European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 14, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday August 14,1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 let s bomb serbs in Effort to halt massacre William Safire for one glorious moment it seemed that the North Atlantic treaty organization ministers in Brussels Belgium had finally agreed to get Tough with serbian leaders who had been jerking the world s diplomats around for the past two years making a mock Ery of collective Security. Word came from nato Headquarters that a list of targets had been selected for airstrikes to break the siege of Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina and save the lives of its Muslim Resi dents. The targets were not just serbian artillery positions in the Hills pounding the populace but fuel and ammo dumps suppl lines and Bridges and those responsible bosnian serbs meaning the contemptuous thugs with stars on their Shoul Ders who have been directing mass murder with was simultaneously pumped out of Washington that the Clinton administration had adopted a new Resolute Don t ask Tell policy asserting the need for air intervention now to Stop the bloodletting. Reporters were told that this time the president would not allow the British and French to dictate the dithering. Coer Cive diplomacy would become the order of the Day. And what happened the psychiatrist who fronts for the serbian strongman took note of these delusions of Potency and As usual when the West has Brief fit of conscience promised to Stop the shelling and to allow Relief convoys in. Then As Western huf fing and puffing subsided the Tough cop leading the serbs added a few conditions that vitiated his Nice cop s seeming Concession. The noose tightened on a clue that emboldened the serbian leaders was the agreement Between the chief of nato s Southern forces . Adm. Mike Boorda and the French Gener Al commanding . Forces in the Balkans Jean essence the United nations has a veto Over any nato airstrike. The decision to direct Boorda to sub ordinate his command authority to the United nations was made by the president of the United states. Clinton s Don t ask Tell thus became Don t the protective Force in the former Yugoslavia is mainly concerned with protecting . Distribution of food and bandages and not in protecting muslims from serbian guns. The . Commanders Are afraid that if nato forcibly lifts the siege resentful serbian militia will attack the scattered 25,000 .forces. Thus president Clinton has placed responsibility for the decision to attack the aggressors in the hands of the . Commanders most fearful of a counterattack. That Means the . Force protects the serbian attackers. Again Clinton can say it s not his fault from Liq a c99 p in the previous the allies won t let me do it he moves to the . Won t let me do if he wants to Stop the killing Here s How 1. Tell the United nations to assemble its forces in a defensible position Hunker Down and get out of the Way. This is known As sending the serbs a signal. 2. Give the bosnian serbs a deadline to cease firing everywhere to withdraw All forces from within 50 Miles of Sarajevo and not to interfere with any Relief supplies anywhere or else. This is known As an ultimatum. 3. Inform our european allies that if nato is no empowered to make Good on this ultimatum the United states will accelerate its draw Down of forces in Europe to 20,000 monthly until no . Troops remain. This is known As coercive diplomacy. Will this double ultimatum work we have tried the hand ringing approach for two years that has brought tens of thousands of casualties Western self disgust and the erosion of american leadership. By denying Bosnia arms for self defense the West insured that muslims would lose the War. Now the serbs want not Only the land they have seized but the total humiliation of the Defeated by denying them even sovereignty in Sarajevo. When docs injustice become intolerable the quagmire mongers ask but what if bombing does t work Are you prepared to Send american ground troops into Bosnia the answer is give bombing a Chance. If sustained bombing of the targets on the nato list fails the West can debate about flinching later. Nothing would be lost if bombing does t work that is not being lost now. At worst we would have put a heavy Price on aggression at Best we will save thousands of human lives and establish the world s right to inter Vene c the new Yoh Ulmet serbs play the West for fools again and again there is a form of classic farce i which the fool places his Trust again and again in a rogue who tricks him Ever time. He learns no More from experience than the animated cartoon creature who is repeatedly flattened. The United states the Western euro peans and the United nations have All played the part of the fool in their Deal Ings with the serbian aggressors in bos Nia and serbs Promise to be Good this time the fools believe them and the serbs immediately renege on their prom ise. The promises have come whenever it looked As though the outside world might act to Stop the serbian aggression. Last Spring for example when presi Dent Clinton seemed to be ready to use Force president Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia surprisingly endorsed the Vance Owen peace when the threat evaporated the bosnian serbs scorned the plan. The latest version of the farce has just been performed. As the serbian assault came closer and closer to the bos Nian capital of Sarajevo Clinton once More sounded pressed the nato allies really pressed this time to agree to airstrikes on serbian positions. Bosnian serbian leaders reacted atone. Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic met with the . Commander on the scene and said they would withdraw their forces from mountains overlooking Sarajevo. They also promised to open roads to the capital that the serbs have blocked for 16 months and to restore electricity water and Gas supplies. The . Com Mander it. Gen. Francis Brique Mont of Belgium Anthony Lewis greater and . He colleagues feared that the . Forces in Bosnia would be attacked by serbian armies if nato began bomb ing. In nato european resistance to an air Campaign seemed to stiffen. Under pressure from the europeans the Clin ton administration agreed to let . Officials veto any proposed bombing tar gets. What happened next Why of course the serbian leaders began to take Back their promises. There were conditions. They would not after All lift the siege. The question now is whether Clinto has finally Learned and will act on the simple truth about serbian promises. That is that Milosevic Karadzic and Mladic understand Only one language Force. Unless they believe that Clinton will act they will forget their latest prom ise. It is a question primarily f9r Clinton because the others Are determined not to understand. The . Secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali has opposed forceful intervention at every stage. Such european leaders As prime minister John major of Britain have no stomach no Backbone might be a More accurate word for resistance to the serbian mass murderers. The stakes Are profound not just the lives of bosnian but the Hope of heading off More ethnic and religious Ter ror in much of Eastern Europe sen. Robert j. Dole was right when he wrote in the Washington Post a week ago that american weakness in the face of a third rate Power like Serbia is exactly the Type of invitation dictators and aggressors dream Dole r-kan., urged Clinton to Call on nato for an ultimatum to the serbs Stop blocking Relief convoys carry out promised cease fires hand heavy weapons Over to the United nations and Dis band Mladic s militia. If not we carry out air attacks with the approval of the .Security Council or lacking that going ahead on our own under the . Char Ter provision for collective defense when a member state is attacked. To be effective in my View the Ultima Tum to the serbs would have to be More explicit Stop firing within 24 hours or we bomb artillery positions. On Day two we take out Mladic s Headquarters in Day three we attack military targets in the privileged Sanctuary of Belgrade. Firmness toward the aggressor should have come Long ago. At this stage it seems that All american policy is trying to achieve is a division of Bosnia into three ethnic units saving a tiny bit for the muslims instead of total gobbling by the serbs and croats. But Clinton might at least restore Little Faith in american will. He might at least show that a superpower will not for Ever play the fool to aggressors. And he might still save some innocent Bosnia lives. History repeats itself Marx said the first time As tragedy the second time As farce. But the bosnian go on living the tragedy. C the now York Ukno
