The Rev. Jesse Jackson bet his reputation that he could gain the freedom of three American soldiers taken prisoner illegally by Serb forces more than a month ago. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic bet his political future that releasing the captives would lead the American public to see him as a misunderstood, compassionate head of state fit to rule a land he is cleansing with blood.

Jackson won. And if the TV coverage was a little over the top and the reverend’s public demeanor has taken on a hint of self-parody, so what? Christopher Stone, Andrew Ramirez and Stephen Gonzales are coming home. Still, more than 600,000 ethnic Albanians have been forced from their homes, thousands have been slaughtered. They, not three American soldiers, are why Milosevic must lose.

Milosevic had the hostage card up his sleeve from the start: cross the border into Macedonia; capture NATO soldiers who, in a non-combat area would have their guards down; threaten trial and imprisonment; negotiate their release if things start to go badly.

Things are going badly. The fierce NATO pounding is taking a heavy toll; there are increasing reports of Serb soldiers unwilling to commit atrocities, unwilling to fight, unwilling to be the last war criminal. Defections are common. NATO resolve has not flickered. Some of this country’s most credible political leaders, such as Sen John McCain, are criticizing President Clinton not for getting the United States involved in the Balkans but for not being fully committed to the defeat of Milosevic and his barbaric regime. Russia is more interested in brokering a just peace than in embarrassing NATO.

Milosevic the gambler miscounted his cards. He assumed NATO would shy away from the Balkans and its fearsome reputation for unrelenting bloodshed. He expected a few annoying days of telegenic bombing, not a full month with no end in sight and the tools and fuel of war dwindling. He thought the American public would not follow the moral leadership of a morally damaged president. Above all, he figured the world wouldn’t care enough about ethnic Albanians to stop their annihilation.

Now Milosevec has one last card to play, one last gambit to snooker the world into negotiating with a criminal masquerading as a head of state. The three Americans soldiers are free, so why shouldn’t NATO call it off and go home?

NATO did not take action in Kosovo because three soldiers were taken prisoner; it did so because Slododan Milosevic is a murderous thug bent on the destruction of Yugoslavia. The release of the prisoners changes nothing. Milosevic must be removed from power. NATO must call his bluff.