THE TROOPS OF TASK FORCE LION are convinced that they will be the first Americans into Bosnia to police the peace. For weeks the advance unit's 1,000 soldiers have prepared at the vast Hohenfels training center in northern Bavaria. They have parachuted out of Air Force transports, clattered to landing zones aboard Chinook helicopters and roared over the countryside in Bradley fighting vehicles. Their exercises, code-named Mountain Shield, were tightly coordinated with the U.S. 1st Armored Division and 3rd Infantry Division, which subsequently conducted operation Mountain Eagle 95 with 10,000 troops earmarked for Bosnian peacekeeping duty.
If NATO contingents are sent...