Credits go to u/tra31ng who came up with the first thread. There were quite some, errr, visceral reactions to it. I hope we have blessing of the mods to restart the topic, nice and fresh. No sarcasm, name calling or moral accusations on either side. Politeness as per the rules gents. Because I believe it is an interesting disaster from a military science perspective when it comes to what can go wrong in peacekeeping/enforcing. The results tragically lead to the deaths of 8,000+ Bosnians
There are 2 levels to this. One is the strategic, multi-national coalition-level perspective. The other is the tactical, from the battalion leadership all the down to the squad-manned OP perspective.
I did this case-study 10 years ago. I don't have any sources at hand. I am having serious trouble with finding both the Dutch and Serbian order of battle, insofar it was a battle - if anyone knows the exact unit compositions please let me know.
Units:
But basically we have a light Dutch airborne infantry battalion, a tier 2/3 unit armed with .50 cal APCs (YPR-765), ATGMs, ATMs. They control multiple OPs in the valley.
A relatively small bosnian militia or even military unit (i forgot) is doing something somewhere.
And then a Serbian armoured unit that has tanks (unknown for me what type), infantry and artillery.
Tactical Situation
The Dutch and the city/civilians/refugees are in a valley. The surrounding hillside has been taken and is now under Serbian control, and the Serbians place tanks and artillery on the hills. The Dutch are effectively besieged and haven't been resupplied for a while. They are low on water and fuel. Requests for air-resupply have been denied, I can't remember why they might not have been available?. Claims are that they are low on ammo as well but I am not sure why since there hasn't been much of a battle.
Multiple airstrikes were refused and finally another airstrike was cancelled/late due to some miscommunication or formalities i don't remember, but 2 tanks do get destroyed by that strike. The Serbians dont seem to have any notable AA in the AO
Strategic Situation
CAS has to be approved by the mission commander, French general Janvier. DUTCHBAT doesn't have its own fire support units or forward air controllers for the Dutch F-16s - those are under mission control. 400 blue-helmets (incl 50 Dutchmen) are currently being held hostage by the Serbs - they threaten to kill them if airstrikes are used. ROE currently only al
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So, I was trying to track down a copy of "To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia", but got a ton of articles to the tune of "Parenti, the famous Srebrenica Massacre/Genocide denier...". Now, obviously, I know what the book is about and when it was written, and expect it to be skewed towards the Serbs, but nowhere in the lectures I watched of him nor in the excerpts that these sites provided does he outright deny any crimes on any side, and the only mention of pre-1999 conflicts is mostly "All sides commited war crimes". Anyone more knowledgable in this who could help me? Or, if someone knows how to find the book so I can read it myself, that would also be appreciated.
The massacre
Between July 11-22 1995, more than 8,000 Bosniaks, mainly men and boys, were killed in and around of the town of Srebrenica. The killings were perpetrated by units of the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) under the command of Ratko MladiΔ. The Scorpions, a paramilitary unit from Serbia, who had been part of the Serbian Interior Ministry until 1991, also participated in the massacre. Srebrenica was a "safe area" under UN protection during the time, however the conquest of the town and the subsequent killing was not prevented by the 370 Dutchbat soliders stationed in the town.
Ratko MladiΔ was convicted of various crimes at the United Nations tribunal, including genocide for his role at Srebrenica and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Classification as genocide
The crimes of Srebrenica have been classified as a genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the ICJ. A 2015 UN resolution condemning the Srebrenica massacre as genocide was vetoed by Russia at the request of the Republic Srpska and Serbia. In 2015, both the European Parliament (EP) and the U.S. Congress adopted resolutions reaffirming the description of the crime as genocide.
In 2013, Serbian President Tomislav NikoliΔ officially apologised for the massacre, although he stopped short of calling it genocide. Current Serbian President VuΔiΔ and PM BrnabiΔ are refusing to classify it as a genocide, but are recognizing it as a massacre. VuΔiΔ classifies the massacre as the "crime of single individuals".
Further information
BBC: Serbian president apologises for Srebrenica 'crime'
BBC: Srebrenica massacre - Explained in under two minutes
DW: 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre
DW: Netherlands partially responsible for Srebrenica massacre, court rules
DW: What was the Srebrenica massacre?
The Guardian: The Srebrenica massacre - archive, July 1995
[The Guardian: Srebrenica 25 years on: h
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