Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 12, 1994 TAG: 9404120143
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BELGRADE, YUGOSLAVIA LENGTH: Medium
Twice in as many days, U.S. fighter jets under NATO command have struck at Bosnian Serb forces attacking Gorazde, one of three U.N. ``safe areas'' in eastern Bosnia. The aim was to force a halt to Serbian shelling of the town, but the Serbs renewed their tank and artillery fire after the first strike.
Considered the chief aggressors in the 2-year-old war, the Serbs are determined to carve out large sections of Bosnia, particularly in eastern Bosnia, which borders Serbia proper, to create a ``Greater Serbia.'' The air strikes reflect the international community's resolve not to let this happen.
``The safe areas designated by the United Nations must remain safe areas,'' U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said Monday. ``I will not hesitate to use air power again'' if U.N. commanders in Bosnia request it, he added.
But Bosnian Serb leaders remained defiant, saying they will use all means to reach their goal.
``We cannot abandon Gorazde, or a centimeter of our territories,'' said Bosnian Serb leader Momcilo Krajisnik.
Serb reaction to NATO strikes was tough and uncompromising. Politicians and military criticized the West and threatened to ``flatten'' the Muslims, expel the United Nations from Bosnia, break off peace talks and widen the war.
Continuing Serb attacks signal the rise of a hard-line faction, led by Bosnian Serb army commander Gen. Ratko Mladic, over more moderate Bosnian Serb leaders such as Radovan Karadzic, who is prepared to trade land for peace.
``God knows what Serb hard-liners can do when they are desperate,'' said Belgrade's leading military analyst, Milos Vasic. ``And they have military means to do some nasty things, not only in Bosnia and the Balkans, but further afield in Europe.''
He and other analysts argue that the pinprick strikes, such as those carried out near Gorazde, are insufficient to deter the Serbs and may only induce them to retaliate.
Yet any use of broader force brings other risks. Gorazde is only about 12 miles from the border of Yugoslavia, now made up only of Serbia and tiny Montenegro.
Yugoslav army officials have said they would consider the falling of a single NATO bomb in their territory as an act of war.
by CNB