Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 7, 1993 TAG: 9305070608
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The right international responses two years ago could have checked the Serbs. President Clinton has inherited the sorry fruits of inaction. Yet America, as leader of the free world, must now lead a response to tribal murder in the middle of Europe. At this somber moment, it is appropriate to exercise indignation. But it is imperative to keep our heads - to be guided by right principles and honest understanding.
Let us:
Concede that there are no easy answers to this awful mess. Anyone who confidently guarantees that air strikes will end the killing, or sanctions will, or diplomacy, or anything else, simply isn't facing history's lessons and the future's uncertainty. Historic grievances and enmities run deep in the Balkans; countless military campaigns there have done little but add to the bloodshed. Both intervention and nonintervention are fraught with risk.
Avoid contributing to the kind of nationalistic generalizations that have fueled these feuds. Ethnic groups in themselves are not good or bad. It is individuals who do good or bad things. Serbs are committing genocide now, but they were themselves massacred by Croats under the Nazis' tutelage. The international community must act against evildoings, not populations, and it must lend support to those struggling to counter nationalistic madness.
Make policy decisions determine the tactics used to achieve them, rather than the other way around. As it is, the debate over means has taken precedence over the search for solutions, and the U.S. response - as it was during the Iran hostage crisis - is being driven by events. Serbs, like the mullahs of Iran, are forcing action on a U.S. president with little reference to guiding principles or national interests. There should be no intervention without a clear conception of the desired outcome, and a plan in the event of failure.
Acknowledge the facts of the situation, however regrettable. It is too late to turn back the Serb aggression or help the Muslims fight. The aim now must be simply to stop the fighting, preserve Muslim communities, protect Sarajevo and other besieged areas, and relieve suffering. The world community chose to stand by while Serbs did their ethnic cleansing; it cannot duck the consequences now.
Prevent a widening of war. Serbs should be left with no doubt that the United Nations, committed to avoiding a replay of Bosnia, will do what it must to prevent any Serb aggression in Kosovo or Macedonia. On the other hand, understand that the sight of Serb women and children being bombed could spread to Russia the spiral of image-indignation-retribution that now is sucking America into the conflict.
Understand the limits of military force. All parties should continue working for a political settlement, with diplomatic efforts backed up by other means. And any option, especially a violent one, should be judged by whether it might bring peace closer. (Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic, don't forget, supported the Bosnian Serb rebellion until trade and other economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations began to put serious pressure on his government.) War likely will prove endless unless the parties can agree to a peace plan.
Insist on congressional deliberation and approval of any act of war. A debate and vote are necessary under the U.S. Constitution - and to sustain a military action. Without shared responsibility and national consensus, Congress members would run for cover the moment America suffered casualties and public support wavered.
Remind Europeans that the ultimate responsibility for quelling this crisis lies with the nations of their region. They're the ones most responsible for letting the crisis get out of hand. They must participate fully if there is to be an international military response. And this response should be under the aegis of the United Nations, the legitimate agent of intervention.
Begin now, while the spectacle of international failure is so clear, to establish a U.N. global police force capable of responding quickly in such situations, before full-scale war breaks out and the world is left with such miserable options as it now faces. Such a standby force could discourage warlords, prevent and contain violence, save lives, stem massive tides of refugees, and make room and time for peaceful conflict-mediation. Currently, the United Nations has neither the means nor the mandate to be a global cop; it needs both - soon.
Let's not give up on peacemaking. In Bosnia, the appropriate aim is not to join one side against another, but to try - with more means than have been used thus far - to save civilians, to ease their suffering, and end the killing.
by CNB