Disgrace in Bosnia

UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali went to Sarajevo Thursday not so much to save what's left of Bosnia as to save what's left of the UN, whose mission, reputation, self-respect and forces alike are in peril.

He said if there were not a cease-fire in Bihac and across Bosnia, plus respect for UN peace-keepers, he believed the UN expedition should end. Both Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian government disdain a cease-fire, and the Serbs continue harassing UN forces.

With Boutros-Ghali's reasonable conditions unmet, the UN should accept the fact of its disgrace and misfortune and withdraw.

But, you say, what about Bosnia? It is only prudent to expect that removal of the UN peace-keeping cushion, thin and lumpy as it is, will undo the UN arms embargo and precipitate a new round of arming and fighting -- and possibly again draw in Croatia. (It will also leave untended the 1.4 million Bosnians whose feeding is in the United Nations' care.)

Within Bosnia, the well-armed Serbs start this new phase ahead, but the lightly armed Muslims figure to catch up. The latter's prospects seem dismal to many outsiders, but Muslims are the principal victims of the war -- victims of Serb aggression and Western abandonment -- and they have an undeniable moral claim to choose to fight on.

The United States has its own decisions to make. For reasons related with NATO, it will want to help in the evacuation of endangered UN forces -- with serious bombing if their exit is impeded. But as for joining the Muslims' battle against the Serbs in the air, American interest and opinion still dictate caution.

NATO has been hiding behind UN neutralism; with the UN gone, NATO is unlikely to heal its divisions and commission a big bombing campaign. But the NATO countries and Russia can at least offer their mediating services to the combatants, and they must use their diplomatic reach to try to inhibit the war's spread.

To support their policy, outside countries should be prepared to extend the political and economic isolation of the Bosnian Serbs for a protracted period of time.

This is a moment of breathtaking international shame. On top of tragedy, further tragedy will be piled. But Americans do accept at least a minimal obligation to Bosnia -- don't they?

-- The Washington Post