The Netherlands: Former Blue Helmets Wracked by Guilt Over Srebrenica - ej 30.01.2008

Former soldiers with a Dutch batallion are haunted by their experiences during the Bosnian War. Twelve years ago, 600 Dutch troops were deployed by the UN to safeguard Srebrenica. But they failed to prevent the murder of over 7000 civilians when Serb forces entered the UN Safe Area in July 1995. The official Dutch report into the massacre conceded that the Dutch military command in the region was at fault, but concluded that the Dutch Government and the United Nations should share responsibility for the atrocity. The soldiers, meanwhile, have to live with a sense of guilt. They hold regular meetings and have even returned to Srebrenica.