The Srebrenica Massacre - Nova Srpska Politicka Misao

The Military Context of the Fall of Srebrenica
army is becoming stronger every day. We are now better organized.
There will be soon enough heavy weapons, and the production of
weapons and ammunition is very high in our territories. The structure
of the army is changed to reflect the different tasks. Morale and discipline
is high and we now have something to fight for.” 21
On February 20, an ECMM team saw hundreds of artillery shells
ready for collection at a supposedly defunct steel factory in Zenica, central
Bosnia. The same site was used as the base for a large contingent of
Turkish soldiers supplied to UNPROFOR. The presence of the troops
would complicate any attacks by Serbs, but it was clear that the Turkish
forces must have known what was going on. This, to say the least,
fundamentally compromised their neutrality.
During January and February 1995 alone, monitors estimated that
between 800 and 1,000 tons of armaments had been brought into the
Tuzla area. On February 11, a Norwegian UN Monitor witnessed a
Hercules transport aircraft escorted by F-16s making an air drop. The
UN staff went to investigate but were menaced by BMA troops and refused
access. The matter escalated and UNPROFOR General Bertrand
De Lapresle alerted UN headquarters in New York that he suspected
the cargo had been the latest generation of anti-tank missiles. In the
end, it emerged that there were gaping holes in the “no fly“ zone enforcement
which were being exploited by those wishing to supply the
BMA. This seemed to include senior staff within the U.S. military and
political establishment who were in an ideal position to know when aircraft
over Bosnia would go undetected. 22
These supply flights were often piloted by recently retired U.S. Air
Force pilots. Additionally, there were U.S. “special forces,” not attached
to UNPROFOR, in Croatia and in Bosnia actively engaged in helping
the Croats and Muslims. The BMA was being organised into a single
chain of command with the assistance of U.S. “advisers.”
Unsurprisingly, the Serbs were also well aware that this massive rearmament
was taking place and, from their perspective, the UN appeared
to be doing nothing to prevent it; indeed, they seemed to be actively colluding
with the process. In fact, the supply was probably organised by
the U.S. without informing their European partners, 23 whose troops
were in real danger of being caught in the crossfire when the arms were
used in anger, which they were most certainly intended to be. However,
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