WHEN ARE THESE DEVILISH TRAMS THAT SERVE FOR TRANSPORTING TROUPS AND ARMS TO KOSOVO GOING TO BE STOPPED?

"More Bombs, Slow Results"

The liberal Guardian had this lead editorial (4/12): "Another week of war-making with progress apparently painfully slow. Why is NATO's air offensive taking so long to cripple the infrastructure? To account for only one-third of Serb/Yugoslav petroleum stores in three weeks isn't, on the face of it, impressive. Not even to stop the trams running in the streets of Belgrade does not inspire great confidence.... Those who thought this would be quick have now been disabused on the military front."

SEMYON IS TRYING (AND SUCCEEDING) TO BE FUNNY

"Russia Gets Into War"

Semyon Novoprudsky pointed out on page one of reformist Izvestiya (4/10): "If it is true what the (Duma) speaker said--and the way he said it, regrettably, makes it sound true--Russia is getting into the war. That is most unfortunate, with us drawing the fire. Even if it is a political gesture, it will have catastrophic consequences.... All right, let's get Yugoslavia aboard, even if we don't have a common border with it, and take on North Korea as well, and use Yugoslav dinars instead of U.S. dollars in our exchange offices."

IF ONLY THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT (TOGETHER WITH ALMOST EVERYBODY ELSE) DID NOT TRY THE APEACEMENT TOWARDS THE U.S. ... KALASHNIKOVA WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY NOW - TOGETHER WITH ALMOST EVERYBODY ELSE.

"Moscow-Belgrade Integration Apace"

Natalia Kalashnikova remarked on page one of reformist Segodnya (4/10): "Whatever the president said yesterday, Moscow-Belgrade integration is apace, meaning that Russia is being directly drawn into the war."

NOW, SOME MAY THINKG THAT MISTER BUDBERG IS ON THE PAYROL OF SOME FOREIGN
ORGANIZATION. SOME WILL ACCUSE HIM OF BEING STUPID, SENILE.

"Stupid, Senile Helmsmen"

Aleksandr Budberg wrote on page one of reformist, youth-oriented Moskovskiy Komsomolets (4/10): "It is as if our helmsmen, old and sick men, have got a second wind, ready to fight and risk their lives and that of their country and do crazy things. Those irresponsible, stupid and senile types, for no apparent reason, may drag Russia into a real and senseless war."

THIS IS WHAT SOME OF THE DUTCH ARE THINKING. FORGIVE THEM, THEY HAVE SUCH GOOD BEER.

"NATO Operation Must Succeed"

Centrist Algemeen Dagblad opined (4/12): "Milosevic has been causing distress in Yugoslavia since 1989. He had tens of thousands of people killed, chased out of their homes, and robbed. The world has passively watched all this for too long.... This NATO operation must succeed, even if it requires some sacrifices, and even if our patience is
tested for weeks to come."

AND THIS COMES FROM PORTUGAL

"NATO Bombs Killing Democracy"

Alfredo Barroso held in lead-circulation leftist weekly Expresso (4/10): "The irresponsible insensitivity and subservience with which Europe's social-democratic governments have blindly fallen in behind the power of U.S. imperial and arrogant leadership is, in fact, perfectly scandalous.... NATO bombs are also killing democracy."

AND FROM TUNISIA

"First And Last...It Is A War Of Interests"

Abdelhamid Riahi wrote in Ash-Shourouq (4/11): "Is America's involvement in the war inspired by humanitarian concern for the Kosovo Albanians or does it have a hidden agenda? To answer this question, lets just say that it would be naive to believe that America is acting for the sake of the Muslim Kosovars. No one would believe such
an explanation.... No one really thinks that this is a religious war.... We have learned that America does not act unless it works in its interest. If this were not true, it would have deployed its army to stop Israel's suppression of the Palestinian people.... America may be looking to establish a military base in the Balkans...or it may hope to bring Western Europe to its side and to break the tooth of the Russian bear."



CHINA

"Warning Of Crisis"

Wang Yizhou said in official Communist party People's Daily (Renmin Ribao, 4/12): "If the Balkan barrier is overcome, the United States and its Allies will become even more reckless. There is good indication that the United States, the self-proclaimed democracy and peace advocate, has repeatedly taken the lead in sparking international arms races. Behind NATO's high-sounding excuses, hide the crucial geo-strategic interests."

"NATO Sheds Crocodile Tears For Refugees"

Bian Zhuodan insisted said in official, Chinese Youth Party China Youth Daily (Zhongguo Qingnianbao, 4/12): "In another stunning development, NATO played the 'refugee card' after creating the disastrous refugee trouble.... The United States' real motive is not to escort refugees home, but to send troops into Kosovo...[and] enlarge NATO's sphere of influence by deploying troops to Kosovo."

PHILIPPINES

"Russia Is Bluffing"

Publisher Teodoro Locsin, Jr. maintained in liberal Today (4/12): "The Russian president is bluffing, of course; if Russia has anything to do with it, there will be no World War III or any kind of confrontation over the Balkans. The history of Serbia shows a consistent betrayal by the Russians of their fellow Slavs in the south.... Since Western diplomats read history, they know this, and so the bombing of Serbia will continue, in the same spirit of contempt in which that land has in the past been repeatedly hurt."

INDIA

"Time UN Acted"

In the editorial view of the centrist Hindu (4/10): "Innocent civilians are paying for the gross miscalculation of the Western military Alliance as the war being waged in the Balkans with the ostensible purpose of saving them goes into a second fortnight.... There is talk of committing troops to the region, dangerously escalating the war.... It is
not the business of NATO to interfere in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia, however offensively it treats its citizens. By taking the Washington-inspired hardline, the Alliance has bombed itself into a dilemma. As it convenes to celebrate its 50th anniversary, it will suffer a devastating blow to its prestige if, after attacking a sovereign state for the first time in its existence, it fails in it main objective of protecting the civilians in Kosovo.... The best insurance for independent nations against global gendarmes is the UN.... By repeatedly bypassing the organization and rendering it ineffectual, the Western nations are undermining the only hope that remains of a just world order."

NEPAL

"Stop The War"

The Independent Kathmandu Post contended (4/12): "Kosovo may have been burning before NATO action, but air strikes have only stoked that fire.... NATO alone is responsible for the destruction of Belgrade and the rising civilian deaths due to bombs. A 'humanitarian catastrophe' never witnessed in Europe since World War II has taken place in Yugoslavia and NATO shares the responsibility along with the Serbs.... NATO must stop the bombing and Milosevic must stop playing his games. In this regard, NATO's demand that refugees be allowed to return with an international force to ensure their safety is not unreasonable. The other details regarding the future of Kosovo can then be negotiated peacefully. But first, the bombing and the violence in Kosovo must stop."

"NATO's Naked Aggression"

Independent Aajako Samacharpatra judged (4/11): "Continued NATO pressure...to grant independence to Kosovo is a naked aggression on a sovereign nation."

BRAZIL

"The Great Losers"

Liberal Folha de S. Paulo had this editorial (4/12): "The American policy in relation to Yugoslavia was based on the principle that Milosevic's intransigence was nothing but bluster, and that the threat of bombardments would be enough to make him negotiate in an extreme situation. The calculation was mistaken because it didn't take into consideration the nature of the Serbian government, composed of a band of racists not at all willing to compromise.... The military action served...for Milosevic to free himself of the remaining controls and to undertake...the ethnic cleansing operation in Kosovo.... The government looks like the winner; the great losers are the civilian populations."

All in all, only the commentators from Britain are concerned about the undeserved luxury that the citizens of Belgrade are enjoying.