war reminders

We saw the war museum today. Defiantly slanted in a Croatian perspective but important nonetheless. 100 freedom fighters died in the shelling of Dubrovnik (considered to be the last straw by the international community). The town actually reverted to its medieval defensive positions, using the town well, walls and granary. Pretty impressive that the same fortifications that keep the Venetians out keep the modern Yugoslavian Army out as well. While they kept them out and eventually resisted the siege, Dubrovnik suffered terribly. As you climb the city walls you can see which of the old, terracotta roof tiles are new or old by their color. 70% are new. There is a map showing where each shell hit and it looks like over 500 ordinances landed in old town. Remember, Dubrovnik provided very little strategic importance in the war. The siege began as a campaign to break the spirit of the Croatians but as the saying goes "when they tried to take Dubrovnik, they lost the war". The one picture I felt like a jackass when taking (which will really impress you when you see some of these pictures) was of the "pock marks" where the shells landed and shrapnel flew.

Again, you're used to seeing this kind of thing in Normandy or Alsace from the WWII happenings but it really startling when you remember that all this happened 15 years ago. These were modern guns, modern ships, modern planes that did this destruction and they did it with much better precision than in the past.

War is hell...