Took advantage Nato has repeatedly denied that the air strikes were the cause, or the catalyst, of ethnic cleansing. But Mr Milosevic certainly took advantage of them to accelerate the terror and the expulsions. Hardened resolve On the other hand, the terrible suffering of the Kosovo Albanians has so far hardened western government resolve and public opinion against Belgrade. Dissent within Nato has been muted. Opinion polls show solid support for the air strikes in the big member countries, with the exception of Italy.
Doubts are more pronounced in southern Europe.
Liberal opinion in the West is generally in favour of what it perceives as a just war, which has not been the case recently with military action against Iraq. The main criticism in the West of the air strikes has been that they are not effective. Television pictures of miserable refugees have swelled the numbers of those demanding the intervention of ground troops. There are now discussions going on about a possible role for Nato soldiers in protecting ethnic Albanians inside Kosovo, though an invasion against Serb resistance is still ruled out. Anti air strike protestors in Bucharest Day after day, Nato spokesmen have had to report that bad weather has largely prevented direct attacks on Serb combat forces inside Kosovo, while insisting that Belgrade's military capabilities are being steadily reduced.