Editorials
Monday, September 16, 1996
World has to accept
flawed Bosnia vote
THE Bosnian elections went off as scheduled Saturday but few had illusions that they advanced the causes of peace and democracy. Although there was little violence, thanks to the presence of 60,000 NATO troops, the process was clearly flawed by intimidation of opposition parties and government control of the news media. Yet there seems no alternative but to accept the results and try to muddle through.
The legitimacy of the balloting was quickly challenged by the party of Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic. It announced that it would not recognize election results in the Serbian half of the country, declaring that the essential conditions for free and fair elections were absent. Independent election monitors echoed that charge, reporting that technical flaws and political obstruction prevented large numbers from voting.
The elections were required under the peace agreement reached a year ago in Dayton, Ohio, under pressure from President Clinton to end the civil war that has torn the former Yugoslavia apart and left tens of thousands of casualties. The balloting was viewed by the Clinton administration as essential for the withdrawal of 20,000 U.S. peacekeeping troops this winter in accordance with the presi- dent's pledge to limit the U.S. engagement to 12 months.
Many observers, however, believe the elections should have been postponed until more stable conditions were achieved. The failure of the United Nations command to arrest the Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, indicted as war criminals, made a mockery of the whole effort. Evidence of abuses during the campaign has been played down by U.S. officials in an attempt to portray the process in a favorable light.
It is widely acknowledged that all of the international forces cannot pull out of Bosnia this winter even if most of the Americans are withdrawn. The danger that Bosnia would slide back into chaos as soon as the international restraints are removed is too great. For the White House, the foremost consideration seems to be to make it appear to the American electorate that the Clinton policy in Bosnia is succeeding and avoid any embarrassment before the U.S. presidential election.
The peace process in Bosnia is not the success the administration would like to pretend that it is. But the elections have been held, and despite the grave defects it seems impossible to disregard them. Now the challenge will be to keep the shaky government to be formed through the questionable election results from collapsing immediately in bickering.
Report on violence
CITY Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro seems unnecessarily defensive about a recently released study that's not even about his department. When a report disclosed that men who abused women weren't being held accountable in Hawaii's court system, Kaneshiro's thin skin showed as he resorted to a timeworn tactic: blaming the victim.
Unqualified teachers
THERE are lots of things wrong about public education in the United States, but one of the worst is that many teachers aren't qualified. A report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future found that nearly 25 percent of all high school teachers do not have the equivalent of a college minor in their subjects. The proportion is higher for mathematics and science teachers.
Educators must do more to attract exceptional students to the teaching profession. Then the schools - read that the taxpayers - must offer them jobs at reasonably attractive salaries and under acceptable conditions.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor