This is clearly a factor in NATO's preparation for the Bosnian mission.

He has characterized the Bosnian mission as diplomatic in purpose, but promised, in his speech last night, to "fight fire with fire and then some" if American troops are threatened.

For the American troops, the Bosnian mission is a dreary mixture of routine, stifling boredom and confinement in huge brown tent cities that serve as base camps.

But it is this respect for duty that leaves many in the Bosnian mission uncomfortable with President Clinton.

And though the base supposedly closed in October 1994, as part of the U.S. military drawdown, the Bosnian mission keeps San Vito's gates open.

No American troops have fallen to hostile fire during the Bosnian mission.

Impermanence and disarray pervade the Bosnian mission to the United Nations, where the mood wavers between melancholy and panic.

The Bosnian mission should not be freighted with the highly charged issue of NATO expansion.

For the vast majority of the 49th's troops, the Bosnian mission has been their first extended duty abroad.

Robert Frowick, the retired American diplomat who heads the Bosnian mission of the European security organization, still says the November vote will go ahead.