Serbia

Those who warn of ignoring the lessons of history are not kidding. Your June 16 article reports of NATO exercises as a warning to Serbia. If somebody had ever bothered to crack open a book, they might know that the Serbs don’t scare easily. Germany conquered Yugoslavia in one week in May 1941 but the guerrilla movement that sprang up was never eliminated. It grew until it was a major force tying down considerable German forces by war’s end.

As for Kosovo, anyone who has ever read of Serbia a little further back in time will tell you that there is no way Serbia will ever give it up. It was here on the “field of blackbirds” that Serbian Prince Lazar and his army fell to the Ottomans on June 15, 1389.

If it comes to hostilities between NATO and Serbia, be warned that it won’t be a rout as it was with the Iraqis. What the Serbs lack in skill and discipline, they make up to a large extent in tenacity.

PHILIP MARLIN

Woodland Hills