Kosovo Massacres

Re “Kosovo: No More,” editorial, Oct. 2: The only person responsible for the massacres of innocent women and children in Croatia, Bosnia and now Kosovo is the instigator himself, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. NATO must act now and punish Milosevic before more civilians are slaughtered. He does not recognize the voices of “a diplomatic solution.” The only voices he will recognize are the voices of NATO planes.

ROBERT MATESIC

San Pedro

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The voices are getting louder in their demand for an attack on Serbia for atrocities being committed in the Serbian province of Kosovo against the ethnic Albanian population. The arguments being raised are that we should not let Bosnia happen again.

Yet there is a problem with Kosovo. Bosnia was a war pushed by a minority population with foreign assistance to grab as much land as possible away from the acknowledged government, while Kosovo is essentially an effort of a country with recognized borders to suppress an armed separatist movement (although the repression is brutal).

Kosovo sets a different precedent than Bosnia. Taking military action in Kosovo will only raise the question that if we are acting on principle, why did we not threaten the airstrikes in Chechnya or Chiapas? While the escalating voices may bring the U.S. to act militarily, what does that then mean about future obligations of the U.S. to militarily interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign nations? While moral outrage may compel the U.S. to act, at least let us act with our eyes wide open, recognizing the precedent set.

SCOTT S. ASTLE

South Pasadena