Last week various imperialist politicians, including John Major called for the opening of Tuzla airport. They even threatened the use of air strikes to achieve this goal. A week later the threat of air strikes has been dropped. Indeed they are now talking about pulling all troops out of Bosnia-Herzegovina and abandoning any attempts at providing Such a change of heart has not been brought about by any concessions on the part of Milosevic and Karadzic. On the contrary the Bosnian Serbs, openly aided by the so-called Yugoslav' army have been intensifying their attacks on Bosnian cities. They have been reinforcing their units with tanks and other weaponry under the very noses of UN forces.
Socialist Outlook has always opposed UN intervention. We are not in favour of UN or NATO air strikes. We support an alternative policy - providing arms to the Bosnian resistance so that they can defend themselves. We draw attention to the hastily withdrawn threats of military action simply to show that imperialism continues with a totally cynical policy towards the destruction of Bosnia-Herzegovina. They make threats to bomb the Serbs but their real policy is to force Bosnian President Izetbegovic into accepting the carve-up of Bosnia by ensuring people starve this winter.
Unlike John Major Socialist Outlook has consistently called for the opening of Tuzla airport. Indeed it has been Major and his allies - not the Serbs - who have kept Tuzla airport closed to aid. UN forces have been able to use the airport to supply their own forces. As Dave Packer argues in his contribution it has been a deliberate policy on the part of imperialism to keep Tuzla airport closed in order to starve the Bosnian people into accepting the division of their country.
Socialist Outlook has consistently supported the people of Tuzla. We have drawn attention to the working class and multi-national composition of its people and their struggle to preserve a multi-national Bosnia. That is why we played a leading role in establishing International Workers Aid for Bosnia and why one of our supporters, Mick Woods, participated in the IWA convoy which successfully reached Tuzla in November 1993. Mick provides an account of the first six months of International Workers Aid and how the convoy finally reached Tuzla - the first independent convoy for more than seven In Tuzla the IWA members received a rapturous welcome. Among those they spoke to was Selim Beslegic, mayor of Tuzla. We include here an interview with Selim conducted by Jenny Mees, a member of the Belgian section of the Fourth International, with which Socialist Outlook is in solidarity.
The rest of the pamphlet was written by me. While some of the text has already appeared in our previous pamphlet on the break-up of Yugoslavia it has been substantially rewritten and includes large amounts of new material.