High time to act on Bosnia

The recent Bosnian Serb blitz on Srebrenica only goes to show that the western countries exhibit an unthinking attitude toward the fate of the UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As has happened in the past, every time the Bosnian Serbs humiliate them, the western countries start another round of hand wringing and talk of what could possibly be done.

France has offered the idea of taking Srebrenica back from Serbian hands by force, but no other country seems to be interested in such a plan. Instead, there is the appalling idea circulating in the West of simply allowing the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces from Bosnia and letting the warring factions decide their own fate in the battle lines.

This hands-off proposal seems most likely to end up the probable solution, because the countries of the West, the only forces on this globe which have even a sliver of a chance of stopping the ethnic cleansing of Bosnians by the Serbs, have shown shameful tolerance at the driving of innocents, many of them old women and children, away from their homes to face extreme deprivation.

Among western countries there seems to be the feeling that however dreadful and humiliating and risky a withdrawal might be, the conditions that could result would be much better than the existing situation.

In the light of this tragic show of indifference one can do little but to draw the conclusion expressed by French President Jacques Chirac said on Tuesday that nothing now stands between the land-hungry Serbs and the strategic city of Goradze -- and finally Sarajevo.

Many believe that only U.S. President Bill Clinton can take the initiative to make the western countries move. But he seems to lack interest, not only because he has to prove the viability of such a step to his people, who are already discussing his performance, but also because he has no reliable foreign policy to base any such move on.

That the United Nations has shown its inability to defend areas it has declared as safe is a reality, and there is no sign that the Bosnian Serbs have any intention of working for peace. Thus, it is clearly high time for each and every country of the world to decide whether they will go on sitting on the fence of indifference, watching the massacre and aggression, or do something concrete to stop it. "It is time to end this farce," as U.S. Republican Senate majority leader Bob Dole has said.

The UN Security Council is expected to demand a Serb withdrawal in a resolution, but unless concrete action and clear, strong policies are established jointly by that body's member nations, any call the council makes is likely to face the fate of similar decisions made in the past. At this point, any recommendation made by the UN is more likely than not to find its way straight into the Serbian wastepaper basket.

If the countries of the West are serious about ending the blatant aggression and violation of human rights in Bosnia, they must direct their representatives in the Security Council to eliminate the arms embargo so far imposed on Bosnia-Herzegovina. This very action is now being debated heatedly in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is time that the other countries involved also seriously consider this move.

Besides that, the countries of the West should offer the Bosnian government consistent and adequate air cover while it retakes the territory lost to the Serbs.

If nothing continues to be done, the world will not only witness the rape of Bosnian cities, but the total loss of the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is a sovereign member of the United Nations.