Srebrenica

Let us remember with great remorse the town of Srebrenica (editorial, Dec. 4), not just for what happened there, but also for what we probably could have prevented.

In 1993, the U.N. Security Council declared certain areas of Bosnia to be “safe areas,” under U.N. protection. Thousands of civilians fled the ethnic cleansing, and they crowded into those areas, relying on the U.N. as their last line of defense. But then the word went out, particularly from the U.S., that the best course was for the UNPROFOR troops--23,000 in number--to withdraw from Bosnia. The Clinton administration even announced a plan to facilitate the withdrawal of those U.N. troops. In the summer of 1995, the Bosnian Serb forces became increasingly brazen in their attacks on U.N. forces.

In July 1995, the “safe areas” of Srebrenica and Zepa, and the thousands of unarmed civilians sheltered there, were conceded to the Bosnian Serb forces. Predictably, the result was genocide.

THOMAS PRINDIVILLE

HIGGINS

Ventura