THERE IS still no way out of the Bosnian crisis through a foreign military intervention.
Although an atmosphere of sharing out spheres of influence hovers over ex-Yugoslavia and the Balkans none of the great powers wants either a Balkan war or hostility with Yeltsin's Russia. Russia for its part wants to play a world role without opposing the West's basic choices.
Each imperialist power
seeks its own privileged alliances - the US wants to look good in the eyes of the Muslim world and Turkey; Germany has supported the anti-serb logic of the US and Slovenian and Croatian independence; France and Britain have wagered on a strong Serbian government of Milosevic in the hope that he will ally with Tudjman and break with the Croatians and Bosnian Serbs.
But none of the imperialist powers wants to lose any troops in a quagmire where they see no vital strategic in- the Serb and Croat nationalterest for themselves. This ist parties. explains NATO's gestures, The Bosnian Serb SDS and the simmering conflicts and its Chetniks, and the Bosbetween the powers with nian Croat HDZ and Its HVO forces on the ground. militias, each built a state NATO and the UN have be- beginning in the spring of come completely discred- 1992. Each was backed by its Ited, faced with the tragedy "mother" republic and its arof civilian populations held mies. hostage and appeals from Bosnia's multi-ethnic sothe war's main victims for ciety was weakened from Our defence of multi-ethnic Bosnia-Herzegovina aims at reaffirming coexistence and counteracting attacks being made on those traditions military intervention. within by the arrival of the The war in Bosnia-Herze- three nationalist parties in govina is the result of plans power and the goal of re-ls. to partition the republic lamicising the Muslims purthought up by Serbian Pres!- sued by the SDA and the dent Milosevic and Croatian Bosnian President IzetbePresident Tudjman before govic himsett, particularly in the war. the rural areas.
These schemes were These political circumtaken up by the so-called stances exacerbated the in"peace plans" and carried ternal polarisation in out in Bosnia-Herzegovina by Bosnia-Herzegovina between terical. those who remained commit- A girl -is brought in, ted to the state, with its wounded in her left leg. Fortumixed identity, and those nately it is not severe. She's Serbs and Croats who turned been lucky. toward nationalist projects. Slowly information drips in.
The greater crisis of the A grenade fell in the middle of state thus directly affects Kapija. A grenade, fired by the Bosnain society: the war is Bosnian Serbs on Mount Maboth a foreign aggression against Bosnia-Herzegovina jevica twenty kilometres east and a civil war that is tearing of Tuzla. the republic apart. Reaction Even with no guarantee of success, in the context of an The shelling is the reaction offensive by all the reaction- of the Bosnian Serbs to the ary forces, our defence of a bombing of Pale by NATO multi-ethnic Bosnia-Herze- forces. govina alms at reaffirming The number of casualties is the traditions of coexistence not immediately clear. Ten, and counteracting all the attacks being made on those maybe even twenty people traditions. dead, and many more We aim to support and de- wounded. But, after one and a velop resistance against all half hours, when I have gathpolicies of ethnic cleansing ered enough courage to look wherever it is perpetrated. outside, I can easily see that these are low estimates. • Taken from "Against the Kapija is covered with white Ethnic Partition of Bosnia- sheets, drenched with blood, Herzogovina: The Struggle which are used to cover the Continues", March 1995 dead. I count at least forty of resolution of the USFI. them.