"Our orders so far had made no mention of exactly how we were to enforce anything. In fact, we were pretty much told to step aside if the belligerants wanted to kill one another. If that was a case, what the hell were we doing? Why had they named us the 'UN Protection Force'? The Serbs in the enclave agreed to remove the very weapons that were protecting their lives because they believed the UN would protect them. Unknown to them, our orders were to simply let the Croat forces pass if they really wanted to attack, which is exactly what happened. The end result was that we managed to defeat the Serbs for the Croats by preying on their faith in the UN. If that little with the flower died when the Croats attacked, then it was my fault and the fault of the UN's stupidity."
James R. Davis' book "The Sharp End, A Canadian Soldier's Story", published by Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver/Toronto, 1997, p. 131.
Source: http://www.balkanpeace.org/wcs/wct/wctu/wctu02.shtml (<- click)
Karadjordje
Well, ahem, they were there to protect the relief personnel, NOT the locals. And what the UN failed to do in Serb-controlled Croatia in 1995, they ALSO failed to do in Srebrenica in what became Serb-controlled Bosnia in 1995 as well. So don't complain. The very fecklessness that allowed the Croats to get away with it in Knin ALSO allowed YOU GUYS to get away with Kravica.
The utter fecklessness of the EU/UN piecekeepers is well known. But one thing for DAMN sure: EVERYONE in Bosnia knew not to screw with the United States--we're such crazy cowboys that nobody dared to take us on.