UN Council Lacks US Leadership In Bosnia Tragedy

UN Council Lacks US Leadership In Bosnia Tragedy

The tragedy in Bosnia is a human emergency. But it is also a test of the basic precept of the United Nations Charter, which declares in Article I, paragraph 1, that the purpose of the UN is ''to maintain international peace and security and to that end to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace ....''

In its first major post-cold-war test of collective security, the UN Security Council did remarkably well, legitimizing, through United States leadership, the reversal of Iraq's aggression against Kuwait.

Now the council is faced with a second major trial of collective security - aggression against the UN-member state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The council members have not been willing to act under Article 39 to determine an act of aggression and to ''decide what measures shall be taken ... to restore international peace and security.''

Without US leadership the council appears weak. It is bound to be challenged again at far greater costs.

Harris O. Schoenberg New York

Director

B'nai B'rith International

The Bridges of 'Amoral' County

Two movie reviews in the July 14 movie guide - ''Bridges of Madison County'' and ''Apollo 13'' - were way off the mark. In ''Bridges,'' I would have welcomed a deeper discussion of the moral issues in the film, and how the glorification of adultery (which was so evident in the book) was dealt with. Instead, the review dwelt only on the beautiful filmmaking. The review of ''Apollo 13'' seemed to ignore the courage and resourcefulness of all involved. It only harped on the film's predictable ending. I thought, isn't it nice to have a film that presents ''predictable'' things like real-life adventure, intelligence, and joy?

Rosalie E. Dunbar Dracut, Mass.

A bill to remove dying timber

The editorial ''Persistent Pork,'' July 10, took an unfair and inaccurate swipe at the forest industry over timber salvage legislation in the Senate.

Environmental safeguards would not be suspended under the bill, only expedited in order to remove the dead or dying timber within two years, before it loses value.

This is a reasonable bill designed to take a small step toward solving a serious national forest health problem. Those opposed to the bill should explain why it is better to let 4 million acres of dead trees litter our national forests.

W. Henson Moore Washington

President and CEO

American Forest & Paper Association