This was in my email this morning.  It’s in response to the Romney cheerleading squad (I should also note that a second emailer tells me there is documentation that a defense contracting company of which Romney is a major partner is being sold to China)….

 

Mr. Colley,
I don’t normally do this, but I am compelled to correct a caller to your show of Wednesday, 23 Jan at around 5:15pm. You were discussing SEN McCain and the caller mistakenly said that SEN McCain was one who pushed the issue to go into Bosnia. Specifically, he stated that there was never any evidence of genocide uncovered in Bosnia.  Implying that SEN McCain was wrong then and it is wrong for us to be in Iraq today.  Also, while criticizing GEN Clark, he mistakenly said that Clark’s actions associated with the airfield in Pristina, Bosnia almost led to WW IV. Not sure when we had WW III, but Pristina and the airfield are in Kosovo, Serbia, not Bosnia. Pristina is a few hundred miles east across the Drina River.  But I digress.

My real issue is that we as Americans tend to have very short memories, if we ever really understood something in the first place. To make it worse, some people feel compelled to use their mispreceptions to argue some political point.  Case in point, the caller who was criticizing SEN McCain.  (NOTE: I am not advocating SEN McCain, only attempting to correct some misperceptions.)  I must state, unequivocally, that many US Soldiers saw first hand the aftermath of the genocide in Bosnia and I was one of them. I served three tours in Bosnia and one in Kosovo, among other places I visited. I spent much of the summer of 1998 leading Soldiers charged with the mission to provide security for a team of forensic experts from the International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY for short. During that summer, the ICTY uncovered some 20 grave sites that had between 20 and 50 sets of human remains in each one. Other ICTY teams found similar sites in subsequent years.  The victims were all Bosnian muslims executed by the Serbs serving under Milosovic, Mladic, Krstic, and a few other suspected war criminals. The victims were all from a small town in southeastern Bosnia called Srebrenica. In all, the Serbs executed some 8000 muslims within a couple of days in early July of 1995. Some of the best public documentation of the massacre can be found in the book, “Endgame,” by David Rohde. Rohde won a Pulitzer prize writing for the Christian Science Monitor while reporting on Bosnia and Srebrenica.  You may find this website of some interest.  http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/nelson/rohde/
Many have called the Srebrenica Massacre the worst atrocity in Europe since WW II.  But then again, that was a few years ago, and many have forgotten.   Many have also forgotten the atrocities attibuted to Sadam Hussein, but again, I digress.

Personally, I find it offensive when someone makes broad sweeping incorrect comments, such as there was no genocide documented in Bosnia, in order to further their own political arguments for or against someone or some issue.  I tried to call into your show, but could not get in.  I can only hope that someday, someone will correct the caller and perhaps encourage him to do some research and get the facts straight.   Frankly, the mostly liberal media sets the tone and promulgates the perceptions that many Americans have about issues like why we went to Bosnia or Kosovo or Iraq.   The sad part is that because most Americans do not know the facts, they will never fully appreciate what the US military has done and continues to do on a daily basis.   

Just for reference, I am a native Delawarean.  I listen to your show for an hour or so M-F, when I am leaving my business in Lewes and returning home to Smyrna. I respect the fact that you are not afraid to correct callers, like to you did with this one when he stated that you were a McCain supporter. I also served my country for 27 years as a Soldier in the US Army prior to retiring in 2006.  Having said that, I must also acknowledge that everything contained in this email represents only my personal views of the facts and does not necessarily represent those of the US Army or the Department of Defense.
Sincerely,
Name witheld by poster.

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