Herzegovina

DAYTON, Ohio -- Secretary of State Warren Christopher opened the Bosnian peace talks yesterday urgently warning the three warring Balkan presidents that if they refuse to pursue peace now, they are choosing permanener said. "If we fail, the war will resume and future generations will surely hold us accountable for the consequences that would follow."The three presidents -- Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, Franjo Tudjman of Croatia, and Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina -- sat across a round table from Mr. Christopher in stony silence, showing no sign of accepting or rejecting the secretary of state's solemn appeal.

BIJELJINA, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- The bodies have been cleared away. But blood is still smeared on walls and doorways -- testimony to the bloodletting under way in the latest former Yugoslav republic to declare independence.This is a virtual ghost town, except for a few families huddled in basements living by candlelight and subsisting on dwindling supplies of canned food. They listen anxiously to the rat-tat-tat of sniper machine-gun fire or the explosion of mortars.Life among neighbors -- Croats, Serbs and Muslims -- has been hell.

MOSTAR, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- The Old Bridge was narrow and less than 100 feet long; it could be crossed on foot in seconds. But when carefully plotted Croatian artillery shells sent it crashing into the Neretva River four years ago, the shock waves traveled far and wide.Stari Mos (Old Bridge in Serbo-Croatian) had stood for more than 400 years and was the most famous landmark in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Erected on the Neretva River on the outermost reaches of the Ottoman Empire, it marked the place where the Islamic East met and mingled with the Christian West.

THIET, Sudan -- They are always there. They wait, watching, patient. Every now and again they soar from the treetops in lazy flight, as an owner might amble about to inspect his property.They will get their fill, the vultures of southern Sudan. Death is the only ample harvest in this land. The weak ones -- animal or human -- fall in the dirt, and there is often no extra strength to cover them.The giant birds may seem to smile as the world turns away. No one wants to hear of more people starving in Africa.

I am very pleased to share my thoughts on the special relationship between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the state of Maryland. This relationship began in 2003 under the official auspices of the National Guard State Partnership Program with the Maryland National Guard and is now developing into a multidimensional, whole-of-government partnership supported by both the office of Gov. Martin O'Malley and the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On March 22-24 I will be heading an official delegation to Maryland for the upcoming U.S.-Balkans Business Summit at the University of Baltimore.

Jesse, come back! All is forgiven.George must decide whether to chase voters leaning toward Buchanan or those drifting Democratic. Think carefully, George.Bosnia-Herzegovina, which declared independence, has no ethnic majority, no seacoast and no agreed spelling of Hercegovina.Western Maryland without a Representative Byron will be like Western Maryland without Deep Creek Lake.

The invasion of Bosnia-Herzegovina by the Yugoslav federal army and Serbian irregulars is an international aggression and a human rights abuse. Coming after U.S. and European recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina's sovereign independence and after the torturous world efforts to end the similar fighting in Croatia, this invasion affronts the United Nations, Europe and all who wish Yugoslavian peoples well.Bosnia-Herzegovina is Yugoslavia writ small. Its 4.4 million people include no ethnic majority, only rival minorities.

SARAJEVO, Yugoslavia -- Leaders of Yugoslavia's large Muslim community have made a dramatic shift in their policy, suddenly distancing themselves from Croatia's President Franjo Tudjman and offering what they said was a "historic agreement" to their traditional enemy -- the Serbs.The offer was made last week at a meeting between Muslim and Serb politicians in the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Officials from the republic then flew to Belgrade to propose the plan personally to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Clinton can't lose. That is, he can't lose the nomination. He can lose the election.Yasser Arafat may not walk on water but he survives plane crashes, which is the 20th century equivalent.The Army wants to use smart robots to fight the next century's wars. If the robots are so smart, they will find a way out.Bosnia-Herzegovina tried to avoid the Yugoslavian civil war and ran smack into it.The unpapular French president dumped the unpopular French premier, who tried to save her job by dumping the unpopular French cabinet ministers instead, buth the unpopular French president wouldn't buy it.