NATO, shame on you!

NATO's declaration of war on Serbia is something the whole world should be ashamed of. After 10 years of isolation and economic warfare against them, Serbs are hardly a difficult target for mighty and ruthless NATO, and they do not even pretend to be. NATO should pick on somebody its own size.

But what hurts even more than this "schoolbullyism" is that the whole school (the so-called International Community) is, if not participating, silently standing by and watching. Even the Principal (the UN Security Council) is not lifting a finger to at least try to stop this obvious bypass of current international law. Yugoslav's request for protection against NATO's illegal war threat and troop build-up in the immediate neighborhood was "noted" and that is all. Let us all remember here that the UN Charter prohibits war and that any country that uses force against another country is an aggressor.

And what exactly are Serbia and Yugoslavia responsible for? What is the excuse for starting a war against a sovereign country that is not threatening any other country in the region, let alone any NATO members? Here is the crime. Serbia (and Yugoslavia) don't want to sign an autonomy plan for the Serbian region of Kosovo, drawn up by the International Community (actually, a small group of negotiators -- ambassadors and lawyers and similar experts). This plan includes deployment of 28,000 foreign (enemy) troops in Serbia. Why is Serbia not signing despite the huge risks? Because by this plan, Serbia was politely asked to commit suicide; if it refuses, then NATO will do it for Serbia (pull the trigger, that is).

Let's bring this down to everyday language so that everybody can understand what is going on. Let's imagine that you have a house that you've inherited from your grand-grandfather. One day, local Mafia executives come to your doorstep and politely ask you to sell one room to them at "current market value" -- that is for free, because it is in the way of a big future development. You know who you're dealing with, so you try to be polite, you even participate in "negotiations", once and again, all in hope that either the bully will lose interest in your property, or that somebody will come to the rescue (police or other concerned citizens).

But in the end, the inevitable happens. The bully wants you to sign your property over to his agent now, or else bear the consequences. You sit down with your wife and children all night and talk about this, but in the end you come to a decision that you just cannot give in to this. Because you know that if you give them this today, they will come for more tomorrow.

Since you didn't want to sign this deal, this gives them the right to burn your house down. You have to understand, it is in the way of this big project, and in the end this will be for your own good. They tell you. But do you believe them?

It is about time to contain the only World Policeman. Somebody has to protect us from the protectors, and that should be the law. We cannot afford to have one set of rules for ourselves, another set of rules for our friends and yet another for our adversaries. Everybody should be subjected to one and the same set of rules.

NATO should avoid becoming a tool that incompetent politicians can use in cases where negotiations fail. And when NATO starts waging aggressive wars against anybody, under any pretext, then shame on them.

BRANIMIR SALEVIC

Jakarta