THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511230029
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
A peace agreement in the former Yugoslavia is a cause for genuine thanksgiving. Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Assistant Secretary Richard Holbrooke deserve congratulations for negotiating a settlement. But skepticism is unavoidable.
The ethnic, religious and cultural hatreds in the region go back hundreds of years. Much of the killing in the past 3 1/2 years hasn't been in regular combat. It has been in the form of terrorism, rape and murder as policy, shelling of civilians in cities, extermination as bad as anything in Europe since the Holocaust.
At least 200,000 have died or are missing. Many more have been maimed. Several million have been uprooted and turned into refugees, piling new hatreds upon old. Can peace really break out with so much unresolved and so much bitterness left behind?
The agreement worked out in Ohio calls for a very peculiar map to be created with corridors and enclaves. Holbrooke puts a positive spin on the creation of one state with ``two entities'' when he likens them to American states or Canadian provinces. In fact, after 1,000 years, Muslims and Christians, Bosnians, Serbs and Croats are mixed throughout the country in a complex ethnic stew. Neighbors have been fighting neighbors and lines on a map may not satisfy people cut off from their homes.
Nevertheless, President Clinton believes 20,000 U.S. troops should join a force aimed at giving the peace a chance. He faces an uphill battle persuading Congress and the American people.
The risks are obvious. Keeping armies apart may be possible if the agreement holds up. But Sen. Richard Lugar warns that there is no chance for success unless all sides give up their heavy weapons. Will they?
Even then, there will be a substantial threat of guerrilla action from partisans unreconciled to the agreement and likely to blame the peacekeepers for it. The terrain is notoriously difficult. The winter will further impede operations. Millions of land mines pepper the countryside. And a clear and unambiguous exit strategy for Americans sent to police the peace is essential. This can't be an open-ended commitment.
If the United States can really facilitate a viable peace with minimum risk of casualties and no risk of getting drawn into a quagmire, it may be the right thing to do. But those are very big ifs, and before a commitment is made credible answers must be forthcoming. by CNB