The few intellectuals who remained critical of Milošević found themselves torn between their own conscience and patriotism: while the events in Kosovo troubled them, they could not condone the bombing campaign destroying their homeland. Putting on a brave face for the world to see, they proclaimed themselves to be innocent victims of violence and the true bearers of humanism, while simultaneously exhibiting fanatical nationalism that blinded them from seeing the extent to which they had been co-opted by the regime. Many turned themselves into human shields on bridges and around key factories or gathered in town squares to sing, dance and listen to performances by folk and rock musicians in a festive atmosphere that was completely at odds with the unfolding tragedy. This incident, widely publicised by both Belgrade and Western media, was followed by other, even more tragic events: in April 12, NATO planes targeted a railway bridge on the Belgrade–Skopje line in southern Serbia and accidentally struck a passenger train, killing 55 people according to the Belgrade press (10 according to Western reporters.) Two days later on April 14, a NATO F-16 pilot mistook two columns of Albanian refugees between Gjakova and Deçan for a Serbian military convoy and fired upon it, killing 75 people and injuring 23.Įven though the authorities had banned mass gatherings when the state of emergency was proclaimed on April 8, 1999, Serbian cities and Belgrade most of all became the site of large protests against the bombing campaign one of the ways people protested was by attaching paper targets to their chests. The effects of this change were felt immediately: on the morning of April 6, a missile hit the small town of Aleksinac by mistake, killing 17 and injuring many more. In practice, this meant a departure from the earlier NATO policy of minimising civilian casualties. To achieve this, 'smart' weapons were joined by unguided conventional bombs. The goal was to destroy not only the infrastructure underpinning the Serbian war machine, but the people's morale to trigger an uprising against Milošević. The bridges over the Danube were systematically bombed, with the exception of those in Belgrade (six were destroyed and four more were badly damaged) Serbia's most important factories, electrical stations, refineries and oil and gas terminals received the same treatment. They increased the number of planes in the air and extended their missions: having started with eight-hour flights at night, the missions were now extended to 24 hours.

NATO leadership decided to increase the number of airstrikes, expand the list of potential targets to include industrial sites with military significance, radio and television stations and other strategic infrastructure.

Najbolje Ex Yu Rock Pesme