LAST week a few old women armed with a couple of buckets of urine blocked the road to a British aid convoy in Bosnia.
With no powers of arrest and orders not to start any trouble, the troops stood powerless until they finally turned around and went back to base. On another day they spent hours negotiating with local Croat militia commanders in a bid to get supplies through to a Muslim enclave.
Finally receiving permission, they were then held back by a solitary Croat Catholic priest threatening to throw himself under the tracks of their Warrior armoured vehicles.
The impotence of Europe, indeed of the United States, NATO, the United Nations and whoever else one wishes to bring into the saga in resolving the Bosnian tragedy has been both pitiful and pathetic.
It may be that this spring the British, French, Canadians and others who make up the UN force in that troubled land will decide enough is enough and go home rather than suffer the prolonged humiliation of providing food for three warring sides who seem to have less intention of making peace by the day.
The debate in the past few days in the capitals of Europe has been whether or not to pull out. Every recent allied commander has left in disgust.