-Caveat Lector- >From Wash (DC) Post Tragic Policy By Thomas R. Hutson Saturday, May 1, 1999; Page A15 Despite the predictably disastrous direction our policy has taken in the Balkans, it is not too late to stop the carnage. Sadly, it is too late to stop Slobodan Milosevic's despicable leadership of the Serbs into historical oblivion. In briefing NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark on another subject some months ago, I noted that Serbs pride themselves on a quality called "inat" -- defined by a Canadian diplomat as "an absence of pragmatism," a definition that Clark wrote down. Given Clark's brilliance and intimate exposure to the Serb leader, it is difficult for me to conceive that he thinks we can bomb the Serbs into submission. Also, given Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's roots in that part of the world, it is hard for me to accept the tragic miscalculation attributed to her that somehow Milosevic would cave in. I am troubled even more that my country, whose Constitution grants the power of war-making to Congress, would be leading NATO into an undeclared war -- if only to maintain the credibility of Secretary Albright and/or NATO. I also am shocked that our leaders and NATO's strongly espouse the certitude that the Kosovar Albanians will be returned to their homeland. Having spent the past year trying, with little success, to enable returns in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, I believe they are blowing smoke. The Serbs will not let refugees back in any great number. We are not prepared and should not be prepared to force such a return by the use of ground forces. And we cannot continue much longer our immoral and immaculate aggression against a sovereign nation without sanction of the United Nations. What are the basics to which I advocate we return? Diplomacy, respect for the U.S. Constitution, adherence to the Charter of the United Nations and support for enlightened institutions in Serbia. Diplomacy: Whether we like it or not, the Russians and perhaps the Chinese hold the key to resolving the present impasse. No doubt we have been trying to use their influence. We have no choice but to try again, and again, and again. Abba Eban once wrote: "Diplomacy should be judged by what it prevents, not only by what it initiates and creates. Much of it is a holding action designed to avoid explosion until the unifying forces of history take humanity into their embrace." For my part, I will take a holding action over an explosion any day. Respect for the U.S. Constitution: We should have learned by now that we cannot fight a war without the complete support of the American people. That support is reflected -- or not reflected -- by a congressional declaration of war, not by some other mechanism that allows Congress to halfheartedly extend support and then carp from the sidelines. Although my son is a professional in the U.S. Navy and went willingly to the Gulf War, I do not want him to go to another war without a constitutionally declared mandate. Nothing mealy-mouthed -- a clear declaration. Absent that, we must stop the bombing and try other means. Adherence to the Charter of the United Nations: Not an easy solution, but one that is essential if, as a nation, we are to be credible in our claimed reverence for the rule of law. Having worked closely with international organizations in recent years, I have no illusions about what they can and cannot do. Certainly they cannot do anything quickly. Certainly they could not stop the Serb "cleansing" of Kosovo. Nor could they stop the Croat cleansing of the Krajina in 1995, in which U.S. complicity was as ill-advised as is our present bombing of Yugoslavia. But the United Nations, warts and all, is the only institution we have to ameliorate, if not prevent, such catastrophes. The United States cannot do it alone nor with the support of only 19 members of the European alliance. Support for enlightened institutions in Serbia: In 1995 I urged Madeleine Albright, Richard Holbrooke and Leon Fuerth to consider using the institution of a constitutional monarchy as a mechanism to move the Serbs from support of Milosevic to more enlightened leadership. My belief that Prince Alexander Karadjordjevic could play a role in such a transition was pooh-poohed. I still think this man and the monarchy can play a role, even though our bombing has united the Serbs behind Milosevic, so much so that any movement away from Milosevic or toward any other Serb leader is now almost unthinkable. There are no quick fixes to this problem. Nor is it subject to resolution by the technological behemoth of our war machine. We must adhere to the basic rules of a civilized world order. We must return to them now. If not, the America that I proudly represented abroad -- no matter how modestly -- for the past three decades is diminished beyond my worst fears. The writer, a foreign service officer for 32 years, spent eight years in the former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. © Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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