Friday, July 13, 2007

Happy "The Government Will Protect You" Day!

On July 13th, 1995, in the Dutch compound at Potočari in the UN-mandated "Safe Area" of Srebrenica, Serbian forces got down to the serious business of massacre. Before it was over, thousands of adult Bosnian men, as well as numbers of women and children, would be systematically killed while UN peacekeepers stood helplessly by, powerless to stop the slaughter.

4 comments:

Kevin said...

"Never again", huh? The UN is a complete failure at its primary mission. Blue helmets in a war zone = disaster.

Bonnie said...

Frankly, I think the "peace-keepers" should be issued firearms. You can't keep the peace very well if you can't even defend yourself, much less the people you've been sent to "look after".

DrTony said...

I don't think they were "powerless." I suggest that they were "will"-less, at least the politico's that defined the ROE were. There is plenty of power, just not much will to use it.

Chief Bastard said...

The willingness to use the tools at your disposal. This defines power. The Serbs used theirs. The Dutch watched as it was taken from them.

Literally, use it or lose it.