Globo-cop glop.

• Position: US troops in Bosnia

There must be something in the Oval Office that makes the occupant think he can do whatever he wants when it comes to dispatching U.S. troops. Is there a plaque that reads, DISREGARD THE CONSTITUTION; DODGE RHE CONGRESS? Do outgoing Presidents hand the incoming fellow a globe with a pin stuck in it that says, You ARE HERE; YOU CAN Go ANYWHERE YOU WANT?

Bill Clinton sure seems to be acting that way when it comes to Bosnia. He's committed the United States to sending 20,000 troops to patrol the peace that has yet to be worked out, and he made that commitment without getting Congressional approval. Now he says he might seek such approval, but that if he doesn't get it, he can send the troops anyway.

But this Bosnia commitment may come back to haunt Clinton.

What happens when the first land mines go off, killing U.S. soldiers? What happens if the peace agreement falls apart, and 20,000 U.S. troops are caught in the crossfire? What happens if the Bosnian government forces and the Croatian forces renew their attacks on the Bosnian Serb forces, or if the Bosnian Serbs continue to commit the grossest forms of human-rights abuses? What happens if the Croatians turn on the Bosnian Muslims?

This is a recipe for disaster. And it's a recipe we've been served before. This globo-cop glop is what they always cook up at the White House. Presidents like it, but it's poison to the rest of us.

Yes, there have been horrific brutalities committed in Bosnia. Yes, the Bosnian Serbs have committed most--but by no means all--of these.

The Bosnian Muslim forces have committed a few, and the Croatian forces have committed more than their share of human-rights abuses. They've slain many elderly Serb men in the most gruesome fashion. Alexander Cockburn, writing in The Nation, cites a European Union report that is absolutely chilling. "Many have been shot in the back of the head or had throats slit, others have been mutilated."

The Croatians conducted their own brand of ethnic cleansing, rousting 170,000 Serbs from the Krajina region and burning many of their homes down to the ground. These abuses by the Croatians have fallen on deaf ears. Why? Because they upset the tidy little morality play that the media have conducted on Bosnia. This was supposed to be a clear case of good guy versus bad guy: the Serbs were the bad guys, the Croatians and the Muslims the good guys. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Ask an old Serb with his throat cut.

But don't ask Bill Clinton...