We head back to Sarajevo on the same and only road, quiet now, not talking, no longer able to hold an interest in Stabilization Forces and the pitiable country they hope to stabilize. Sarajevo is a Muslim city and the conversations in pubs are of two minds. One, that the country will be subdivided into like-minded ethnic borders and achieve a peace of sorts. The other, that NATO has provided nothing more than a breather and somewhat an equalization of armaments, so the serious business of killing can be got back to, this time with more method to the madness. NATO hasn't a clue, they are just there as a part of the Dayton Accords and Dayton, Ohio is a long way from Sarajevo. The whole of Yugoslavia was patched together long ago by similar outside influences and the patch proved unable to hold. One must wait and see. Either way, the river will still run blue-green.

At Morgan's pub I have a drink with the UN Director of Communications, a Russian who speaks easy American English and his Brit subordinate, who sits to his left and explains himself with typical Brit understatement as "a bit further down the food-chain." Round after round of vodka shooters are brought 'round courtesy of my newfound Russian friend and to my question, "what's going to happen when the Un pulls out?" he replies, "the UN is not going to pull out." Therein perhaps lies the solution, a long enough period of normalization to become sketchily effective. NATO forces are in great evidence all over the country, more than thirty thousand of them; easygoing, friendly and almost casual foot-patrols on the streets and flak-jacketed, heavily armed troops in the countryside. Lots of visibility and a hell of a lot of money floats this stabilization force. It seems the only sustainable industry in this wrecked land, the only source of absurdly high wages demanded for laconic and substandard services. The Americans are said to be off training and equipping the Muslims, who were for the most part severely undergunned the last time around. It would seem to me, that if the goal is to achieve peace, one works to reduce armaments to the lowest common denominator, rather than raising them to the highest. But as I say I'm no war-correspondent, nor am I privy to the ways of peacemakers. Their track-record speaks for itself.

We take off again the following day to drive up and into the surrounding mountains to get a better feel of the area and see for ourselves the positions from which Sarajevo was bombarded. This is still Serb territory, although the artillery has been removed and we pass through another checkpoint. The road winds up and through the small town of Pale, headquarters of one of the Serb strongmen indicted for war-crimes, who frequents the cafes in town and whom no one yet has seen fit to arrest. Forty-five minutes out of Sarajevo we're deep in snow-covered mountains that for all the world look like Vail, Colorado and one can hardly believe the guns could be heard a few miles from whence we came. This piece of road ends at a major ski resort, complete with hotels, gondola and a dozen well-groomed runs served by double chair-lifts. One lift is still operating for late spring skiers, this second day of May. We sun ourselves, throw snowballs, laze about and then head back, taking a hard left just before re-entering Pale. This road will carry us the long way back across one section of the hills surrounding Sarajevo.

In a short time we come to the first of the artillery placements, criss-crossed with trenches, log bunkers and littered with empty brass artillery shell-casings. The same as are sold in town, 10DM for the smaller up to 300DM for the largest calibre, but these are sans tooling and polish, looking too murderous to grace a coffee-table, too businesslike for light conversation over tea and cakes. We don't dare to step off the road, as these areas are heavily mined and one can't be sure all the minefields are marked. Lovers on picnics and young fathers strolling with their children will be at risk here and in most of the country for decades.

The city is incredibly close and we are looking directly down its throat. Large portions of the timber have been burned away to improve the fields of fire, portions of blackened treetops shot away as trajectories were raised or lowered. We pass many such sites and can but wonder if parity of arms would have made a difference, will make a difference when the business of shopkeepers once again becomes the business of war.