Word: ultimatum
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...biggest question is what kind of final settlement the new Western policy is aiming at. Clinton's aides say it is the U.S. pledge to participate vigorously in negotiations, as much as the ultimatum, that distinguishes this initiative from earlier ones. National Security Adviser Anthony Lake insists "this is not an effort to impose a settlement on the Bosnians. It is an effort to work with them to ((decide on)) realistic terms...
...ethnic lines. Fair enough: there would be no way of reconstructing a single Bosnia without helping the Muslims reconquer territory already taken by the Serbs, and that would mean a long ground war ! that nobody wants -- least of all Bill Clinton. He tempered his support of the air-strike ultimatum by repeating his promise not to put U.S. ground troops into Bosnia, except maybe, eventually, to help enforce a formal peace settlement. So the question comes down, crudely, to the terms of Bosnia's eventual partition into ethnic states, and whether the Muslims will get enough territory to have...
Clinton had better get the answer right. Many critics believe the ultimatum was a hasty, ill-thought-out move, "a classic example of foreign policy by CNN," as one Democratic congressional aide puts it. Be that as it may, the stakes go far beyond Bosnia: in the opinion of not a few critics, thugs around the world, from Zhirinovsky in Russia to Kim Il Sung in North Korea, are watching Bosnia for clues as to how far the U.S. can be pushed, and how it responds to the challenge...
...watch TV on Wednesday night -- meaning those who had enough juice left in the old car batteries to power a set -- knew that the reference was to a much commented-on piece by a member of the foreign press corps. Amid the general madness following the news of the ultimatum directed at the Serbs, the reporter had come to the conclusion that Sarajevans were very happy and satisfied with this "historical event," that the tormented city found itself overwhelmed by an unexpected sense of optimism and, one could almost say, good fortune...
...everything will be back to normal, the occupiers are on the way out, it's all signed, and peace is coming," I said, half seriously and half in jest. Everyone stared at me, and a young soldier in camouflage fatigues scornfully waved his hand: "What kind of 10-day ultimatum? Are you nuts? So they can say they've agreed to everything, and they are no longer the problem. It will turn out that we are the occupiers whenever we go out on a mission...