A TIME NOT TO FIGHT. Peace is not about to spread across Bosnia just yet. But for the first time since fighting began two years ago, a general cease-fire is no longer a pipe dream. In Sarajevo, United Nations officials say that the Serbs, isolated and bankrupt, want peace and are starting to recognize that they must bargain for it. "Elements here are beginning to realize even the armies can't make progress," Gen. Michael Rose, the United Nations commander in Bosnia, told U.S. News.
Still, the obstacles to a lasting settlement are severe. A way must be found to roll back Serb-held territory from 72 to 49 percent, the Bosnian government's minimum requirement. Thousands of Muslim refugees wish to return home with their safety guaranteed. Muslim hard-liners want to fight on to establish defensible borders. And policing any cease-fire will require huge international resources.
A divided Clinton administration sees a settlement within reach if the West shows "firm resolve." First, State Department officials say, hundreds of U.N. peacekeepers must reach the Muslim enclave of Gorazde to protect it from Serbian forces. The success of any peace deal will also turn on deployment of U.S. ground troops. "We need to be making our case now to the American people about why our interests are engaged in Bosnia," National Security Adviser Anthony Lake said. Capitol Hill and Pentagon officials remain extremely wary of such a commitment, but without it, Bosnia's fleeting window of opportunity could be lost.
