Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
Rightly what happened in Srebrenica should be remembered, it clearly is by the Bosnian Muslims and the Dutch who have a sense of shame for what happened.

I know that there is a detailed official Dutch report on what happened. IIRC an impossible mandate to 'protect' a Muslim enclave deep within Bosnian Serb controlled area, some provocations by armed Muslims - who then fled back to the UN 'protected' area, a peacekeeping Dutch unit not prepared for combat and lack of air support.

Less certain my recollection was that neither UNPROFOR or UN HQ appreciated the realities on the ground; a common freature in UN "peacekeeping" alas, which can be explained and criticised.

How the Dutch Colonel can be condemned for leaving, let alone be shot, eludes me.
Stay tuned here David. The surrender decision in my opinion is triggered by the victory of fear over courage. An isolated private soldier may surrender when surrounded while others will choose 'take a few of them with him'. It is, however, unforgivable IMHO for a commander to surrender his force before a shot has been fired. A good defensive position can be defended by determined troops against impossible odds - take many cases of British Platoon Bases defending magnificently against massive odds in the early days of Afghanistan.