European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 08, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday decembers 1994 commentary the stars and stripes nations share shame o Anthony Lewis anyone who did not grasp the meaning of what is happening in Bosnia need Only have looked at the newspaper picture last week of a bosnian govern ment Soldier taken prisoner by the serbs a Bihac. They made him Wear a Fez mocking his Muslim religion As the nazis mad jews Wear a yellow Star How did it happen that 50 years after the nazis human beings Are being humiliated an killed in Europe because of the irreligion All of us in what we like to think of As the civilized West share the crucial moment came after Yugoslavia began .-.-. To split apart in 1991. Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia sen the Federal army into Croatia destroying Vukovan As totally As the romans did Carthage. What would the great Western Alliance do about this menacing violation of Europe s peace president Bush the Leader of the Alli Ance made the decision to do nothing. Why he was so Craven remains a had just come out of the persian Gulf War a hero the Man who said Iraq s aggression will not stand and acted on that vow. The Wall of prime minister Margaret Thatcher May Well have made the differ ence. She had goaded him to action against Iraq telling him Don t go Al wobbly on us Ufler successor John major had Jelly in his spine. In 1992, / the serbs began their onslaught on Bosnia the first explicit religious nationalist aggression in Europe since the nazis. They drove 2 million bosnian from their Homeland killed hundreds of thousands. They burned villages and blew up mos ques. The Western Alliance still responded with inaction. In fact it was worse than inaction. Western countries recognized Bosnia but then enforced an arms embargo that de Nied it the Means to defend itself. Worse still far worse the West Lethe victims to believe it would come to their Rescue. That was Only to be expected the West having left them defenceless against a cruel no Gallant rescuers appeared. Instead nato shucked the problem off to the United nations. A . Protection Force was sent to Bosnia to get Relief to areas besieged by the serbs. But the Force became a plaything of the serbs itching singly followed orders of serbian com Manders. The up Rotor commander it. Rose is a Symbol of the sellout. On television he spoke of the wonder she had done for Bosnia among other things saving Gorade from serbian As Sault. In fact he Long resisted doing any thing about Gorade. And he has done Little but whimper indecent weeks As the serbs have taken hundreds of his men As hostages., the one time that the serbs really backed off was when the marketplace Mas Sacre in Sarajevo shamed the West into a meaningful threat of bombing. The serbs believed it. After that right through the Bihac disaster Rose and others blocked the use of meaningful air Power. The British and French were the Block ers. Britain especially its performance in the destruction of Bosnia has brought Backoo life perfidious Albion. The Clinton administration has done its part in the disaster too. Its huffing and puffing prolonged the pretence that someone might actually res. Cue Bosnia prolonged the agony. " president Clinton did not have the will to Lead the Alliance to a genuine resistance against the serbian aggression. Now it is time for the charade to West has Only two honorable courses get the . Force out despite Al the risk that entails for trapped bosnian this Winter and undertake systematic bombing of bosnian serbian military installations. Or Tell the bosnian that we Are not going to Lead them on anymore they it never 6ets/w burlier have to Settle for what they can get and nothing this should have been dealt of a till taif a tif�1n to mat their nmn Urilt tix i inn non " t ,. No -.,we shall then help to make their Rump country viable. It is an appalling Choice. But that i what has been left us by the weakness that began with Bush s decision to do with two years ago Thatcher said recently. Liat it was not May prove to be the undoing of much More than Bosnia. C new York timor peacekeeping develops its q by Louis Meixl Erthe once grand . Peacekeeping As a global 911 appears to be fading As the United nation closes shop in Somalia and faces humiliation in Bosnia. With the United nations in apparent Retreat observers Are saying that future peacekeeping is Likely to shy away from where it is needed most the front lines. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a bucket of cold water on ambitious plans for peacekeeping said Richard belts professor of political science at Columbia University in new York. I think there is a great future for peacekeeping that does not matter very much and a very shaky future for Messier " that seemed apparent last week. As serbian Ronij Tiamen held hundreds of peacekeepers hostage and pounded a .-declared Safe Haven i Bosnia the Security Council Rafiet in new York but High on its Agenda was the Golan Heights not Bosnia. The Quick meeting extending the mandate for the israeli syrian Border Mission highlighted a . Success a Mission where both sides want peace and the Bor Deri quiet ". The Council talks later dragged on about Bosnia but without direct is the role of referee said Dan Plesch director of the British american Security infer mation Council in London. You can separate warring parties who want to be but in instances such As Bosnia and Somalia where _ the sides Aren t willing to Stop fighting the United nations is refusing to order its peacekeepers to separate the a direct role would be War not peacekeeping Council members say. Many observers say missions such As those in Golan and Cyprus with Clear and limited objectives such As monitoring Borders or delivering Aid to War zones Are Likely to expand in the coming years. But we will also see peacekeeping used by the United states and other Powers As a Way of repackaging War Plesch said. Of he cited Haiti and Georgia As examples. The United states pushed the Council to Autho Rize military intervention in Haiti offering its own sol Diers to Lead the Mission that will give Way to a .peacekeeping Force. Russia would like to do much the same in Georgia. It has already sent its own troops to the former soviet re Public but is pressing the United nations to take Over the Mission. While Bosnia with 24,000 soldiers or almost a third of All . Peacekeepers would prove the greatest . Peacekeeping failure if it collapses Tjie United nations has lost face on other missions. It was to Foster peace in Somalia and decided this fall to wind Down its two year Mission in Liberia observers have been abused and humiliated by the warring factions. . Officials bristle at criticisms that peacekeeping has been ineffective. They say the problem is that world leaders Are not willing to commit the troops or Money to ambitious peacekeeping world body is being made a Scapegoat for the Lack of global will to act said Kofi Annan the head . Peacekeeping. It is absolutely unfair when member states do not want to take the risks when they do not want to com Mit the resources but blame the . For failure to act Annan said. . Peacekeeping costs have ballooned to $3.8 Bil lion for the year ending april 1994. By october Mem Bers still owed the world body $1.6 billion for peace keeping. There Are some 80000 . Peacekeepers world wide. . Missions involved Only about 10,000 soldiers inl987. -,.-- i with a More isolationist Congress coming into Power in Washington it is unlikely the United states which pays about a third of the peacekeeping budget would be willing to pay for additional operations that Are not directly in the . Interest. There May be other Bosnia but i Don t think there will be another up Rotor , Protection Force said William Durch a senior associate at the Henry a Stimson Center in Washington. If the West is not willing to act on its own Doorstep Why would it do it elsewhere " " up Rotor is the peacekeeping Mission in former Yugoslavia. Lewis Mackenzie a Veteran of nine peacekeeping operations and the former head of the Sarajevo operation in Bosnia Points out that despite its shortcomings the Mission in the former Yugoslavia still ensures that millions of people receive food every Day. And the retired major general says that despite the problems there is still a need for peacekeeping. People who talk about the loss of credibility will be on bended Knees before the . At the next crisis Mackenzie said. C the associated press
