Letter: Balkan problems

Sir: Clinton and Blair threaten mass attack on Serbia to punish a Kosovo massacre. Yet the Kosovo carnage, where Serbs battle for their legendary "Alamo" against the Albanian- and Iranian-supported Kosovo Liberation Army, has seen all too many such tragedies perpetrated by fanatics of both sides.

Never mind the ultimate truth as to who perpetrated the latest. Whey the sudden rush to judgement? Why now?

Lasting conflict resolution may require Western intervention and aid, but above all it requires even-handedness. This is not a simple morality tale of good versus evil.

Which leaves the question: is today's anti-Serb pathology simply revenge lust after the hard-line victory in Bosnia's recent election (so inconvenient to Dayton's architects), or is it even more spurious, reflecting far simpler political calculation?

"Wag the dog" time, indeed, though this time with real bombs, real horror, real victims.

CARL G JACOBSEN

Ottawa

Canada