NATO's raids justifiable

The letter which follows I drafted on April 1, before I saw the excellent letter of March 27, which hit the nail (Milosevic) squarely on the head. My letter can, therefore, do no more than support that fair and reasoned commentary on the crisis in the Balkans.

It is easy to understand, and up to a point, to sympathize with Mr. Branimir Salevic and other Serbs who have written to The Jakarta Post, were they not completely blind to the reason why Yugoslavia is being bombarded by NATO. His simile of man on his knees, hands bound behind his back, being beaten up by a brutal aggressor is supposed to arouse our sympathy for Yugoslavia, but can he not see that this simile applies 10 times more oppositely to the tens of thousands of luckless ethnic Albanians who have for months been -- and still are being -- brutalized by the Serbian army?

The United Nations and NATO have shown infinite patience in trying to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Slobodan Milosevic, but he obdurately refused to agree to any such settlement. So, just as Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait called for stern countermeasures, so now Milosevic has to be shown that he cannot with impunity forcibly annex a would-be independent Kosovo.

Ethnic cleansing is a barbaric act, and whoever perpetrates it is a barbarian, be it the actual perpetrators on the ground or the arch-barbarian who authorizes the practice -- a certain Slobodan Milosevic, who has established himself in the Hall of Infamy, along with his latter day confreres, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Himmler and Saddam Hussein.

A quick look at "Serbia" in my 1996 encyclopedia reveals a history of troublemaking by the Serbs in the Balkan region. It is interesting that "in 1389 the Serbs were defeated by the Turks at Kosovo." It seems that history is repeating itself. Since 1986, Milosevic has, "waged a populist campaign to end the autonomous status of the provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Serbia formally annexed Kosovo in September 1991."

Later, I read "EC recognition of Slovenia's and Croatia's independence in January 1991, and Bosnia-Herzegovina's in April left Serbia dominating a greatly reduced 'rump' Yugoslavia." Further on: "A successor Yugoslavia, announced by Serbia and Montenegro in April 1992, was rejected by the USA and the EC because of concerns over very serious human rights violations in Kosovo, and Serbia's continued attempted partition of Bosnia- Herzegovina."

Perhaps these facts may open the eyes of Mr. Salevic on the truth about Serbia's aggressions over past centuries up to the present tragedy, precipitated by his own President Milosevic.

JAMES RICHARDS

Jakarta