A POP HERE AND THERE WON'T CHANGE THE RESULT

"This is a problem that is, after all, in Europe's back yard. We have opinions. We are working on trying to get some sort of consensus out of the Europeans to achieve both these objectives."

President Bill Clinton

It is clear as clear can be that the Europeans want no part of any military action in Bosnia. They want neither to arm the Bosnian Muslims, nor to bomb the Bosnian Serbs. They desire to continue to do what they are doing on-the-ground humanitarian relief and to do no more.

"Europeans" means the British and French. Shorn of their empires and diminished in world stature as they may be in the context of Europe, Paris and London are the capitals with which to reckon. Germany's militant past inhibits its international role. No other western or central European nation has the potential power to affect a decision about Balkan intervention.

Even if their leaders were of a mind to, Britain and France couldn't take any substantial controversial action in Bosnia. Their governments are pitifully lacking in public support. Prime Minister John Major suffered a calamitous setback earlier this month in local elections and a parliamentary bi-election. Constituencies that have been historic Tory strongholds for generations rebuffed Major's leadership. Similarly, French voters decimated President Francois Mitterrand's Socialist Party in recent parliamentary balloting. Major and Mitterrand are leaders without followers. They simply cannot contemplate any action in Bosnia that is perceived to have risks. They can't act boldly. Indeed, they can't act at all. They are barely able to tread water as they gasp for air. They are in a state of near paralysis.

Meanwhile, President Clinton faces an uncertain domestic constituency. Americans will support a military action that will not risk a substantial number of American lives and that will succeed in a reasonably short period of time. Americans will support a second coming of the Persian Gulf, Grenada, or Grab Noriega. Americans obviously will not tolerate another Vietnam or a Lebanon. Make it short and sweet, Mr. President. Don't test our patience. We haven't got any.

Clinton's Bosnia options thus are narrowed by tepid support for "doing a little something and make it quick" from his own people and "doing almost nothing, and no more" from his British and French allies. There is no meaningful military policy that can be crafted to fit inside this precariously narrow range. The Bosnian Serbs have gobbled up what they want. The Bosnian Croats have joined in to devour what little remains of the corpse. Some limited bombing devised to fall between the "do nothing" and "do a tiny bit" camps will not change the end game in Bosnia.

In light of his announced intentions of doing something more "substantial" in Bosnia, it will not be easy for President Clinton to extricate our government from the Bosnian calamity. But it will be even more difficult for Clinton to persuade the American people that doing "a tiny bit of something" will change the outcome in Bosnia. Clinton inherited the Bosnian dilemma. He also inherited the British and French reluctance. He can't alter the tragic result by popping a bomb here and there. He can't go it alone.

There are horrific events in world affairs that are off the TV screens and for which there is no honorable remedy: Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Tajikistan, Nagorno-Karabakh. Add Bosnia to the list. Turn off your sets.