James O'Brien

Dear People of Kosovo,

As a citizen of the UK I would like to say that I am personally sorry that my government as part of NATO has not been able to protect your people from ethnic cleansing, mass executions and the other unspeakable horrors which many of you have witnessed and endured. All we are able to do is to send humanitarian help at the moment.

Our leaders have told us in the period since the end of the cold war that our military forces were being developed more towards rapid deployment forces to quickly intercede in humanitarian crisis situations such as exists in Kosovo. Our leaders misled us.

Instead all they are capable of is waging air war on yugoslavia with expensive sophisiticated bombs which, on its own, I believe will not achieve the desired objectives. Also despite their rhetoric the West is still more likely to find the political will to secure strategic interests in Kuwait than protect 2 million human beings in kosovo from cruel harsh inhuman treatment.

Most people in the west have been comfortable with the humanitarian claims for world peace and human rights of our governments. We didn't question the military policies of our governments which included advertisements for soldiers in a new humanitarian role as protectors and helpers of human beings in crisis situations. This we now see is not altogether true. Of course our soldiers have been working hard to set up facilities for refugees and I believe if they are sent to fight they will do so bravely in the knowledge that they are fighting a just war, but because of the lack of a correct policy, adequate resources and preparation NATO has not been able to save one Kosovan from arbitrary execution or ethnic cleansing. These rapid deployment forces do not exist.

We in the west never thought deeply enough about our talk of preserving human rights, even close to home and what it means in terms of our approach to developing our military forces. We were caught sleeping and unready while this horror enmeshed your country. I pray that the Kosovan people will not pay an unbearable price for NATO's lesson, but I fear that they might.

James O'Brien