Yet only two years ago mass demonstrations in Belgrade came close to overthrowing him. Now the most courageous opponents of his tyranny are in air-raid shelters. I've been working for 10 years against Milosevic. Democracy and the opposition was growing very slowly. But after the Nato air strikes we were crushed,' said a peace campaigner.
Every report tells the same story.
Like any ruler, Milosevic takes the strength of opposition into account before acting. As that opposition has vanished, he's been able to be more brutal than ever. Similarly in the West, our rulers' ability to carve out their own murderous world order depends on the strength of opposition to their hypocrisy and wars. So those who back the Nato action make it more likely that the screams of helpless refugees will go on, in Kurdistan and East Timor, while Tony Benn and those currently accused of not caring state their case. And the Kosovars will be dumped by the West as mercilessly as the Iraqi Kurds were after the Gulf War.