THE DEBATE: Was the war in the former Yugoslavia a civil war or a war of aggression by Slobodan Milosevic and his Serb forces? Is Ante Gotovina a hero or a war criminal? Was the UN court (ICTY) established to provide justice for the war's victims or do they have the political goal of trying to create a narrative that reinforces the UN's policy of treating the combatants as moral equals? The following is a small sample of those debates that can be seen in Searching for a Storm. Carole Hodge Author, Britain and the Balkans London, England The Serbs did not get a signal from the international community that what they were doing in Croatia was unacceptable. The Serbs were allowed to continue with impunity. Robin Harris Author/Former British Policy Maker London, England By imposing an arms embargo on what had been the whole of the former Yugoslavia the UN ensured that those who needed to resist were not able to do so and that, of course, encouraged the people that had the arms to use them, namely Belgrade. Anton Nikiforov ICTY Prosecution Spokesman The Hague, Netherlands The UN imposed an embargo to stop the fighting, not to fuel it more. If you allowed everybody to buy arms the conflict would become much more bloody. Goran Visnjic Actor/Former Croatian Soldier After singing stop the war in Croatia for a couple of months we realized nobody was going to give us a hand and we had to do this on our own. Luka Misetic Gotovina Defense Attorney Chicago, IL The Croatian army in 1991 and '92 was a ragtag group. Croatia did not have an army when it declared independence. It did not have experienced soldiers leading various units. When General Gotovina saw this conflict had broken out, he decided to return to Croatia. Sime Kardum Former Croatian Soldier Knin Region, Croatia Ante Gotovina is a pure hero and he'll stay a hero until the last Croatian is on the Croatian homeland. Dejan Anastasijevic Journalist, Vreme Belgrade, Serbia If it wasn't for the war in the former Yugoslavia Ante Gotovina would remain a petty adventurist. As a young man he joined the French Foreign Legion, served there, and mostly did petty crimes after that. Archbishop Ivan Prendja Catholic Archbishop Zadar, Croatia At the invitation of General Gotovina I gave a sermon to his commanders and sub-commanders on the ethics of war. I said that he who commits crimes and hates is actually the one who is most harmed. Sonja Biserko Human Rights Activist Belgrade, Yugoslavia I think it should be explained to Croatians and Bosniaks that Second World War atrocities, especially against Serbs in Croatia, were revived intentionally in order to create this atmosphere of fear where people were conditioned for war with an idea to prevent a new genocide. Alain Finkielkraut Author/Philosopher As a Jew, I didn't want the memory of the Holocaust to be used as a tool by the Serbs to justify the massacre in an aggressive war. Hasan Nuhanovic Former Bosnian UN Interpreter Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina A number of Dutch UN soldiers witnessed executions right there on the spot (outside the gates of the UN base in Srebrenica). Some of those inside the base, like my family, were still safe. At one point the soldiers told us to tell the people that they have to go outside &my mother fainted when she realized that our family was going to be killed. Anton Nikiforov ICTY Prosecution Spokesman The Hague, Netherlands There is absolutely no human way to identify the aggressor. Unfortunately, politicians created this propaganda of who is the victim and who is the aggressor. Bryan Suits Former US Soldier in Bosnia/Radio Journalist Los Angeles, California The perception on the ground is that now these people are on the other side of Europe judging us, yet when the crimes were going on they couldn't stop them. If they can't identify an aggressor after aggression, then they're of no use to a rational world. Emir Suljagic Former Bosnian UN Interpreter Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina The ICTY has a major problem. It was started by the UN and by the time it was established the UN was deeply, deeply discredited. The UN has never reckoned with what it did in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia and unless there's a reckoning, the UN will not have the moral credibility to be a constructive force in the world.