THE AGE-old rivalry and wars by the various ethnic peoples of the Balkans, called the Powder Keg of Europe, was ended when the end of the 1914-18 war saw the creation of the country of Yugoslavia by the then League of Nations.

Except for the Nazi invasion, the peace was kept ever since. That is until the NATO aggression. With this unity in ruins, and the cold-blooded bombing of defenceless Yugoslavia, leaving thousands dead and the infrastructure wrecked, the Serbian people seem to have lost heart.

Faced with the destruction of their hard earned standard of living, giving them a decent life during the past 50 years, a return to austerity and poverty caused by NATO's action, the Serbian people seem to have lost heart. The spirit of Tito's Yugoslavia appears to have gone. What a shame!

Now we have the Hitlerite dream of a European Nation ready to pounce on any of its members (or non-members) who find the rosy picture they were led to believe was theirs, was non-existent. Note the lack of the gallant older generation among the crowds in Belgrade. How many know that the Wall Street Journal revealed the CIA passed £71 million to the opposition. Disgusting!

History: What if the British peoples followed Lord Halifax and did a Chamberlain deal with Hitler? How many people know that the French people turned their back on de Gaulle and supported the traitor Petain and his Vichy government, uniting with the 'invincible' all conquering Nazis? Such is the situation today.

Make no mistake, the issue is privatisation versus public ownership. How determined were the victorious British soldiers and peoples, when, to the surprise of the world, they kicked out the old order and elected a real Labour Party with a promise of socialism! Brought forward was the NHS, public ownership of water, oil, coal, gas, energy, transport, 'phones, housing etc. What a prize! Like other socialist countries, why have we let these vitals slip through our fingers?

What will future generations think of the Serbian surrender? It is impossible to have a world of a minority of millionaires and a majority of unemployed waiting for crumbs off the rich man's plate. The world's population will just not stand for it. We are faced with a powerful nuclear armed military versus the terrorism of the desperate.

Bertie Lewis

Taunton Drive

Farnworth