Israel & Serbia - same situation, different reaction

I'm confused - when Serbia invaded Kosovo to defeat insurgent rebels the US (and NATO) bombed them into negotiation, withdrawl, and ultimately regime-change.

When Israel does exactly the same thing the US rushes them more subsidised bombs to help them level the cities of Lebanon even quicker.

Surely there's a case for NATO striking Israel, destroying their airports and power stations

This comparison is not very accurate for a few reasons. Firstable- Kosovo was Serbia's territory, not a foreign state like Lebanon is to Israel. Kosovo can be called Serbia's heartland, as well as the origin point of thier culture and religion. Serbia simply tried to defend Serbian minority there from the Albanians who migrated into Kosovo from Albania. It also tried to hold on to its territory. It was not a war with insurgent rebels, but with local Albanians- more like a civil war. NATO's incursion into Serbia was illegal and unprovoked. It was an illegal war, which US does not like to talk about. Especially since it now knows that it helped extremist Muslims in that war.

Was in Lebannon (is it officially a war now?), is not a civil war, but an actual war between two sovereign states. But yes- certainly there are double standards about whom the US supports and whom it bombes into submission. US had something to gain from destroying what was left of Socialist Yugoslavia, and splitting up Serbia. US likewise has something to gain from Israelis knocking out Hezbolah. Quite simply- US supports what benefits it in the short term.

Well I wouldnt class this latest conflict as two sovereign states warring, it is Israel (a sovereign state) fighting against Hezbollah (an independant militia).

Still- the Israei incursion is into foreign land. It might be to fight Hezbolah, but the Lebanese civilians are suffering as well. And I am pretty sure much of Lebannon considers this a war involving them, not just Hezbolah. And Hezbolah- backed by Iran and Syria has alot of political power in Lebanon. Furthermore a large part of Lebanese armed forces have ties to Hezbolah.

That still doesnt mean Lebanon is at War with Israel. No one is saying that, not the Israelis, not the Americans, not the British, no one.

The Lebanese army has not engaged Israel...yet. Until it does then Israel is fighting Hezbollah, not Lebanon.

Oh wow the thread starter is WAY off base...not even similar situations. Thats like saying after 9/11 that NATO should have come into the US and bombed us.

We were the ones attacked, why would NATO bomb us? Israel was the one attacked, why would NATO bomb them?

[edit on 26-7-2006 by princeofpeace]

Maybe because NATO= best tool of US diplomacy. Where pro-US diplomacy doesn't work, NATO comes in to make it work- through carpet bombing.

Yes Israel was attacked- it counter attacked. Serbians were attacked in their native Kosovo- so Serbia counter attacked. Yet NATO found reason enough to bomb them.

I don't see the difference myself - both Israel & Serbia are using the full weight of their military against civilians and yet the world's response is completely the opposite.

Originally posted by Strangerous
Surely there's a case for NATO striking Israel, destroying their airports and power stations

?

When the yehudis start rounding up lebanese and executing them en mass, then there'd be a case.

I am astonished that anyone can compare limited warfare to ethnic genocide.

Originally posted by Nygdan

Originally posted by Strangerous
Surely there's a case for NATO striking Israel, destroying their airports and power stations

?

When the yehudis start rounding up lebanese and executing them en mass, then there'd be a case.

I am astonished that anyone can compare limited warfare to ethnic genocide.

both Israel & Serbia are using the full weight of their military against civilians

...
If Israel used its full weight against lebanon, there'd be millions of deaths in lebanon, not 300. They've fired c.f. 4,000 munutions at Lebanon and killed an order of magnitude less number of people. Thats not anything like what serbia did.

Want to know the comparrison, between the Kosovo war and this was, the international community were clicking its heels and doing nothing about it before NATO got invovled, And when NATO did get invovled Men, Women and Children were being murdered and raped..

Exact same thing is happening here, in Lebanon (although there is no raping going on), there is still killing innocent civillains on both sides, the International Community again is in turmoil over what to do, Most of the world is calling for a ceasefire with exception of the U.S. with the U.K following its lead again (so annoying),

There wil be more deaths and destruction before the world community even gets involved, by that time it will be too late this war will flow over into other coutries..

And they say history does not repeat itself ha thats a joke.

[edit on 27-7-2006 by spencerjohnstone]

I beg the differ Nygdan. Check your numbers.

There's still immense uncertainty, but at this point it's plain there are not enough bodies to warrant the claim that the Serbs had a program of extermination. The FBI team has made two trips to Kosovo and investigated thirty sites, containing nearly 200 bodies. In early October, the Spanish newspaper El País reported what the Spanish forensic team had found in its appointed zone in northern Kosovo. "The UN figures," said Perez Pujol, director of the Instituto Anatómico Forense de Cartagena, "began with 44,000 dead, dropped to 22,000 and now stand at 11,000." He and his fellows were prepared to perform at least 2,000 autopsies in their zone. To date they've found 187 corpses.

Source

A United Nations court has ruled that Serbian troops did not carry out genocide against ethnic Albanians during Slobodan Milosevic's campaign of aggression in Kosovo from 1998 to 1999.

Source

Quite low numbers compared to Iraq. And Lebanon is geting very close to them too. I wouldn't call this a genocide but more like mass exodus of Kosovar Albanians triggered by NATO bombings. After bombings stopped Albanians forced many Kosovar Serbs in lets say counter exodus.

This issue is quite embarasing for the west and I understand the western nations for their effort to paint the Serbs as the supreme villains. And now they see they backed the wrong team. Kosovo is a disaster.

But there is an alternative motive for NATO intervention on Balkans and especialy in Kosovo. All that genocide crap that unfortunatelly happened in this area is just a sand in our eyes.

[edit on 27-7-2006 by yanchek]

Israel is using a TINY FRACTION of its firepower right now. Iran and Syria both know that as well and thats why they are sitting tight.

There was limited genocide in Kosovo and Bosnia by Serbs- but not nearly as high as NATO reported- to cover themselves for fighting what was still an illegal war- nothing in NATO's resolution allowed for it intervene in civil conflicts like Kosovo.

And by the way- ethnic cleansing of Serbians started way before Serbs retaliated. Albanians were also killing masses of Serbian civilians- in their own land (Kosovo is Serbia no matter what anyone states). For every civilian murdered by Serbs, there is 2 Serbian civilians murdered by Albanians and Croats. US just choose to support the Croats and Albanians, because Serbs were "dirty commies". Yet anything that Israel does is righteous and fair.