Why are we waiting? The clock is ticking and for the most part, people are getting upset that nothing that can be defined as “action” is actually taking place.

I am talking, of course, about the war in former Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Oh, I’m sorry! I meant the war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Serb fighters killing Bosnian fighters. Powerful warlords exerting control over every facet of how life is run in the territories. That’s some bad stuff.

In the “global community,” this crisis is something that should warrant attention, as it is disrupting a great deal of how Eastern Europe is able to govern itself. To that end, it could be considered justifiable for countries in Europe to try and exert some shift in the axis of power back towards the nationalist Bosnians. The real question now comes down to the fact that this war has been going on for 40 months: why has nothing of any drastic measure been taken to ensure compliance with the World Powers?

When I refer to the World Powers, I speak of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Russia. These countries have been trying for years, in conjunction with the United Nations, to try and sway the tide of the war and bring the border skirmishes to an end in an effort to install some peace in Eastern Europe.

The fruits of their labor, however, have accomplished nothing. Battles rage on, and now talks are under way to hand over 49 percent of Bosnia to the Serbs (Serbs currently control roughly 70 percent of the country) in which they would be allowed to establish their own government trade and establish contact with friendly nations. Again, why?!

There are two drastic measures that should be considered before any land is formed to command its own nation. I mean, damn, I just bought the new atlases with all the former Soviet Republics as individual nations!

First, we should consider the possibility of using serious weapons technology against the warring factions. The last and only time we ever used nuclear weapons, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were both civilian targets, was primarily an effort to show other nations that we were akin to a little kid with a book of matches - dangerous and unaware of it. Today, we are well aware of the powers of nuclear technology. But simply threatening to use our superior weaponry is meaningless. President Clinton could sit and address the nation about a preemptive strike until he is blue in the face and nothing will ever come of it.

Rather, the nuclear powers should decide collectively to issue an ultimatum to the fighters: a set deadline, and if forced peace is not achieved and order restored to the country, then follow through with their ultimatum. What does that mean? Nuking the entire population.

People will argue this case, saying “Killing innocent civilians is an outcry to all of humanity!” Look, our priorities must be set straight. We have tried to be peacemakers. We have sent delegates in to mediate conferences in the hopes that order will be restored, only to see them killed. United Nations troops trying to help citizens are killed by mortar fire. Food drops are collected and hoarded by the warlords.

This is ridiculous! We are doing nothing other than admitting to the rebels that with our combined powers, we’ll still twiddle our thumbs while our soldiers are killed! How can people sit, watch the news and read the newspaper, and not want to just beat the living crap out of them? President Bush achieved the highest approval ratings ever for a president by going after Saddam Hussein, and that was just to keep our oil prices from rising. Here, we have an actual cause that justifies some action and we sit on our asses and let it be! The basic assumption that it will all go away simply is not acceptable if we are to continue this line of action. We must show ourselves to be aggressors, not passive. There is no comfortable medium.

The second option is simply to pull all forces out of the area and let their forces settle their differences themselves. We have offered our support long enough, and it has done nothing to affect the outcome of the war. Both sides want control. Let them fight for it! It’s their land! It is in no way connected or affiliated with the United States; it is in Europe. You know, that whole other continent deal.

The United States has had a long history of becoming a political figure in other wars simply because we are the United States. Just because we are a strong economic base for the world doesn’t mean that we should attend to every nation’s wounds as though we ourselves have been injured. Surely, there are instances when helping a nation will help ours in return. This is not one of them. Who wants Bosnian/Serbian merchandise? There isn’t any! It will take years to rebuild any industry that may have existed in the country prior to the war. There simply is no benefit to ourselves as a nation to continue to pump funds into something that does not apply to us.

Let them fight. Let them kill and be killed until they realize that they both need to work this out together. By pulling out, the Bosnians and the Serbs will achieve the enlightening position that, damn it, war sucks, and they’re not helping their current state of affairs by continuing to perpetuate the battle. Maybe then we can come and help them.