Arms wrestling. .

Dave Marash's article ("Saddam's Serb Supplier," March)does a good job uncovering the arms-trade connection between Serbia and Saddam Hussein.

As for the Bush administration's lack of interest in the Balkans, this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the special interests who influence the White House have no stake in the Balkans, as opposed to the forces that dominated the Clinton administration's agenda. Unfortunately, the common interest is on no one's agenda.

NICK GATSOULIS
New York, N.Y.

After reading the article by Dave Marash, I can only feel anger and dismay at the E.U. for pushing Croatia into the SAA Stability and Association Agreement, which obliges Croatia to open its borders and make all kinds of association agreements with these former Yugoslavian republics, with which Croatia never culturally had any connections.

Croatia has for more than 1,000 years belonged to the Western, Central European, and Mediterranean culture and religion, while being part of Yugoslavia for only some 70 years--where it was subjugated by the Serbs. One can read in many important international reports about the lawlessness and criminality in the Balkan states, but Croatia is never included. Croatia simply does not belong in the Balkans--never did. When will the rest of the world understand this?

HILDA M. FOLEY
National Federation of
Croatian Americans
Santa Ana, Calif.