Orders of Battle

In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces murdered 8,000 Bosnian Muslimmen and boys in an act of genocide that has come to be known as theSrebrenica massacre. Previously, the United Nations Security Councilhad declared Srebrenica a "safe area" and deployed a United NationsProtection Force ("UNPROFOR") to monitor it. UNPROFOR was notauthorized to use force to defend the enclave. A "demilitarizationagreement" required the Bosnian Serbs to give up their weapons, butthey maintained their siege and continued shelling the town. Whenthey ultimately attacked in force, the UNPROFOR troops surrenderedand NATO provided only minimal support.Inspired by these events, Orders of Battle takes us from a hillside inEastern Bosnia, where a young Marine officer must make a fatefuldecision, to a courtroom on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.What is the responsibility of a military officer faced with certaingenocide when his orders do not contemplate the use of force? Whatare the legal consequences of his actions?Orders of Battle explores the answers to these questions, whichhave never before been decided in a court of law, in the context ofa monumental and richly detailed court-martial.