Bosnia and other problems
According to a report published in The Jakarta Post on July 27, 1995, under the title: Aid groups appeal for 'safe areas', Georges Dallemagne, head of the Belgian branch of Medicins Sans Frontieres, talking about the situation in Bosnia, declared: "We are shocked at the absolute lack of reaction from the international community." And so am I. In recent weeks, I read only one letter about Bosnia, sent by Mr. Bill Guerin (The Jakarta Post July 24, 1995). The world leaders keep on talking and do little. When Jacques Chirac proposes to use ground forces, a suggested by Mr. Guerin, he meets opposition from the other NATO leaders.
It is obvious that the UN and NATO have failed to achieved anything. No negotiated settlement seems possible unless the parties involved subject themselves to terms dictated by Radovan Karadzic, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued to face trial for war crimes. Even if he is caught and convicted, he will not even get the death penalty, although the Serbs, under his leadership, committed odious and revolting crimes.
I understand that the nations that have troops in the UN protection (protecting whom?) forces are unwilling to risk lives. After all, they only imitate Bismark's comment, when asked by Austria to help in the Balkans, that the Balkans were not worth the bones of a Pomeranian grenadier.
The only alternative is thus to lift the embargo against the victim, the embargo against the Serbs being very, very loose: how do they get their tanks and artillery moving without fuel? Or have they mastered solar energy?
Almost from the beginning of the crisis, former president Nixon recommended to lift the embargo to enable the victim to defend itself. Years later, the leader of the senate, Robert Dole, has taken the initiative to force a lifting of the embargo, saying that the people have the right to defend themselves. The president is furious, Russia critical of any attempt to counter their Serb friends.
As stated by Mr. Dallemagne, the big Bosnian problem provokes little reaction. By contrast, a much smaller case, the French president's intention to re-start nuclear tests on the Mururoa Atoll, draws letters almost everyday. Some legislators intend to board a boat to the area. Brave men they are but would the same be brave enough to stand in Sarajevo main square or in Bihac or in Goradze? I bet not: in Mururoa they at most risk tear gas; in Bosnia, they would endanger their precious lives even in "safe areas" under the protection of UN forces keeping God knows what peace.
The war in Bosnia has cost thousands of lives, the nuclear tests may not even cause one death. As Mr. Osvaldo Coelho wrote on July 25, 1995, Greenpeace is looking for cheap publicity and money. They should concentrate on the global warming which will claim many more lives than a few underground atomic explosions. As Mr. Chirac is now the devil, Karadzic may become an angel: as they say "Little thieves get hanged, but great ones escape."
All the energy wasted on anti-nuclear protests would be more usefully spent on anti-Serb protests.
Much has been written about a female guest's behavior at the French Embassy on July 14, 1995. Now will somebody answer this question: suppose that on August 17, at a reception hosted by President Soeharto, an invited foreign guest seizes the opportunity to present the President with a sticker reading: "Give East Timor Independence," what would such behavior be called? To me, such a deed would be just plain rude. Others may call it an act of heroism. As an ambassador represents his head of state, there is no difference between the two cases: the behavior is either ill-mannered or heroic in both instances.
ALEX WOLVESPERGES
Medan, North Sumatra