reach our people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.rnOur kids are being woundedrnand killed by Muslim and Croat shellsrnand snipers, too, but nobody abroadrncares about them. There are no limelights,rnno helicopters, no publicity forrnthem. We are stunned by the ignorancernand often arrogance of foreign politiciansrnand media about our history and suffering.rnIf they speak about Sarajevo, theyrnspeak almost in unison about the Muslims.rnBut Sarajevo, just before the tragicrnevents in our country, was the secondrnlargest Serbian city, immediately afterrnBelgrade, with only a slight Muslimrnmajority. Do you know how Muslimrngrenades destroyed Grbavica, Nedjarici,rnIlidza, and other Serb-held parts of Sarajevo?”rnThe president of Belgrade’s city councilrnis Mrs. Slobodanka Gruden, M.D.rnShe is also the president of the SerbianrnRed Cross. In her official residence, thernOld Royal palace, we discussed the problemrnof refugees in Serb-held territories.rnThere were about 600,000 refugees inrnthe FRY at the end of last year; there wasrnno international help for them. Approximatelyrnhalf of them were expelled—rn”ethnically cleansed”—from Croatia; thernrest were from Bosnia and Herzegovina,rnincluding about 50,000 Muslims, whornDispatches fromrnThe Last DitchrnAnarcho-pessimists,rncrypto-Copperheads,rnpost-neo-Objectivists,rnand other enemies of thernpermanent regimernopining monthly, fromrnindividualist and Eiiropean-rnAmerican perspectives, onrnthe end of civilizationrnWrite for free issuernTrial subscription (4 issues), $15rn12 issues, $42 24 issues, $77rnWTM EnterprisesrnP.O. Box 224 DeptCHrnRoanoke, IN 46783-0224rnwere well cared for. About 200,000rnrefugees were in the Bosnian Serb Republicrnand in the Serbian republic ofrnKraina. And the FRY fed them all, regardlessrnof the draconic sanctions. Thernsecretary general of the Serbian RedrnCross, Mrs. Radmila Cvetkovic, told mernproudly: “And do you know. Professor,rnthat 96 percent of all the refugees here,rnin Serbia, are not in various refugeerncamps, but they live as guests of variousrnfamilies not related to them? And thosernfamilies are overburdened with their ownrnproblems. Foreign media never reportrnthis, or anything about our problemsrnwith refugees.”rnFour British members of Parliament—rntwo Conservatives, one Labor, and onernLiberal Democrat—traveled to the FRYrnin a private capacity to assess the healthrnsituation in the Bosnian Serb Republic.rnThey published a report about their findingsrnin September 1993. They foundrnthat a health care crisis was looming andrnthat the problems needed to be addressedrnquickly before conditions becamerncritical. In addition to the lack ofrndrugs (especially critical in Bosnia andrnHerzegovina), they found a rise in casesrnof contagious diseases and tuberculosis,rninfant and maternal mortality, cardiovascularrndisorders, and malignant diseases.rnThey found almost no drugs forrnthe treatment of hypertension, exceptrnfor those patients who can afford to payrnfor them with foreign currency (assumingrnthe drugs could be found at all).rnSome dialysis centers for kidney patientsrnwere closed—there were difficulties inrnreplacing components for dialysis machines.rnMost needed were drugs forrnchild care; for tuberculosis, bacteric andrnparasitic diseases, and for cardiovascularrnand malignant diseases; drugs forrnsurgery; laboratory and diagnostic supplies;rnand psychopharmaceuticals. Thernurban population (90 percent of it) dependsrnon drinking water supplied fromrncentral systems, but the stocks of chemicalsrnand mechanical parts for the waterrnpurification plants were in low supply—rndue almost solely to the internationalrnsanctions. Waterborne epidemics increasedrnominously, although the previousrnhygienic and epidemiological situationrnhad been excellent. The SanctionsrnCommittee had refused many times tornallow any shipment of heating oil or gasrnfrom abroad for hospitals, schools, andrnkindergartens. The Russian delegate battledrnin vain last year to convince Britain,rnFrance, and the United States to givernclearance for a large emergency shipmentrnof heating oil for the FRY.rnThe British MPs found the situationrnespecially depressing at the BelgradernUniversity Children’s Hospital. Thernproblems were exacerbated by the shortagesrnof medical supplies and equipment.rnChildren whose parents could not affordrnto purchase medicines on the black marketrnhad to be withdrawn from long-termrntreatment; even cancer cases were subjectedrnto the same criteria. Because thernmedication for a child with hydrocephalusrn(water on the brain) was notrnavailable, his brain was almost totally destroyed.rnThe volume of surgical work,rnparticularly heart surgery, dropped dramatically.rnIn one case, the United Statesrngovernment blocked the importation ofrnspecial equipment for the hospital, inrnspite of Security Council SanctionsrnCommittee clearance. Children wererndying of cancer and leukemia becausernthe expensive cytostatics could not bernbought. The need for children to receivernproper care was totally neglected byrnthose who organized and carried out thernsanctions. The Director General of thisrnhospital had had a monthly income ofrnapproximately 1,200 U.S. dollars—nowrnit had dropped to 18 U.S. dollars.rnThe British MPs concluded that delaysrnof up to six months in the grantingrnof import licenses, even for humanitarianrnaid, had become the norm. Clearly,rnthere was a need to reexamine the colossalrnbureaucracy that blocked the shipmentrnof medical supplies to the FRY, tornthe Bosnian Serb Republic, and tornKraina. The provision of humanitarianrnsupport and care should not have beenrnaffected by the economic and diplomaticrnsanctions. Repeatedly, trucks withrndrugs were held at the Hungarian-rnYugoslav border, even though they hadrnall the necessary documents. FrozenrnYugoslav funds overseas should havernbeen freed to enable the FRY authoritiesrnto buy all the necessary medical supplies.rnAll medical aid in the Bosnian SerbrnRepublic comes from the FRY, fromrnits meager resources and donationsrnfrom Serbs living abroad. Here, too, thernsituation was desperate, and again thernshortages affected almost all types ofrndrugs—cardiotonics, insulin, diuretics,rntuberculostatics, antibiotics, analgesics,rnanesthetics, cytostatics, psychotropicrndrugs, oral antidiabetics, H2 blockers, allrnkinds of eye drops—as well as gauze,rnbandages, syringes, and needles. Thernmortality rate of patients with cancer.rn40/CHRONICLESrnrnrn