Even allowing for NATO boasting, such figures are by no means impossible. During the Persian Gulf War an aerial assault of much shorter duration is believed to have killed at least 100,000 Iraqi soldiers. Unlike the Gulf War, the bombing of Yugoslavia did not begin at the maximum level of intensity, but has rather built up gradually. The media has played an essential role in the marketing of the war on Yugoslavia. No assertion of NATO and the Pentagon is too stupid, self-contradictory or brazenly false to be repeated by the American press.
Orwellian language abounds.
The willing self-censorship and bias of the American media has been supplemented by the suppression of reporting and commentary which is not under Pentagon control. Television and radio transmitters of both RTS and independent Serbian broadcasters continue to be hit by bombs and missiles. Last week Eutelstat, the European satellite consortium, voted to cut off satellite feeds from RTS, effectively blocking transmissions from Yugoslavia to other Balkan and European countries. Two weeks ago, the Clinton administration hinted that it would move to shut off access to the Internet from Yugoslavia, only to back down in the face of protests. Like any criminal, NATO prefers to do its dirty work in the dark.