Word: srebrenicas
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...city. No one thought he was inclined toward heroics until last week, when he surprised his colleagues, and perhaps himself. He risked his life, his honor and the U.N.'s dwindling credibility to stand with the thousands of people, mostly Muslim refugees, caught in the Serb siege of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia...
...Serbs say I'm a human shield," the general conceded in an interview conducted by ham radio. "Yes, I am a shield. I will remain in Srebrenica as long as I consider the safety of the inhabitants at risk." Those were brave words from a soldier who up to then had had few admirers. He had drawn criticism from the U.N. contingent in the Bosnian capital for hobnobbing with Serbian militia chiefs, like Ratko Mladic, dubbed the "Butcher of Sarajevo," and for not forthrightly denouncing Serbian aggression. His orders from the U.N. were not to use force...
...odor of death" there. When he returned to the area last week, it was all around him. Serbian shells rained down, one a second at times, and 20 or more people died every day. Morillon drove in over a snow-covered mountain track and encountered the reality of Srebrenica: refugees trudging south from captured towns had swollen the population from 9,000 to as many as 80,000. Everywhere there were ragged, hungry crowds, sleeping in the snow, huddling around sputtering bonfires in sub-zero temperatures...
...Serbian-Bosnian border, in spite of repeated promises, Serbian forces continued to block a U.N. convoy of 16 trucks bound for Srebrenica with 175 tons of food and medicine. No trucks had gone through to the town since Dec. 9, and the only supplies to arrive there were those parachuted in by U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo planes. Several people were stabbed in struggles over the dropped bundles. Morillon spent eight days futilely trying to open the road for the convoy and start the evacuation of sick and wounded. "We absolutely need this convoy," he said...
Face to face with the hungry Muslims in Srebrenica, watching as they grimly confronted death, waiting as they surrounded his vehicles for 36 hours, Morillon underwent a conversion. He walked off by himself, then returned to speak to the crowd from the balcony of the local post office, assuring them he would remain until help arrived. "I have decided to stay," he shouted through a megaphone, "to calm your anguish and try to save you." He proclaimed the post office his command post, called his 13-man escort to attention and, amid a burst of cheers, had the U.N. flag...