Last fall, British and Danish investigative reporting sugggested that the US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade had had a motive, contrary to NATO claims that it had been a terrible mistake based on outdated maps. Reportedly, NATO intelligence had discovered that the Chinese were helping Serbian military command broadcast to troops in the field. These reports were buried by the US media, but the New York Times now weighs in. After its full investigation, it can find no evidence for the British/Danish charges. “The bombing resulted from

error piled upon incompetence

piled upon bad judgment in a variety of places – from a frantic

rush to approve targets to questionable reliance on inexpert

officers to an inexplicable failure to consult the people who

might have averted disaster, according to the officials,” writes

Steven Lee Myers.