This is a document in Serbian and English
where you can find various information concerning
the NATO military action against Serbia.

Next document

Letters to the Editor

Punch on Target

Ruth Johnson

Sir - If confirmation that the present problems have been with us
a long time were needed, this cartoon (above), sent to Punch in
1912, but not used, provides confirmation. The caption says: "I
thought I heard someone cry 'Murder'.".

America caused the Kosovo Crisis

Sir - During the Cuban missile crisis, when my father, the
British ambassador, was ensconced with his old friend President
Kennedy, he pressed home the dangers of direct confrontation and
the uncharted waters of escalation.

Today those American planners who have encouraged and goaded the
KLA, a terrorist organisation led by organised criminals and drug
smugglers, face some serious questions. Did Madelaine Albright,
the Secretary of State, tell these people that the principle of
supporting them against atrocious revenge was conditional on not
having to engage the enemy on the ground?

Did she ensure that they understood that our meaning of 30,000
feet was a measure above sea level rather than the number of
boots entering their land to defend them?

If Slobodan Milosevic eventually stands charged it will be of
little consolation to the entire population of Kosovo who will
have been displaced or killed. Nato's stated objective of
protecting those civilians has spectacularly failed, in part due
to the duplicitous role of the Americans who have a part in this
catastrophe.

The argument that they had to bomb is a deceit. They wanted to do
it and they took their part in escalating the tensions. They
showed their dismay when the Kosovo Albanians originally refused
to sign the peace accord, without which the bombing could not go
ahead.

We are now entering dangerous uncharted waters. The Kosovo
Albanians are already defeated and the most powerful man in the
world is no Jack Kennedy.

Sir - As a former staff officer, I am appalled by the lack of
judgment displayed by Messrs Blair and Clinton. They cannot hope
to force somebody like Slobodan Milosevic to yield by aerial
bombardment, without deploying troops on the ground. They are
instead aggravating the misery and murder of innocent Kosovo
Albanians, whom they have pledged to save.

They have heightened the risk of terrorist retaliation anywhere
in the West, encouraged tin-pot dictators to flex their muscles
and seriously irritated the Russian bear. The only option is to
call a ceasefire and arrange an evacuation route out of Kosovo
for all who wish to escape.

Sir - I have always been under the impression that it is against
international law to intervene in other peoples' civil wars. Am I
wrong about this, or have our governments suddenly affected the
Nelson touch?

The Albanians are not widely esteemed for their humanitarian
instincts, and would undoubtedly massacre Serbs if given half the
chance. Furthermore, the Serbs share with other Balkan peoples an
extremely proud obstinacy and a very long memory.

They are not going to roll over and beg, but they will certainly
hate us for centuries, even if they know they are in the wrong.
This is a poor return for so many extensive fireworks and dead
Yugoslavs.

Sir - If our readers are disappointed at Russian support for the
Serbs, then it seems they have not read 'Anna Karenina'.
Throughout the novel, trainloads of Russian men young and old are
cheerfully leaving to fight for their Serbian "brothers". To
Russians, Serbs are family, and it seems likely there will soon
be thousands of well-armed semi-official volunteers in Yugoslavia
eager for a brawl? What then?

Sir - Nato air strikes have, disastrously, had the reverse
effects of those that have been stated. President Milosevic is
stronger than ever and the bombing is only punishing innocent
civilians on both sides. It is turning one humanitarian
catastrophe into an even greater one.

In 1996-97, we, a group of about 50 mainly postgraduate students,
were on the streets of Belgrade protesting against Mr Milosevic's
regime, after an election fraud. Today, we are writing to you,
expressing our serious concern and doubts about the legitimacy,
purposefulness, moral and potential consequences of the Nato
attack on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.