PLATFORM : Remember Bosnia?

The last thing anyone wants to hear about today is the plight of the Bosnians. Most of Washington has gone home for the holidays. Nobody wants to trouble his or her conscience with thoughts about Bosnia. Why should they?

Because Bosnia is entering its second winter of deprivation, and little is being done to help.

Fighting, disease, malnutrition and lack of shelter have left 2.7 million Bosnians at risk this winter. The typical family receives one small box of food--mostly pasta, rice and cooking oil--every two weeks. Access to fuel, electricity and water is very limited. Without an adequate natural gas supply, Bosnians will freeze to death.

The U.N. high commissioner for refugees predicts a humanitarian catastrophe unless relief convoys are allowed to move freely throughout Bosnia.

These facts are compelling enough to warrant America’s attention, even if talking about Bosnia dampens our holiday mood. American reluctance to intervene militarily in the former Yugoslavia is understandable; apathy and refusal to take aggressive measures to prevent thousands of deaths this winter is not.

If the President and Congress were to put half as much energy into working with the United Nations to help Bosnians survive the winter as they did toward securing or preventing passage of NAFTA, a tragedy of considerable magnitude could be avoided.