Bosnia Showdown Brings West to War's Brink  One option: beef up
UN in fewer areas  By , Staff writers of The Christian Science
Monitor  BY taking scores of United Nations peacekeeping troops
hostage in recent days, Bosnian Serb leaders have shown that the
UN must be ready to back up isolated airstrikes on Serb targets
with more muscle.  This aggressive response appears to have
caught the US and its ''contact group'' allies off-guard.
Western diplomats are now scrambling to decide what, if
anything, can be done to strengthen peacekeepers' positions
without turning them into full combatants.  Withdrawal of
peacekeeping units -- itself a risky operation -- remains an
option, though an unlikely one. ''Somebody will have to tell us
what's our next step,'' said Alexander Ivanko, a UN Protection
Force (UNPROFOR) spokesman.  Recommended: Could you pass a US
citizenship test?  The initial reaction of the United States,
Britain, and France has been to rattle swords and send more
force toward the region.  A three-ship U