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It is currently 09:20 (UTC) on Monday, 11 April 2016 in Wikiland, although where I live it is 18:50 (UTC + 9.5).
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This Wikipedian is proud to have served on two United Nations-led peacekeeping missions. |
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This Wikipedian is proud to have served in IFOR — the NATO-led international peace implementation force in the former Yugoslavia. |
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This user joined Wikipedia 4 years, 4 months, and 17 days ago as of April 11, 2016. |
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This user has made over
42,000 edits on Wikipedia.
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When war is on, and danger high
God and soldier is the cry
When war is over, and wrongs are righted
God is forgotten, and the soldier slighted.
— Corporal Dennis, 1st Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment
Intro
I'm always interested in a serious discussion (based on the Wikipedia Architectural Quintet, of course) on any article I have edited. I have a particularly good library on Yugoslavia in the Second World War, and also on Australia in the First World War, and I will not disappoint with emotional or POV nonsense. I will bring the sources or I will shut up and get back in my box.
A bit about the former Yugoslavia
I am not from, have any connection to, nor have any proclivity to support, any faction/racial/cultural/political/religious group from the former Yugoslavia or its successor states, and like all true Wikipedians, am only interested in reliable, published sources and a neutral point of view. I spent some time there myself in 1990s (mostly in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina), and was appalled by most of what I saw and experienced, and have spent the last twenty or so years trying to understand what happened there in the 90's in the context of the past (concentrating mostly on WWII). I struggle to understand it, but one thing I do know is that all wars of the 20th Century had laws and that many of the wars that occurred in the Balkans in that time were sadly short of combatants that respected them. There were many victims there in that last 115 years, but in my view, not many good guys.
Over time, I have realised that the root cause of Yugoslavia’s demise wasn’t centuries-old ethnic hatreds, but the fact that no government in the area that became Yugoslavia ever achieved legitimacy, because they all served one group and were intolerant of others, and as result, created serious sectarian grievances. When the opportunity arose and power shifted, at the local or national level, there were always those that were willing to exploit it for their own profit, to take revenge or eliminate the potential opposition—usually targeting the powerless and defenceless.
Australian military history
I am also keen on Australian military history, particularly WW1, and especially the Machine Gun companies and battalions. I've managed to put together a couple of Featured biographies of South Australian soldiers, but I wish I could drag myself away from Balkans articles for long enough to make a real contribution.
For more on why I edit where I do, see my 2015 interview in the Wikipedia Signpost.
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