Remember Bosnia?

Some provocative thoughts from Captain Ed on the Balkans and the unfinished business there. It was America's first humanitarian war, but it was turned over to the U.N. And thought we intervened largely on the side of the Muslims, the Islamists were infiltrating there at the same time. The Bosnian Muslims were among the most moderate and secular in the world before the war. Now, if some sources are right, they are being radicalized and steered toward European jihad while U.N. peacekeepers twiddle their thumbs.

The Balkans have been left to sit for over a decade now with no permanent resolution of the political disputes which led to their civil wars -- over 600 years of them -- and only by the intervention of a bombing campaign did the combatants get pushed into their corners. The lack of direction over the remaining period of time has allowed the depleted Islamists in the area to rebuild and redirect their efforts not so much against their local enemies, but against the West in general.

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The Iraq model shows what happens when the Americans manage the post-war process. We may experience some hiccups, but we push for progress and execute a plan for long-term success. When we leave it to the UN to manage, as happened in the Balkans, the committee approach only defends the status quo and never makes a decision to move forward towards a resolution. That approach leads to disaster, as the terrorist infiltration of the Balkans clearly shows.