The Bloody Red Berets

(3 of 3)

There are occasional hints of moderation. A poll released last week found that just over 50% of Serbs would agree to send Milosevic to the Hague if the alternative were losing Western aid. At the same time, the perils of even local prosecution are becoming clear. Not long ago, gunmen fired (unsuccessfully) at the vehicle carrying the new Interior Minister; earlier, the driver of the new head of state security was shot as he waited for his boss outside Djindjic's office.

And the Red Berets? They were in action again last week, this time against Albanian guerrillas along the Kosovo border, though these days they are under a different command. The new government defends its reluctance to send even indicted war criminals to the Hague, citing the risk of political instability if it acts too fast. But the reverse is also true. "If we want to build a normal society, we need to face the truth about these crimes and punish the perpetrators," says Natasa Kandic, head of a local human-rights group, the Humanitarian Law Fund. Anything less would be getting away with murder.