Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 12, 1993 TAG: 9304120262
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
TIME RUNNING OUT IN BOSNIA
BOSNIA is dying, its inhabitants systematically murdered, raped and sent fleeing by Serb nationalists. The horror threatens to explode into a larger war. Can America and the world continue to stand by, helpless in the face of ethnic cleansing?To be sure, the question is not simply whether our consciences can tolerate inaction. If intervention would do no good, or make matters worse, the benefits in temporarily feeling better about ourselves would soon be overwhelmed, along with our soldiers.
Nor should efforts to find a settlement, or to exert pressure without resort to massive military involvement, be dismissed as passivity or appeasement. Such methods may yet stand a better chance of stemming the slaughter than would an escalation of war.
Still, something must be done.
Even as U.N. forces evacuate civilians from the hell in Bosnia, they further the Serbs' objective of depopulating Muslim towns. U.S. air drops of food and supplies have helped prolong lives, but only temporarily. The U.N. Security Council's imposition of a no-fly ban over Bosnia, like the World Court's "order" last week to stop genocide, is mostly a symbolic gesture.
In anguish, the West finds itself unable to look the other way, yet fearful of stepping into a quagmire of endless Balkan bloodshed. What to do?
Working on several fronts simultaneously, we can only try to make the best of an awful situation. We can focus on humanitarian relief, apply some punishment for evil-doing, attempt to contain the violence, persevere with diplomatic efforts, and develop international means of preventing future ethnic cleansing.
Because Europe has failed to fight the fire in its back yard, and because the United Nations currently lacks the resources or backing to act with sufficient force, America for now must lead the response to Serb atrocities. But the response must be international, not America's alone.
Fortunately, options between appeasement and quagmire remain:
Expand humanitarian efforts, and add military escorts empowered to shoot back. Air drops of supplies to the besieged towns of eastern Bosnia should be expanded, and the U.N. airlift to Sarajevo resumed. U.S. or NATO aircraft should escort these missions. If they are shot at, they should take out the Serb artillery.
Look for more ways to isolate, punish and deter the Serbs. Tighten the sanctions, enforce them militarily. Actively support Serb democrats and opponents of strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Make sure Serbia will be isolated for years to come. Keep attention focused on war crimes and the possibility of prosecutions.
Draw the line somewhere. Muslim-majority Kosovo, another shard of Yugoslavia and the ancestral home of the Serbs, may be the next act in this grim drama. It must be clearly explained to Serbs - with enough military presence in Kosovo to give substance to the promise - that the spread of war there would trigger major consequences. Macedonia must also be kept out of the conflict to avoid a catastrophic widening of the war that might involve Turkey and Greece.
Increase international pressure on the Serbs to sign a peace agreement. Serbs are trying to render moot the plan devised by U.N. mediators Cyrus Vance and David Owen. It calls for Muslim enclaves in eastern Bosnia, which Serbs want to overtake. The plan already may be obsolete, and would require a huge commitment of peacekeeping forces. But it would be better than no settlement.
Start developing international institutions capable of preventing this kind of tragedy. New world disorder requires more attention to preventive diplomacy and conflict-resolution to avoid future Bosnias. The world also needs a global cop, but the United Nations isn't ready for the role. It must be equipped with peace-makers as well as peacekeepers. The work, and the funding, to fashion this role must begin.
The Clinton administration, handed this mess, would rather reform health care. There is no enthusiasm for war either at the Pentagon or among America's European allies. Yet there remains room for saving Bosnian lives and increasing pressure, including military pressure, on Serbs - while avoiding another Vietnam.
There are risks in seeking such room. But as time runs out for Bosnia, there are risks, too, in European instability, and in the encouragement fascists and warlords might find to mount ethnic cleansing programs elsewhere.