Friday, May 14, 1999 -- HONG KONG -- Okay, time to take a position. Enough is enough. Stop the bombing now and get around the negotiating table. Or, make a firm commitment to sending in ground forces. NATO has just announced its busiest day of raids yet - almost 650 sorties in a 24 hour period. And it achieved what, exactly? Even some refugees arriving on the border are now saying they wished the air campaign had never begun. Not that it would stop - but that it had never been launched.

Even the most anti-Milosevic and pro-NATO observer can't avoid the obvious; the bombing campaign has failed in its stated aims. Whether or not NATO was acting with the best motives, they have failed. This isn't a criticism of the brave men and women in uniform who risk their lives on a daily basis - it isn't their failure. The failure is in the leadership.

These days it seems NATO leaders are spending more time trying to drum up support for their air-campaign than getting down to the business of figuring out how they are going to win it. Their only answer - after more than 50 days - is to keep throwing bombs and missiles at Yugoslavia. There is no disgrace in modifying a policy or strategy that is clearly not working. But it is almost criminally insane not to.

The word 'choreographed' appears more often than not when NATO leaders make their high profile visits to refugee camps. I was never a great fan of British Prime Minister Tony Blair - but as more information leaks out about just how choreographed his visit was - I am losing what little respect I did have. If the masses of people chanting 'Tony Tony!' were acting spontaneously, then perhaps I might have felt a pang of - I don't know - pride, perhaps? But the fact that they were being coached like a soap-opera audience leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

To digress; maybe I am being unkind to Tony, but I don't understand the guy. What sort of Prime Minister stands in front of an audience in London and tells them that the recent nail-bombings were not just against blacks, Asians or gays; they were an attack on everyone in Britain regardless of their, "race, creed or class."

Class? The British leader apparently acknowledges and perhaps subscribes to a concept that classifies and categorises people based on their social, economic and educational background. Now, we all know that the 'class-system' is kept alive and well in just about every society around the world - but only by a very tiny proportion of people with even tinier minds. Britain's 'war-leader' is obviously one of those folks with tiny minds who like to remind others that for reasons over which they have absolutely no control they are somewhat 'better' or 'worse' than another. I'd no more fight on his behalf that I would on Milosevics'.

Back to the subject at hand. How many more events like the Chinese embassy fiasco can NATO weather and still maintain its flagging grip on public opinion? It really isn't much of an argument to point out that in terms of bombs dropped this has been the most accurate aerial war in history. It is a fact and it is a highly credible and commendable one.

But, okay it's a stretch, it's a bit like the employee arguing that he or she shouldn't be fired for being late for the third time in a year - what about all the other days he or she arrived on time and did a good job? The fact is - to use one of my favourite sayings - doing a good job is like taking a pee while wearing dark trousers. One gets a warm feeling - but no one notices. Doing a good job is expected. But make even a small mistake? I'm sure there are plenty of folks reading this who know exactly what I am saying. But why should our leaders be held to different standards than the average - dare I say low class - hack or employee?

With the Chinese still upset and the Russians in turmoil after the sacking of their Prime Minister, now might be a good time for NATO to take the peace initiative. A pause in bombing won't give Milosevic any particular advantage in military terms - but it will put him on the spot in diplomatic terms. Give peace a chance - huh? Or as I said at the beginning - get in there and do the job right. The sooner it is over, the sooner the refugees can go home.