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Post by 3lions on Nov 20, 2010 12:52:54 GMT 1
oh dear, that's still a bit sad, although most 18 year olds tend to hold pretty idealistic views although not such stupid ones.
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Post by justapixel on Nov 20, 2010 15:59:21 GMT 1
@ Justapxel, Having spent 4 years in this war I can safely tell you that you are not a little bit wrong, but completely wrong with your assessment and conclusions about the Balkan war. First: No country can intervene in ANY war without ANY resolution from the UN. If they would intervene they become a warring faction themselves, which means they become part of the conflict. Of course that people hoped for a foreign intervention in the early stages of war, in the light of all the atrocities and because Croatians considered themselves very pro-west. But yes, that was unrealistic. Still, no intervention was really needed in Croatia, only withdrawing the arms embargo. In the later stages of the war it was already overridden by various channels. And UN was as usual, very slow. The fact is that the real fighting in Croatia lasted for only a few too months and they were unable to react. When it was all over and the territories were taken, all they could do was enforce status quo. The sad fact is that they were even slower and unwilling in Bosnia. Second: The UN decided to a monitoring role, not a peace keeping nor peace enforcing role. If you don't know the difference, look it up on Google, but understanding this difference is vital for understanding the role Europe and other countries played in this war. Third: Not a single member of the UN was allowed to step outside the official ROE's (Rules of Engagement), set by the UN. As usual, UN was clueless and helpless. Fourth: After the UN decided to install a no flight zone NATO became involved, since they had the means to enforce this resolution. The result was that we had NATO having all the fire power in the world, but unable to use it because they had to obey to existing resolutions. The only military relevant policy that really worked was the non flight zone. That's probably because that was the only thing that could be done with virtually no risk. Fifth: The military of the countries involved had no own agenda nor any authority to act outside the UN or NATO within the theatre of operations. In other words, if you wanted to use your military you had to ask permission from the UN. Therefore stating that some countries actively helped Croatia while others did not is incorrect. I was talking about the help in armament, while you believe that Croatia really needed foreign combatants to fight for it's soil. It didn't. Judging by all the veteran pensions that we're paying for, we had half a million of fierce fighters. ;D Sixth: The Russians were favoring the Serbs in this war and were blocking any resolution which was against the Serbs. Since they are a member of the Security Council with a Veto right the result was that the UN could never make a fist. So... you basically, after stating that all I said is wrong, agree with most of the things i said? Seven: The installment of the safe havens was the biggest military blunder...........made by politicians. All military advisors told the politicians not to install pockets behind enemy lines, but politicians refused to listen and thus they set the stage for Sbrenica. All of us knew that the safe havens could be used (and effectively were used by the Serbs) to black mail the UN. They regularly cut off all connections to the safe havens, refusing to let supplies in and it should therefore be no surprise that the military commanders wanted to get rid of the safe havens as fast as possible. They did envision that the safe havens would not hold out for a long time, but they did not envision what Mladic had planned. Yeah, a sad story indeed, but at least it finally made the world (NATO) do something that should have been done many years earlier. Why do I get the feeling you're suddenly being very apologetic as if you were being sentenced for something? So please Justapixel, try to find the truth before writing down all kinds of thoughts which bear no truth at all. Now that's implying that something I said wasn't correct, that I'm misinformed and biased. I'd preferred if you were to cite me and state what exactly you think is wrong. Nothing you wrote is neither new to me, nor opposed to my opinions, so I really can't relate the detailed description of UN behavior to your harsh objections to my statements. .
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Post by totalcroatia on Nov 25, 2010 15:38:37 GMT 1
Brit friend came over for a pint in his UK car last night, only to discover that someone had kindly let the air out of all his tyres (car wasn't obstructing anything). The appalled bar owner gave him his car for the night. Friend dropped the car back this morning and went to blow up the tyres to find out they had been slashed. Nice.
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Post by ray51 on Nov 25, 2010 22:18:15 GMT 1
NOT so nice ! 2 years ago , we stayed in an apartment in Siget , Novi Zagreb , for a week or over , end of summer ; our UK-plated car was found covered in cigarette butts on most mornings , sometimes the windscreen wiper ( a single one : on a C-Merc ) would be found upwards , for no apparent reason , or the outside mirrors bent , or the Merc star pushed anywhichway ; fortunately , no real body (nor tires') damage was experienced , only ample discomfort , as in :"hey , If Brit , don't come here !? O.K." My brother says it's definitively not anti-Brit , but only just the usual petty vandalism ; what do the other people with acceptable , reasonable 4-door family saloons have to do , if parked outside a Siget block of flats ? ( get a more acceptable reg-plate ? ) thanks a ton , eitherway !
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Post by totalcroatia on Nov 25, 2010 22:46:57 GMT 1
Ray, one thing I do if I am worried about having a foreign plated car in another country is buy the local newspaper and leave it on the dashboard, hoping to create the impression that the owner is local who happened to buy a cheap car from abroad. No problems encountered so far, but probably just lucky.
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Post by crojoe on Nov 25, 2010 23:03:31 GMT 1
sorry about tires. No problem with UK plated car now for 6 years.
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Post by MartinM on Nov 26, 2010 19:10:33 GMT 1
I think the word 'hate' used in the initial post is a bit harsh. Maybe the word 'mistrust' would be more appropriate, and even that could only be applied to an older generation of Croats.
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Post by mickanddeb09 on Dec 2, 2010 8:49:34 GMT 1
How interesting this thread is still going after 5 years! I just thought it was "normal" to dislike Brits. You don't have to be Croatian to jump on the Hate the Poms Bandwagon Deb ;D
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Post by Madgolfer on Dec 2, 2010 9:25:06 GMT 1
Bahhh, just because your gonna loose the test sreies.....again LOL
The ashes are staying where they belong, in England!
Bloody Aussies think they can play cricket, we taught them everything they know etc etc tec
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Post by Carol on Dec 2, 2010 10:31:48 GMT 1
I think the word 'hate' used in Carol's initial post is a bit harsh. Maybe the word 'mistrust' would be more appropriate, and even that could only be applied to an older generation of Croats. what! I started this thread?? I don't remember that!
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Post by mickanddeb09 on Dec 2, 2010 10:57:06 GMT 1
@ Madgolfer.... ha-ha-ha-ha, thanks for taking my post as light-hearted as it was intended. As for the ashes, well, may the best men win
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Post by anton on Dec 2, 2010 12:27:14 GMT 1
Can You Sing Any Dylan? (Eric Bogle)
Verse 5:
Well I soldiered on but the magic was gone Leaving naught but a deep sense of failure So I thought I would go where all failures go And I took me a trip to Australia
Come on you whites (England that is - plus a couple of South Africans)
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Post by ray51 on Dec 2, 2010 13:24:15 GMT 1
Aaamaaazing , how sophisticated some threads ( eventually ) get ; is Kevin Pietersen in it ?
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Post by MartinM on Dec 14, 2010 17:07:33 GMT 1
In 2000 when I was still in the UK working for a civil service department, I mentioned to one of the senior bosses, who had served in Allied forces during WWII in eastern Europe, that I was visiting Croatia to which he advised me that I should be wary of Croats because of the then Utasha regime and their nationalist tendencies.
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Post by ray51 on Dec 14, 2010 17:42:04 GMT 1
You meant : Ustashe ?
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