A stunning internal report commissioned by the US State Department, which was published in the New York "limes on 12 January, 1993, has vigorously undermined the credibility of the United Nations. In the aftermath of the cold war era where UN wants to play a major role, the finding of the State Department's report not only shook the faith in UN, it also has raised a significant question about Its role as a neutral world organization. The report took us into the depths of the United Nations nature of conduct on a case-by-case basis. In some cases as in a country like Iraq it Is very forceful and adamant in executing its will and in other cases, in a country like former Yugoslavia, when challenged by the Serbian • forces it gives up its authority. This supports the accusation against the United Nations of being double standard and here the facts are. The report commissioned by the US State Department on Bosnia and Herzegovina has concluded that "the effort to send relief supplies to the Bosnians is largely a failure, with the Serbian forces skimming nearly one-quarter of all the aid brought in by air." According to the report, the UN officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, under the threat from Serbian forces, not only surrendered a big portion of all the relief, they also surrendered the UN authority by letting the Serbs dictate their whole operation.

"Within Serb-controlled territories it is the Serb authorities', not the UN. who decide how and to whom relief will be distributed," the report

said, it further said, "Since the start of the humanitarian airlift, the UN has sought to appease the Serb militias by providing the Serb 'authorities' a portion (23 percent) of all relief commodities arriving by airlift, and by according them the right to Inspect each cargo delivered by air or road, to approve or disapprove each cargo". Moreover, the report added, the United Nations has allowed the Serbs to "approve or disapprove the ethnicity of UNHCR convoy truck drivers, and to dictate the road convoy's route of entry to Sarajevo; in effect, the UN recognized the Serb militias as the de facto authority in the region.” UNHCR stands for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, whose staff have been delivering aid to the besieged Muslims In Bosnia. The report was completed in December by Thomas O. Brennan, a relief expert who was hired by the office of Disaster Relief, a branch of the United States Agency for International Development. Mr Brennan spent four months In the former Yugoslavia. Mr Brennan's report also disclosed that the Serbs have used the authority given them by the UN to turn back several cargos for Bosnia, including fire fighter's uniforms. warm and cold weather clothing flown in on German and American planes. In other activities, harassing the relief convoys by halting them day after day at Serbian check points have become their regular practice. Most of the times in these situations, the UN officials ran out of their food and patience and then turned back.

That explains why the UN mostly failed to deliver relief commodities into eastern Bosnia. These are the kinds of massive interdictions of aid that prompted Mr Brennan urging the west to retaliate Immediately both to ensure the delivery of aid and to stop the killing of Bosnian Muslims.

Now the important question that arises here is why the UN is letting itself to be victimized in the hands of the Serbian forces, when UN forces in Bosnia are authorized to use force if necessary? The mandate given to the United Nations forces in Bosnia by the Security Council last fall authorized the use of "ail necessary means" to push relief supply through. "All necessary means" should mean that the UN will take whatever steps necessary. Including armed intervention to fulfil its objective. Instead, whal the UN doing is begging to the Serbs, bribing them with a large portion of the relief aid in order to carry out its functions. Despite this bowing policy the UN officials are being humiliated every day at the hands of a group of thugs, criminals and killers.

So, when we see the UN executing its will taking various tougher actions against Iraq, on one hand, and on the other, under the threat from Serbs giving up it* authority, even worse, letting the Serbs kill the Bosnian Deputy Prime Minister while he was under UN protection; letting Israel escape from all of it* resolutions. gives u* a strong reason to believe that the UN has lost Its credibility a* a neutral and genuine peace keeper.