Last week was one of the most remarkable in the 41-month-old Bosnian struggle. On Monday the Serbs committed their atrocity. Then from Wednesday through Fri day, NATO conducted the largest combat operation in its history, finally pounding the Serbs after endless bluffing. By Friday, a diplomatic breakthrough had occurred, with all parties agreeing to meet in Geneva this week for preliminary peace talks. After years of war and "ethnic cleansing," the brutal dialectic of aggression, retaliation and reconciliation seemed to have been telescoped into a matter of days. There is still a long way to go, and all hope could yet be dashed-on Saturday the Bosnian Serbs' continued recalcitrance triggered a new nato ultimatum: lift the siege of Sarajevo, or be subjected to yet another round of air strikes. But all of a sudden the chances for a settlement in Bosnia seem better than they have been since the wars there began.
Earlier in the summer the Western allies had warned unequivocally that a Serb attack like the one last Monday would provoke a massive response. But previous NATO bluster had led Serbs and Muslims alike to conclude that the alliance was all bark and no bite. Even after the shell had hit Sarajevo, vacillation appeared to be the likely outcome as the U.N. insisted on sifting the evidence to make sure the Bosnian Serbs were indeed the culprits. Then bad weather and a protective shift of British peacekeepers further delayed the nato attacks. As the hours ticked away, it seemed as if the West had once again issued an empty ultimatum
