Militant's Murray Smith's letter on Bosnia (Outlook No. 59) needs a clear reply.
Why do we defend Bosnia? The war is not simply between national or ethnic groups. It is between those who want ethnically pure states and those who wish to live in a multi-ethnic society.
There is no question whose side we should be on. Bosnia-Hercegovina is a multi-ethnic state. One ethnic group cannot secede without murder and ethnic cleansing.
The only way in which self-determination for all the ethnic groups in Bosnia can be realised is by the defence of the multi-ethnic state.
Smith is wrong about the Bosnian. Serbs and Croats are not 'a few token(s)', although the hideous logic of ethnic cleansing means there are fewer previously.
The HVO in Tuzla fights alongside the Bosnian army, as it did in Sarajevo until it was incorporated into the Bosnian army proper. The Bosnian government is not 'largely Islamicist' even if its majority is Bosnian Muslim! Unfortunately, the longer Serb nationalist occupy over half the country and the more pressure is applied by imperialism, the more likely a Muslim state becomes.
Smith says 'it would be different if the multi-ethnic militias were against the government, the Muslim warlords and militia that also commit atrocities.
This is pure ultimatism. Those militia which are multinational also oppose the Muslim warlords. Many multi-ethnic militia are not creatures of Izetbegovic and operate more or less independently of his government. As do those purely Muslim militia who have comAS WE GO to press the second UN 'ultimatum' to the Serbs to withdraw from Gorazde or face massive air strikes is about to run out - at midnight on Tuesday April 26.
Whether or not the air strikes happen, the terrible sufferings of 70,000 people in Gorazde and in Bosnia as a whole are far from over. Bosnia is caught between the superior firepower of the Serbs and a UN/NATO force which, while purporting to 'protect' them against the Serbian military onslaught, is seeking partition and dismemberment of Bosnia.
This would hand two thirds of the country over to the Serbs and give them political and military victory on a plate. With 'friends' like this they don't need too many enemies!
The lesson for the Bosnian people, reinforced by the mess and confusion of UN and NATO policy in the region, is that they must rely on their own resources, and on those who are prepared to defend their national rights, Socialist investment. British links are more directly with Serbia.
Russia is strongly linked to the Milosevic regime and at the same time wants to use the situation to strengthen its role as a world power and its influence in the UN.
At the same time NATO's sabre rattling is as much to do with its world role, its humiliation at the hands of the Serbs last week, and its conception of the new world order than the immediate effects of its policies (and its bombs) in the Balkans.
One of the problems for the UN is that Serbian political leaders have a very good assessment of all this. They know exactly who they are dealing with and are able to push the UN to the brink at each stage.
At the time of writing they appear to be withdrawing heavy weapons from Gorazde but very much on their own terms.
It could well be a repeat of the Sarajevo 'ceasefire' with the Serbs prepared to withdraw under conditions where they have already achieved most of their