THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512210028
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
The future of the Balkans is anything but certain. Americans are not enthusiastic about putting our men in harm's way. But leadership entails some responsibilities that are less than universally popular. There's some hope that a peace will take hold, ironically, because the condition of Bosnia is so hopeless.
After almost four years of war, the situation on the ground is dire. The antagonists have done their worst and may have finally exhausted their appetite for destruction. Wars can end that way.
Fifty-two nations and a variety of international aid agencies met recently to consider how Bosnia can be salvaged. It won't be easy. The sheer magnitude of the problems, even in so small a country, are sobering.
The population has been decimated. A quarter-million are thought to be dead and another 200,000 have been wounded. As many as 2.1 million people have been displaced from their homes in the Balkans, one of the biggest refugee problems in Europe since World War II.
That human toll would be bad enough in an otherwise viable country, but war has beaten Bosnia flat. Its infrastructure is in ruins and its economy is non-existent. Half the country's education structures are damaged as are a third of its medical facilities. Two-thirds of housing units are damaged as well.
According to a study by the World Bank reported in the Washington Post, 90 percent of the population is now dependent on humanitarian aid to survive. That is surely in part due to the destruction of the economy. Industrial production is now at 5 percent of the 1990 level. Severe damage has been done to ``substantial portions'' of the energy, transportation and telecommunications systems. Roads are in tatters. The economy has essentially ceased to exist. Setting it on the road to recovery will cost a minimum of $5 billion.
Here's a society that has torn itself to pieces. People have no work. No reliable police or courts exist. Shelter is inadequate. The food supply is precarious, fuel is in short supply and the availability of medical treatment is minimal as a bitter winter begins.
It is just possible that Bosnia has hit bottom and has nowhere to go but up. The combatants appear to have decided they can't bear any more war so they may be willing to live in peace.
It isn't up to the United States alone to make them behave or to pay for their redemption. But part of the price of being the most powerful nation on Earth and for espousing values like democracy and the protection of human rights is being expected to cooperate in international attempts to secure them.
In a season that celebrates peace, taking limited, prudent risks in hopes of promoting it is not out of keeping with our ideals. But being prepared to get out of the line of fire if the antagonists again choose war also makes sense. by CNB