Humiliation at Bosnia’s OK Corral (Return of Wyatt Earp, The Sequel)

Srecko Latal

Sheriff Wyatt Earp (High Representative Valentin Inzko) finally came out onto the battlefield against the infamous Clanton clan (ie the Bosnian Serb leadership led by Milorad Dodik).

The two sides circled, feinted and tried to outmaneuver each other. Eventually they drew their guns, and…. Earp blinked first. His guns – treasured gifts from his European friends – proved to be full of blanks. At the same time, the mighty European and American cavalries, initially standing by his flanks, were ordered to stand down and leave the battlefield.

The European commanders declared that the Sheriff should stop using his guns. The American commanders objected, but there was little they could do alone. Embarrassed, the Sheriff stood on the battlefield alone, contemplating his next moves. His opponents, the Clantons, roared with laughter. This was the third consecutive Western sheriff they had seen off in more or less the same way. Or, should we say this was the third consecutive sheriff to be defeated by the divisions, discords and backstabbing within and among mighty European and American leaders and their cavalries?

The Sheriff is still circling the field, waiting for his allies to decide the fate of his guns, his office, as well as Tombstone itself. Will they finally throw him a loaded gun so he can fight in earnest? Is the fight really needed, or is there a better option? Or will his allies throw in the towel and definitively and finally close the Sheriff’s office?

The Sheriff, the Clantons and other clans, all the residents of Tombstone and many in the countries east and west of the muddy Drina River, still await the historic decision.

Last week, in another blog, I suggested that the European and American cavalries are still needed and should remain in Tombstone. The fact is that their presence – be it through the Sheriff’s office or in some other way – could still prove highly beneficial at this times of renewed tensions. It could solve many possible problems and maybe prevent fresh bloodshed among clans, which some residents are already afraid of.

But developments over the past week have forced me to modify my opinions and reformulate my attitudes. Judging by the way the European and American cavalries have been behaving lately, and by the way they were dealing with each other, the Sheriff’s office and Tombstone itself have become a major problem.

Long ago it was said that far from being a part of the solution, the Office of Tombstone’s Sheriff (or Office of the High Representative), had become part of the problem.

Never did this general belief ring truer than it did in recent days. As a matter of fact, the shifting sense of engagement, as well as the detached and non-transparent style of the Sheriff’s office and that of the European and American cavalries, has become one of the biggest destabilizing elements in Tombstone.

In this situation, I’ve started wondering about the point of their continued presence in the town. A thoughtful, unified, long-term and strategic approach towards problems would be beneficial. Yet their feeble and incoherent attempts to make such an approach have thus far only made the situation worse.

Long time ago, the residents of Tombstone started believing in the illusion of security provided with Sheriff’s constant presence. But that illusion proved to be a delusion. The Sheriff’s office long ago lost its original role of a mediator, facilitator and unbiased arbiter. Long ago, it became a clan and purpose for itself. Why? Well, that’s theme not for a blog but for a book, many books, in fact.

Now the Sheriff’s office, just like other three main clans in town, is engaged in petty manipulation and political plots. It, too, is trying to play one clan against the other in an endless and pointless game. Sticking to the film analogy, it reminds me of the 1983 Hollywood movie War Games, which showed that, just as in politics, or a nuclear holocaust, tic-tac-toe [noughts and crosses] has no winner if all players are equally matched.

I came to believe that we would simply not survive another sequel to Humiliation at the OK Corral. 
So, with this sick feeling in my stomach after everything that I saw and heard over the past week, I started wondering whether the citizens of Tombstone might not have a better chance of surviving if they finally let go of the useless Sheriff’s office and tried to reach an agreement through face-to-face negotiations and compromise.

It’s a risky gambit, everybody says. Some say that without the Sheriff’s office the town could finally fall apart. Some fear it could lead to bloodshed. But if that proves to be truth, what’s the point of having a Sheriff’s office? It will certainly not be in Tombstone forever, so the bloodshed will happen sooner or later.

In the end, it seems to me that the first choice is once again in the hands of European and American cavalries. They can try the same old approaches that have never worked over the past 13 years. They can abandon the town and leave it to its destiny and the will of its people; then their future will be their own choice. Or, they can try to look for a new kind of strategy that will facilitate and assist peaceful and long-term normalization in the town.

To many Europeans and Americans the latter option may look too broad, too time-consuming, too difficult and too costly. Yet, at the end, it is nothing compared to the price we will all would pay – American and European cavalries alike – if Tombstone goes up in flames again. Because those fires, as before, may start a wildfire in many countries east and west of the muddy Drina River. And all the King’s horses and all the King's men will never put Humpty together again.