A Turning Point

“Although the United States initially viewed the Balkan wars as a European problem, by mid-1995, Washington decided to launch a last, all-out negotiating effort. President Clinton decided on a strategy and assembled a U.S. Negotiations team headed by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. With a travel schedule that changed every few hours, the U.S. Negotiations team moved so unpredictably across Europe that Washington often did not know where they were, driven by the sense that it was now all or nothing.

Entering into the summer of 1995, we were facing an evolving situation on the ground. First, Croatian forces – aided by a U.S.-backed train and equip program – had recaptured some territory that had been taken by local Serb forces backed by Belgrade. Second, U.S. diplomatic efforts had started to create divisions between the Belgrade regime, which wanted out from under [international] sanctions, and the Bosnian Serbs. But third – in a troubling development – the UN peacekeeping mission would not survive another Bosnian winter. This left us facing the prospect of U.S. troops having to enter Bosnia in order to help the peacekeepers leave - which would mean the people of Bosnia would be left with no international presence at all.”

(Excerpts from Richard Holbrooke’s book “To End a War”)