The purges seem to have increased despite protests from international organizations.

Cases of cold blooded killings and rape have also been on the increase.

The Serbs are emboldened by the apparent apathy of the international community. The world is now watching Haiti and the US armada, so Serbian atrocities and the Bosnian misery have been relegated to the background.

President Clinton's mediation team has 'resolved' (for the time being) the Haitian issue and he can once now focus on the plight of the Bosnian nation.

And he should do so quickly before more blood is shed. In all honesty, the US administration, despite its dithering and dilly dallying, has been foremost among the Western nations in upholding the rights of a free multi-ethnic Bosnian state to defend itself. It has called for the lifting of the arms embargo. However, stiff opposition has come from European countries like Britain, France, Germany and Greece who, for vested reasons, have opposed it. The opinion that the Bosnians have been 'out-generated and out-fought' is universally believed and even the press there now promotes this idea. They want the status quo to remain as it is and want no more than a lame Bosnia living under the jackboots of the murderous Slavs. It seems that the West, which accuses us of fatalism, has also fallen under the same trap.

Bosnian leaders are now being accused of provocation and are being criticized for asking for too much. They are asked to be content and to be grateful for what they have. They are being told to curl up and await their fate - submission and death. No just settlement should be asked. Any request for help would meet the same mean look as the little boy got when he asked for the second bowl of soup in Charles Dicken's "Oliver Twist". 

What is upsetting is that the Europeans, Chancellor Khol, not withstanding, have tied the hands of the Bosnians for two years with an unjust arms embargo and prevented the Americans from coming to their aid. They have used all possible means and blocked all attempts by the Bosnian government to defend itself.

All sorts of excuses have made to explain away the complicated situation in Bosnia. Despite a large scale genocide and evidence of aggression splashed all over television the European government has turned its eyes away. Of course it claims they are assisting in feeding and clothing the hapless Bosnians. But that is similar to fattening the lamb before the slaughter. In the heart of Europe a major European city has been held under siege; its population constantly bombarded, its inhabitants reduced to a level where they have turned to eating rats; its women raped, its children blown apart and hacked to pieces.

The Clinton administration has shown some objectivity and US lawmakers headed by Bob Dole displayed international morality but some German lobbies in Europe are oblivious to all this.

Maybe they do not consider these people to be a part of Europe? Has anything to do with their religion or race?

The European support for the now dropped Haiti invasion, their military action in the Gulf war, their forays in Africa, reveal that when it suits them they are willing to pick up the cudgel even against a million strong, battle-hardened soldiers, equipped with the latest weapons of mass destruction.

But in the case of Bosnia, there is a deadly silence. People are tired of whimpers emanating from streets and halls. They want action.

Moral reasons dictate that the time has come to lift the arms embargo - To use dormant NATO war planes to enable the Bosnian government to defeat Serbian aggression by using steel gloves.