Lesson for small

“Why should we go to war fora distant nation of which we know lit-
te?" — Prime Minister Neville Chaniberlain, announcing (he betrayal
of Ceechoslovakia after his Munich conference with Hitler,

ONLY PEOPLE

over 60 should read this column for we

are the only ones close enough to the events that we can
see that our betrayal of the poor Bosnians today repeats
our abundonment of Czechoslovakia in 1938,

We would give them all aid
shortaf help, we would sym-
pathize, we would not fight beside
them,

That's not to say that breaking
faith with the Bosnians is going fo
lead us into another world war.
Despite what the books say, histo-
ry does nat repeat itself with any
greal display of good: memory.

Some events, however, keep
happening over and over again as
mankind seems to endlessly circle
its own tracks,

Our abandonment of the Bos-
nians, like Britain’s and France's
abandonment of Czechoslovakia,
like the Americans’ abandonment
of their Vietnamese allies, is one
tore objec( lesson for small
powers.

Let us write it in capital letters,
although that won't do much
good,

It’s a message we small and
medium powers never seem able
to read.

At least, for the record, Ict it be
said again:

NO SMALL POWER
SHOULD EVER TRUST A
GREAT POWER.

The Bosnians relied on the
Western powers, We had told
them that we would not permit
the Serbs and the Croats to steal
their territory.

We gave them some ineffective
air support, and there was even a
_ move (for which the United States

* gan take credit) — to supply them
some arms and sénd some of our

troops to stem the invasions of
their land.

Eventually, push came to shove
and the great powers told the
Bosnians to retreat into a few
areas which could be called
glorified concentration camps,
where United Nations troops
would serve as their guards, or,
depending on the point of view, as
their jailers,

The Serbs, who are now
‘Jaughing out loud at the bluster
from the western states, are to
keep the territory they seized until
some time.in the sweet by and by
when the force of our moral :
disaprroval causes them to give it
bat:k. Don’t hold your breath.

-. Canadian army general Lewis
Mackenzie spoke to an American
congressional committee about
this last week with admirably
blunt soldier’s talk. .

Auswering critics who would
say’ that the Serbs and Croats were
being rewarded for gaining ter-
ritory by force, the general said,
“Force has been rewarded since
the first caveman picked up a
club, occupied a neighbor's cave

Paul
St. Pierre

PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES

and ran off with his wife."

Precisely, sir,

There is another similarity be-
tween the abandonment of Bosnia
and the Munich agreement, Both
were popular with the citizenry of
the great powers,

The British cheered
Chamberlain as he waved his silly
little piece of paper, and even
Churchill voted for the Munich
Agreement.

The Americans give every in-
dication of cheering their coun-
try’s decision to avoid getting into
a Balkan war, the end of which
no one can foresee. They have
reason to applaud.

All the people of the Balkans

‘have proved themselves fierce op-

ponents.
Tito’s Yugoslav guerillas tied up
no less than 15 German divisions

powers

here in the last big war,

The lack of those 15 divisions
may have meant defeat instead of
victory in Russia for the Germans.

The German army was defeated
in the Hatkans before the Russian
troops ever arrived.

So there are, perhaps, no worse
people to tangle with, and Ameri-
cans and other great powers may
well breathe casier today because
we stopped short of armed in-

lervention,

Nothing, however, chitiges the
fact that the Bosnians hive been
betrayed.

We first encouraged them to
believe we were their allies.
Nothing changes the fact that we
have subsdtuted wards and vague
promises for action,

That is what the Germans call
realpolitik, the politics of realism,
The Balkan people should be

the first to recognize it,

Tito, the last man who held
these nations together in some sort
of harmony, devoted the last years
of his life to trying to get the
world’s small and medium powers
to act in concert.

ft was his central philosophy
that neither the words nor the
treaties of grent powers could be
relied upon.

To paraphrase him, “No great
power will ever be a true friend to
a small power.”

Stalin had taught him that.

Canada aud a lot of far smaller
powers should reflect on the
dismal truth of realpolitik.

So might the Mexicans, as we
both move toward joining the
United States in a huge free trade
block.

ff troubles come from this alli-
ance, neither Mexicans nor Cana-
dians should be surprised if the
United States acts as great powers
have always acted, purely in its
own selfish interests.

OSTERSON’ 5 FRAMING & ART

00

Incoming framing
order min. $30

KEN BAXTER
LAWYER

24 Yaars
Experienco__,

“LONSDALE QUAY
NORTH VANCOUVER

988-6321

North Vancouver City Library
Summer

50° a book

Saturday, June 5
9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Come and browse

savings on all 10, 14, 18 kt:

, CHAINS, BANGLES, Ri

Importers of gemstones/

Manufacturers of fine jewellery
Capilano Mail, North Vancouver

Did You Know B

* Custom Design

Services

¢ Only construction

grade materials

JEWELLERS
98.4- 2040

The perfect, affordable vecreatt retirement
cottage. Vaulted ceiling, 825 sq.ft, space for
woodburning stove, shell package - $14,999.
Collateral Mortgage and Interim

Financing now available.

. For information on the Ashworth

. Cottage call now 985-1 757