Word: nato
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...market images prompted a Western outcry that this time the Serbs had gone too far, that U.S. credibility was at stake, and that the NATO alliance was in jeopardy. Something had to be done. The answer last week was an ultimatum to the Serbs to stop shelling Sarajevo or face allied bombs. But haven't we heard all that before...
...nation NATO alliance responded with yet another warning, only this one was not so vague. It took the form of a flat ultimatum to the Serbs: Stop shelling Sarajevo. Pull back all big guns, heavy mortars and tanks 12.4 miles $ from the Bosnian capital or put them under U.N. control. And do it in 10 days, by 1 a.m. Feb. 21, Sarajevo time. After that, NATO warplanes will bomb or strafe any heavy weapons still in the exclusion zone, or any artillery pieces still firing into Sarajevo from beyond...
Strong language, and carrying something of the conviction born of despair. A long series of earlier warnings -- most recently a NATO resolution last August authorizing air strikes to prevent the "strangulation" of Sarajevo -- had sputtered to nothing. For that very reason, argued a NATO official, if the Serbs defy the new ultimatum "we have to attack. If we didn't, NATO's credibility would suffer a fatal blow...
...will air strikes or Serb compliance with the ultimatum actually do much to end the war and stop the killing? The Pentagon is dubious that NATO planes can do much damage. In the face of past threats, the Serbs have proved adept at backing down just enough to keep things quiet for a while, then stepping up the fighting again. There is also a fear that the ultimatum and air strikes are a mere facade behind which the U.S. will help pressure Bosnia's beleaguered Muslims into settling the war on terms amounting to a surrender to Serb aggression...
...perils are very real. NATO flyers bombing and strafing Serb gun positions could be shot down and killed, or captured and paraded on TV as hostages, a la Iran or Somalia. The air strikes could be ineffective: finding and destroying well-hidden artillery pieces, especially mortars that can be moved quickly, is no cinch. The Serbs could step up their offensives far from Sarajevo, intensifying the killing in other vulnerable towns like Srebrenica and Tuzla. The Serbs could take prisoner or even kill civilian aid workers who distribute food and other humanitarian assistance. Result: whipsawing pressures on Clinton either...