Bosnia-Herzegovina

So the truth is finally out. President Bush has concluded that the fate of Kuwait was vital to U.S. national security but the fate of Bosnia-Herzegovina is not (“U.S. Ponders Further Measures Against Serbia,” May 20). Never mind that the latter, a sovereign and democratic country recognized by the United States, has also been invaded by foreign troops or that far more Yugoslavs have already died through aggression than did Kuwaitis. Nor should we forget that Sarajevo, yet another ancient and beautiful Yugoslavian city being mindlessly destroyed as the world idly watches, was the birthplace of World War I.

What then explains the difference in U.S. policy? Ex-oilman Bush knows what greases the American economy and fattens the wallets of his friends. Too bad Bosnia is not sitting on a huge oil reserve. Its treasures are more aesthetic and historical. Her people will just have to fend for themselves.

GEORGE M. MOOD

Los Angeles