‘Lift and Strike’ Plan for Bosnia

Re “Right Thing to Do--Lift and Strike in Bosnia,” editorial, Aug. 4:

The Serbs, no matter where they dwell, do remember the murderous years of the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia. Jewish and Serbian communities were slaughtered by the Croats and Bosnian Muslims, intentionally, deliberately and thoroughly. The Serbs do not want to be slaughtered again. Look at today’s Croatia, a fascist, nationalistic state. Look at the Muslim government of Bosnia, at the corruption of its military leadership, at its pro-Iranian stand. Look at Yugoslavia, lying in ruins, dismembered because of German-inspired intrigues.

Without really illuminating the causes of the present Balkan crisis, The Times screams for “lift and strike.” How bloodthirsty you are in your ignorance. And what will be the upshot of your ignorance, should the U.S. step into the quagmire of the war in the Balkans? Dead American soldiers. The Serbs have learned how to defend themselves during the centuries of the Turkish onslaughts, and the years of German occupation. Do you want this knowledge to be used against the U.S. armed forces? Shame on you, misguided “peace-seekers.” A horrible war will be the legacy of your call to “lift and strike.”

SLAVKO RABINOVICH

Los Angeles

*

* Military planners on both sides of the Atlantic strongly disagree that the “lift and strike” policy you advocate in Bosnia would have a beneficial impact on the situation on the ground. The most likely consequence of lifting the arms embargo would be a flood of weapons to all sides. The Serbs would probably launch preemptive assaults against Bosnian government positions, and the fighting and killing would rise to new levels. Another likely result would be the promised commitment of some 25,000 U.S. troops to assist in the withdrawal of the U.N. Protection Force.

You imply that UNPROFOR has not been able to achieve anything of value. On the contrary, in central Bosnia, where most Muslims live, British soldiers have helped to bring peace and stability. Some 2.7 million people have been provided with the necessities of life.

Over 1,000 French and British soldiers have now been deployed to Mt. Igman, overlooking Sarajevo, as part of the rapid-reaction force. According to the U.N., their presence is helping open supply routes into the city. A further 4,000 air-mobile British troops will be deployed by the middle of this month.

While the threat or actual use of air power may be necessary, for example, to deter attacks against safe areas, Bosnia’s mountainous and heavily wooded terrain makes it impossible to decide the overall outcome from the air. Only a ground force numbered in the hundreds of thousands would have any hope of being able to achieve that, but at enormous cost and risk.

Three years of war show clearly that there is no comprehensive military solution to this conflict. A “lift and strike” policy, and the escalation which would flow from it, can only postpone a cease-fire and negotiated settlement.

MERRICK S. BAKER-BATES

British Consul General

Los Angeles

*

* We were very distressed reading “Why a War in Bosnia? Because Its Many Armies Want to Fight”(news analysis, Aug. 5). Nothing could be further from the truth. Has it occurred to William D. Montalbano that the Croatians and Bosnians are trying to defend their homeland from Serbian aggression? Where was Montalbano four years ago when the Serbian army, with the support of Belgrade, slaughtered thousands in Slavonia and the Krajina, and those who were not slaughtered were ethnically cleansed and forced to become refugees?

Another continuing theme that runs through The Times’ articles is the reference to the “Croatian fascists” during World War II. Has your publication ever stated that there were vast numbers of Croatian partisans who gave their lives or limbs in the fight against fascism?

MIRA and DOUG JOHNSON

Aliso Viejo

*

* While President Clinton furiously tries to “kill” the measure passed by both the Senate and the House on lifting the arms embargo against the Bosnians, Serbian guns continue to kill innocent civilians in the captured not-so-safe-areas of Srebrenica and Zepa (Aug. 2). Assistant Secretary of State John Shattuck voices fears for the 10,000 Bosnians still missing and believed to be detained or executed by Bosnian Serbs, while Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) heads up the opposition to lifting the arms embargo by justifying that more weapons would “intensify the war and simply multiply the atrocities.”

The Croatian and Bosnian offensives in recent days have shown that the playing field can be changed. More was accomplished in a few days than has been done by all of the U.N., NATO and Western countries combined over the last four long and deadly years.

MARYANN ZOVAK

Cypress