Now, however, it has served to galvanize a deeply frustrated population. Since the end of NATO's bombing campaign, the mood in Leskovac has been somber. The town lies just 25 miles from the Kosovo border and 60 miles from Pristina. Soldiers returning from the war have shown signs of post traumatic stress disorder and appear depressed. According to Dobroslav Nesic, president of a human rights group in Leskovac, paramilitaries loyal to the local warlord, Frenki Simatovic, now cruise the streets of the town.
Drunk soldiers prowl the streets, picking fights and firing their weapons into the air.
People are afraid to let their children out of the house. Residents here are bitter now that they've heard from returning soldiers what really went on in Kosovo. Having consistently voted for Milosevic for the past nine years, they now feel cheated by him. Lekovac had long been a bastion of support for Milosevic and his ruling Socialist Party. But now, as residents count the dead and calculate the physical damage from the war, their frustration is growing.