THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 2, 1995 TAG: 9506020025
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
President Clinton has floated the idea of using a limited number of U.S. troops to help U.N. peacekeepers in Bosnia to regroup in more defensible positions. But that amounts to ``reinforcing failure,'' in Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole's blunt phrase.
The peacekeepers have been unable to keep the peace because there is no peace. By trying to limit the bloodshed, the U.N. mission has managed only to institutionalize an imbalance of power that favors the bad guys.
Undersupplied Bosnian Muslims have been unable to fight aggression. The United Nations has been unable to stop the aggression by the Bosnian Serbs and now finds its troops hostage and pawns in the game.
The solution is not for the United States to get more deeply involved in the fight, but to get out of it. If the United Nations has sense enough to remove its peacekeepers from harm's way (and that, in fact, may be what's really afoot), then and only then should the United States consider helping to extricate them.
Beyond that, the model for Bosnia is neither the quagmire of Vietnam nor the appeasement of Munich, as has been suggested. The model ought to be Afghanistan. Sanctions should be applied to the aggressors, as harsh as possible until hostages are freed. The arms embargo should be lifted on the victimized Bosnians so they can defend themselves.
The United States should do its best to negotiate a peace, but it should stay out of a Balkan war. It should oppose the villains and aid the victims, but not do their fighting for them. Bosnia is a tragedy, but it is not in the vital interest of the United States and it is beyond our power - at a price we are willing to pay - to resolve the issue by force of arms. by CNB