Commentaires des utilisateurs

It's quite simply a fact that the Western media generally portrayed the Balkan wars from a one-sided perspective: Evil Serbs vs. Innocent Croats/Muslims/Albanians. This documentary demonstrates that there was a significant amount of evil on the other sides. Unfortunately, it does so while completely glossing over the crimes that Serbs DID commit. This inevitably weakens its credibility, as some will simply dismiss it as pro-Serb propaganda...which to some extent it is.

Nonetheless, there is a significant amount of testimony from journalists who covered the wars, and from US and British government/army sources, to back up the filmmakers' obvious biases. This testimony is quite compelling and I think that anyone who approaches this film with an open mind will come away realising that the issues were a lot more complicated than the media led us to believe.

My recommendation: Watch it, think about what it left out, and then read a few books on the subject.

Probably one-sided movie, but if only 10% of statements that were given in this movie are true then the truth is horrible.

Sometimes it is to hard to believe that most wars in these days are won by media. First truth that you hear is the most powerful truth, and all the other truths that will come afterwards are mostly ignored.

Anything you thought you knew about the wars in former Yugoslavia is thrown into question by the film. Did Bosnian Muslims transport the bodies of dead soldiers overnight to the site and then cry massacre? Did they repeat same pattern? And numbers? In this movie, numerous investigations have shown that the number of casualties at the hands of Serbs, also including the supposed mass rapes of Bosnian women, was very much inflated.

Whether or not you're convinced by facts that movie offers, many of which are based on information provided by the Human Rights Watch, Red Cross, Amnesty International, etc. you have to think in one moment - if only one of these statements that I'm hearing is true, than I've been misguided ( one way or another ).

The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. This documentary could be right step toward that middle.

This documentary is comprehensive in weeding out the factual bases of the rise of nationalism in Yugoslavia (Mesic, Tujman, Western interests) which led to its break up. I do agree that it was in some regards unbalanced but one must remember that atrocities were committed by the Bosnian Muslims, the Croatians, the Serbians and the Slovenians. Operation Storm and Operation Flash clearly implicate Mesic and Tujman in the active destruction of Yugoslavia who themselves were supported by the CIA.

It removes the propaganda and brings light to the issue of "Ethnic Cleansing" which later FBI investigation revealed to be baseless as body counts did not even exceed the thousands margin. Why was Clinto interested in Yugoslavia while turning a blind eye to Rawanda? Geo-politics.

This documentary far exceeds the Death of Yugoslavia one in validity and accuracy. This documentary advocated the propagandist viewpoint of milosovic's "greater serbia" which was indeed fabricated, the English subtitles are also flawed as witnessed by myself and proved in the Hague trial. The reviewer below who advocates this movie is clearly biased and hypocritical as that very documentary was made on very subjective circumstances. I, an observer of the war, witnessed the destruction of Yugoslavia first hand and this documentary best represents one of the most complex wars of our era.

If anyone doubts that it is time for a clear and critical look at Western intervention in the Balkans, consider this: The forces that the US supported in Bosnia and Kosovo were and are closely allied with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Bin Laden, himself, was a regular visitor in the office of Bosnia's President Alija Izetbegovic in early 1993, when the US government was touting his commitment to moderation and multi-ethnic cooperation.

`Yugoslavia: The Avoidable War' makes a compelling case that Western backing of separatist forces led directly to the outbreak of war. `The intelligence agencies were unanimous in stating that if you recognize Bosnia, it will blow up,' George Kenney of the State Department reveals. Why then did the US proceed to do so sparking four years of savage warfare? How did we end up on the same side as Osama-Bin Laden in Bosnia and Kosovo? Newscasters and columnists continue to refer to Kosovo as a victory for the US, but this documentary shows that the region is infinitely more divided and dangerous than it was when NATO bombing commenced in March of 1999. The region is more unstable and US troops are likely to be stuck in harm's way much longer than originally anticipated.

This movie represents the truth about war in Bosnia, every fact is true and every quoted cause of war is nothing but a truth... I hope that the World will finally understand what really happened there... I hope you will realize that Serbs were not the aggressors, that Serbs were killed as much as the other nations, maybe even more (numbers don't lie). I am not saying that the Serbs are the only victims from Bosnia, but the Serbs are the only victims of Western politics (think about this). I know that many people wouldn't agree with me, but think again and watch the movie carefully...and one more thing, anyone who don't agree with with me probably was not there and didn't taste it... Watch this movie, watch the truth!!!

Even being a heavy reader of history and politics, the war in Yugoslavia still didn't make too much sense too me. After this documentary all makes sense. Germany had an obsessive desire to rip apart this country. For me even now seems so unthinkable that Madeleine Albright and William Clinton could be so biased and so one sided, specially because Albright is Czechoslovakian so she know Slavic and German history and interests. But without doubts it seems clear enough now that the real power in the United States do not resides on the puppet in turn but on an elite highly stable, spread all over the ranks of the U.S. bureaucracy. Media is the king and once its said on one or two of the world top media outlets then it's sacred truth. The media consensus has to follow, and if you are a reporter that disagrees you risk your whole career for not following the horde. Its a pity that the International Criminal Court is a kangaroo court. After this documentary I was convinced. My suspicions started when the ICC charged Gaddafi for giving viagra to his soldiers so they could rape more women. Raped were all the Serbians and minorities that were left in Kosovo to be "taken care" by the United Nations Mission on Kosovo and the criminal KLA. But as history is always written one sided, nobody is going to indict Helmut Kohl and Hans-Dietrich Genscher for their role in igniting the war and all the atrocities that came after.

No words can express my disgust. Yet another Serbian pathetic propaganda attempts. If you experienced (so-called) ''Yugoslav War'' in locations of actual military struggles (Serbia and Montenegro are not included!), do not watch this movie or it will literally make you cry.

As looking at my family bones and my burned town isn't enough, the Serbian radicals (see:Serbian radical party) and extremist organizations like Obraz (known for their every-day vandalism) are spitting their propaganda at our face once again. Once again, I see a bunch of Serbian profiles and uneducated people praising this movie as nothing happened. As people from my town drunk a couple of beers, burned their own town and mysteriously vanished. How could anyone on the living Earth live in peace with someone who wished to eradicate all non-Serbs on their ''Serbian-proclaimed'' territory? How could we live in peace with someone who tried to eradicate us from the late 19th century to today? How could we live in peace with someone who killed, raped, tortured, burned etc. our relatives? How could anyone from ex-Yugoslavia be in peace with a country who burned towns, tried to assimilate it's citizens and rewrite history?

WE COULD-IN A DIFFERENT WORLD! But, this isn't one of those worlds with a happy endings. As the traumas my generation experienced were not enough, we are forced to deal with every-day, illogical Serbian propaganda with no proofs and logic represented. In first half of the movie, not only that there were no real sources represented, but many false evidences and sources as well. WHO was the struggled soldier and WHY he was murdered and WHO did it? WHO were the murdered civilians and WHERE were they murdered, WHO murdered them? Someone would think that all courts, researches and media would found it out by now. Instead, you can see links all over the internet, proving otherwise and killing all these so-called facts. Instead of making this movie carefully, with Serbian side presented,but trying to NOT spew false charges, the makers threw all kind of thrash they could get and made me turn of the movie before finishing it.

I can't believe that in a world where it's forbidden by law to deny a holocaust in any way (which is a good thing), it's absolutely normal for Serbs to wash down all the blood from their hands as nothing happened. Sadly, the only thing that these movie proved is: 1.Political weakness of all ex-Yugoslavia countries.The creators should be in jail for making fun of hundreds of thousands of victims of ''Greater Serbian'' regime. 2. The popularity of this movie proves how the majority of the Serbs (decades after the war) still refuses to admit what their government did and make all kinds of ridiculous conspiracy theories.

I would love to see creators of this movie: 1.to have the guts to make a ''documentary'' about the Belgium-German conflict in both world wars and make Belgium as the aggressor or try to make a movie about the holocaust denial. This movie is the same!ABSOLUTELY THE SAME! Oh, the blind who refuse to see that. 2. I would like the creators of these movie to name me real Serbian ''victims'' (besides military casualties and those of armed rebels in Croatia and Bosnia)

Last, but not least, movies like these do not help heal the wounds, and make the true peace impossible. After Serbian imperialistic policy made all their neighbours hate them, smart men would think that the modern Serbs would try to help heal the wounds instead of opening new ones. But, ''some'' are not so smart. For further information, study about extremist in Serbia: Obraz, Nacionalni stroj, 1389, Serbian Radical Party etc.

Is the film one-sided? I'd say it is. But were the CNN, CBS etc. reports less one sided during the war? Unfortunately - absolutely not.

So, the film is not repeating the stuff everybody in the West already heard about? Is it really that strange? It tries to use the time it has to show the side of the truth that was not presented before, not to repeat what's already known. I am not trying to defend it, because I don't like one-sided movies myself... but I do understand the intentions. This was not made by a neutral observer - this was made by a man who couldn't stand the selectiveness of the "truth" presented. That's why this is not a great documentary - but it definitely should be seen.

The real question should not be was it one sided, but was any of this true? Because if it was, you should ask yourself - how much the "truth" you hear every day is filtered, so that you can hear only what you as a viewer and a voter are wanted to know, and no more than that. Especially about foreign affairs. Because reporters are much more ready to turn the blind eye on sufferings of people of some foreign nation when asked to, not so much when it happens at home.

I cannot say for sure if everything in this movie was true. But I can say that some things definitely were, and that those things were never presented in US media. I have heard about some of those events earlier, from my friends or relatives witnessing them. I even witnessed some of that myself when I visited Bosnia and Serbia.

So, just watch it, don't believe it. Then watch the reports from the other side about the same events, and compare them. The truth is often somewhere in between. It is sometimes amazing how some things start to get much more sense when you get a chance to hear another side, too.

Normally I would give no more than 6 to this documentary... but since some commentators gave it one star simply because they don't believe the stuff presented there, I gave it 8. Because it really should be seen.

Everybody who wants to know the truth of the Yugoslav wars 1991-2001 should watch this film. this a detailed account of what went on and what was kept from the public with the media spreading deceit, lying and misrepresenting the events. This film provides well researched evidence and archive film from the time all in all a very interesting and insightful documentary. Im not Serbian i know they committed crimes which we are reminded of all the time i don't see how this is Serb propaganda non of the people interviewed who are all American, British, German etc not Serbian they don't have any agenda and all the evidence to back up what they say can be found quite easily.

This is the most lop-sided 'documentary' ever. It is completely pro-Serbian and anti independence for the smaller republics in Yugoslavia.

The film makes so many accusations, and then glosses over so many of the atrocities committed by the Serbs that really made this conflict one of the worst in the last 50 years.

I don't know if it is left or right leaning, but it is simply one-sided.

I would still recommend this film however; it is interesting and has lots of great stock footage. I simply advise all viewers to do their homework before they take this at face value.

Before seeing this movie, please check out reviews available on the internet regarding the movie's falsification of events, particularly its prevarications regarding the widely accepted fact that 7-8,000 Muslim men were bused out of Srebrenica and shot by Serbian paramilitaries. The documentarian also belongs to various pro-Serbian American organizations. Please watch this movie critically, and read reviews beforehand. Most reviews argue that the documentarian takes his arguments too far, even if he raises questions that target the conventional wisdom regarding the war. A review in the NYTimes by Stephen Holden states that it would be "inaccurate to label this documentary pro-Serbian," but one should question both the presentation of facts, many of which are taken from reliable sources, and the omission of those facts that inculpate Serbian forces. I do not advise against seeing this documentary, but I do caution you to examine it with an especially critical eye (as one should do at all times anyway).

I'll admit I came into this movie with a pretty bad attitude. Many reviewers labeled it as Serb propaganda, and knowing how awful we are at it (noted by the filmmakers themselves :-)), I was expecting a lot of nationalistic chest-beating and bitter anti-west propaganda.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The movie was most harshly critical of foreign powers (US and Germany), while treating the sides directly involved for what they truly were - bumbling idiots, too blinded by dreams of nationalistic fairylands to see they are being led around by higher interests.

Factually, the documentary seems pretty solid. Statistical facts came from reputable sources (Hague, Red Cross, etc...). Testimonies were represented by people involved in the conflict, but not directly affiliated with any side (British, Americans etc). The director's surname sounds vaguely Serbian, but it could have easily been Bosnian or Croat. Either way, most of the facts are presented by talking heads and hard data, so the only way he could have influenced the message was through choice of themes and editing.

And... that he did. I agree with detractors that the bias of presented data is heavily pro Serbian. On the other hand, this documentary was clearly intended as a response to what the author sees as heavy anti- Serb bias of the official reports. It never tries to deny Serb war crimes, including Srebrenica, it just doesn't dwell on them. The author simply assumes the viewer is already familiar with the anti-Serb stuff and is instead interested in hearing the opposing point of view.

There were, however, a few WTF moments. Like the time they (desperately) tried to tie Osama Bin Laden with Bosnian Muslims. Nonsense. Sure, there's a recent upsurge of fundamentalism, but in general, Bosnians (and Albanians) are (or were) pretty mellow Muslims. Foreigners never understand that religion around here is tied more closely to national identity than any holy book or a fundamentalist cause.

Oh, and the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in 1999 was handled a bit too lightly. A few drunken idiots shooting up houses wouldn't have sent hundreds of thousands of Albanians fleeing out of Kosovo. The documentary doesn't exactly say, but it does heavily imply that there wasn't official ethnic cleansing policy during the bombing, which IMO is wrong.

Other than, the film is a pretty solid presentation of the 'other side' and, in my admittedly biased opinion, a much closer stab at the truth then the official version. If you're somewhat familiar with the Balkan situation, this documentary is pretty good food for thought. If not, you should probably try familiarizing yourself with the party-line first, as this film presents only the other side of the story. And it does it good.

This is a highly useful documentary for all of us who have only seen the official news reports and comments about the Yugoslav war and felt some information was being hidden to us. Even during the war and the bombing of Bosnian Serbs and Kosovo, I have heard many critical voices but they did not bring clear and documented information of what they were claiming was the truth. Time would provide us with this information that was absent. I waited for long, but now, with this documentary, here we have the information that for many of us who did not have will help us make a more true and honest opinion. Before this, we just blindly believed the mainstream media stories and that's it. It is a fact that the mainstream media in today's most important countries are directly controlled by top men who at the same time control economic and geo-strategical policies in the world, it is obvious that we cannot believe everything what is told by them. Specially not when it concerns the REASONS and MOTIVES of why something in the world is done or not. Many times proofs are deliberately fabricated in order to blame it to the enemy, it is not a new thing. Hitler burned his Reichstag, blamed it on the Jews and communists. It provide him with green light to start killing millions of Jews. Nero burned Rome, blamed it the Christians. That gave him green light to kills thousands of Christians. It does not surprise me at all that there are proofs that Muslims themselves put a bomb on a market place in Sarajevo to blame it on the Serbs and provoke NATO attacks against Serbs. It is a very old strategy of temporary sacrifice in order to achieve a bigger victory later. I want to thank the documentary makers for their effort. I was waiting a long time for information like you expose in your documentary. Thank you. Alex (Spain)

This is one of the only and best documentaries about Yugoslavia, its breakup, and the factors/reasons underpinning all of this that exists to this day.

Perhaps, as some have criticized, the documentary could have been better at identifying the talking heads, giving a more multifaceted view, etc.

However, these small points aside this documentary should be seen by anyone and everyone interested in the past and current situation in the former Yugoslavia and its individual parts, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia among others. Other reviewers have already ably set out what the film does much better and more comprehensively then I have but in the end my review is simply up here in order to add another voice of rationality and fairness to the cacophony of irrational ideologues that often make up any discussion around this topic.

I urge anyone who is sincerely interested in the realities of the Balkans to view this film.

This documentary deals with the Yougoslavian wars for secession in a pretty obvious non-objective manner.

Also, beside the PR spin, the documentary deserves a 2 star rating for being the first (on the subject) I saw that included some facts about the actions of the German BND in Yugoslavia and, later, Croatia. It also tries to explain the German stand on the subject by pointing at the Croatian lobby in Germany, which is also true. But then it begins to convince the viewer that the Serbian side was not the aggressor, and that the crimes against civilian population done by the Serbian side was only bad PR (sic!), that Muslims in Sarajevo killed their own people to make it look like they're the victim... Not good.

If you're into PR (in a negative way) - watch it. :)

If you already know of the subject - see this film; it'll give you some impression of how propaganda works, and maybe (if you were there) take you back trough time to those days of TV news reports from Belgrade and Zagreb. ;)

If you want to know what really went on - go see BBC's "The Death of Yugoslavia".

In many of the reviews I have seen comments about one or other side propaganda, but to me it doesn't seem like that with this movie.

I'm sure some of you will agree that some of the informations presented to the audience was wrong at first point, as the movie says with some of the presented interviews, so in a certain way this movie is an attack to the media and bad reporting but it seems that in practice there is no open apology by the media to the audience 2-3 months latter when some information if proved to be wrong.

So, what I have seen in this movie is far more worse then just propaganda for any side, it looks more like analyzing the power of the media and how the news are used in achieving some political goal. Media appears to be a powerful weapon, who is going to pay more, a? Somethimes bad guys win the wars, but will they manage to present them self as good ones is a question of the mediums and their controlling.

When I saw this "documentary", I was disappointed to see Serbian Propaganda in action once again. Even though Serbia and its nationalist politics is main reason of Yugoslavian breakup, it is not mentioned in this "documentary", which is made by Bogdanovich whose name tells us that he is Serbian and his movie that he is far from being objective. It is one in the set of lies pushed by Milosevic regime. Everyone else is guilty only Serbians were right and victims, even though most of the War Criminals tried in Hague are Serbs, even though Serbs are one who have committed genocide against Bosnians , and attacked Slovenia, Croatia,and Bosnia all independent nations recognized by the UN.Breakup of Yugoslavia was not avoidable because Serbians did not want to release the grip their nationalism has put on Federal Yugoslav government, so SLovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia were forced to become independent nations in order to protect their interests.If you are interested in an objective documentary about breakup of Yugoslavia, and fact led documentary this is not it . You should watch "Yugoslavia:Death of a Nation", Made by Discovery channel and BBC.

There's three side of the truth, my side, your side and the real side of the truth, and each one pulls the truth to itself...

I am aware that this documentary shows a different point of view comparing to all occidental influent medias and also that it's one sided.

But you just can't only say that the documentary Death of Yugoslavia is good and this one is bad and i am really sure there are true parts in Yugolavia, the avoidable war...and i am sure it was...

I don't know what exactly happened during all the wars, but i surely know that propaganda is on each sides every time and at every wars.

I'm trying do my best to understand what really happened by reading books, watching documentaries and reading forums.

I recommend this book for people who want to know more than occidental influent medias point of view about Yugoslav war : Diana Johnstone - Fools' Crusade : Yugoslavia, Nato, and Western Delusions (Monthly Review Press)

Reviews: http://www.swans.com/library/art9/lproy04.html http://www.monthlyreview.org/books/foolscrusade.php

I just want to say that this production is very one sided, breaks the impartiality needed if you want to be taken seriously.

There are no credits of the persons they interviewed, so you cant have an idea if they are worthy of being heard.

Tells the story from just one point of view. To do this is very dangerous, because the next generations learns the bad idea, and thats why wars keep coming. I know this is not the only reason about wars, but doesn't help either.

you can watch this documentary, but read in the internet a lot, before. Balcans are complex as human history is.

Waste of time. It's not a documentary film. It is a propaganda trying to give following messages: Serbians are the victims... Dozen of respected reporters on the ground got it wrong... Germany, Austria, and USA are Serbia haters... Their intelligence services helped Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in their unlawful wars of separation... NATO is an evil organization... It has served its purpose and should have been disintegrated in the nineties. It makes you skeptic when you see how the facts and events are presented and how the truth is bypassed. However, the daze passes away at the end when you see who the producer was. What a waste of time.

The story starts from the point where the fallout of Yugoslavia has already started, without any background on the reasons for the wish of the republics to secede. Those who wanted independence are portrayed as villains who are breaking up good old Yugoslavia.

Those reasons are mainly Serbization of Yugoslavia (called Serbs' attempt of creating "Serboslavia" by those wishing to secede), redistribution of wealth towards Serbia, appointment of Serbs to most lucrative positions in government agencies and public companies, and generally preferential treatment of Serbs in Yugoslavia.

It goes on by minimizing Serb war crimes, exaggerating crimes of other parties and reversing roles of attackers and defenders. The movie completely ignores the fact that Serbs controlled the Jugoslav National Army (JNA), most police forces and almost all heavy weapons (airplanes, warships, tanks, helicopters, howitzers etc). It states that JNA could have, and should have been allowed to, save Yugoslavia from falling apart. In no point in the movie the benefit of its continued existence was discussed.

The weapons importing embargo, which favored the already armed Serbs, is barely mentioned, but the imports in violations of that embargo by Croatians and Bosnians are labeled "illegal". Mistreatment of others by Serbs in preceding peacetime are not mentioned at all, but international intervention to stop their war crimes is called illegal many times.

Throughout the whole movie Slovenes, Croatians and Bosnians are accused of media spinning, whereas in reality Serbs had by far the best propaganda, and the international media's mostly correct portrayal of truth is represented as Bosnian/Croatian "manipulation of US public opinion".

The movie contains even some easily refutable statements, such as that the internal borders of the republics were secretly drawn by Tito during 1943, when they are in fact borders inherited from previous times (Austria-Hungary period etc).

I don't think that Macedonia was mentioned even once in this 2h 45m movie! And it declared independence before Bosnia.

Such strong bias is explained at the end of the movie, during credits, where it can be seen that 2 of 4 producers are Serbs (Bogdanich and Bibic).

The movie is however useful to watch, in order to know the Serb "truth", which is obviously different from the truth of the rest of the world.