Act Decisively

A profound misconception about the mission of our armed forces manifests itself in the staff opinion on intervention in Bosnia. The purpose of the armed forces is to fight; they are trained in the ways of combat every day. These days, soldiers do not fight only for their own country. The United States military has brought its influence to bear on behalf of persecuted peoples all over the world. Conflicts like the war in the former Yugoslavia now constitute the battlegrounds for the world's major armies.

By not striking decisively and massively in Bosnia, the U.S. and its NATO allies are missing a tremendous opportunity to save lives. Minor involvement like that suggested by the staff will only fuel the fire of guerilla violence. Militias of Bosnian Serbs will not feel threatened by a few scattered troops with superior weapons and training.

A coordinated effort to control the situation in Bosnia would force the organized troops under Slobodan Milosevic an the scores of independent partisans to take notice. Unlike the North Vietnamese, the Serbs have no huge superpower to back up the violence the perpetrate. Serbs, Croats and Muslims will only be moved by the feeling that the world stands against any side that might prolong the conflict.

Massive intervention will mean deaths in the ranks of the forces. Of course it will. If you entered the U.S. Army firmly believing that your life would never be in danger, you don't understand the would "soldier."

If you entered the U.S. Army believing you'd only fight to protect U.S. interests abroad, here's a new interest for you: saving the lives of innocent civilians. It doesn't matter whose lives, and it shouldn't. There's no oil in Bosnia, but there is something much more precious.