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- THE WEEK, Page 12WORLDSlow Call to Arms
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- The Security Council implies force can be used, maybe, as a
- last resort
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- The U.N. Security Council's resolution on what to do about
- the carnage in Bosnia-Herzegovina is anything but a call to arms.
- It authorizes "all measures necessary" to make sure relief
- shipments get to Sarajevo and other parts of the suffering
- country. Though that would cover the possible use of armed
- force, the resolution does not say so and makes no provision for
- a U.N. military role.
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- After prolonged diplomatic dickering, the 15-member
- Security Council passed the resolution last week by a vote of
- 12 to 0, with China, India and Zimbabwe abstaining. Air and road
- deliveries of food and medicine were getting through to Bosnia
- relatively unhindered, and Security Council members hoped that
- would continue. Sobered by estimates of how much force even
- limited military intervention would require, Western governments
- were careful not to imply they were preparing for battle, though
- France said it was ready to send 1,100 more troops to join the
- 2,600 it has on duty in Yugoslavia. "This resolution," explained
- British Ambassador David Hannay, "does not prescribe the use of
- force. It merely authorizes it as a last resort."
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- Bosnian officials had lobbied for a resolution that would
- spell out tougher action and lift the arms embargo on their
- country. By focusing solely on the delivery of humanitarian aid
- and making no reference to Serbian aggression, said Ambassador
- Muhamed Sacirbey, the measure will only "fatten up Bosnians
- before the slaughter."
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- In a second resolution that passed unanimously, the
- council demanded that all authorities in the former Yugoslavia
- open their detention centers for international inspection. This
- measure is also toothless, threatening no action if camp guards
- refuse to open the gates.
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