European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday May 22, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary Anthony Lewis Bush s resolve in Gulf vanishes before serbs when president Bush took this country and others into the persian Gulf War 16 months ago he acted in the name of a new world order. This was not just a War for Oil he said it was the beginning of an age when aggression against the weak would not be tolerated anywhere. How cynical that Promise sounds today. The world is if anything nastier. There Are More victims of aggression. And political leaders show no signs of the firmness needed to Stop it a least of All George Bush. The most painful disappointment is in what was Yugoslavia. For nearly a year now Serbia a communist Leader Slobodan Milosevic has used his troops and serbian irregulars to kill and terrorize other ethnic groups in the neighbouring republics. And what Are the rest of us doing essentially standing by and wringing our hands. The United states the european Community and the United nations have tried various devices in the former Yugoslavia. They have sent mediators stationed truce monitors on site and dispatched peacekeeping forces. All have failed to Stop the bloodshed. The reason they have failed is Plain. Milosevic and his serbian allies do not want peace. They want to acquire territory by Force. They will not be stopped by exhortation. The Only thing that would have stopped the aggressors was a credible threat of Force. And the United states and european Community gave that leverage up at the Start indicating that in any event they would not intervene militarily to Stop the Slaughter. Intervention in struggles among ethnic or religious groups is Tricky business. It is often not easy to say who Are the Good Guys if any. In this Case i have no illusion that the other yugoslav groups Are saints. But the serbs were and Are the principal aggressors. A Stop the serbian aggression a the economist wrote recently a and you end the moreover there have been moments when the aggression was so naked that european and american intervention would have been generally regarded As justified. One was when the serbian forces pounded Dubrovnik a croatian City of great historic and cultural interest and no imaginable strategic value. Another such occasion is Here now in sow m live and lit live. The merciless serbian attacks on Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Watching the television pictures of shells falling on that City and civilians huddling in fear i thought that civilization had not advanced since nazi bombs fell on Rotterdam. Some new world order. At Dubrovnik last fall there was and at Sarajevo now there is a Way for the United states and the dec to act effectively without undue risk of being embroiled in military action on the ground. That is to take command of the air. The americans and europeans have plenty of warplanes based near enough to do exactly that. We could have said to Milosevic and still could Stop your aggression at once or our military aircraft will control your skies. Not just Over Dubrovnik or Sarajevo but Over Belgrade. The Bush administration has kept iraqis warplanes grounded since the Gulf War a although it had to be shamed into enforcing that Rule after Saddam Hussein a Slaughter of kurd and shiites. The threat to do the same to Serbia would surely be credible. The failure of nerve and imagination in the face of serbian aggression is Europe Sas Well As americans. But Bush raised expectations so High in the Gulf War that disappointment naturally focuses on him. What has happened to the Man who three Days after Iraq grabbed Kuwait said a this will not stand the iraqi invasion must have had special connotations for Bush echoes of appeasement at Munich in 1938 and the personalized Devil figure of Saddam Hussein. Or else the difference really was no More than Oil. There is no Oil in Sarajevo. But the failure to Stop the serbian anschluss or annexation May have Large consequences. The world is that much less Likely to be Able to prevent the ethnic conflagrations that threaten in Large areas of Eastern Europe and the former soviet Union. We might remember that this terrible Century began its downward slide 78 years ago in Sarajevo. C the now York Timos John Lancaster Navy must Rock boat of ingrained sexism when Drunken Navy aviators fondled slapped and even stripped women guests at a convention in Las vegas last september they dropped a bomb that May do what no other episode of sexual harassment by american sailors has done Force a revolution in the . Navy a treatment of women in its ranks. The triggering event erupted among Macho military aviators enjoying a genial setting a the Tail Hook association convention. Named for the arresting Hook that enables a plane to land on a Carrier without plunging off the deck the private group of Active and retired naval aviators annually puts on three Days of panel discussions and parties devoted to naval aviation. Among the attractions were a hospitality suites a on the third floor of the Las vegas Hilton convention site where liquor flowed freely. For three nights running some of the Navy people and marines among the 5,000 aviators defense contractors and other guests arrayed themselves along a third floor corridor in a Tail Hook tradition known As a the the goons of the Gauntlet eagerly gang pawed passing females and one of them even decked a woman who tried to fend him off. Navy investigators later found that at least 26 women More than half of them Navy officers had been assaulted in one form or another. And then the men tried to cover it up. The Navy a inspector general the services top investigative officer reviewed interviews of 1,500 Tail Hook participants and concluded that Many of the men showed a a marked absence of moral courage and in other words rather than see Justice for the women they lied to protect themselves or friends. So far the Navy has largely failed to alter deeply ingrained patterns of sexism and sexual harassment despite a series of recent scandals. Navy top brass have acknowledged culpability and Promise a new a score values curriculum for recruits. So far Only a dozen Junior officers face punishment ranging from court martial to letters of reprimand and the number could grow. But senior officers still done to seem to get it. They have blamed heavy drinking a a mob mentality and me generation decadence. A better explanation is probably the nature of the Navy itself. Women have never been Welcome aboard warships where Navy culture is rooted and they remain a rarity. Largely As a result said Carolyn Becraft a former army officer and expert on military personnel issues a the most egregious sexual harassment issues in the last 10 years have primarily come from the Navy. It goes to the when the Tail Hook scandal broke and the naval investigative service began gathering evidence some commanders refused to order subordinates to submit to photographs for use in identifying suspects. Senior officials have yet to explain Why they did not order full compliance with the probe. Sailors Long stretches at sea followed by exotic Calls in foreign ports shaped what one analyst Calls a a culture of prostitution and promiscuity. They really Are never held accountable in a civilian a retired Captain recalled that when he was a Junior Carrier officer a fall wedding rings came off crossing Hawaii going senior officers cautioned fledgling Carrier jocks to omit from letters Home any details about friends activities lest wives or girlfriends compare notes. A the saying when you come into port is a every night is a saturday night and every saturday night is new years eve a a one Pilot said. Many female officers believe the bar against women in combat specialities now under review by a presidential commission a reinforces sexism. The High commands Public hard line against sexual harassment includes a warning that first time offenders risk discharge under a new a Zero tolerance policy. Similar pledges followed previous episodes but officials say this time the reforms will stick. C the Washington Post
