42, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

The introduction

Some comments on the introduction:

• Since the ICTY document states the range 7-8000, based on confirmed killed and missing, that is also the figure which should be used in the introduction
• Srebrenica is the first legally defined case of Genocide in Europe, since the Holocaust was never legally defined as Genocide
• We need a link to the actual ICTY judgment for the citation at the end of the introduction. The current reference is the ICTY judgment, but the link is to a Bosniak NGO in NYC

If you disagree with the above, please comment here, instead of just saying it is all lies. And, please, stay polite. Cheers Osli73 08:10, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, according to the legal definition of genocide, the holocaust was a case of genocide, however the law against genocide did not come into existence until 1948, hence you are correct that there was not a legal verdict establishing the holocaust as genocide. In regards to the Srebrenica massacre, "The first established case of genocide since the holocaust" would be accurate. It has been fully established that Nazi Germany committed genocide. Please tell me that you are not questioning whether the holocaust was genocide. --Fairview360 15:48, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Struggle for Srebrenica

• I have included sourced comments from the ICTY and the RDC in Sarajevo regarding the estimated number of Serbs civilians killed during this period
• I have included statements from both the Dutch government NIOD report and Lewis MacKenzie, the UNPROFOR commander at the time, stating that revenge for Serb losses during this period (however large they actually were) was a major motive for the 1995 massacre.
• I have previously (see above) provided a link to an article in the Journal of Conflict Studies outlining the Sarajevo governments smear campaign against him (which

See also Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/Bosniak/Archive is referring to).

• The NIOD report was carried out by Dutch academics under the auspices of the Netherlands Instutute of War Documentation and has been often cited by both the prosecution and the defence in ICTY trials (of both Bosniaks and Serbs). It is also used in the section "1992 ethnic cleansing campaign" as a reference to the number of Bosniaks killed by Serb forces (Footnote 5). Calling it biased or pro-Serb simply because its presentation of events differs from what certain editors believe says more about these editors own bias than about the report. If this report is biased, we might as well take out most of the sources used in this article.

If you disagree with the above, please comment here, instead of just saying it is all lies. And, please, stay polite. Cheers Osli73 08:26, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Controversy about Serb casualties

Same comments as for the "Struggle for Srebrenica section" but as some might have specific comments to this specific section, I will include them again:

• I have included sourced comments from the ICTY and the RDC in Sarajevo regarding the estimated number of Serbs civilians killed during this period
• I have included statements from both the Dutch government NIOD report and Lewis MacKenzie, the UNPROFOR commander at the time, stating that revenge for Serb losses during this period (however large they actually were) was a major motive for the 1995 massacre.
• I have previously (see above) provided a link to an article in the Journal of Conflict Studies outlining the Sarajevo governments smear campaign against him (which

See also Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/Bosniak/Archive is referring to).

• The NIOD report was carried out by Dutch academics under the auspices of the Netherlands Instutute of War Documentation and has been often cited by both the prosecution and the defence in ICTY trials (of both Bosniaks and Serbs). It is also used in the section "1992 ethnic cleansing campaign" as a reference to the number of Bosniaks killed by Serb forces (Footnote 5). Calling it biased or pro-Serb simply because its presentation of events differs from what certain editors believe says more about these editors own bias than about the report. If this report is biased, we might as well take out most of the sources used in this article.

If you disagree with the above, please comment here, instead of just saying it is all lies. And, please, stay polite. Cheers Osli73 08:26, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Emir Arven - your recent edits

Emir Arven, I have a cople of comments to the edits you made (mainly erasing my previous edits):

• The 7-8000 figure (missing and killed) is what is referred to in the ICTY documents in the reference
• The preteen text is (a) sourced from an anonymous blog (the Srebrenica Genocide Blogspot) and (b) is not crucial information for the introduction, which should be a summary of the article.
• Better to just use a neutral term like "offensive" with regards to the Bosniak raids in 1992 as "counter-offensive" is a value-loaded term. Also, if they were attacking Serb villages, couldn't that be seen as an offensive?
• I removed a link which referred to an empty page. I entered the "citation needed" to remind editors that a new one was needed
• The Srebrenica Genocide Blogspot is used as a sournce in for a lot of statements. This is a pro-Bosniak anonymous blog, it is not really a good souce in such a controversial topic
• You seem to want to criticise the NIOD report. Yes, there is a mention that an academic opponent (he also wrote a book on the Srebrenica massacre), Jan Willem Honig "is critical of its length" and that there apparently is a factual error with a map that doesn't quite fit with the text. Also, the editors of the different parts of the report have made somewhat different judgements about what sources to use. However, in a 6,000 report made by several different editors, this is hardly something which calls for discrediting the report. That the Srebrenica Genocide Blogspot does so is neither surprising nor significant enough to mention in the article. The NIOD report has been used for a long time in the article to provide an estimate of the number of Bosniaks ethnically cleansed from Eastern Bosnia in the beginning of the war. Why is it, all of a sudden, not good enough?
• MacKenzie, well, the Bosniak government launched a smear campaign against him which has been outlined in the Journal of Conflict Studies paper linked to above (see previous section).

As you appear completely unwilling to engage in any kind of discussion on these talk pages but seem to prefer to just make the edits you want without any comment other than "Serb lies" and "moral equivalence" then I will have to assume that you are driven by political bias rather than any academic interest. Cheers, Osli73 12:46, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

While the NIOD report brings together a lot of useful research, it is still open to criticism on various grounds. Srebrenica Genocide Blog has harvested a lot of useful and apposite information. Even though sources are sometimes not referenced and information and opinion are not always clearly demarcated, with the knowledge SGB provides that the information is out there, it's then not too hard to track it down. The SGB post dated 2 March 2006 reposts Hasan Nuhanovic's critical response to the publication of the NIOD, identifying some of the report's shortcomings. If an alternative source of Nuhanovic's list of questions NIOD failed to investigate is required it can be found at http://www.domovina.net/archive/2002/20020421_hasan.php. Nuhanovic's credentials hardly need confirming but anyone who needs a brief account of his involvement with the Dutch battalion of UN peacekeepers at Srebrenica, the fate of his family and some of the reasons why he criticises the adequacy of the report will find it at http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bosnia502/interviews_hasan.html Opbeith 23:00, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Understanding why some editors are unwilling to discuss the Srebrenica massacre rationally

I found this article by Czech non-profit organization covering Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Transitions OnLine (TOL) on the issue of the NIOD report and why many Bosniaks, including, apparently, the Bosniak editors on this article, are so negative of it.

The NIOD report also provides the Bosniak establishment in Sarajevo with a solid platform from which the Bosniaks' own role in the Srebrenica massacre could be examined. The problem is, of course, that most Bosniaks find the characterization of themselves as anything other than passive victims deeply insulting, and that feeling is not limited to the Srebrenica massacre. The reactions of Srebrenica survivors' associations and Bosniak politicians and the media to some of the report findings confirm this.

The Bosniak public expressed anger at the Dutch for failing to unearth evidence that the massacre was prepared in advance, or that Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic was behind it. Some were also unhappy that the report failed to find active Dutch involvement in the separation of Srebrenica men and boys from the women, children, and elderly.

This is not the first time that Bosniak leaders and opinion-makers have reacted angrily when told that the truth does not correspond to their own mythology of the war, even when that truth doesn't deprive the Bosniaks of their victim role.

Cheers Osli73 13:15, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Your remarks about our "Bosniak" reasons for contesting a report riddled with inaccuracies I won't even get to. However, I think it's interesting to note that this article is four years old. Live Forever 13:32, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi,

• How can you expect to be taken seriously if you are unwilling to discuss comments or sources (other than saying they are "riddled with inaccuracies" in general)?
• Well, the NIOD report came out 4 years ago, that is why this article, on the reactions to the NIOD report, also came out 4 years ago. Besides, nothing has really changed since then. For example, you and

See also Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/Bosniak/Archive certainly seem completely unwilling to accept any data which indicates that there are other than Bosniak victims. Osli73 13:50, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

If you're going to lecture anybody on being "taken seriously", then I would suggest you cut down on the Ad Hominem attacks that do little more than emphasize your own ignorance. I am more than willing to discuss comments and sources; in fact, that's what I just did by writing several paragraphs in response to our earlier discussion in the "Serbian casualties" section and by carefully explaining every individual edit I have made. Live Forever 14:01, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

While we're on the topic of being "taken seriously", why in the world is it necessary to provide sources to prove that "food, medicine and other essentials were extremely scarce" in a besieged and overpopulated town with obstruced access to the outside world? I still added a source that carefully documents the state of the city at that time, but this is a basic fact to anyone at all familiar with the situation. I can only wonder how things would be if you treated absurd "Serb" claims with the same incredulous scrutiny. Live Forever 14:15, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, I see that you are quite motivated. That can be an asset. I return to my suggestion that you build credibility by finding the primary source material quoted in the blog (pre-teen killing). I believe we are all in agreement that the primary source material (straignt from the ICTY) would be better than the blog. How about harnessing some of that fountain of energy you have and helping those who question your commitment to improving the article just as you question their commitment to improving the article. I still see that you have erased accurate statements based on less than perfect source material rather than finding better source material. We all know that pre-teen children were killed during the massacre. So help with that source material and I for one will put some of my energy into places where I see some validity in your challenges to the article. With all this energy, if we aspire to wikipedian ideals, then the article will be improved. --Fairview360 15:25, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview,

What I objected to was describing the source as the ICTY when it in fact was linked to the SG blog. This makes it very difficult to understand the context in which the citation was made. I'd be more than willing to help to find this information.

Cheers Osli73 15:45, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli73

He wants to deface Srebrenica massacre article with already discredited Serbian sources. He wanted opinion (moral equivalism) of accused Serb-run rape camp participant - Gen Lewis MacKenzie - to be heard on Srebrenica massacre article. You know what Osli? Keep MacKenzie's Srebrenica genocide denials for left-revisionist websites. They are not welcome here. Osli73 also wanted to include Belgrade's already discredited lies about 3000+ Serbs killed to be included in the article (when they were already discussed and discredited). This article is not about Serbian nationalist lies, this article is about 8,000 + victims of Srebrenica genocide. I will not allow Srebrenica massacre article to be poisoned by moral equivalism and already discredited Serbian nationalist lies and left-apologist opinions. What a loser! --Bosniak 17:11, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, the best way to defend the article is with continued diligence and cool headed determination. So think of those killed and those who survived and for their sake, be vigilant, be determined, and don't be a hot head. Please. I strongly suggest you edit your comments and present your determined stance in a more constructive manner. Desribing Osli as an apologist for ultra-nationalist Serbs and their sympathizers is more effective than using names that belong on an 8th grade playground. Think about what you are doing. Calm down and preserve your credibility. --Fairview360 17:41, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, I have provided legitimate references for my edits and have been willing to discuss. As there are three contested sections (mainly) I have provided my arguments and sources for each above. It would be best if you discussed these specific arguments and sources above. However, if you prefer personal insults to discussion then maybe you do not belong in this article.Osli73 17:46, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, please do not claim that Lewis MacKenzie is a legitimate reference, a man who is on the ultra-nationalist Serb lobby payroll and who has discredited himself as an objective source by making statements that are clearly at odds with well established fact. He is a mouthpiece for ultra-nationalist Serbs and an unabashed revisionist. Lewis MacKenzie will not be a source for this article. If you want to start your own article with him as your feature, let's say with articles about how Elvis lives, the World Trade Center was not brought down by planes, the holocaust never really happened, and we never went to the moon, go right ahead. But not here. --Fairview360 00:06, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

I've blocked Bosniak for 24 hours for the above personal attack. Could everyone please calm down - making personal attacks is forbidden by Misplaced Pages policy and doesn't help anyone. -- ChrisO 18:56, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

While MacKenzie's opinions are clearly not mainstream and should be treated accordingly, we should also keep in mind that blogs aren't considered reliable sources either. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 14:18, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360, I'm not aware that MacKenzie is on anyone's "payroll". If so, could you please provide some kind of "proof" of this (not a Blog edited by See also Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/Bosniak/Archive). I've shown you above how the rape accusations against him are an organized smear campaign. As for his views, well, they may not tow the official Bosnian government line but as the commander of UNPROFOR at the time of the first fighting around Srebrenica, MacKenzie's interpretation of events at the time should be considered relevant. Cheers Osli73 14:42, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Is this how its going to be Osli? You are going to spoon feed us revisionist propaganda and then dare us to prove it wrong? I don't think so.

Read the Globe and Mail piece that Mackenzie wrote. That clearly shows where he is coming from. As far as MacKenzie's UN position automatically giving him credence, Ramsay Clarke was a ranking member of the Carter Administration. He is still a member of the Leftist lunatic fringe obviously warped by his own ideology. Yes, MacKenzie held a position of some significance, but his behavior and statements since then give rise to the suspicion that, not only do they pay him, but also ultra-nationalist Serbs do indeed have something to blackmail him with. In any case, he does not belong in this article as a credible source.

In regards to receiving funding, do your homework. MacKenzie conveniently forgets if he received money from the ultra-nationalist Serb lobby:

"The former U.N. commander in Bosnia has participated in a speakers tour funded by a Serbian-American advocacy group that seeks to dispel the internationally accepted view that Serb fighters were principally responsible for the mass killings, rape and ethnic cleansing that has destroyed the former Yugoslav republic. In an interview with Newsday, retired Canadian Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie said he has done nothing unethical or improper in connection with last month's tour. MacKenzie last week acknowledged in a telephone conversation from Ottawa that his tour was funded by the group, SerbNet, but said he does not know how much he was paid. In his public appearances, including congressional testimony last month, MacKenzie never disclosed SerbNet's financial support.

MacKenzie said that he customarily receives up to $10,000 an appearance and that he "wouldn't be surprised" if SerbNet paid that rate through his agent."

Osli, it is indeed offensive when people want to cover up or distort the truth of what happened in Srebrenica. For many of the survivors, that is all they have left. Having eliminated their loved ones from the face of the earth, ultra-nationalist Serbs now want to obliterate or at the very least distort any record of what actually happened. While Bosniak was out of line in the language he chose to use, it is legitimate for Bosniak to question your motivations and try to defend the article from your attempts to introduce MacKenzie-skewed material. Hopefully, when he returns he will have calmed down and will help provide the needed vigilance to protect this article from your attempts to distort it with revisionist propaganda. --Fairview360 21:00, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak and Fairview,

Bosniak, you state above that "This article is not about Serbian nationalist lies, this article is about 8,000 + victims of Srebrenica genocide. I will not allow Srebrenica massacre article to be poisoned by moral equivalism and already discredited Serbian nationalist lies and left-apologist opinions".

Fairview, you do not provide any credible source for why MacKenzie cannot be cited in this article. Instead you use name-calling such as "Leftist lunatic fringe".

No, this article is not a memorial of "those killed and those who survived", it should be an encyclopedic article about the massacre. So, if you are not able to edit this article in an academic style using a fairness of tone, then I suggest that you use you energies on the Srbrenica genocide blog and other such personal forums which do not require NPOV.

Cheers Osli73 08:32, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Srebrenica Genocide Blog

Bosniak, Are you (one of) the editor(s) of the Srebrenica Genocide blog? Just to set the record straight. Osli73 22:47, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Dear all, Reading through Bosniak's User page it is apparent (see here)that he is the editor of the Srebrenica Genocide blog. In light of this, is it correct to use this blog as a source/reference for statements in the article? Under what circumstances could it be correct? Cheers Osli73 07:53, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi ChrisO

Hi ChrisO

I don't understand what you are trying to say. The article is cited to:

COPYRIGHT PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE 450 Mission Street, Room 506 San Francisco, CA 94105 415-243-4364 Date: 06/04/1993

The fact that someone posted it on geocities has nothing to do with the credibility of the article; this is original article with full copyright notice. It's over 13 years old and was published when internet was only barely beginning to be used.

What's the problem? Is the truth problem again? I would not be surprised if you banned me and all your opponents from wikipedia. Now, I see, we are not even allowed to use this article as a source, but our opponents are allowed to use Lewis Mackanzie's genocide denials as a source ?

Don't you see double standard here? Bosniak 04:17, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

******* Double Standard Against Bosniaks ***********

ChrisO doesn't want me to use copy of the original investigative article that was published in 1993 by David Bernstein (Pacific News Service). The reason is because he thinks this is a personal website http://www.geocities.com/famous_bosniaks/english/general_lewis_mackenzie.html . What difference does it make? It's still original article published 13 years ago by Pacific News Service with full copyright notice? http://www.geocities.com/famous_bosniaks/english/general_lewis_mackenzie.html

On the other hand - he allows use of personal "lists" or "groups", such as "mail-archive" and Serb-run "balkanpeace" from Toronto when reading articles republished from Canada's Globe and Mail, example http://www.mail-archive.com/serbian_way@antic.org/msg00008.html

Anyways, balkanpeace.org is Serb-run website in which Bosniaks, Croats and other ethnic groups are portrayed as the worst of the worst, while Serb crimes are excused.

One more thing - if I stop being active here, then you will know that they banned me. And if that happens, it will be clear example of pro-Serb one-sidedness and double-standard that is attempting to plague this very important article http://en.wikipedia.org/Srebrenica_massacre .

I urge ChrisO to protect Srebrenica Massacre article in a same way Israel's article is protected http://en.wikipedia.org/Israel .

And remember: Srebrenica massacre article is not about Serbs or pro-Serb lobbyists such as General Lewis Mackenzie. Srebrenica massacre article is about 8,000+ victims of genocide. Let's focus on the victims and honor them.

How would you feel if you lost your children, mother, grandmother, grandfather and all people that you loved and lived for? Ask yourself this question every time you edit Srebrenica massacre article. Search for love and compassion in your heart, you will find it.

And remember: Sreebrenica massacre article is not about failed politicians and their adventures in lobbying for Milosevic. Srebrenica massacre article is about victims of genocide, not failed political figures such as MacKenzie who was kicked from Sarajevo due to his open pro-Serb leanings.

Peace! Always! Forever!

Bosniak 04:45, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, you rally should learn to detach yourself emotionally from the subject if you want to work on the article.

The question is whether the text posted on the geocities site is indeed the original article by the Pacific News Service. It is a grave accusation, so we need to be careful.

The Globe & Mail article is posted on their website, so I changed the link to point directly to it. However, I removed his opinion that it was not genocide because only the men were killed: his reasoning is directly contradicted by the ICTY Appeals Chamber judgment so I don't see why we should mention it. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 09:26, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Lewis MacKenzie

Jitse,

I am putting the second MacKenzie quote back in. I realize that his view that the massacre does not constitute Genocide is contrary to the ICTY's judgement. However:

1. it is clearly stated that the quote is his opinion; and
2. it is appropriate to have the quote is in the "Scepticism" section

Finaly, there is a difference between law, in particular international law, and history. So, just because Miloseivic was never convicted of anything doesn't mean he's not guilty in the eyes of history or that his crimes should not be described in an encyclopedia such as Misplaced Pages. Likewise, someone who is acquitted by a court is not necessarily innocent / not guilty in a historical sense.

Cheers, Osli73 11:11, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, can you come up with a few examples of Western observers who are merely skeptical about the number of 7,000 to 8,000 who do not have an obvious agenda? Fairview360 16:40, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360, why is it not appropriate to have a quote from a former UNPROFOR commander regarding the massacre in the "Deniers and revionists" section? Isn't that what it's there for? And what is his "obvious agenda"? Should all quotes from sources with an "obvious agenda" be censored? I've illustrated before (see above) how MacKenzie was the target of a Sarajevo government smear campaign.

Osli73 17:14, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, MacKenzie went before Congress and presented himself as a non-biased observer keeping it secret that he was being paid by a nationalist Serb lobby. Are you denying that? When I put his quote clearly in the category of being a denier, you edited it back to presenting him as merely a non-biased skeptic who is allegedly a part of a whole group of Western observers who believe the range of 7,000 to 8,000 killed just doesn't add up. Where are all these informed non-biased Western observers to which you refer? Fairview360 18:26, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360,

Yes, MacKenzie is obviously no friend of the Bosnian government (not surprising since they falsely accused him of being a concentration camp rapist). As for being "paid by a nationalist Serb lobby" (I presume you mean the SUC) please provide me with some proof that he is being paid. Or does merely speaking at a function organized by them (if he did that, I don't know) qualify?

Since he has been published by the Guardian (I believe it was) as well as been allowed to testify in the US Congress (as you stated, I didn't know) I presume his views are considered worthwhile to listen to by at least two well regarded 'western' institutions.

I agree that it may be misleading to call him "Some Western observers". I have now changed the wording to "One Western critic".

Cheers Osli73 20:11, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360,

I don't see how you can censor comments by MacKenzie purely by claiming, without providing any proof that he is "on the Serb nationalist payroll" (I'm not talking of blogs or obscure web pages). He has been invited to speak in front of the US Congress as well as the Canadian House of Commons and his articles have been published in a major newspaper, such as the Canadian Globe & Mail. This would hardly have been the case if he was "on the Serb nationalist payroll".

As for the Journal of Conflict Studies reference on the Bosnian government's smear campaign against MacKenzie. Well, Stephen Badsey who is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as well as being a Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for the Study of War and Society at DeMontfort University has obviously thought it credible enough to include in his article and the Journal of Conflict Studies has published it.

That you believe MacKenzie is "on the Serb-nationalist payroll" is your opinion.

Why are you so afraid of including MacKenzie's statements here?

Cheers Osli73 15:26, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , it is pure manipulation for you to say that those who object to your edits are "afraid" of them. In the 9/11 wikipedia article they do not give a section to the conspiracy theorists. That is because they simply object to their presence in the article, not because they are "afraid". Fairview360 20:45, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , it is not merely my opinion that MacKenzie was on the payroll of the Serb lobby. macKenzie himself has acknowledged that he "may have been paid". A June 22, 1993 Newsday article pointed out that while MacKenzie espoused opinions to the U.S. Congress, international media, and think tanks, he disingenuously failed to mention that he was on the payroll of SerbNet, a Serbian lobbying firm. A representative from Serbnet has ackknowledged that MackKenzie was indeed paid. So you think if you keep telling the lie that MacKenzie was not paid by a Serb lobby group, people will accept it? I don't think so. Fairview360 20:45, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , if you think simply being in a newspaper article makes something credible, then, according to your logic, it is credible that MacKenzie did indeed rape young Muslim women provided to him by ultra-nationalist Serbs and that now he will say or do anything to stop them from exposing him. Why do you want to defend MacKenzie so much and Osli, why did you erase the link to the names of people killed or missing and mark it as minor? Why did you mark it as a minor edit, Osli? Answer the question. Or mirroring your pathetic tactics of manipulation should I ask you now are you afraid to say why you marked it as minor? Fairview360 20:45, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360,

Regarding the missing persons list. I stated before (see above) that I deleted it because the list (a) was in Serbo-Croatian and (b) it clearly wasn't on any official site, as the link stated.

Regarding MacKenzie, pls read the comment by Jitse above.

Take it easy Osli73 21:01, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli ,

What you have not answered, what you keep avoiding, is answering the question why you marked erasing the names of those killed or missing as "minor".

Osli, are you going to acknowledge that MacKenzie was paid by the Serb lobby or are you going to keep trying to say that that is just my opinion? Fairview360 18:12, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360,

I have answered you, twice (see above).

Regarding the missing persons list. I have stated that I deleted it because the list (a) was in Serbo-Croatian and (b) it clearly wasn't on any official site, as the link stated. As it stood, it was just a list of names published on some unknown website.

Regarding MacKenzie, pls read the comment by Jitse above (ie he probably spoke at some SUC function because they liked what he had to say, not because he was "on their payroll").

Take it easy Osli73 18:34, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli intro edits

I believe Osli's latest edit to the introduction is an improvement. The figure of "7,000 to 8,000" is consistent with ICTY judgements and frankly more sensical than saying an "estimated" and then giving an exact number. The reference provided for the ICTY judgement is much better than a blog. The actual quote of "forty thousand" is better than paraphrasing.

I don't know where this figure of "7000 to 8000" comes from. Any reference to a range the lower and upper limits of which both lie below the most recently accepted figures is clearly incorrect. Opbeith 14:48, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Srebrenica genocide denial and revisionism

While it is a good idea to collect the sceptics of the generally accepted version of the massacre in a separate section I have a couple of problems with it:

• First, it bunches together those who are merely sceptical of the Bosnian government number of 8,000 killed with the conspiracy theory loonies and those who deny that the massacre took place at all. There is a difference between claiming that maybe the number of killed was 6,000 or that it should not be labelled "Genocide" to saying that it is all a giant hoax perpetrated by the Bosnian government and 'Western' media. A comparison would be the Serb tactic of calling anyone who says that maybe 1,000,000 Serbs didn't die in Jasenovac a "Genocide denier" and a Nazi/Ustasha. I would suggest renaming the section "Scepticism and citicism".

• Second, it assumes that there is such a thing as "Srebrenica genocide denial" and that this somehow contstiutes a common, cohesive ideology.

• Third, although the text is good in dealing with the SR and Serbian governments denial of the massacre it could be better in enumerating the main points of criticism of the generally accepted version of events (or how they are described). Each of these criticisms could then be sourced.

Fairview360, you are right, MacKenzie is not representive of 'Western' sceptics or 'Western' observers. So, until we can get a list together (point 3 above) I have added back the MacKenzie comment calling him "One Western sceptic of the mainstream view,..."

What are your thoughts? Cheers, Osli73 19:47, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli,

Firstly: 8,000 is not a "Bosnian government" number. MacKenzie is not a dispassionate observer looking at the numbers.

Secondly: There is such a thing as denying the Srebrenica massacre. Those who espouse this view have an identifiable ideology which motivates this phenomenon.

Thirdly: Quite frankly, Osli, when corresponding with you or watching your edits, I feel like I am watching a schizophrenic who has two personalities, one who truly wants to improve the article, and one who wants to foist ultra-nationalist Serb propaganda upon an unsuspecting public. Why did you delete the names of those killed or missing and present it as a minor edit? That appears to me to be deliberate sabotage.

When you improve the article I will say so even though I am highly suspect of your motivations. But as we have learned, ad hominem is not the answer. I do not mean to attack you personally. I am simply pointing out the oscillation that I see in your behavior between forthright and reasonable, and then trying to sneak propaganda into or legitimate crucial information out of the article. Fairview360 20:15, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360,

I think no-one is debating what happened. I certainly don't dispute it. The discussion is rather about how the facts are presented and what analysis is either made or implied. On these points (the last two) I feel that Bosniak presents a very one-sided picture. Take the example of the "Serbian casualties around Srebrenica". This is clearly pertinent to the article as it helps the reader to understand one possible motive for the viciousness of the massacre - revenge. However, for political reasons Bosniak (and, I believe, other Bosnian editors as well) is unwilling to include this information or this analysis (made by some of the sources I referenced). This article is not about "remembering those who gave their lives" or any such thing - it is about describing, in an encyclopedic way, what happened, why it happened and what consequences it has had.

In response to your comments above:

• No, the 7-8000 figure above is certainly not the "Bosnian govt." figure, it is better described as the "generally accepted number" or something to that effect. I can understand that you don't agree with MacKenzie's views but I don't understand your opposition to including him in the "denyers" and "sceptics" section since he is, apparently, one prominent (since he was UNPROFOR commander) critic of the "generally accepted view" of the massacre. If he is allowed to testify to the US Congress and the Canadian House of Commons committee as well as be allowed to publish articles in major Western newspapers on the subject, why should he not be allowed to appear in this article (where a lot of other, less reputable sources are used).

• Well, there appears to be broad range of people who are critical of all or some aspects of the "generally accepted view" of the massacre. This ranges from claiming that it never happened and was all a conspiracy to those who challenge the numbers killed to those who have a somewhat different analysis of the massacre. Believing that all of these people have a common political agenda with a common "ideology" is to misrepresent the truth. Branding everyone who is a critic, no matter in what way, as a "Srebrenica genocide denier and revisionist" is tantamount to when Serb nationalists brand all those who are sceptical of the 1 million Serbs killed at Jasenovac as "Nazis/Ustasha" and "Genocide deniers" and when people brand all forms of criticism against Israel as "anti Semitism".

• Well, I have described my motives for editing this article above. Regarding the list of names, well, maybe that was a bit harsh. The reason was that these lists were not identifiably sourced from the Federal Commission (as the source stated), instead they appeared to originate from some Bosnian-language website. As for my motives for editing this article, please see the first paragraph of this entry. Misplaced Pages is not a blog (like Bosniak's Srebrenica Genocide Blog, often used as a source here, btw) but an encyclopedia.

Cheers Osli73 08:53, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, but you never explain your motivations for deleting the names of those killed or missing and trying to sneak it by as a minor edit. For that blatant underhanded attempt at sabotage alone, you ought to be banned from editing this article ever again. As far as MacKenzie being paid, he himself acknowledged that he "may have been paid" and the Serb lobby group acknowledged they paid him. Do your homework and stop this charade of not knowing. Fairview360 14:28, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli's words "I think no-one is debating what happened. I certainly don't dispute it." No of course you don't dispute it Osli; you just do everything you can to try to make those who do deny it look reasonable. And you try to delete information in the middle of the night while nobody is looking. Why is it you think you can re-invent yourself as an objective person after trying to erase the names of those killed in Srebrenica. Fairview360 14:48, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

MacKenzie testified at the US Congress under false pretenses. It was not until afterward that people found out he was on the nationalist Serb payroll. Fairview360 14:54, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

There you go again trying to lump deniers of the massacre with people who simply have a different analysis of the motivating factors. You love to blur that line, don't you. Fairview360 14:54, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Please do not try to justify your deleting the names of those killed or missing. You labeled it a minor edit. You knew it was not. Fairview360 14:54, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

I think the fact that MacKenzie disagrees with the "official" narrative is worth mentioning, because of his position. I find it hard to believe that he disagrees because he is paid by the Serbs; more probable for me is that he first said that the massacre wasn't that bad, and that the Serbs started paying him afterwards to give talks in lot of places in an effort to get their side of the story told.

However, on reflection I think that neither quote of MacKenzie should be in the article, because they don't add any information. We should not use quotations to simply reinforce what the article says (see any style guide on academic writing).

MacKenzie is not the only Western critic. there is a group of people surrounding Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky with similar views (see the "Srebrenica Research Group" external link). Then there is an even bigger group of people (including Thom Karremans) who think that the reporting of the whole conflict in the media was unbalanced, but this article is probably not the proper place to discuss that.

I agree that "Srebrenica massacre denial and revisionism" is a pretty bad title for the section and I would prefer something like "Alternative views" ("scepticism" has too many positive connotations, in my opinion). I have never seen a point-black denial that the massacre took place in the Western media, and no reference to such a view is given. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 15:08, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Jitse,

I think your suggestion is very wise, both with regards to how MacKenzie and similar should be mentioned (without citations) and with regards to the title of the section. I see that you have already adjusted the text. I have now also changed the heading of the section (as well as removed the first para. since it doesn't quite fit).

With regard to your comment about avoiding quotes which can be summarized more easily in text (should be summarized, in fact) I think this is a principle which should also be applied to the greater article as well. Long quotes is one reason the article is so long. These could often be summarized instead. What's your thinking on this?

Cheers Osli73 09:47, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Long quotes

This article has a tendency to use a lot of very long direct quotes and citations. While this may not be a problem in itself, it is one of the reasons why the article has become so long. In most cases these could be summarized and referenced.

So, I suggest that we review the quotes in the article with a view to summarizing them in text instead (see for example what Jitse Nielsen did with the MacKenzie text and quotes, which I think was good).

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Cheers Osli73 09:55, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Licemjernost

I just realized what you did in the "Struggle for Srebrenica" section. Sorry Osli, but the nature as well as the number of the Serb casualties is very much disputed. Trying to sidestep the fact merely goes to show your growingly apparent agenda. So does your removal of essentially the entire counterargument, with the reasoning you used to justify this being completely unfounded. That said, I'm removing the entire attempt to explain it there. The question of Serb casualties around Srebrenica is controversial, lengthily, and complicated enough that it cannot be adequately summarized in the "Struggle for Srebrenica" section. I will now go ahead and fix the mess you made of the latter section and add some useful information. Live Forever 15:45, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

What motivated the executioners

Osli, the testimony of Drazen Erdemovic gives a stark example of what motivated some of the executioners: kill or be killed. Why on earth would you want to sidestep that???

Fairview360, I think that would be very good information to include. Certainly many individual soldiers acted under orders while some may have been dehumanized by war and hateful ideology and some out of revenge. What I'm saying is that the overall reason(s) for attacking the enclave are interesting and should be explored in the article. Appropriately in a separate section. Revenge for Serb casualties is one possible explanation for the orders to kill all the military aged males. The strategic reason was obviously to try to create an uninterrupted Serb area in E. Bosnia. As in most wars, there was probably a mix of reasons.Osli73 19:42, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli ,

Given your apparent bi-polar approach to editing, for the sake of keeping things straight, I am going to give you two names: Osli the Revisionist and Osli the Reasonable. Unfortunately, the second parts both start with R so it will be Osli-Rev and Osli-Reas. Right now, you are Osli-Reas, not to be confused with Reis.

So Osli-Reas, yes I believe we all would like to see a balanced reasonable assessment as to what motivated the killers and what motivated the orders. Mladic himself said just beforehand that he was taking revenge, not for Oric's action but for the Turkish empire invading the Balkans 600 years prior. The greater Serbia project explains the attempt to ethnically cleanse all of Bosnia of all but Serbs which explains the orders to engage in mass expulsions and mass executions. Yes, the soldiers who had had loved ones, civilians, killed by Bosniak soldiers would be motivated not only by orders given but by being overwhelmed by the sickness of hate and malice. So... where do we go from here? Who are you going to be next? Osli-Rev or Osli-Reas?

Hi,

I am simply trying to make this article as NPOV as possible. That means that it will probably not fulfill the expectations of people directly or indirectly affected by the massacre, such as most of the Bosniak editors I have come accross on this article. The reason I have become involved in this article is that I felt that it had become, to a certain extent and in certain sections, an expression of precisely the type of nationalism and victim cult that caused the war. Also, it isn't fitting with what Misplaced Pages should be. My intention has not been to offend anyone, simply to try to make the article more NPOV. More encyclopedic in tone. Misplaced Pages writes "you are free to write about yourself or projects you have a strong personal involvement in. However, do remember that the standards for encyclopedic articles apply to such pages just like any other, including the requirement to maintain a neutral point of view"

I would hope that you would refrain from name-calling and such. I have already been personally insulted by one editor on these Talk pages.

I am trying to work to improve the article, but this is very difficult if the Bosniak editors see this article as their personal blog rather than an encyclopedic article about a massacre.

Greetings Osli73 21:38, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli-Reas , If you were just trying to improve the article, why would you put so much energy into trying to eliminate one apt sentence from the intro? Why would you try to describe the list of names of those killed or missing as "just a list of names on an unknown website"? Why would you describe the ICTY testimony of Drazen Erdemovic as just applicable to him when in fact it was representative of many soldiers given the choice of kill or be killed? Why would you want to give Lewis MacKenzie so much credibility while trying to delete any reference to credible articles that seriously question his integrity and motivations? Why would you present Chomsky as just a Western observer and fight any attempt to put his criticism in context? And so on... Fairview360 21:45, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360,

Look, I feel that you are completely unwilling to discuss these issues sensibly. Instead you choose to call me names and see every deviation from your own opinion as an attack. Since you (and the other Bosniak editors of this page) appear completely unwilling to try to champion a NPOV, I suggest that we take the whole shape of the article to some form of third party mediation.

Regards Osli73 21:55, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli ,

I am one of the few people who are actually willing to engage you in conversation. Fairview360 22:01, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview360, still you seem unable to do so in a civil tone.Osli73 22:16, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , Given that I genuinely believe that you aid and abet the propaganda of those who committed genocide, I am remarkably civil with you. Fairview360 03:25, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Mediation & conflict resolution

Fairview360 and others,

Part of the problem, as I see it, is precisely that you view anything which does not correspond to your view as "propaganda".

• I am not contesting that it happened, that some 7-8000 people were killed or that it was planned by the Bosnian Serb authorities/army.
• However, I think the article could be clearer about the possible motives for the massacre and the fact that there is some uncertainty about the exact number of persons killed.
• These issues should be presented in a neutral way without attempts to immediately discredit or tarnish them (eg saying that MacKenzie is "paid by Serb ultra-nationalists" or that he is a rapists or bundling them all as "Genocide denial and revisionism" which implies that all and anyone who has a different opinion is on par with those who deny the Holocaust).
• I also believe that the article should use less emotional language as well as try to keep the lengthy quotes to a minimum (not least to make the article appear more encyclopedic).
• I believe that the article should use verfiable sources, which excludes the blog of one of the editors (User:Bosniak's Srebrenica Genocide blog) or sources which claim to be official but are in fact sourced from somewhere else.

However, the Bosniak editors of this article seem to feel that it is about "honoring" and "remembering" the victims of the massacre, not producing an encyclopedic article about the massacre. Below two quotes from User:Bosniak:

"Srebrenica massacre article is about 8,000+ victims of genocide. Let's focus on the victims and honor them."

"How would you feel if you lost your children, mother, grandmother, grandfather and all people that you loved and lived for? Ask yourself this question every time you edit Srebrenica massacre article. Search for love and compassion in your heart, you will find it."

Finally, any attempts to edit the article in the direction pointed out above results in personal insults and name calling as well as accusations of being a "Genocide denier".

Please calm down, use a civil language and realize that this is an encyclopedic article, not a blog or a "rememberance" of the victims. I have suggested mediation before and think that this is the only way forward with regards to this article.

Regards Osli73 10:51, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

All very well said Osli , however, then you go ahead and use the "Defend Milosevic! Defend Serbia!" website. Or, immediately dismiss all criticism of MacKenzie as a "slur" just as you accuse others of dismissing all your criticism as propaganda. Or while saying you are not contesting the number killed, you just do everything you can to give credence to those who are. Or, saying that quotes should not be in there, yet try to insert MacKenzie quotes of some length. Verifiable sources, Osli??? And then you rely on the Defend Milosevic! website and the RS news agency??? My guess is that you have lost so much credibility that not many would want to bother entering into mediation with you. It would be rewarding your underhanded hypocritical tactics and attempts at bullying your edits into the article. Fairview360 00:24, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview,

Does that mean that you are willing to enter into mediation? How about the other Bosniak editors?

Osli73 08:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli ,

Please read my above sentence again: "My guess is that you have lost so much credibility that not many would want to bother entering into mediation with you. It would be rewarding your underhanded hypocritical tactics and attempts at bullying your edits into the article." Osli, what do you think that means? Fairview360 14:10, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

alternative views verses revisionism and denial

Given Osli-Rev's fine example of people trying to make revisionists look as reasonable as possible, that being indicative of future challenges to this article, I think it would be good to have two sections, one for alternative views and one for deniers and revisionists. There are indeed objective people who are looking at the facts and offering alternative views, and then there are revisionists with a hard core Leftist agenda (Noam Chomsky, Diana Johnstone and Edward S. Herman) who should not be presented as neutral observers. The reader deserves to know what motivates these people to offer such drastically different views from what has been established through painstaking exhaustive investigation by the ICTY. If ultra-nationalist Serb apologists like Lewis MacKenzie are going to be included, again, the reader deserves to know about what may or may not be motivating him. If we have two sections, one for alternative views such as that put forth by defense attorney Norm Sepenuk and one for revisionists darlings of the Far Left like Chomsky, Diana Johnstone and Edward S. Herman, then we can both improve the article and better defend it from those trying to slip in propaganda as legitimate references.

If it were up to Osli-Rev, there would be no mention of propaganda, as if those who committed genocide never produced such a thing. The article ought to mention the ways in which ultra-nationalist Serbs tried to cover up their crimes and call it what it is: denial and revisionism.

Why should those with a "leftist agenda" be considered any less "neutral observers" than, for example, Bosniak sources? To me it seems like you cannot believe that anyone can have an alternative view on this without being a "ultra-nationalist Serb apologists". Language like this is and the personal attacks are, in my opinion, an example of why you are unable to participate in editing this article in a rational manner.Osli73 22:12, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , well then you do not read what I have contributed to the article. I am the one who did the research and found a defense attorney who argues that Krstic's crimes against humanity do not reach the level of genocide and added the reference. Do you think there is no such thing as propaganda produced by those who committed genocide? Are you suggesting that we can not refer to anything as propaganda? I believe it is you Osli who lacks consistent reasoning and who consistently misrespresents what I have written. Fairview360 03:31, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

I don't know what Sepenuk says, and the reference seems not to be included in the article at the moment. We should all be more careful and not blindly revert other edits as this has often led to the unconscious removal of good edits.

Anyway, it's not clear to me how Sepenuk's opinions differ from those of Chomsky et al., so I don't know why you want to put them in different section. As for the possible motives of Chomsky's group, that may be worth including if it can be formulated in a way that does not violate Misplaced Pages policies like no original research. Specifically, the fact that their are leftist does not explain by itself why they would take a pro-Serb point of view.

As for the title of the section, I think "genocide denial" is very bad because it is not clear what it means. It seems to refer to the opinion that the massacre did not take place at all, but this opinion is not found in any of the references. "Revisionism" has many different meanings (see revisionism), but I can live with that term. Apparently, you're happy to label Sepenuk's opinions as "alternative views", so how about labelling the section "Revisionism and alternative views"?

Finally, I think that mediation, either through Misplaced Pages:Mediation or through Misplaced Pages:Mediation Cabal, would be a good idea. Everybody here has made many reasonable comments, though occisionally interspersed with barbed remarks, which makes me hopeful that mediation could work out. Too much effort is spent editing, reverting, and re-reverting the article, efforts which could better be concentrated on improving the article. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 13:26, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Jitse , here is the link to the attorney Sepenuk. http://alumni.princeton.edu/~cl1954/NormSepenuk.htm It is currently in the article but with the multiple reverts going on it may appear and disappear.

I agree that being leftist in and of itself does not disqualify a person. If one looked at my opinion of capitalism, socialism, and communism, the label could easily be applied at least some if not a majority of my views. However, Chomsky is not seen as non-biased but rather pushing the agenda that whenever the US government gets involved it is expansionist imperialism. He forces everything into that prism which dovetails perfectly with Milosevic's propaganda that he was only trying to protect communism from capitalist expansionism.

As far as Osli's edits, sometimes they are reasonable, but he does take material off of the "Defend Milosevic! Defend Serbia" website, uses that site as a source, and then complains that people are calling him names when I believe it is a reasonable observation that he does at times copy and paste propaganda. No, of course all alternative views are not propaganda; I would like to see more precise language; the article definitely has emotional unfair language like saying the Dutch "collaborated with the Serbs" (they did not share the intent of killing people); BUT at some point we do need to acknowledge that there is such a thing as propaganda, that those who committed the Srebenica massacre did use propaganda to cover up or distract from their crime. The article would benefit from a measured balanced description of what that propaganda is. Thank you for your continuing engagement in this article. Despite all the back and forth, I do believe we are moving forward and I for one am learning alot as I look into the veracity or falsehood of various claims. Fairview360 17:06, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, I realize that there is propaganda in times of war. Those who committed crimes wish to cover them up or distract from them just as those whose people were the victims of them want to exaggerate and bring attention to them. This also applies, perhaps especially, to the Bosnian War and the Srebrenica massacre - the Serbs want to deny or diminish the massacre while the Bosniaks want to exaggerate and revel in it.

I believe that Misplaced Pages should not try to get sucked into this. That would include avoiding using emotional language or sensationalizing events but also noting what exactly happened, how and why, in a matter of fact tone. Today, as I have explained above, I don't believe this is the case. Since some of the editors of this article have been alergic to any changes with regard to the fairness of tone or NPOV I have felt the need to introduce additional sections to provide that balance.

So, in conclusion, either we find some kind of compromise or we definately should seek outside mediation (in that case, I think it would be very good if Jitse could go ahead and organize this, if she is willing). However, I would prefer we found a compromise (as Misplaced Pages suggests). This requires that editors abandon the attitude that this article somehow is about anything other than setting out the p l a i n facts.

What are your answers/thoughts? What should the process be from now on?

Regards Osli73 20:47, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , to begin with, I think we should refer to Jitse as the man he is. Please look at this photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/Image:Melb_meetup_2_img1.jpg I would think that with your alleged powers of objective observation you can clearly see that the person sitting on the right is a man. Fairview360 21:59, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, do you have any comments about my entry above?Osli73 08:23, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Sorry about that, Jitse. Don't know where I got that from.Osli73 08:21, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Answer to Osli73

Those with leftist agenda cannot be considered neutral observers due to their denial of genocide and open one-sidedness with Serbs and/or Milosevic, see Znet resource for example. When you mention "Bosniak sources", who are you referring to? Do you consider the International Tribunal a "Bosniak source"? Srebrenica massacre is heavily based on International Tribunal's rulling (e.g. Radislav Krstic judgement), and you are trying to destroy the article by inserting revisionist 'garbage' with the purpose of morally equivating victims with aggressors who committed genocide. The bottom line is: Alternative views do not matter, what matters is cold-harded facts from such sources as International Tribunal, Human Rights Watch, State-sponsored Research & Documentation Centre, International Association for Missing Persons etc. When it comes to editing this article in a "rational matter", you are the only one who rejects International Tribunal's version of the article and seeks Serbian (or pro-Serbian) version of the article. As you can see, you are not succeeding and your edits don't stay longer than couple of hours. People will not stand for your version of the article, because this is wikipedia and you cannot force people to accept your opinion and reject already established facts by the International Crimes Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and other neutral credible sources. If you care so much about alternative revisionist views, why don't you go to Holocaust article and attempt to spread Nazi propaganda there? You think that Jews care about alternative revisionist denials? You think that Tutsis in Rwanda care about alternative revisionist denials? You think that Bosniaks care about alternative revisionist denials? We all care about the facts, cold hard neutral facts, not alternative leftist-revisionist views. Maybe wikipedia is not for you? You are not succeeding here, because you can't force people to accept your revisionist view of Srebrenica massacre. Bosniak 04:58, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak,

Pls see my entry above (Mediation & Conflict resolution). Do you have any comments to this suggestion? Take it easy Osli73 10:55, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, how about if you answer some of Bosniak's questions. Do you consider the International Tribunal to be a "Bosniak source"? Fairview360 00:27, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, no of course the ICTY isn't a Bosniak source (however, this doesn't mean that all testimony to the court is necessarily true). The reason I don't answer Bosniak is that he writes long, unorganized masses of text filled with catch words like "leftist-revisionist views", "alternative revisionist denials", "revisionist garbage", "leftist agenda" and so on. He also has a history of personal attacks (mild forms of which you have also stooped to, at times). Osli73 08:29, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I refer you to my earlier statement: "Osli , Given that I genuinely believe that you aid and abet the propaganda of those who committed genocide, I am remarkably civil with you. Fairview360 03:25, 14 August 2006 (UTC)" Fairview360 15:10, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Live Forever - what the?

EXPLAIN to me why do you keep wasting my changes and coorections because of some unrelated edit war with some other person(s) or something, wasting my time and sabotaging the article? For example, I add dotes on the end of sentence, or change raids into proper raids, or Dutch Bat to Dutchbat, but then you come along and ruin back everything. I told you once, STOP DOING THIS, won't you? --HanzoHattori 19:53, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Hanzo, it is not Live Forever's intention to waste your time. The multiple reverts as a result of Osli are making it difficult to mend the article without editing out legitimate text. When you repaired your work, you trampled on mine. That was not your intention. It is simply difficult to repair the article without inadvertently editing work that ought to remain. Fairview360 20:38, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak

Bosniak, please do not engage in wholesale edits. Take it one at a time and be careful with references. For example, with your last wholesale edit, you deleted direct references to the ICTY and replaced them with indirect ones from websites like the Academy of BiH. Good people. Good organization. But the ICTY has greater credibility. 24.58.6.40 05:03, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Plagiarism / Copyright violation (Prosecutor vs Radislav Krstic judgement)

Upon reading the Prosecutor vs Radislav Krstic judgement it becomes apparent that not only have some of the section and subsection titles been copied directly from the ICTY, many parts of the text are also direct copies from that docuemnt. Examples are:

• the entire text in Section 1.1 The conflict in eastern Bosnia is from para. 10 in the ICTY document
• the text in the first paragraph of section 1.1.1 The 1992 ethnic cleansing campaign is from para. 12 in the ICTY document
• most of the text in section 1.1.2 Struggle for Srebrenica is from paras. 13-17 in the ICTY document
• text in the section 1.2.2 Early 1995: the situation in the Srebrenica “safe area” deteriorates is from para. 26 in the ICTY document

There are plenty of other cases where text, and in some cases, entire paragraphs, have been plagiarised from the ICTY document.

Misplaced Pages policy on Copyright violations is:

"If some of the content of a page really is an infringement, then the infringing content should be removed, and a note to that effect should be made on the talk page, along with the original source. If the author's permission is obtained later, the text can be restored."

Instead of removing the texts which are copyright violations immediately (they are the best parts of the article, which, maybe, explains a few things), I suggest that the appropriate texts are rewritten. If not, they should be removed.

Regards Osli73 12:21, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

As a interim measure, I suggest putting quotation marks around the verbatim sections and reference them accordingly. Fairview360 14:07, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Of course this is not a long term solution. The text in the concerned sections needs to be substantially rewritten.Osli73 15:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli's dishonest underhanded manipulations

Osli claims that he is not trying to deny anything, yet, now he insists on including a document straight from slobodan-milosevic.org that flatout denies that any massacre took place and then insists on calling it simply an alternative point of view. Why on earth would anyone want to engage in mediation with someone as underhanded as Osli? He claims that he is a 33 year old father of two from Sweden but shows almost no interest in Sweden and has quite a bit of time to dicker with this article rather than spend his time earning money for his alleged family. He uses ultra-nationalist tactics of trying to take all the benefits of playing fair - mediation, democracy - but shows time and again that if ever it benefits him, he will engage in underhanded tactics like making major changes but trying to hide it as minor or putting pure propaganda - Srebrenica did not happen - and try to present it as a legitimate alternative point of view. And then of course he tries to re-invent himself time and again as just a neutral observer and does indeed make valid points. But for how long must this article endure Osli?

I am taking out the entire "alternative views" section until there is a distinction between legitimate alternative views and pure propaganda -- ie. the massacre never happened. The Alternative views section can not be allowed to serve as a trojan horse for flatout denial. Fairview360 15:05, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, you seem to have completely come off your rocker! I don't deny the massacre, I've stated as much several times and have never implied this in any of my edits. However, that doesn't mean that the article must exclude links to those who do (I'm not sure anyone does, though, most of those who hold 'alternative views' typically just cite lower figures). Finally, I am trynig to play fair and improve this article by:

• sourcing edits
• keeping fairness of tone and avoiding emotional language
• being civil in all my communication and refraining from personal attacks and name calling
• suggesting mediation / arbitration when a conflict arises that does not appear to be solveable

Sadly, it is becoming apparent that you, and some of your colleagues (or "bro's" as you call them) see this article as something other than an enclyclopedic article and are unable to keep a civil tone.

Please calm down. Osli73 15:19, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , I assure you I am as calm as can be.

So you think documents from slobodan-milosevic.org that flatout deny the massacre occurred ought to be included in the article as a legitimate alternative point of view.

That, Osli, will be a rather difficult position for you to defend. Fairview360 15:25, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, sorry, but you sure don't sound calm. And pls., refrain from personal attacks. Regarding your question:

1. does the link it deny that the massacre ever happened? I haven't seen that. Pls show me where.
2. just because a link is included doesn't mean that it has to be a "legitimate view" or, indeed, a "legitimate alternative view", maybe it can be just an "alternative view". Sure, the alternative views range from loony to informed. While the text maybe doesn't have to outright say the source is a "looney" it could indicate this by, for example, pointing out the nature of the organization behind it.

Take it easy and keep it civil. Osli73 15:40, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Serb manipulation, again and again

I want ICTY judgement as a proof as we provided for people killed during genocide. --Emir Arven 16:43, 15 August 2006 (UTC) Also if you want to talk about casualties from 92 to 95 then you must inclued earlier massacres by Serb forces to show the whole picture (massacres in Rogatica, Vlasenica, Visegrad, Bijeljina, Trebinje, Bileca, Bratunac, Foca). --Emir Arven 16:43, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Emir, there clearly is a strong link between the Srebrenica massacre 1995 and the killings of Serbs 1992-93 (or at least in the eyes of many Serbs). So, killings elsewhere in Bosnia aren't really relevant. However, killings of Bosniaks in the Srebrenica region prior to massacre are mentioned in the article. However, the Serb casualties has taken on a certain significance (wether you like it or not). Just as many Serbs want to exaggerate their casualties, you like to exaggerate and focus on the Bosniak ones. I don't see the differene in your behavior from theirs.Osli73 20:17, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

The conflict in eastern Bosnia introduction

If ever we get to devote our energies to something other than thwarting Osli's attempts at putting "Defend Milosevic! Defend Serbia!" slants and other distortions into the article, I would like to work on improving the introduction. What concerns me is that someone reading the introduction would think that it was nothing but an ethnic war when in fact especially in the opening months of the war, there were in fact multi-ethnic militias which transformed into the multi-ethnic Bosnian army which were defending Bosnia not just their own ethnic group. I would like to see language that indicates that the opposing armies were the JNA controlled by ultra-nationalist Serbs (then changing hats and calling themselves the VRS) fighting for a greater Serbia and the Bosnian Army defending their multi-ethnic democratic country. I understand that as the war dragged on, the Bosnian Army became more and more predominantly Muslim, but still to the very end there were thousands of non-muslims in the Bosnian Army defending their country. How do we show in the opening sentences that this was not simply an ethnic war? Fairview360 19:45, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, it's precisely this kind of language and tilt to the text that makes it POV. Using catch-words like "multiethnic Bosnia", "ultra-nationalist Serbs" and "defending their country" simply proves the very partisan glasses you use to view the entire conflict (and the meaning of the Srebrenica massacre in it). Meanwhile, what are you going to do about the Copyright infringement? If nothing serious is being done those sections will have to be removed. Osli73 20:13, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Actually Osli , you are revealing more of your bias than I am mine. Let's start with the 2nd Corps of the Bosnian Army. They were multi-ethnic and grew out of the multi-ethnic militia that defended Tuzla from those pursuing an ethnically pure greater Serbia. Are you denying that? Fairview360 20:16, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , I refuse to blame all Serbs for the crimes of a minority that held the reins of power. That is not born of bias but of the reality that many Serbs opposed those pursuing an ethnically pure greater Serbia. There were indeed Serbs who wanted to live in a multi-ethnic democratic Bosnia and they joined the Bosnian Army. ARE YOU DENYING THAT? Fairview360 20:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview,

Yes, there were some Serbs who fought in the Bosniak army. There were also Croats and Bosniaks who fought in/for the Serb army (Bihac, for example). There are always exceptions to the rule. As for Tuzla, well as far as I understood that was a town that wasn't quite in the pocket of Izetbegovic's party in Sarajevo. As for "ethnically pure Greater Serbia", that kind of talk is on par with "Islamic fundamentalists" used by your Serb counterparts. Wasn't the JNA multiethnic? Wasn't Yugoslavia multiethnic? Please stop trying to politicize the Srebrenica massacre article even more. This is not a forum to replay the Bosnian War. Take it easy. No need to shout (with capital letters). Osli73 22:05, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not "Bosniak army". What do you think the greater Serbia project entailed? Do you recall the term "ethnic cleansing"? Fairview360 22:17, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Abdic's private army is a story initself. Looking broadly, comparing the number of Bosniaks and Croats in the VRS (handful) to the number of Serbs and Croats in the ARBiH is ridiculous. Your rambling about Izetbegovic's "pocket" is baseless, considering that at the beginning of the war some 35% of Sarajevo's defenders were non-Bosniaks. This is essentially proportionate to the population of the free areas of town; only a complete idiot would try and argue that the VRS was comparably diverse. As for "ethnically pure Greater Serbia", perhaps that language was not used, but the concept behind it was exactly what Serb political leadership was striving for. Your claim that it is only as valid as Serb radical accusations of "Islamic fundementalism" can only be taken at all seriously when you come up with a fitting counterpart to Plan RAM and the mountain of well-documented evidence involved. And lastly, as far as your would-be rhetorical questions go, the JNA was anything but multiethnic (as was Yugoslavia as a whole) well before the first blood was spilled in the republic. Live Forever 22:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , got a real tough question for you but I think you can handle it: what do you think the objective of Karadzic's "ethnic cleansing" was? Stumped? O.K. we'll help you out, creating territory where only Serbs lived. Are you denying that? Fairview360 22:33, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli's vandalism

In the last two days, on at least eleven seperate occasions...

22:16, 15 August 2006 22:06, 15 August 2006 20:04, 15 August 2006 14:06, 15 August 2006 21:29, 13 August 2006 21:20, 13 August 2006 19:34, 13 August 2006 19:23, 13 August 2006 19:14, 13 August 2006 19:06, 13 August 2006 18:43, 13 August 2006

...Osli has repeatedly deleted sentences from the introduction of this article, sentences that are accurate, true, relevant, and well referenced. This is simple vandalism. Fairview360 00:16, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview and others, no, in my opnion, it is you and the other Bosniak editors who are behaving as if this article is your personal property, displaying aggressive behaviour to all who don't agree with your agenda.

• You seek to politicise the article by emtionalized language and generally wording sentences and text so as to fit your political agenda (anything else is "alleged")
• You openly collude/conspire with other editors )
• You revert to name-calling and personal insults
• You are unwilling to agreee to mediation
• You accuse all who disagree with you of being "genocide deniers", "left-wing apologists", "Serb ultra-nationalists" or "defenders of Milosevic" - the type of behaviour which, in fact, is typical of nationalists
• You refuse to take action against copyright infringements

In fact, this article has been hijacked by a very partisan group. You are behaving just like the Serb nationalists you so much like to contrast yourselves against. Osli73 07:45, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , what you do with the introduction is simple vandalism. You repeatedly delete sentences from the introduction that are accurate and relevant. Your repeated argument is that the intro is too long. However, wikipedia's intro to the Holocaust is significantly longer. Misplaced Pages's intro to the battle of Ghettysburg is twice as long. Misplaced Pages's intro to the Spanish Civil War is three times as long. In other words, Osli, the reason you give for destroying the intro is not legitimate. As a vandal, in regards to the intro, your intention appears to be destroying a clear picture of what happened.

The other sentence you repeatedly delete is the one with the reference to the confirmed list of names of people missing or killed. In fact there are hundreds of names still under review. Including that sentence is very relevant in that gives the reader an idea of the probable number killed and it gives the actual names of those confirmed missing. What reason do you give? Intro too long? Sentence not relevant. It is obviously relevant.

Hence, I conclude with I believe good reason that your deletions of the intro are simple vandalism.

In regards to wikipedians trying to organize themselves to expose and thwart a vandal, that is what wikipedia is all about, using modern technology to bring people of diverse opinion together to work constructively.

While you at times are constructive, it appears to be only a way of trying to establish a foothold to then slip in "Defend Milosevic! Defend Serbia!" propoganda or to delete relevant information.

If you continue to give lame excuses while repeatedly deleting valid statements and references from the intro, then, in regards to the intro, you are a vandal. Fairview360 18:28, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, deleting POV and highly politicized text can hardly be vandalism. You are trying to sneak in your own partisan view and then claiming that reverts to a NPOV text is vandalism. What I am doing is simply clearing the article from your nationalist agenda.

Let's stick to the offically accepted version of 7-8000 killed. Yes, more may have been killed, but better to expand on this in a separate section instead.

The other editors you mention aren't just any other editors, they are all Bosniak editors, who, unfortunately, share your partisan agenda. You clearly believe that this article belongs to you and that I am "obsessed" when I would be more than happy to leave the article alone if you managed to present a NPOV text.

Finally, you still have not acted on the Copyright violation which I called to your attention over 24h ago.

Take it easy Osli73 20:12, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , the International Commission for Missing Persons does not produce "highly politicized text". The list of names of people killed or gone missing during the Srebrenica Massacre is not "highly politicized" text. I am looking at your behavior with the introduction and it appears to me to be vandalism.

If what you say is genuine (you have said you believe the article is quite good), why don't you follow up on the interim solution that I suggested in regards to the copyright concern that you researched? You are the one who did the research and therefore you know what text needs to be referenced accordingly. Why not do something constructive for once and reference the text accordingly and preserve what you claim is quite good. You know I ask these questions, but I think we know what the answer is, don't we? Fairview360 20:32, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Response to Fairview

Hi Fairview,

Yes, Osli73 is vandalizing Srebrenica article. If you look at the history of his contributions, you will notice that he is obsessed with Srebrenica Massacre article Osli73 Contributions. By entering into discussion with him, you are violating basic principle of common sense - to stay away from unreasonable individuals. He takes a great pride in destroying the article, although he is not succeeding. Hopefully, wikipedia administrators will notice his behaviour and either suspend him, or ban him completely. His only purpose is to vandalize Srebrenica Massacre article, he has no other purpose here @ wikipedia. You should not try to reason with him, you are just wasting your time my friend. There will always be people who will vandalize wikipedia, and that's sad (but true). Bosniak 05:47, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , it is clear to me that Osli wants to create controversy or delete items or in one way or another distract from the basic facts of what happened in Srebrenica. I believe that by reasoning with him, I can expose the fact that many of his deletions are unjustified and are in fact meant to destroy the veracity of the article. If I can show that he repeatedly deletes well established and relavant facts, then it will become increasingly obvious to administrators that he is at times engaging in vandalism. Currently, I am focusing on the intro. I know that some of my time is wasted dealing with Osli who I hardly believe is a Swede and who I do not accept as genuinely concerned about anything other than promoting "Defend Milosevic! Defend Serbia" slants, but from time to time, I learn more while researching his specious claims which adds to my knowledge of the Srebrenica massacre and current ultra-nationalist tactics for covering up or distracting from what happened; and perhaps most relevant of all, I injured my back rather significantly recently and have time to burn. Hence my appearance here several days ago and my abundant time available to watch and thwart Osli's oscillations from overt vandalism to re-inventing himself as a reasonable editor. Its at times both pathetic and amusing. Fairview360 20:17, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, what you call vandalism I call trying to inject NPOV into an article that has been hijacked by a very partisan group. This article is not an extension of your Srebrenica Genocide Blog or about "remembering" or "honoring" the victims of the massacre. It is about writing an encyclopedic article. Focus on taking action on the Copyright violations instead.Osli73 07:50, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , what you do to the introduction is vandalism. Fairview360 18:00, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Disputed!

Hi. I have marked this article as disputed. Apparently there is some heated debate over certain facts, etc. Please outline changes on the talk page before edit warring. If this continues, the page can be protected and the appropriate users blocked for violations of WP:3RR. Thank you. --Zsinj 16:03, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

introduction

Bosoni, the challenge with the "up to 8,373" limit is that there are hundreds of names above and beyond that number of people who may have gone missing during the Srebrenica Massacre. Also, given that the 8,373 number includes only those names that have been confirmed by two independent sources, then it stands to reason that there are more. In other words, the number of people killed is probably more than 8,373. Please look at the introduction that includes both the 7,000 to 8,000 estimate and the 8,373 list of names. Fairview360 18:33, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosoni, I understand your concern about possible ambiguity misleading the reader to an inaccurately low estimate of those killed, but by including the 8,373 number along with the 7,000 to 8,000, the reader can see that the number killed is most probably at least 8,000. I understand that that is what you want to communicate (about 8,000). Perhaps there is a way to concisely say that the 8,373 number is of those who have been confirmed by two independent sources, that there are hundreds more reported to have gone missing during the Srebrenica Massacre and therefore according to what is known in 2006, a reasonable estimate is over 8,000. But that will take some research and work on writing. We can do it. But at this time, I would really like it if we could all (except our dear vandal Osli) agree on the intro Jitse re-instated 07:06, 16 August 2006. If we do that, then only Osli will be deleting sentences and sooner or later, his behavior, in regards to the intro, can be clearly revealed as that of a vandal. Then we perhaps can get help from admin to stop Osli's vandalism. Fairview360 18:47, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

7000 estimate is antiquated

Based on the information available in 2001 the ICTY Trial Chamber stated it "is satisfied that, in July 1995, following the take-over of Srebrenica,Bosnian Serb forces executed several thousand Bosnian Muslim men. The total number is likely to be within the range of 7,000 -8,000 men."

Based on data available now in 2006, it is clear that the 7,000 estimate is too low.

The ICMP has a very strict accounting for Srebrenica victims and only accepts family testimony backed up with DNA samples. The ICMP list of Srebrenica victims is currently at 7,789. http://www.ic-mp.org/home.php?act=news&n_id=175 The Federal Commission of Missing Persons in 2006 is now over 8000. Their method is also strict requiring at least two independent confirmations. In addition to the approximately 8,300 confirmed by the commission, there are several hundred more under review. I have put in a request with a Harvard researcher to give the latest official numbers with primary source material. I hope to have that soon.

I believe the data now available in 2006 collected by internationally accredited institutions will substantiate that the introduction ought to say "approximately 8,000 killed" not the year 2001 estimate of "7,000 to 8,000". I want to thank Osli for inspiring this additional research and given his professed commitment to a rational approach to writing this article, I rest assured that he too will agree to the "approximately 8,000 killed" in the introduction once all the documentation has been presented. Hmmmm... well on second thought he'll probably go running to Seselj to get the latest "controversy" and do everything he can to sabotage putting a reasonable estimate based on ICMP research in the introduction, but so it goes. Fairview360 21:58, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

This article has tons of references and sources. As i see, its well researched and references. What specifically is disputed? I think its pointless to have this rv wars. Ldingley 22:26, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

I haven't read through the entire ICMP website but I agree that it looks like a respectable setup. So, I think "an estimated 8,000" or "about 8,000" is a good text. But in that case, there is no need to, in the intro, mention either the ICTY's 7-8000 or the Bosnian govt's >8,300 figure. These things could be expanded on in a separate section instead.

Finally, it's sad that you seem uncapable to imagine that anyone who is not willing to go along with your views on this topic must be a Serb or, for some reason, be for Seselj or Milosevic or be a "leftist apologist". In fact, that seems a bit paranoid.

Once again, I urge you to take action against the current Copyright violation.

Finally, take it easy and stay civil Osli73 22:27, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

And again Osli , you try to create controversy where there is none. Look at Jitse s suggestion below. Now Osli, go do something constructive and add the corresponding references. Fairview360 17:38, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, when you know that the ICMP numbers are only victims that had surviving family members who have contributed DNA and the list of confirmed missing people is over 8,000, and you now say "estimated 8000", then why do you turn around and put in "almost 8000" with no mention of that being an estimate? Always hedging for the lowest possible number it seems. The intro should have "estimated 8000" not "almost 8000". Fairview360 17:40, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

It is not sad but entirely reasonable to believe that someone who regurgitates numbers and articles and links from the "Defend Milosevic! Defend Serbia!" website, who tries to create controversy where it does not exist, who does all he can to give numbers produced by Seselj's political party credibility, is indeed propogating nationalist propaganda. And Osli, watch it. Time and again, I defend Serbs by making it clear that many resisted Milosevic, many lost their lives fighting against the aggression perpetrated by Milosevic. If anything, I assume you are a nationalist sympathetic to the Greater Serbia Project. It takes more than just being a Serb to be what I believe you are. Fairview360 17:44, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

THERE IS NO COPYRIGHT VIOLATION, U.N. JUDGEMENTS ARE IN PUBLIC DOMAIN

This message is for Osli73. Let me repeat again:

There is no Copyright Violation, U.N. Judgements are in Public domain. The fact that you do not understand that legal judgements are in public domain is yet another proof that you lack basic tenets of common sense, general knowledge, and intelligence.

You have been vandalizing Srebrenica massacre for quite some time forcing people to accept your opinion, accusing people of neglect because they refuse to agree with your personal views etc. Usually, vandals and spammers who act "though" online are true cowards offline. You need to be removed from ever touching any article on Misplaced Pages. Bosniak 03:15, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Can you give some evidence that UN Judgement are public domain? I looked into it some time ago, and while it sounds entirely sensible, I did not find any evidence for it. The current formulation is definitely plagiarism, but that's easily fixed by mentioning in the footnote that we're quoting ICTY.

Bosniak, your constant and blind reverting works counterproductive. For instance, in this edit, you revert to a version which has several problems: it repeats the sentence "The massacre included several instances where preteen children and women were killed", and it misquotes the ICTY judgement by using the number 40,000 instead of the word forty thousand. Such edit warring will lead to your being blocked from editing Misplaced Pages.

The last sentence also goes for you, Osli. Your constant edit warring does not have any effect. My advice to you, if you think the article is unbalanced, is to request comment on the article. You may be able to get some non-Bosniak other editors involved that way. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 05:23, 17 August 2006 (UTC), amended 08:17, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

"easily fixed by mentioning in the footnote that we're quoting ICTY." EXACTLY! So Osli , again since you did the original research and you know which text corresponds with what, why don't you simply add the reference and stop trying to make controversy out of something so easily remedied. Fairview360 17:36, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Suggesting a compromise to de-escalate edit war

Jitse,

As I have stated before, I do not dispute any of the facts in the article. What I disagree with is the selective choice of facts as well as the NPOV tone and context in which these are presented.

I realize that edit-warring is not the ideal behavior on Misplaced Pages and I would much rather focus on something else. I have also proposed compromises with the Bosniak editors of the article as well as some form of mediation (For example, I would be willing to accept the this version of the article). Both of which have been turned down (with some personal attacks, name calling and insults added on top). I feel that I have offered to de-escalate the conflict but that this has not been reciprocated.

So, in light of their unwillingness to compromise, replying in kind is the only strategy I can think of at the moment as I fear not doing so will result in the article immediately degenerating, with, for example, wording such as "leftist apologist revisionist", "concentration camp rapist", "genocide deniers" etc.

Regards Osli73 07:27, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, Fairview, Live Forever and Emir Arven,

• Have you considered my suggestion above?
• What would you consider necessary in a compromise version?

Regards Osli73 17:37, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, you have lost all credibility with me. Fairview360 17:57, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, see, that feeling is mutual. Really, it is becoming more and more apparent that you lot are of the same kind as the Croat, Serb and Kosovar Albanian nationalists who populate forums like this. Just them, you have such a skewed view of the world that you fail to see this. Just as them, you don't seem to know the word "compromise".

Osli73 18:44, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli , my view of what happened is substantiated by the ICTY and the ICMP and the Federal Commission for Missing Persons. Your view is supported by slobodan-milosevic.org. What does that tell you? Compromising with one user named Osli is not going to be the basis of this article. Rather it is going to be credible sources. Your trying to push blatantly inflated numbers based on slobodan-milosevic.org and then asking for a compromise is not going to get you what you want. I believe enough people have told you that. Fairview360 22:54, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, I'll say it again. I'm not contesting what happened, I'm contesting how you chose to present it! I couldn't care less if it is 7-8000 or 8,000. I don't mind you putting in lists. However, I do mind the consistent tilt in the language used and conclusions drawn or implied. Finally, What are the "blatantly inflated numbers from milosevic.org" you keep talking about? Osli73 05:13, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli states: I didn't mean to remove the picture

Right Osli, just like you didn't mean to erase the names of the dead under the heading of it being a "minor" edit. Fairview360 17:56, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, you keep on and on about this. I've explained this to you several times. What is it you don't understand? Osli73 18:39, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, Osli , and I will continue to go on and on about your vandalism of this site. You erased the names of the dead which is a highly antagonistic thing to do. It is inexcusable. The excuse you gave was no excuse at all. The "reason" you gave is that the website was not appropriate while at the same time you were inserting links to flatout denial of the massacre from the slobodan-milosevic.org website. No wonder the Bosniak editors on this site are so incensed by you. You labeled erasing the names as a minor edit. And what plausible reason did you give for that? Fairview360 22:38, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

approximately 8000 killed

In major news organizations today reporting on the largest mass grave ever found in Bosnia, all from the Srebrenica massacre, the number 8000 was used to describe the approximate number killed. No mention of 7000 to 8000. Fairview360 23:20, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosnia's Biggest Mass Grave Dug up

17 August 2006 | 19:37 | FOCUS News Agency

Sarajevo. Forensic teams have completed excavating the biggest mass grave from Bosnia's 1992-1995 war containing more than 1,000 victims of the Srebrenica massacre, Deutsche Welle informs. Forensic experts said the remains, found in the grave near the village of Kamenica, were dumped there are being transferred from other sites in an effort to hide the identity of the killers. 60 mass graves have been discovered around Srebrenica and experts expect to uncover still more. Serb forces overran Srebrenica at the end of the Bosnia war, executing some 8,000 Muslim men and boys. The massacre, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II, has led to genocide charges brought by the UN war crimes court against several suspects including wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his army chief Ratko Mladic, both remain at large.

Copyright issues

Three comments regarding copyright issues and this article:

• User:Bosniak has claimed that UN judgments are part of the public domain. It sounds plausible, but could he (or someone else) pls find some information to back this up.
• Even if the text is part of the public domain, it would be fitting to rewrite it, as it is currently directly copied from someone elses text.
• What is the Copyright status of the photos?

Osli73 07:38, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Osli, why don't you either add the references as several have recommended or explain why you are ignoring that recommendation. Fairview360 16:48, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

Discussion of the wording of the introduction

Hanzo,

"up to 8,373" is not accurate. The data indicates that it was more. That is only confirmed to date. It was not called the Serb Army of RS. The intro makes it entirely clear that it was Bosnian Serbs with help from Serbia that did the killing. No need for emphasis that confuses terms. Please consider this version which includes "at least 8,000" and then the 8,373 number later and answers the questions of who was killed, how many were killed, who did the killing, and gives the context. Fairview360 16:48, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

The Srebrenica massacre (also referred to as: Srebrenica Genocide) was the July 1995 killing of at least eight thousand Bosniak males, ranging in age from teenagers to the elderly, in the region of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of general Ratko Mladić. In addition to the Army of Republika Srpska, special state security forces of Serbia known as the "Scorpions" participated in the massacre. The massacre included several instances where preteen children and women were killed. While the exact number killed will never be known, the list of people missing or killed in Srebrenica compiled by the Federal Commission of Missing Persons includes 8,373 names.

The Srebrenica massacre is the largest mass murder in Europe since WWII and it is the first legally established case of genocide in Europe (see the section Legal Proceedings). In the unanimous landmark ruling "Prosecutor v. Krstic", the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ruled that the Srebrenica massacre was an act of genocide stating in its judgement:

"By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the forty thousand Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general. They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity."

Thanks, this is a good way to resolve the matter. Somebody proposes a version and then we can discuss it. I have some criticisms:

• Why at least eight thousand? You said above that the media reported "eight thousand", without the at least. My quick investigations come to the same conclusion. Associated Press: "As many as 8,000", as reported in ABC News and other outlets, BBC: "More than 7,000" and "about 8,000" , AFP: "Some 8,000" , EFE Brazil: "cerca de oito mil" (about eight thousand) , Volkskrant Netherlands: "7000 tot 8000" (7000 to 8000) , ORF Austria "8,000" .
• The ICTY ruling was not unanimous; one judge gave a partially dissenting opinion.
• The first sentence is a bit too long.
• The lead section should summarize the rest of the article, but the fact on the Scorpions is never mentioned. I also think that the last sentence is unnecessary detail, but it seems many feel quite strongly about it.
• I think there should be a bit more context. In particular, I think it's important to mention that the people of Srebrenica were supposed to be under UN protection.

So, I propose the following text for the first paragraph:

"The Srebrenica massacre (also referred to as: Srebrenica Genocide) was the July 1995 killing of approximately eight thousand Bosniaks in the region of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Army of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War. In addition to the Army of Republika Srpska, special state security forces of Serbia known as the "Scorpions" participated in the massacre. The victims were mostly men of military age, but also included some preteen children and women. The United Nations had previously declared Srebrenica a safe haven, but this did not prevent the massacre. While the exact number killed will never be known, the list of people missing or killed in Srebrenica compiled by the Federal Commission of Missing Persons includes 8,373 names."

I'm quite happy with the second paragraph, except that the word "unanimous" should be removed. Please comment. -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 04:33, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Jitse , hopefully we can continue this discussion and come to a "new and improved" intro.

1) I agree very much with including the sentence about the UN's failure to defend the safe area. I am surprised we had not already included that.

2) Given that the intro refers specifically to the killing of Bosniaks (execution), I believe "estimated 8,000" would be acceptable. The "at least" comes from there being 8,370 victim's names on the Srebrenica memorial with those names substantiated with JMBR number (social security number), name of father, dates of births, and other identifying information. I asked a Harvard researcher what he would recommend and he said "at least 8,000 killed". But I would not want to get into hair splitting with someone who wants to say a victim wasn't actually killed if they died of exhaustion while penned in at Potocari or were a woman who committed suicide to avoid being raped or after being raped. I find that kind of hair splitting to be offensive. Hence, I would support "an estimated 8,000" or something to that effect since there is nothing controversial about that statement and follow-up info indicates that number killed is probably higher than 8,000.

3) ICTY questions. One judge from the Trial Court or the Appeals Court dissented? Did he/she support the decision but write a seperate opinion? Or actually voted against the judgement? Most importantly, where can one find the info on how each judge actually voted. I can't find it on this site - http://www.un.org/icty/ . Please help.

4) I agree that the role of the skorpions ought to be described in the article since it is in the intro.

5) I do not see why the memorial info is in the intro. It seems rather non-sequitor. Perhaps, we could get an explanation from whomever believes it should be in the intro. (?)

Jitse, here is an alternative first paragraph that puts back some info but also keeps the shorter first sentence that you are recommending. Perhaps there should be a few more words about the presence of 400 Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica at the time of the takeover and executions, something to the effect: "despite the presence of 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers". Let me know what you think:

"The Srebrenica massacre (also referred to as: Srebrenica Genocide) was the July 1995 killing of approximately eight thousand Bosniaks in the region of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of general Ratko Mladić. In addition to the Army of Republika Srpska, special state security forces of Serbia known as the "Scorpions" participated in the massacre. The victims were mostly men of military age, but also included some preteen children, women, and elderly men. The United Nations had previously declared Srebrenica a safe haven, but did not prevent the massacre. While the exact number killed will never be known, the list of people missing or killed in Srebrenica currently being compiled by the Federal Commission of Missing Persons includes 8,373 names."

Bosniak, Live Forever, Emir, Hanzo, others, what is your opinion on this? Fairview360 18:43, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Update 1 : with a 20:53, 20 August 2006 edit, Hanzo removed the sentence from the intro that refers to the memorial. I believe this is a good edit. Will be interesting to see if it remains out. Fairview360 21:53, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

That's all fine with me. I agree with removing the memorial from the lead, and also with mentioning the Dutch soldiers. For instance, we can change the fourth sentence to "The United Nations had previously declared Srebrenica a safe haven and 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers were present at the time, but they did not prevent the massacre." I didn't check the number 400 though.

Ad 3) In the Appeals Chamber, Judge Shahabuddeen wrote a partially dissenting opinion. He agrees with most parts of the judgement (including the fact that it was genocide and the sentence). You can read it in Part VIII (Partial dissenting opinion of Judge Shahabuddeen) in the Appeals Chamber Judgement, Case IT-98-33-A.

I don't know why the article currently starts with "The Srebrenica massacre (also referred to as: Genocide on Bosniaks)" instead of "The Srebrenica massacre (also referred to as: Srebrenica Genocide)". Anybody care to explain? -- Jitse Niesen (talk) 12:40, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Update 2 : with a 14:59, 21 August 2006 edit, Hanzo changed "Genocide on Bosniaks" to "Srebrenica Genocide". I wish Hanzo would participate in this discussion before making edits, but so far I have agreed with the two he has made. 14:59, 21 August 2006

Jitse , no one has explained why they want "genocide on bosniaks" but from what I have seen, there are some editors who want the reader to know as quickly as possible and without any doubt that Bosniaks were the ones who were killed, and that it was Serbs who did the killing. The same editors then want to remind the reader of that with each and every opportunity. (I prefer more precise language, who exactly, what part of Serbian society, what military units, etc.) In the intro, the quote from the ICTY makes it clear that the Bosnian Serbs were executing Bosniaks, so I do not believe it is necessary to have "genocide on bosniaks" in the first sentence. Also, ironically, while the intention is to make things clear, the expression "genocide on bosniaks" sounds strange and confusing to a native speaker of English. In Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian the preposition "on" is appropriate but in English it is a little strange though technically OK. Plus, the word Bosniak needs some explaining to the average reader. User:Bosniak added Bosniak in brackets in the ICTY quote which efficiently explains the matter.

We do need to check the number of Dutch troops. I was estimating when I suggested the wording.

I'll work on the wording of the ICTY ruling. The judges were unanimous in there determination that genocide occurred, but apparently the entire decision was not entirely unanimous. I assume we just need to reword the sentence. I think it is important for the reader to see that each judge determined that genocide occurred.

O.K. I feel like we are making progress. Hope it keeps up. Fairview360 15:29, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

number killed : today in the Australia's Herald Sun, the article stated "more than 8,000". "More than 8000 men and boys were summarily executed at several locations around Srebrenica. The lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers protecting the enclave failed to prevent the onslaught, citing limited rules of engagement." In three other papers reporting on the current ICTY Srebrenica case, two said "about 8000", the other just said "8,000". http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20206173-5005961,00.html Fairview360 18:51, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , I would like to put in the intro the sentence about the UN and Dutch peacekeepers. Can you direct me to the best primary source material that shows the declaration of the safe area and the number of Dutch troops at the time the VRS entered Srebrenica? Thanks. Fairview360 16:21, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi Fairview360, the source is already listed in Srebrenica massacre article's references. I would give you direct source, but www.un.org/icty website is down at the moment. Just follow this link (when it's up again) to PDF file http://www.un.org/icty/krstic/TrialC1/judgement/krs-tj010802e.pdf#search=%22prosecutor%20vs%20krstic%20judgement%22 and you should find that info there. Let me know results of your search. Bosniak 02:11, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , thank you. I found the exact paragraphs to substantiate the sentence.Fairview360 17:06, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Update 3 I added the sentence about the UN declaring Srebrenica a safe area and the 400 Dutch troops not preventing the massacre. The sentence is referenced to the exact paragraphs in the Finding of Facts section of the ICTY Prosecutor vs. Krstic Trial Chamber Judgment Fairview360 17:11, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Update 4 I took out the parathetical (See Legal Proceedings) from the intro since I believe it was awkward. I assume that it was a relic left over from the revert war and that it is OK with all that it has now been removed. If anyone objects, please join this discussion. Fairview360 17:32, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi Fairview, good job! I knew that source had alrady been listed in the references of the article. Bosniak 02:09, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Update 5 With a 23:47, 25 August 2006 edit, Dado made the statement refering to the number killed more accurate by changing "may never be known" to "will never be known" and added the word "also" to the following sentence: "The massacre included several instances where preteen children and women were also killed."

Darkoe has proposed the following sentence for the introduction: "In addition to the Army of Republika Srpska, including soldiers from Serbian Krajina paramilitary group "Scorpions" participated in the massacre." Source material that I have seen states that the Scorpions were part of Serbia's MUP. Also the above sentence is lacking a subject. Fairview360 13:57, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Darkoe, in your proposed version of the introduction, the reference to your proposed sentence directly contradicts what you've written. The reference material clearly states that the Scorpions were part of Serbia's security forces. Please read this reference:

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=tri&s=f&o=260394&apc_state=henitri200603 Fairview360 14:08, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

While I see that there is a long discussion here taking place and while I am unable to indulge myself too much in this issue at this time may I just bring up couple of minor items in the introduction. In the sentance "While the exact number killed will never be known," I have already once replaced "will" with "may" once, since "will" seams to be to definitive and maybe an overstatement. Someone reverted this so I am posting it here for discussion. Also the image of a hung girl is particulary disturbing and I would prefer to move it to the lower part of the article as it in the introduction it seams as a too strong appeal to emotions. While the rape was common during the Srebrenica massacre it is not the predominant subject of it as the image in the introduction may imply.--Dado 17:27, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Dado , I believe all agree that "will" is better than "may". If it has been reverted out, it has I believe been by mistake. I'll keep an eye on it. Right now it has "will".

In regards to the photo, I suggest looking at the top of the My Lai massacre wiki article. It also has a stark image of what happened. http://en.wikipedia.org/My_Lai_Massacre I believe it is appropriate to communicate the horror of what happened in images and in the beginning. However, along the lines of what you are saying, for the introduction, I believe a picture of men and boys recently executed would better communicate the nature of the massacre with the picture of the girl who committed suicide being moved to the "12–13 July: crimes committed in Potočari" section. Fairview360 18:22, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Genocide on Bosniaks - I agree with Jitse

I also have to agree with Jitse. The term "Genocide on Bosniaks" is like explaining that war crimes were committed by crimes during the war, you know what I mean. It is well known who the victims of Srebrenica Genocide were. There is no reason to explain something that is self-explanatory. Bosniak 03:25, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Kravica military and civilian deaths

User: 195.229.242.88 states: "Why you are trying to skip truth? Even ICTY convict Naser Oric. Hiding truth is not right way of writining history" while editing in the following sentence: "Serbs blame Oric and his forces for killing about 2,000 Serb civilians from villages around Srebrenica during those raids, including the so-called "Bloody Christmas" massacre of January 1993, when dozens of women and children died in the village of Kravice."

Response: User 195.229.242.88 is invited to join discussion. Sentence is edited out with the response being: Republika Srpska primary sources state that in Kravica 35 soldiers and 11 civilians died. Please note the last sentence of the paragraph: "During this military activity in the months following January 1993, there were reports of civilian casualties on both sides." Fairview360 11:49, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Update 1 , having noticed the qualifier "in the months following January" and the fact civilians died at Kravica during January, the qualifier is edited out with the sentence then reading: "During this military activity, there were reports of civilian casualties on both sides."Fairview360 12:08, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Naser Oric's conviction by the ICTY

User: 195.229.242.88 has correctly pointed out that the article does not mention Naser Oric's conviction by the ICTY. Unfortunately, User: 195.229.242.88 has also repeatedly tried to insert a description of the attack on Kravica that is blatantly not true and "threatened" to conclude that the editors of this article are not objective which I believe calls his objectivity into question. Still, the conviction of Naser Oric is obviously relevant. Text describing this conviction must be specific, accurate, in context, and supported by exact references. If User: 195.229.242.88 would please sign in and discuss proposed edits here, that would be helpful. Fairview360 16:51, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

I am not trying to make new articles, because I am not considering myself relevant to do this, what I am trying to point, is that in all article about Srebrenica, I did not find anything about relevant fact that Naser Oric, leader of Bosinan army in Srebrenica is convicted war criminal. I am not trying to find reasons for Srebrenica massacre, but like you said, it is very important to mention that. Also, claims like " Serbs were killing Bosinians civilians daily..." are not true, and for sure are not in manire of Neutral Point Of View. Also, I am not "threating", just thinking there is no point of posting something, if you will delete it repeadtly, even if I provide reference such is ICTY. So, my proposal is to try to avoid such questionable claims like " Serbs were killing Bosinians civilians daily...", but rather put some facts and exact events. Also, somewhere in article, it should be mentioned that Naser Oric is convicted war criminal.

Thanks, I hope that you will add this to article, it is better than editing and deleting things...

195.229.242.88 First step is to sign in. Second step is to provide references. Yes, the article needs work and yes sentences like "killing Bosnian civilians daily" can be written in a more specific manner. The problem as I see it is that you have put in inflated numbers, called it the truth, and said that if anyone erases it they are not objective. So start with your primary source material in regards to the Kravica attack. Fairview360 18:27, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

As you can see, after posting my previous answer here, I did not edit anything. I am expecting from you to delete claim "killing Bosnian civilians daily", of rewrite it. Are you agree with me that this is OK to be done? Also, are you agree that somewhere in article it should be mentioned that Oric did war crimes, because it is relevant. About Kravice attack, I don't have exact data, you obviously have it, so if you claim that in that attack 11 civilians are killed, put exact number in article. But don't avoid it at all. I hope that you will add these things in article in right manner. I will not edit anything, until we make agreement what and how should be modified. And sorry for my uncorrect claims, I did not have documents.

195.229.242.88 , thank you for participating in discussion instead of first editing. It saves us an edit war which this site has suffered from all too often.

I will accept the task of editing the sentence "killing Bosnian civilians daily" to more precise language.

For the rest, we need to do research and propose here on the discussion page suggested ways of addressing the issue of the ICTY judgement in regards to Oric and civilian deaths during fighting between the Srebrenica territorial defense forces and the Army of Republika Srpska. The challenge is presenting the facts about Serb civilian casualties without getting into the fallacy that the Srebrenica massacre occurred because of those casualties. There is a concerted effort by those who committed the Srebenica massacre to say that it was all part of an equal exchange of tit for tat atrocities and that all sides are equal and the West is biased against Serbs and because of that Srebrenica is presented as unique when it was not. The propaganda gets to a shrill level when it says the ICTY judgement is part of an "Islamo-fascist version of the Bosnian war" and that the Serbs were just protecting the West from Al Qaida. So the question becomes, how can the article describe the civilian deaths of Serbs and Muslims that occurred during fighting and make it completely distinct from the Srebrenica massacre which was the pre-planned, logistically complex, mass execution of approximately 8,000 men and boys as part of the project to create an ethnically cleansed greater Serbia?

Right now, the article simply states "During this military activity, there were reports of civilian casualties on both sides."

Let's work on that. What do you suggest?

In regards to the ICTY judgement on Oric, the ICTY acquitted Oric of all charges except one -- not doing enough to prevent the mistreatment of Serb prisoners in the Srebrenica Police Station between 27 December 1992 and 20 March 1993-- and, noting the dismal and chaotic conditions of Srebrenica at the time, said Oric had "uniquely limited criminal responsibility". That does not put him in the same category of the war criminals who aided and abetted genocide. Please read this ICTY statement. http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2006/p1094-e.htm And please read this judgement http://www.un.org/icty/oric/trialc/judgement/ori-jud060630e.pdf

One way of addressing it in this article could be just the text from the ICTY statement which reads:

In determining the sentence the Trial Chamber gave pivotal consideration to the general circumstances prevailing in Srebrenica and those particular to the accused and to the crimes committed. The judges described conditions in Srebrenica at the times of the crimes in 1992 and 1993 as abysmal. They noted that militarily superior Serb forces encircled the town and that there was an unmanageable influx of refugees there, as well as a critical shortage of food and the breakdown of law and order. The judges also noted that it was in these circumstances that Oric, then aged 25, was elected commander of a poorly trained volunteer force that lacked effective links with government forces in Sarajevo. His authority, they assessed, was scorned by some other Bosnian Muslim leaders and his situation became worse as the Bosnian Serb forces increased the momentum of their siege.

The judges found that there is no other case before the Tribunal in which the accused was found guilty of having failed to prevent murder and cruel treatment of prisoners in such a limited manner and in such abysmal personal and circumstantial conditions as in this case. Consequently, the sentence imposed reflects this uniquely limited criminal responsibility.

The Tribunal's Trial Chamber II convicted Oric because he had reason to know about acts of murder and cruel treatment committed at the Srebrenica Police Station and a building behind the Srebrenica municipal building where Serb prisoners were kept between 27 December 1992 and 20 March 1993, and he failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the occurrence of the crimes. The Trial Chamber acquitted the accused of a number of other alleged crimes.

What do you suggest?

195.229.242.88, have you thought of giving yourself a name besides 195.229.242.88. Fairview360 15:57, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

I am not trying to make guilt of all sides equal. I just notice few things in article, that I found not correct, or leack of some facts. It not up to me, or up to you to make conclusions - let reader make it for himself. Just put as more as possible facts, with some documents, or references. Personaly, I think that in this article, there is lot of things which look like writing from Bosnian Muslims point of view. First of all, when you say "Bosnian forces", it could refer to Serbian forces also, because Serbs which lives in Bosnia consider themselfs Bosnians as well, for many many years ago. Saying that this war was between "Bosnians" and "Serbs" gives to reader wrong image, that some "Serbs attack Bosnia" - which is not true, because these Serbs lives in Bosnia for decades. In my opinion, through all article, it should be refer to Serbs and Bosniaks, not Serbs and Bosnians. I am living here, and there is big difference in this two terms. Muslims from Bosnia call themselfs Bosniaks, and Serbs from Bosnia call them self Bosnian Serbs. Also, in my opinion, claim that " Lewis MacKenzie is rape...." is far away from neutral - there is no any proof for that, and if you say that "some rapiest say that and that" - who will believe that? Another thing that I found not neutral is that you are asking from me reference, or some document for every claim and at the same time there are lots of claims in article without proof or provided documents. One of them is "Serbian tank fire on refugees" - is there are any proof for that? It sounds realy barbarous... See, even in this discussion, you are mentioning "the project to create an ethnically cleansed greater Serbia" - there is no proof for such claim. I am Serbian, and I don't believe and don't support this kind of thinking - Great Serbia and all others should be terminated. If your starting point is that - Serbs want etnicaly clean Great Serbia, than there is no point of discuss, because you already know who is guilty for everything. I am far away from "ICTY judgement is part of an "Islamo-fascist version of the Bosnian war" and that the Serbs were just protecting the West from Al Qaida", and I even don't know anybody who beleive in this nosense, but some facts gives different picture to this particular event, and to war in Bosnia. I am also far away from "Serbs have plan to occupy Bosnia( especcialy Serbs which lives in Bosnia for decades ago ), to terminate Muslims and Croats, and all otheres are inocent angels". So, I agree about put part from ICTY document about Oric. Also, edit this "daily" claim, I see it is still in article. Claim that Kravice was "military base", it was militray base same as any other village in Bosnia at that time? I don't know that in Kravice was some special "military base"?

I whould like to see what is your opinion about this.

195.229.242.88 , I do not have much time right now. I will either tomorrow or Wednesday. I agree that the article needs improvement. What I have seen in the past are people who challenge the article acting reasonable at first and then really trying to sabotage it. Then most of my energy goes into thwarting the vandalism rather than improving the article. I will respond more later. See comment below that I am starting the process of changing the "daily" sentence. What I do not want is another edit war so I am taking it one step at a time. By the way, I am neither Serb nor Bosniak. I am American. When in Bosnia which is part of each year since 1996, I work with both Serbs and Bosniaks. Fairview360 01:18, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

195.229.242.88 , it would really help if you gave yourself a name. 195.229.242.88 as a name is rather inhuman. A few questions and clarifications:

I have a question for you. In ICTY, UN, Karadzic's own statements, international media, etc. there is ample clear undisputed evidence that there was an attempt to ethnically cleanse parts if not all of Bosnia of non-Serbs and make it a part of Serbia. Do you believe that is not true?

I agree with you that the terminology of the article is not precise enough. I do not like the use of "Serbs" without greater clarification. However, saying Serbs and Bosniaks does not work for me, because, especially in the beginning of the war, Serbs, Bosniaks, Croats, Jews, Roma, Atheists, Mixed, joined together in territorial defenses forces to oppose the cetniks, those pursuing an ethnically cleansed greater Serbia. There were places where the conflict was experienced as an ethnic conflict. There were places especially in Sarajevo and Tuzla especially in the beginning where the conflict was experienced as between the forces for a multi-ethnic democratic Bosnia verses the ultra-nationalist undemocratic forces pursuing a greater Serbia, in other words, cetniks. So how do we address that? I would prefer rather than Serbs and Bosniaks, whenever fitting VRS verse ARBiH. What do you think?

Yes a tank firing on refugees is barbaric. When thousands of Bosniaks from Srebrenica tried to get to safety, VRS forces did fire on them with their tanks. Have you seen the movie "A Cry from the Grave"? I think that would be illuminating.

I do not consider Lewis MacKenzie to be a credible source, but I also agree that introducing him as an alleged rapist is not appropriate. I would rather have the entire section of the article re-written and have him only as a reference in the revisionist section.

I agree with you that it is not appropriate to describe Kravica as a military base. It was militarily significant but military base creates the wrong impression.

Of course, I agree that Serbs are a constituent people of Bosnia and that Bosnia is incomplete without all of its constituent peoples. For me, the beauty of Bosnia is its multi-ethnic heritage and culture. I also believe that each constituent people has legitimate concerns and grievances. I believe that if it had not been for Milosevic on one side and Tudman on the other, that Bosnians -- Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats, and Bosniaks -- could have worked out their concerns without the bloodshed.

Lastly, I am in the US right now, but will return to Bosnia sometime in November or December and would welcome having coffee with you. I work in the Sarajevo, Tuzla, Doboj, Maglaj, Brcko, Bijeljina, Zvornik, Srebrenica area Fairview360 14:29, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Srebrenica a “safe area” section

This section of the Srebrenica massacre article is comprised from selected text from the Finding of Facts section of the ICTY trial chamber "prosecution vs. Krstic" judgement along with bits and pieces of original text from wiki editors.

In this section, there is a sentence "Although Serbs were attacking and killing Bosniak civilians in and around Srebrenica daily, to the Serbs it appeared that Bosnian forces in Srebrenica were using the “safe area” as a convenient base from which to launch counter-offensives against the VRS and that UNPROFOR was failing to take any action to prevent it." The second half of this sentence is from the ICTY findings of facts but the qualifier "although Serbs were attacking and killing Bosniak civilians in and around Srebrenica daily" was added by a wiki editor. Given that the article in whole clearly shows that the nationalist Serbs were engaged in an ethnic cleansing campaign which included killing or expelling Bosniaks on a daily basis and given that the focus of this section is the military violations of the safe area by both sides and therefore not directly relevant to the nationalist Serb ethnic cleansing, I propose the qualifier "although Serbs were attacking and killing Bosniak civilians in and around Srebrenica daily" be deleted.

Any suggestions? Fairview360 16:37, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

- - - - 

Hi Fairview, I think it is very important to put things into context by keeping the first part of the sentence: "Although Serbs were attacking and killing Bosniak civilians in and around Srebrenica daily...." Average reader is dumb, they have no idea what happened there, they couldn't care less. The burden is on us to put things into context so they can understand that Srebrenica was under siege and attack by Serbian forces who had no business of being in the Eastern Bosnia (predominantly ethnic Bosniak territory) in the first place.

Bosniak 19:48, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , I do not believe we are in a position to judge the intellect or compassion of the average reader, though yes, I believe it is safe to assume that the average reader is unaware and yes the article should put things into perspective. What I would suggest is reading the factual part of the ICTY Oric judgement. It is very informative and quite clear about what you are saying above. The question is how to best word it and where to word it. The intro "Although Serbs were attacking and killing Bosniak civilians in and around Srebrenica daily...." is not in the ICTY text that that section of the Srebrenica Massacre article is based upon and changes the meaning of the text. For that part of the article, the point is that the 28th Division was still armed and at the very least required that the VRS commit significant troops to that area. Again, the ICTY Oric Judgement puts in very plain straightforward language what you are talking about it so the context can be preserved. It is simply a question of where to put that information. In my opinion, the "although the Serbs" qualifier that we are discussing here appears logically non-sequitor and gratuitous. Fairview360 00:12, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

- - - -

My Response to 195.229.242.88

Hi 195.229.242.88, I wish you put your name or nickname. Let me introduce myself, my name is Daniel, I've been working on this article for quite some time. Apart from this article being vandalized by pro-Serb left-apologists, we had no any major difficulties in revising this article and updating it with facts, such as the fact that 8,106 Bosniaks were killed by Serb forces in Srebrenica. Naser Oric was convicted for failing to discipline men under his command who killed 5 Serb captives. I am not defending Oric, nor am I a big fan of Oric, but nowhere does it say that he killed these 5 Serb captives in Srebrenica. All we can agree on is that he was convicted by the ICTY for failing to discipline men under his command which resulted in killings of 5 Serb captives. That's as far as ICTY goes. Kravica was in fact a military base, just as other Serb villages around Srebrenica were military bases. These villages were used to pound Srebrenica with artillery attacks and prevent food and humanitarian convoys into the enclave, and I spoke about this with at least 4 survivors. While Bosniak side sufficienty demilitarized for UN to issue press release saying that demilitarization process is success, Serb side never demilitarized around Srebrenica - they adamantly refused to honor their part of agreement. Serbs never demilitarized, that's the fact. The least we need is a genocide denial. As a Serbian, you can do honorable thing and publicly accept the fact that Serb forces indeed did commit a genocide in Srebrenica. There is no point in denying this fact. You should condemn genocide of Bosniaks in Srebrenica, just as I condemn genocide of Serbs in Jasenovac. It's simple as that. Srebrenica Massacre article is not about Naser Oric who shamefully run away from the enclave and left his people to fend for themselves. This is not about him, nor is this about Slobodan Milosevic, Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and such. This article is also not about Gen. Lewis Mackenzie (alleged camp rapist), and similar left-apologists and genocide deniers. This article is about the victims of the worst genocide since the WW2/Holocaust; this is about the first legally recognized genocide in Europe since the fall of Adolf Hitler; this is about 8,000+ innocent victims and many more of their families who grieve for them even today. Hope you understand and put things into perspective. I recognize your victims in Jasenovac, do you recognize my victims of Srebrenica? Bosniak 01:01, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , 195.229.242.88 , along that line of thinking, I as an American do condemn and fully acknowledge that Americans murdered 100's of defenseless civilians during the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. http://en.wikipedia.org/My_Lai_Massacre But really, we should focus on this article as this is not the appropriate forum for such a discussion.

Bosniak , what do you think of putting in the article the ICTY statement about the Oric conviction. I believe it does a better job than any of us could do. http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2006/p1094-e.htm Fairview360 14:39, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

195.229.242.88 , would you consider giving yourself a name? I do feel like I am talking to a computer. Fairview360 14:39, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , do you know where there might be a link to the 21 April 1993 UNPROFOR press release stating that the demilitarization of Srebrenica had been a success? The article is not clear by what extent the demilitarization agreement was actually abided. For example we have one statement saying the ARBiH 28th Division was under orders not to surrender any useful equipment and that they were actually resupplied with ammunition and equipment. We have another saying the 28th "largely demilitarized". The article needs to be more clear and consistent. It would help if we could read the actual 21 April 1993 UNPROFOR press release. Thanks. Fairview360 18:33, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

- - - - 

Hi Fairview, the information is contained in this document:

Fifty-fourth session, Agenda item 42 The situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina 15 November 1999, pages 103-104

Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to General Assembly resolution 53/35

And, yes, I do agree, we could put a link to ICTY statement about Naser Oric conviction: http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2006/p1094-e.htm

Bosniak 19:41, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

- - - -

Bosniak , thank you for this detailed and prompt response. Is the Agenda item 42 available on line? Do you know where? Fairview360 00:14, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi Fairview, here is the direct link (If you did Altavista search, you would find it instantly): http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N99/348/76/IMG/N9934876.pdf?OpenElement . Watch out, it's an old document (from 1999), so it lacks many facts that came in light in the last 6-7 years. Bosniak 22:28, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , thank you. Fairview360 00:02, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Naser Oric is not Bosniak hero

I have inserted this important statement in both Naser Oric and Srebrenica Massacre article:

During Serb genocidal attack on U.N.'s "Safe Heaven", Oric shamefully abandoned Srebrenica and left his people fend for themselves.

Bosniak 20:20, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

1. I thought he was specifically ordered to leave by the central government.

2. Although that information is notable, stating it in that way is hardly POV.

Live Forever 23:52, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , in the ICTY judgement "prosecutor vs Oric", it states: "In the spring of 1995, the Accused was summoned to Tuzla." Therefore, he was not in Srebrenica during the attack which this article describes. Furthermore, and just as importantly, using the word "shamefully" is highly subjective and judgemental and calls into question the objectivity of the article. It ought to be left to the reader to decide what is shameful. What appears best is including the statement from ICTY regarding the Oric conviction since it summarizes well and all agree on it. What do you think? Fairview360 00:01, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Oric and his staff were ordered to abandon Srebrenica. It's not like if they hijacked this helicopter or something. During the massacre he also reportedly disobeyed orders and led a group of volunteers to reach the column from the Bosnian lines.

Bosniaks' reply - I am not anti-Oric, but let's put things into perspective - First of all, no matter who ordered Oric to leave Srebrenica, you need to understand that what he did was wrong. If he was a true leader, he would have never left his soldiers and people to fend for themselves. I am not anti-Oric or anything, as I hope you understand that I am Bosniak and I love my people. Secondly, Oric did a great job in defending Srebrenica for years before he left; our forces almost had no weapons to defend themselves plus they lacked food and basic medical supplies etc, but they did it, they succeeded to keep Srebrenica free from Mladic's genocidal barbarians for 3 years. However, when Oric left Srebrenica, chain of command collapsed, U.N. refused to return weapons to people of Srebrenica, and Serbs slaughtered over 8,000 people in the worst massacre since the WWII. Although U.N. failed miserably, they did succeed in negotiating forcible transfer of women and small children, and these lives were saved. Older children, ages 13-18 were NOT saved, because genocidal Mladic viewed them as capable of carying guns. Had U.N. not been there, one of two things could have happened: 1) bloodthirsty Mladic would most likely slaughter women and small children too, and/or 2) Srebrenica would never fall under Serb control (remember, Gorazde was in exactly the same situation, except they refused to hand down their weapons to UN, and Gorazde did survive). Oric was wrong to leave Srebrenica - period. Bosniak 06:43, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Kravica: village or military base?

I believe it is misleading to describe the January 8 attack on Kravica as an attack on a "military base" and I believe it is misleading to call it an attack on just a random village since it obviously had many soldiers in it (35 VRS soldiers were killed and 36 VRS soldiers were wounded in the battle) and it was militarily significant. Still, the attack was not on a military base. A military base has lookout towers, a defined perimeter, only soldiers, etc. Just having artillery nearby does not make a location a military base. Furthermore, none of the source materials supporting this article refer to Kravica as a military base. So how about if we come up with wording that communicates the military significance of Kravica, shows that there was a large number of VRS soldiers there, but does not inaccurately describe the attack as on a military base. That misleads the reader. See wikipedia's definition of a military base. One needs to stretch that definition rather far to make it apply to Kravica and by doing so almost every village in the Srebrenica area on both sides of the conflict would be a military base. Not true. http://en.wikipedia.org/Military_base Fairview360 00:01, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

-> You could call it 'millitary location' or 'Serb location of military significance', etc. It's obvious that the village was significant because Serb soldiers were stationed there and were attacking Srebrenica. Bosniak 02:57, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak , what do you think if the article does not say "military base" and does not say "village" but rather simply "Kravica" with a description of its geographical significance and the number of soldiers killed and wounded and the number of civilians killed. The number of soldiers present and the geographical significance speaks for itself. How about something like this:

"By September 1992, Bosniak forces from Srebrenica had linked up with those in Žepa, a Bosniak-held town to the south of Srebrenica. By gaining control of Kravica during a battle on January 8, 1993, Bosniak forces expanded the enclave further to include the previously isolated Bosniak-held enclave of Cerska located to the west of Srebrenica. During the January 8 battle for Kravica which occurred on Serbian Orthodox Christmas Day, 35 Serb soldiers were killed, 36 Serb soldiers were wounded, and 11 civilians were killed. By mid-January 1993, the Srebrenica enclave reached its peak size of 900 square kilometres, although it was never linked to the main area of Bosnian government-held territory in the west and remained a vulnerable island amid Serb-controlled territory

Over the next few months, however, the reorganized Serb military launched a large-scale offensive"

One thing that needs to be done at some point is establishing consistent terminology for the article. I prefer not using "Serb" but rather either VRS or Bosnian Serb. I also prefer Bosnian government held territory as opposed to Bosniak-held territory. I also do not like seeing Bosnian and Bosniak used interchangeably. I understand that in parts of Bosnia -- the Srebrenica area between Serbs and Bosniaks, and in central Bosnia between Croats and Bosniaks -- it was essentially an ethnic conflict, however in other parts and overall I perceive the conflict as the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina defending itself against Serbia's attempt to expand its borders to cover large swaths of Croatia and Bosnia, against the greater Serbia project. But that is a discussion for another day. Fairview360 18:45, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Also, I suggest reading the ICTY Oric judgement. It does a much better job of putting the conflict into perspective and specifically describes the "New State Project" (otherwise known as the greater Serbia project) and specifically describes how the JNA became essentially a Serb ethnic army by the time the Bosnia war began. The text from the Oric Judgement would probably serve this article better than the text from the Krstic Judgement. Fairview360 18:45, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Related: Repeated spam attacks on the Bratunac article

http://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Bratunac&diff=72993813&oldid=72992420

Let me quote:

"During the war in Bosnia, Bratunac was located in defend zone which was administrated by Holland Kfor or Un. The Holland KFOR has the task to protect any residents in this zone but they didn't do it. In 1993 on the Serbian Orthodox Christmas, Muslem Bosnian Army on lead with Naser Oric raided into the willage burned it and massacred Serbian Civil residents in Bratunac.

Today in Bratunac exists monument of 3 286 Serbs who were killed in operation of Muslem Bosnian Army on Bratunac. The commadant of Muslem Bosnian Army "Naser Oric" has the biggest responsibility for bloody killing of Serbian Humans in Bratunac."

Guess you'd keep an eye on this, thanks.

Identity of poster? Opbeith 14:22, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

Hi opbeith, to see nick or name of the poster, click on "history". Bosniak 02:11, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Splitting

The article is too long, it should be split into smaller parts. --KOCOBO 01:27, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

OK Kocobo. Maybe the article could be broken up as follows: 49% of the article could be given to nationalist Serbs to use as they wish and 51% could be left for people who want to engage in genuine discussion. Hmmm... why does that sound familiar?

I agree, I can't find anything in the article, its so enormous. --Serb 02:16, 2 September 2006 (UTC) User:Bormalagurski

Bormalagurski, it is called a table of contents. Do you need help learning how to use it? Perhaps we could offer you tutoring along with basic English reading skills.

Bosniak, sarcasm isn't nice. --Serb 03:30, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Bormalagurski, for someone who has been banned from wikipedia and repeatedly warned by several administrators for improper behavior, you are hardly in a position to be scolding anyone about what is "nice".Fairview360 05:58, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

- A message from Bosniak This article will never be conceded to extremist Serb nationals. You massacred over 8,000 Bosniaks during Srebrenica genocide, and you have no right to deface this article in any way, shape or form. This article is not about you - it's about over 8,000 lives of innocence that were taken by the hands of uncivilized barbarians in the heart of the Europe. If you want to engage in genuine discussion - you may do so only after you recognize that your forces committed genocide. Nobody is interested in your propaganda, and all such posts will be edited and changed within 24 hours or less. We will not allow you to deny Srebrenica Genocide, at least not on wikipedia. Bosniak 02:15, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Are you accusing all extremist Serb nationals (A Serb national is any Serb living in Serbia) of killing 8,000 Bosniaks? Are you accusing me? First of all, I think you wanted to use the word "nationalist" and not "national". I think it is you who needs the tutoring along with basic English reading skills. --Serb 03:30, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Bosniaks' reply to Serb nationalist Boris Malagurski Don't change the topic. That's a cheap trick. My mother tongue is bosnian. Based on your edits, I can see that you are a Serb nationalist. I am not accusing all Serbs of Genocide, as my best friend is Serb. I am accusing your leadership of genocide, namely Serb forces led by indicted war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Bosniak 03:46, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Serb nationalist Boris Malagurski's reply to Bosniak Don't call me a nationalist. That's a cheap trick. I'm sure your best friend is a Serb, because you are so open minded that your username is identical to your ethnic affiliation. Very entertaining. You're accusing my leadership of genocide? So, I lead the troops to genocide? Jesus, I was never accused of such things untill tonight... For shame. --Serb 03:57, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

What I find most amazing is your ability to be so utterly unaware of your own hypocrisy Bormalagurski. Read what you wrote to Bosniak several times and try thinking about it. Bormalgurski wrote: "Bosniak, I hardly find you objective. I mean, your username is Bosniak, I don't trust people who's username is their ethnic affiliation. Please, keep your nationalism at home, thank you. --Serb talk 03:35, 3 September 2006 (UTC)" Think about it Bormalagurski. You say you do not trust people who have a user name that shows their ethnic affiliation and then you sign as "Serb"? Are you making a joke or are you really that oblivious? Fairview360 05:50, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Back to the original point. It's true there's a lot in the article and while it's full of important information I don't find as easy to read as it might be. The Table of Contents isn't ideal. But that doesn't mean the article should be split. Simply that care needs to be taken in deciding what's germane, what's opinion/provocation at odds with the established facts, and what's going off at a tangent.

For example there's no point discussing the issue of genocide again unless the ICTY's relevant verdicts are overthrown. The minimum figure for deaths has been established as approximately 8000 but which of the numbers above that figure should be mentioned is a subject for legitimate discussion at present. Malagurski presumably called himself Serb as a legitimate but pointlessly provocative riposte to Bosniak.

Further knockabout argument over Malagurski's motives and practices is a waste of time and energy. Whatever the motives of a question or suggestion the simplest thing is to deal with it as such while noting that the discussion should not necessarily be taken as having implications for other issues that may be raised subsequently. "Trojan horse" suggestions inevitably lead to the exposure of the contributor's motives, but sadly after the futile expenditure of a lot of precious energy and effort. --Opbeith 12:46, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak's reply to Boris - possible cease fire or more war ?

Bosniak's reply to Boris Hi Boris, of course we can deal in civilized matter. Why do you think that the article is not neutral? Can you at least discuss this in Srebrenica Massacre's discussion page? If you want your edits to stay longer, you need to discuss it before you make any changes. People are very sensitive to any changes to that article. Even when I make a change, they are sensitive to it. Why do you think that the article does not tell all sides of the story? Are you trying to tell that Naser Oric attacked Serb villages and Serbs had to defend themselves from Bosniaks who were under siege? You guys used same argument in the past with Sarajevo, basicly the story goes that you had to defend yourself from Bosniak people in Sarajevo who were under siege. You can try these arguments in discussion page, but it's pointless and offensive to use such arguments as a defence. However, you are welcome to try. Simply go to discussion page, tell people reasons of your edits and sources and then we will all compromise. It's simple as that. No need for personal attacks as we can all deal in civilized matter. Bosniak 03:53, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

One more thing - I already donated my translation to your page, and I copied your translations to my page. I think there is a chance that both of us get along well, because you recognized t hat over 8,000 people were killed in Srebrenica @ Srebrenica Massacre discussion page. That's all I care about. Bosniak 03:55, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Serb side of story and Boris

If you want Serb side of the story, why not post this statement: "Most Serbs consider the massacre an act of revenge against Naser Oric and his troops who committed individual war crimes during raids into Serb villages."

The reason these raids cannot be called massacres is the following: Serbs blame Oric and his forces for hundreds of deaths in Kravice during Orthodox Christmas in January 1993. Republika Srpska primary sources state that in Kravica 35 soldiers and 11 civilians died. If we are going to call slaughter of 11 civilians a massacre, then we could apply that term to mostly all killings in Bosnia. What I can agree with you is that individual actions of Oric's troops in Kravica were a war crime and I absolutely condemn these killings. However, they cannot be used for justification of genocide, and I don't believe you are trying to use them as such. Bosniak 04:15, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Compromise, POV removed Hi Boris, POV is no longer needed. I agree that the following statement needs to be inserted, and I inserted it:

"Most Serbs consider the massacre an act of revenge against Naser Oric and his troops who committed individual war crimes during raids into Serb villages" Bosniak 04:48, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Background of conversation between me and Boris can be read here http://en.wikipedia.org/User_talk:Bosniak

UPDATE Boris Malagurski has stated that he does not recognize Srebrenica Genocide. At this point, he should not be allowed to even participate in Srebrencia Massacre edits, because he obviously does not recognize the crime committed at Srebrenica. Here you can find his statement: http://en.wikipedia.org/User_talk:Bosniak and you can find Boris Malagurski's page here http://en.wikipedia.org/User_talk:Bormalagurski . Bosniak 19:30, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Wow, so if I don't agree with every single word that Bosniak writes, I'm out of the discussion? Bosniak, this is not fascism, it's an encyclopedia, live with it. --Serb 02:57, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Bormalagurski, when you write a brazen outright denial of genocide, you have disqualified yourself from being someone who actually wants to improve the article. Too many administrators are wise to your ways. There is no way you will be able to present yourself as simply being reasonable. Your agenda is one of denial and obfuscation. It is obvious. Fairview360 05:04, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Fairview, please go to your admins to sort this out, because you're obviously not up for a discussion. Yes, you would rather inforce your opinion on all of us. The admins are coming to their senses, and so should you. --Svetislav Jovanović 05:33, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Svetislav, who are you refering to when you say "us"? What opinion exactly are you refering to? That the VRS committed an act of genocide? Try as you may, but reducing that assertion to simply a personal opinion will not succeed. The ICTY already sorted this out. They convicted Krstic of aiding and abetting genocide. Fairview360 05:57, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak Reply to Srebrenica Genocide Denier Boris Malagurski from Vancouver BC, Canada - You don't have to agree with everything I say, but you must recognize Srebrenica Genocide. Otherwise, stay away from the article, because Srebrenica genocide denial edits will not be tolerated. This is 💕, and not an outlet for Serbian propaganda and vandalism. Bosniak 03:24, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Um.. the holocaust, the killing of 6 million Jews was genocide. What happened in Srebrenica, the killing of 8,000 people was a massacre, not a genocide (read the title of the article). Get a life, Bosniak. --Srbijanković 05:50, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Srbijanković, read the ICTY judgement. Try as you may to deny it or bully people with "get a life" comments, the fact is that Serb ultra-nationalists tried to create greater Serbia through ethnic cleansing, in other words, genocide. Srebrenica was an act of genocide. That has been proven in an international court of law. So what is it you need to get? A clue? What? Fairview360 06:12, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

POV - tag

I see that the Bosniak editors of this article still insist on a very POV language and interpretation of certain events while refusing any analysis which they disagree with for political reasons. Please see earlier discussions for details. Instead of entering into a long argument I will place a POV-tag on the article. Regards Osli73 20:30, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak Reply to Osli73 Hi Osli73, I am the only Bosniak editor here. Fairview and others are not Bosniak and they are not Muslim. Once again, your assumptions are wrong. You are pulling old tricks with POV tag. Your tricks are getting old man. Bosniak 21:34, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Bosniak, I have added back the POV tag since I believe that this article does not conform to NPOV. I have stated before what my issues are with it. Well, User:Live Forever certainly says that he is Bosniak.Osli73 09:43, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Again, I have added back the POV-tag. Please read below what Misplaced Pages says about POV-disputes:

"It is important to remember that the NPOV dispute tag does not mean that an article actually violates NPOV. It simply means that there is an ongoing dispute about whether the article complies with a neutral point of view or not. In any NPOV dispute, there will be some people who think the article complies with NPOV, and some people who disagree. In general, you should not remove the NPOV dispute tag merely because you personally feel the article complies with NPOV. Rather, the tag should be removed only when there is a consensus among the editors that the NPOV disputes have indeed been resolved.

Sometimes people have edit wars over the NPOV dispute tag, or have an extended debate about whether there is a NPOV dispute or not. In general, if you find yourself having an ongoing dispute about whether a dispute exists, there's a good chance one does, and you should therefore leave the NPOV tag up until there is a consensus that it should be removed."

So, clearly it is not up to a single editor to decide whether or not a POV tag belongs there or not. Osli73 21:38, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

There clearly is a POV issue with this article (pls see entry above). Adding the POV tag is a way of stating this and giving the main editors of the article a heads up about this without engaging in an edit war.Osli73 21:50, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Finally, the POV tag is not about whether or not the article is NPOV or not, it's about there being a dispute about it - ie that some editors feel that it is not conforming to NPOV. Pls leave this tag or be prepared to address the underlying POV issues.Osli73 22:09, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

If there is a POV dispute about an article, clearly either one accepts the POV tag or accepts that a compromise is reached regarding the text in the article. Osli73 22:20, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Genocide query or denial

One of the problems of Wikipaedia seems to be that matters get announced and discussed all over the place. I've found out from Bosniak's User Talk page that his ISP has been suspended for a week as a result of a heated exchange with another contributor who affirmed his disbelief in the fact of genocide. I'm uncertain whether the suspension is related simply to the User Talk exchange or concerns matters relating to the article itself, but suspension has implications for editing of the article itself. I've posted the following at Bosniak's User Page but I think the subject of the admissibility of certain types of edit and the need to accept a framework of objectively established fact is relevant here.

"Bosniak is very sensitive to the issue of genocide denial, understandably, and doesn't always express himself in tempered tones. But Blnguyen it seems to me that you've simply responded to the tone of his language rather than the substantive justification for his action.

The ICTY, a member of the United Nations family of organisations and the legal authority in the field, has ruled in the Krstic case that the Srebrenica massacre could be termed genocide in accordance with the provisions of the Genocide Convention. No other international forum has overthrown that ruling. The ICTY is currently hearing cases in which charges of genocide are involved. I think it is fair to assume that the defence will present all current arguments challenging the categorisation of the Srebrenica massacre as genocide to the Court. The Court will then rule as to whether its previous opinion should be overthrown. There is no room for any personal expression of doubt in this article. I might dispute the legitimacy of Slobodan Milosevic's assumption of the presidency of Yugoslavia or equally George W. Bush's election as President of the United States but I cannot change the content of an entry to indicate that they were not President of their respective nations.

Bosniak was right to insist that denials of genocide will be edited out of this article. There is no scope to allow any further denial of genocide unless and until the ICTY's ruling is overthrown. Even though I don't always agree with the way Bosniak expresses his views, in this case he is absolutely correct. Personally I find it a moral outrage that genocide at Srebrenica is denied but for the purposes of this article we're trying to pretend that moral outrage doesn't exist and keep to the facts. Genocide at Srebrenica is a fact established in international law. I ask the moderators of this article to accept that." --Opbeith 11:36, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

I think it really is very clear cut - the ICTY claims that the massacre was an Act of Genocide. Others disagree. This is what the article should present to the reader. Remember, Wiki articles should not present original research, only other source's interpretation of original research. The Act of Genocide or not is clearly such an issue.Osli73 21:43, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Osli73, I will repeat once: The ICTY, a member of the United Nations family of organisations and the legal authority in the field, has ruled in the Krstic case that the Srebrenica massacre could be termed genocide in accordance with the provisions of the Genocide Convention. No other international forum has overthrown that ruling. The ICTY is currently hearing cases in which charges of genocide are involved. I think it is fair to assume that the defence will present all current arguments challenging the categorisation of the Srebrenica massacre as genocide to the Court. The Court will then rule as to whether its previous opinion should be overthrown. There is no room for any personal expression of doubt in this article.

The ICTY does not claim that the massacre was an Act of Genocide, it found after hearing the evidence and due deliberation that genocide was committed. Original research? Hmm, a novel way of describing the findings of the highest legal instance in the field. --Opbeith 22:03, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Again, anonymous user, it's not very difficult. The ICTY has ruled that it was an Act of Genocide. Others don't agree. That's all the article needs to say. Act of Genocide or not is clearly a judgement issue, not an issue of fact (which is why there was a court case about it).Osli73 22:05, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Just so you know

${\displaystyle Insertformulahere}$ I have been asked by one of the users to help out on this article. I will not bring in extremist views from myself, but I will fight for the right and correct statements.

One thing you all should know is that User:Bormalagurski is a person with totally extremist ideas. I am saying this because he is blocked on the Serbian Misplaced Pages due to those same ideas and views. I have been analyzing his moves. He not only has problems with how he expresses himself, but also has tried to manipulate other users. He stepped up to the plate when he tried to be my friend through telling me how he wanted BiH to be united (Check my discussion archives). An other case is: (User:Rémih) on the French wikipedia. He convinced Remith to vote for him even though Rémih did neither know Cyrillic nor Serbian. Once he was block indefinitely, he tried to change Misplaced Pages policies through making a public vote for his return on the Serbian Misplaced Pages. This was seen by the other Serbian users and it has definitely blocked him for good. Check this:His plea The "Voting"

I just wanted to tell you guys with whom you are dealing with. Srebrenica happened and their is no denying it. There is tons of videofootage from channels such as CNN. My aunt is married to a Serbian man. They both agree that the nation of Serbia still to this day denies any acts such as Srebrenica and even denies BiH TV stations in its nation.

Croatia on the contrary, allowed Srebrenica posters for the ten year anniversary to be displayed all over Zagreb.

Misplaced Pages should not be a website for one to express his own ideas without any facts to back up with. I will try to bring in a neutral point of view.

Thanks, Kseferovic 17:30, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

revisionist blitzkrieg

Are we to believe that users KOCOBO, Osli73, Srbijanković, Svetislav Jovanović, Bormalagurski, and Manojlo all show up at this article at the same time and it is a coincidence? They each take turns deleting part of the article forcing multiple reverts by an outnumbered editor or editors and then when that one editor is blocked, they move in to gut the article. This is gang warfare. This is the wiki equivalent of kristalnacht. http://en.wikipedia.org/Kristalnacht What mechanisms does wiki have to protect an article from an organized assault? There are parts of this article that are clearly accurate, that have been very carefully written and discussed, and these editors are just gutting them without discussion. Yes, parts of this articles need help but this is not the way. What has happened in the past is that if they are given an inch they'll tear the article apart or take up immense time discussing anything they can think of all for the purpose of stopping people from creating a well written article. One reason it needs help is that it gets jumbled by edit wars. 128.253.56.172 22:51, 4 September 2006 (UTC)