I'm strictly talking about soldiers killed in combat, not civilians, I don't condone the murder of innocents. The Albanian terrorists were suffering unsustainable casualties while the JNA and paramilitary groups were growing in size. Alongside the obvious reason of Serbian military superiority, morale also played a big role here. Constant artillery shelling broke terrorist blocks, so when the JNA entered head to head infantry combat they faced significantly less resistance. On the other hand, the JNA was ready to fight and unlike during the wars in Slovenia or Croatia (Krajina) for example, this time the war was fought home, on our soil. David Fromkin, an American historian noted "it seemed possible that NATO unity might crack before Yugoslav morale did."

In the end the government had to concede to stop the civilian casualties caused by the NATO peacekeeping operation which did nothing but accelerate the violence on the ground, as the JNA started a series of revenge killings. The reported brutality of the JNA was typical for most security forces. The majority of ethnic cleansings and murdered civilians (which I condemn) happened during the NATO bombing campaign, not before it. The NATO bombing caused a humanitarian disaster, and was by all means completely illegal and contrary to UN charter.