Voices in the Din of War

NATO’s air war against Yugoslavia has yet to crack the will of President Slobodan Milosevic, but the Serbian people are suffering the effects and some are openly speaking out. This is but a spark of defiance, but one that invites diplomatic note for what it might foreshadow. Opportunities for peace often pass unnoticed in the din of war. This open defiance of the Milosevic regime, though small, should be exploited.

The case in point occurred in the Serbian towns of Alexandrovac and Krusevac. In the former, an estimated 1,000 townspeople demonstrated against the ordering of military reservists to Kosovo. In Krusevac, 3,000 people thronged the streets to insist that reservists from their town be sent home from Kosovo. All families experience such strains in wartime, but in a heavily policed country outbursts like these take courage and send a message. For Yugoslavs, that message asks: “What are we fighting for? What are the limits?”

The people of Alexandrovac and Krusevac appear to have no quarrel with the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo province. Yes, the province has historic meaning and sites that touch the hearts of all Serbs, but the Kosovars present no serious threat to Serbian dominance in Yugoslavia.

Milosevic knows this and also knows that this war could have been averted. Washington and its NATO partners have had Milosevic’s number since the Serbs first lit the fuse in the Balkans in their attempt to retain the Yugoslavia built by Josip Broz Tito. The Serbs failed in republic after republic and now face the possibility of losing full control over Kosovo. At the same time, however, the NATO air forces have yet to knock out Milosevic’s forces with their bombing campaign.

This is a moment for diplomats to seek to establish a secure Kosovo under international protection and the Yugoslav flag. Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, Russia’s special envoy, was in Belgrade Wednesday. He said Moscow has a plan. A day earlier a Yugoslav spokesman said Milosevic was “ready to cut a deal.”

OK, let’s see the cards. Milosevic will want to maintain some sort of direct control in Kosovo. He shouldn’t get it, not after the mayhem his army has caused there. NATO has the right, though difficult, course. It wants to put 45,000 to 50,000 peacekeepers into Kosovo, nearly double the 28,000 proposed last summer.

Things escalate. All sides should evaluate their positions and measure them to opportunities. The anger of some Serbian townspeople against their government is a crack that Washington and its allies should investigate.