European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday january 10, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 13 on response to Bosnia Anthony Lewis president Clinton is in Brussels for a North Atlantic treaty Summit meeting that poses a dual test of credibility natos and his. The Issue is Bosnia. The aggression and Slaughter there growing worse at the turn of the year raised dark questions for the Hope of peace in a Europe facing new strains after the cold War. Nato wants to be seen As a credible guarantor of that peace. The president wants to project himself As a reliable Leader of the Alliance. But who would. Believe either a promises for the future when both Are defaulting right now on their commitments to Stop the killing in Bosnia last August nato committed itself to bomb serbian forces if they continued to strangle and Shell Sarajevo and Block Relief convoys elsewhere. On one Day this week 1353 serbian shells fell on Sarajevo. Relief supplies Are routinely blocked. But nato does nothing. As for Clinton he came to office calling for stronger measures. He made a proposal to lift the arms embargo on the bosnian victims and make air strikes on the serbian aggressors. But he pushed the idea Only halfheartedly when european leaders objected. A Clinton emissaries have been doing their Best to keep Bosnia off the Agenda of the nato meeting. They want nothing to interfere with the image of a happily functioning Alliance. But reality cannot be so easily dispelled. Bosnia will be the unwelcome Specter at the Alliance feast its bloody image As hard to ignore As Banquo a ghost. A nonpartisan Washington group of senior figures from politics and foreign policy in the action Council for peace in the Balkans wrote to president Clinton on the link Between Bosnia and natos role. The letter said Quot the daily victimization of Bosnia puts into Sharp Relief the failure of the United states and Europe to resist aggressive nationalism a a Core test in Post cold War Europe. Natos continuing refusal to act effectively in Bosnia Calls into serious question its relevance to the challenges of the new Europe and the value of your proposal for a new a partnership for  a the group proposed a new Western policy for Bosnia. Most strikingly it called for replacing the present United nations Force which has been continually frustrated in its attempts to keep Relief routes open with Reliance on the bosnian army to do that Job. Nato and the United states would Supply air cover if serbian or croatian forces tried to Block the routes. To give the bosnian the necessary military strength the letter Calls on nato and the United states to end the embargo on arms for Bosnia. It argues that the embargo though voted by the United nations Security Council m fact has no Legal basis. The Legal argument spelled out by Robert h. Silk of new York among other lawyers is based on article 51 of the . Charter that says nothing shall a impair the inherent right of individual or collective self defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the .�?� until the Security Council has taken the measures needed for peace and Security. Bosnia is a . Member. It has been attacked and Security Council measures have not protected it. The letter urges president Clinton to take the position that the United states and nato Are therefore not bound by the . Embargo Resolution. The signers of the letter include Morton Abramowitz a former . Ambassador who now Heads the Carnegie endowment for International peace Max m. Kampelman another former ambassador senator Joseph l Lieberman Democrat of Connecticut and representative Frank Mccloskey Democrat of Indiana. They suggest that . Forces go Home As the bosnian Are Able to protect Relief supplies. _ that would dispose of prime minister John majors argument that nato Mili tary action would expose British detachments in the . Force to serbian reprisals. In the end it All depends on american leadership. The dutch foreign minister Pieter Kooymans said the other Day that an american role had a crucial &\99y a symbolic value As a deterrent to  if president Clinton has the courage for real leadership in Brussels not just a show he must know that action on Bosnia is the key to credibility for peace. C Tho now York times a Wise to use caution on president Clinton is making some of americans Best friends Vety unhappy a europeans who lived under communism fought it and helped bring Down the soviet Empire. This week he will make them even a happier when he tells them face to face that the United states will not agree to their becoming members of nato. Face to face he will have to Deal with people like the czech writer Vaclav Havel who went from a communist jail to the presidency of his country and president Lech Walesa of Poland the electrician who created a Freedom movement that bound together Workingman and intellectual. They will Tell him of their vivid fears of the russian imperialism that enslaved their countries under czarist and communism. They will say they have earned the Protection of nato membership. Clinton a he will say Many things but essentially Quot no not yet. My time As an american correspondent m Eastern Europe during the communist ice age binds me to Eastern and Central european democrats. In some of their countries a a exp communist politicians Are Strong and in others fascists use democracy to try to destroy it. Those dangers give the passions of Havel and Walesa special meaning. So when i sat Down at a presidential lunch for columnists about nato i was emotionally and politically behind Quick membership for some of the former communist colonies. Clinton did not present startling new reasons for delaying. But he put enough Good existing reasons together lucidly enough so that i changed my mind. What yes. I went away thinking that american friends of democracy in Eastern Europe could give him enough time to play it out without getting Panicky. Boris n. Yeltsin fears that immediate nato membership for countries on russians Border would help russian nationalists sell their line of Russia imperilled. Clinton said the russian president sends the message that Russia should not be pushed Back treated again As an enemy. Is this appeasement of a foreign ruler it seemed to me listening to that question in my head that appeasement is trying to buy off an enemy a not trying to help a Friend survive a growing threat at Home. If it takes a couple of years and another election to make Russia comfortable with nato neighbors it is Worth the wait. If not or if the fascist communist Alii a Ance washes Over Russia nato could extend membership Protection fast to Eastern and Central Europe. Anyway the West would have to meet any russian military adventure against Eastern Europe. The key Point is not How Many new members nato brings in but How Strong its current members stay. Clinton said the reduction of . Forces in Europe from 326,000 to 100,000 was enough. But has it been too much Given the Rise of the russian ugliest is Clinton a new Secretary of defense going to decide for himself and Tell us . Rosenthal Clinton did not go into it but there is another Good reason for waiting before expanding nato. Eastern and Central Europe have not settled Down politically. Yugoslavia is eating itself alive Czechoslovakia has split in two Poland has elected a government of a a exp communists and in Hungary and Romania fascists name plazas after their heroes in hell. The West should have expected upheavals not a straight Calm line after so Many decades of communist and nazi brutalization. Still it would be an even nastier Shock to find a National Alliance of Blac shirts and communists sitting at a nato table. Some of my friends say that without Eastern europeans in nato Between Germany and Russia the germans would be very upset. I can live with that thought. The president kept saying that while they were not getting membership the former captive nations would be brought into closer political military and economic cooperation with nato members. So the tests of the Clintonia policy will be these will closer ties with Eastern Europe turn out to be real or Mambo jumbo will we put Money and some military integration on the table or play monopoly will a not right now mean exactly that or a not every the presidents policy As he said is a judgment Call. That is what he gets paid to make. This one seems reasonable and carefully thought out. I ate my full portion but for now feel a Little lighter. C Tho new York tinos