Pretty ugly, Alistair, but pretty accurate. I don't think any situation is *hopeless* if you consider the full range of possibilities...but within the rather limited world of bombing sorties, yes, I think this is hopeless. I know very little about the history of the Balkans, and I get a sense that I'm not alone in that. So I'm a little taken aback by the 'it's been going on for centuries' line. Seems like an excuse for irresponsibility. I mean, you could say exactly the same thing about England and France, France and Germany, Germany and Poland, Poland and Russia, Russia and China, China and Japan, etc. etc.