NOt "in" 10 months, BUT 10 months before NATO started the bombing. NATO started the bombing only as late as in March '99, the war had already broken out in '98. Before that it was neither war or peace in Kosova. During that period 350,000 Albanians were forced to leave.

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/undword-01.htm



Yes, The soldiers knew exactly what their orders were when they stepped in Kosova. What do you think they were doing, plant flowers?

Wake up and smell the coffee!!


Do you call these techniques "random"?



1. Concentration; Surround the area to be cleansed and after warning the resident Serbs- urging them to leave or at least mark their houses with flags- intimidate the target population with artillery fire and arbitrary executions and bring them out into the streets

2. Decapitation; Execute political leaders and those capable of taking their places- lawyers, judges, public officials , writers, professors.

3. Separation; Divide women, children and older men from men of "fighting age" - 16 years to 60 years old.

4. Evacuation; Transport women, children and old men to the border, expelling them into a neighboring territory or country.

5. Liquidation; Execute "fighting age " men, dispose of bodies.




http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/undword-02.htm



" Est. number of Kosovar Albanians driven from their homes by Serb security forces prior to October 1998 cease-fire: 250,000

United Nations (UNHCR) estimate of maximum number of refugees from a potential conflict in Kosovo, prior to war: 100,000 [5]

Maximum UNHCR refugee relief capacity in Albania, three days after bombing began: 10,000 [6]

Est. Number of Kosovar Albanians expelled from Kosovo by Serbs, March to June 1999: 863,000 [7]


Est. Number of Kosovar Albanians internally displaced within Kosovo, as of mid-May 1999: 590,000 [8]

Percentage of Kosovar Albanian population displaced during war: at least 90%

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...etc/facts.html


Now how were the Serbs able to expel 90% of the Albanian population out of Kosova in matter of weeks? It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.




The flight of the ethnic Albanian population from Kosovo was executed with a degree of coordination and control that render it impossible to reach any conclusion other than systematic forced expulsion. At least four factors are key in determining that a policy of "ethnic cleansing" was carried out in Kosovo: First is the timing of the refugees' arrival-refugees arrived in Macedonia and Albania from the same areas on the same dates, and at various times (notably during negotiations) the flow of refugees stopped or was switched from one border to another. Second is the means of departure: refugees were expelled into Macedonia by train, which allowed the efficient removal of thousands of persons a day. Others, including many of those sent to Albania who did not have their own transportation, were taken by trucks and buses organized by the Serbian police. Collection points were used to facilitate expulsion. Third is the use of threats and violence to terrorize the population into departing, a central element of "ethnic cleansing," observed frequently during the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. Fourth is the practice of "identity cleansing": refugees expelled toward Albania were frequently stripped of their identity documents and forced to remove the license plates from their cars and tractors before being permitted to cross the border.


Whatever the explanation, the practice of "identity cleansing" was clearly not a random initiative by Serbian officials on the border. After the war, piles of license plates and burned documents were discovered by the border crossings into Albania and elsewhere in Kosovo.


http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/undword-03.htm



The expulsion of the ethnic Albanians was going on before NATO decided to bomb. That's why Nato intervened, to stop the ethnic cleansing, mass murder and rapes. They already made a mistake during the Bosnian war, and same mistake was not going to be made again in Kosova.

By observing both the timing and pattern of refugee arrivals, researchers were able to draw a conclusion.


The forces of the FRY and Serbia have, in a systematic manner, forcibly expelled and internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes across the entire province of Kosovo. To facilitate these expulsions and displacements, the forces of the FRY and Serbia have intentionally created an atmosphere of fear and oppression through the use of force, threats of force, and acts of violence.

The widespread confiscation of identity documents and car license plates by Serbian police and border guards from departing Kosovar Albanian refugees also points to the systematic nature of the expulsions. Hundreds of refugees arriving in Albania spoke of being forced to hand over ID cards, passports, and birth certificates, which were often torn up in front of them, before they were permitted to cross the border. Those who crossed the border by car were given screwdrivers and ordered to remove the license plates from their vehicles. By contrast, refugees who were expelled to Macedonia generally were permitted to retain their documents, even after having them inspected by Serbian police officers. (As noted in the section discussing explanations for the "ethnic cleansing," the difference in approach may reflect an expectation that those sent to Albania could be more easily characterized as Albanians from Albania and blocked from returning, whereas Macedonia was unlikely to tolerate the permanent residence of large numbers of Albanians from Kosovo.)



Each one of these four factors (the timing of arrivals, the means of departure, the use of terror and the practice of "identity cleansing") strongly suggest that the flight of some 860,000 Albanians from Kosovo in twelve weeks adds up to systematic forced expulsion. Taken together, the evidence is overwhelming.



http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/undword-03.htm