The mood on the cusp of a possible peace was starkly different from the mood when war broke out. Thursday, the giddiness was gone. Two husky men from Montenegro in a Belgrade cafe were bluntly philosophical. Peace is good, but might won. The politicians should have taken care of this.
Several factors seem to have weakened the public's resolve.
Although the military has not disclosed its casualty figures, obituaries in newspapers and posted on trees showed that NATO bombing was taking a toll. In Belgrade in recent days, talk was already turning to future hardships. Winter, despite the early summer weather here, is already a topic of worry. For their part, Kosovo Albanian refugees were skeptical about a peace deal that would eventually allow them to return home. We're not going to believe Milosevic any more.