10 year anniversary

[Benchwarmerjim]

Dutch Peacekeepers Haunted by Srebrenica

 

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The images don't go away: Bosnian Muslim men being herded onto trucks for execution. Women and children sobbing, pleading for protection. Piles of corpses. Gloating Serb forces. For the Dutch troops who were unwilling witnesses to the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica, the memories are made harder by a nagging question: Could they have done more to stop it?

 

Mandated to defend the U.N.-declared "safe haven," the Dutch battalion stood by as the carnage unfolded, and has been accused by some of sharing responsibility for the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.

 

Nearly 8,000 people died after Bosnian Serbs overran the enclave 10 years ago Monday. While the Dutch watched, the Serbs separated Muslim men and boys from their families, loaded them into trucks and took them away for execution. The U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague has ruled it was genocide.

 

Official inquiries have cleared the 370 troops of blame. Overwhelmed, undermanned, under-armed and with orders to shoot only in self defense, they were helpless to stop the onslaught, independent investigators have concluded.

 

But the debate rages on, and no one has walked away unscarred. There are soldiers suffering nightmares or sleeplessness, depression and guilt. Many can't hold down jobs. Drugs and alcohol are recurring problems. Holland's national Veterans Institute says it is giving psychological help to about 100 soldiers — more than a quarter of those who were there.

 

Cpl. Andries Poortinga was one. Poortinga, one of 171 soldiers whose accounts appeared in "Memories of Srebrenica," published last month, saw tens of thousands of refugees cramming into the U.N. camp at Potocari, a suburb of Srebrenica, as the Serbs pounded the area from the surrounding hills.

 

For days, the battalion had waited for reinforcements and air support. None came. One soldier already had been killed by Muslim forces. By the time the Serb attack started on July 11, the soldiers' nerves were shot.

 

"All those people ... screaming and crying. A truck, normally fit for 18 people, was packed with 200 refugees. We helped them from the truck and gave them a place in the factory hall," Poortinga recalled in the book.

 

"It was hell. I did my best, but after a while I collapsed. The shouting became louder and louder. The shooting came close, grenades fell, dust came from the ceiling. I found myself crying like a baby. I am not a baby at all, but then I was like a child."

 

Co-author Hendrina Praamsma said 40 percent of those interviewed had needed psychological treatment at some point. Some had attempted suicide. "Most of them feel abandoned, rejected, falsely accused," she said.

 

A 1999 report by the United Nations said Yugoslavia's then president, Slobodan Milosevic, bore primary responsibility. Milosevic is now on trial in The Hague.

 

Nonetheless, Holland remained traumatized.

 

In 2002, an exhaustive study by the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation concluded the government of Prime Minister Wim Kok had sent ill-prepared troops on an impossible mission because it wanted to boost its international prestige. The report prompted the government, still headed by Kok, to resign.

 

A subsequent parliamentary inquiry also cleared the troops of blame. But Srebrenica isn't over for Holland.

 

A district court in The Hague is hearing a civil suit by Bosnian Srebrenica survivors seeking $2.6 billion in compensation from the state for its troops' failure to protect them.

 

One of them is Hassan Nuhanovic, a U.N. translator whose brother and father were forced off the U.N. base by Dutch troops and haven't been seen since.

 

Their accusations reawakened the shame among some veterans, said Jan Burger, head of the Veterans Institute's social services. In the past two months, with the approach of the 10th anniversary, another half dozen Srebrenica veterans have sought help.

 

"They can't leave the images they saw," Burger said. Some people's lives are destroyed, he said. Others "have learned how to put it in its proper place. Even if they can manage their lives, Srebrenica will never leave them."

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050711/ap_on_...HNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[FlaSoxxJim]

Horrible, horrible times. It's hard to believe that was 10 years ago.

[Benchwarmerjim]

It wasnt mentioned in the article, but the men who planned and coordinated the massacre were never caught and still running loose. There was a special about this on CNN earlier today. I caught the tail end of it. I am hoping they rerun it so I can catch the entire thing

[SoxFan1]

As a Serbian, I am completely ashamed of this. I scarcely remember this. I hate Milosevic so much. He is such a worhtless piece of s***. He is a disgrace to Serbian culture. Of course this lead to the worst times of my young life so far when his dumbass wouldnt sign the peace treaty and then Clinton decided to invade and bomb. I still remember coming home crying and sobbing in tears wondering if the bombings had killed any of our family. Then I rememeber trying to call one day and EVERY single phone line was out. It was by far the most terrifying time of my life. Even now, when a discussion about this comes up in any of my classes, it brings back horrible memories.