And Izetbegovic knew it too back then. But he insisted on declaring independence.
Nationalism was on the rise in the entire Yugoslavia,just like in all other Eastern Bloc countries when communism fell.
It's only natural and logical to get sick of communism at some point and especially in a country with so many different ethnicities and religions that had a very bad past since WWII.
The Serbs,Montenegrins and some others who either identified as Yugoslavs or were of communists of other ethnicities,tried to keep the country together.
I'm not talking about self-defense and fighting for your people and freedom,I'm talking about the atrocities the volunteers and many of the Bosnian Muslims had commited against the Serbs and Croats.
Yes,there were thousands of radicals who went there and caused a lot of trouble. There's videos of them abusing and executing POWs and photos of them with heads and bodies of Serb civilians. The Croats had captured some of them too and interrogated them on video.
Explained in the video here for example
And the Bosnian Muslim soldiers would often do the same,but the world media back then would mostly blame Serbs,while not reporting crimes against Serbs. Especially the American newspapers.
I strongly suggest that you watch these two documentaries: Yugoslavia the Avoidable War and Srebrenica A Town Betrayed.
Yugoslavia the Avoidable War is about 2 hours and 45 minutes but you can skip to the Bosnian War part if you want. The arguements,quotes and interviews from high-ranking people,reporters and investigators involved in the war back then,like Lord Owen and General Morillon,show that many of the massacres and attacks blamed on Serbs,were actually organized by Izetbegovic's government,even though some of his own ministers and generals disagreed on his methods.
Just watch them,even out of curiosity.
I'm not saying there were no crimes by Serbs. I'm just saying,Western propaganda made it look as if the Serbs are monsters and the only ones commiting atrocities.
Because most of those who go to help other muslims in such wars are either Salafis or radicals who constantly try to force their own version of islam and expand their influence on each place they go. They are not labeled as "terrorists",they are terrorists. They use brutal tactics and constantly try to expand Islam by force.