It is good to know that Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin can intelligibly string together 1000 words of his thoughts. And the fact that he got those thoughts printed as an Opinion column in Thursday's Washington Post, is a testament to Russia's sincere desire to broker some sort of negotiated solution in Yugoslavia. But given the fact that the international war crimes tribunal indicted Slobodan Milosevic and four of his governmental cohorts Thursday, Chernomyrdin's plea comes a day late.

But the Russians should have anticipated the tribunal's move. With the NATO air campaign nearing the upper bound of its effectiveness, there are few options left to assist in applying pressure to Milosevic. Had Chernomyrdin been cognizant of this, he might have more appropriately titled his column "Indictments Rule Out Talk of Peace" instead of "Bombs Rule Out Talk of Peace," for the former is possibly more true than the latter.

Consider this: Slobodan Milosevic, as an indicted war criminal, has nothing to lose. For him, it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. Whether he moves expeditiously towards a diplomatic solution or continues to allow atrocities to take place on his watch, his head remains on the chopping block.

For the past few weeks, there has been media banter concerning the stigma of NATO possibly having to negotiate with an indicted war criminal. Well, that self-fulfilling prophecy has arrived. That is, of course, if Milosevic has any true inclination to negotiate.

As of Thursday, there was still talk from the Milosevic camp of expediting diplomatic options. These ovations are good signs with reference to the overall situation in the region; for the moment Milosevic recognizes that he has no more options at his disposal, the entire tenor of his relationship with the outside world could change for the worst. That in turn could have catastrophic consequences for the Kosovar Albanian Muslims who have thus far been the victims of both ethnic cleansing and flawed policy implementations. In fact, the mere handing down of the indictments against Milosevic could become yet another component of failed Balkan policy.

But whatever the case may be, it seems clear that NATO, with the United States at the helm, will continue with its uniquely deficient military strategy. The war crimes indictments of Milosevic simply build a stronger case for prolonged military activity in the Balkans. The ultimate question of what is to become of Milosevic then remains uncertain. But if the cases of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic can be used as historical references for the current state of affairs, then Milosevic could very well lead a normal life for years to come, devoid of power and influence, but not held accountable for the atrocities for which he is responsible.