Hi Metin,

Srebrenica, is a reoccuring subject on the dutch news. It is one of the black pages in our history, certainly. But of course, you need to know what happened in detail. However, I don't share the emotion in this article. It certainly is not representive from what I've seen in the dutch media or heard on the streets. (maybe peter can chime in).

Not claiming that I know all details, I do know that.

- The dutch were there under UN mandate to keep peace, not to fight.
- The dutch were not equiped to withold the serbians
- The dutch did request for air support, but did not get it.
- Being overrun by the serbs, they could do little more than obeying the serbs orders
- They did not know what was going to happen with the muslim prisoners.
- The dutch were not first line responsible for genocide.

The aftermath is clear, but at the same time it is difficult to say what the dutch should have been done, and how it would have influenced the outcome. If they had fight, they would all have been killed (they did not stand a chance against the serbs), and it would certainly not say whether this genocide would not have happened. They at that time were in an extremely difficult position.

Also politically this is difficult. Many dutch soldiers do experience mental problems. Should they or not be rewarded for their efforts in former yugoslavia? Indeed this could be interpretated in different ways, which makes it difficult.

Unfortunately these things happen, and Srebrenica is not the last one. Rwanda is another. Darfur might be the same. Simular things have happened when the UN leaves or countries retreat from their colonies in other situations. We can see more or less the same thing happen in iraq and maybe afghanistan.

These are extremely difficult questions. In the case of the UN you might wonder whether it should be using more force and accepting losses of troops. However we have seen that with the US invading somalia and iraq: not a big success either.

The real question here is whether we should reward our troops if they depite their efforts participated in a dramatic outcome? Personally I find that a difficult question to answer. If a UN soldier did his best to do right and suffered major injuries (mental and physical), should he not be rewarded for his loyality?

Walter,




>Holland Issues Troops Srebrenica Military Honor
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>The Dutch government is planning to award its troops who served as peacekeepers in Srebrenica, but failed to stop the massacre of Bosnians.
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>Dutch Defense Minister Henk Kemp stated an award ceremony would be held on Dec. 4 for the soldiers who fulfilled their duty under extremely difficult circumstances.
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>The Bosnian massacre committed in July 1995 was the worst ethnic genocide in Europe after World War II.
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>Dutch peacekeeper troops were responsible for guarding the Bosnian city of Srebrenica, which was declared a safe zone by the United Nations.
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>However, Serbian forces easily entered the city and killed 8,000 Muslims.
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>Last year, the soldiers who served in the city wrote a book named “Srebrenica Memoir” and expressed their regret at the debacle.
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>They noted that Bosnians were put into trucks and handed over to Serbs, and said civilians whom they had promised to guard were killed in front of their eyes.
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>The defense ministry’s decision to award the soldiers has outraged Dutch citizens.
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>They sent e-mails and faxes to the government demanding it avoid such a move.
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>Dutch people expressed their reactions, saying: “We are attempting to award soldiers instead of apologizing to Bosnians. The Dutch government should explain why Dutch troops did not prevent the Serbs. Many Dutch soldiers are still at hospital under psychological treatment. Will it be appropriate to award these soldiers?”
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>http://www.turks.us/article~story~HollandIssuesTroopsSrebrenica.htm