Phillip Corwin

The United Nations sent a peacekeeping force—called the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)—to Bosnia when war broke out in 1992. The UN mandate was to remain neutral in order to broker a cease-fire agreement between the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims. During the first months of the war, Bosnians looked to UNPROFOR soldiers as their saviors. UNPROFOR brought food into the besieged city of Sarajevo, for example, and arranged to have injured children airlifted out. However, as the war dragged on and the deaths mounted, Bosnians began to blame the peacekeepers for not acting to end the siege of Sarajevo and stop the war. The international media sided with the Bosnian government and began to accuse the Bosnian Serb Army of starting the war and committing genocide. The media also began to criticize the United Nations for its neutral mandate, which...