BALKANS : U.N. Report on Bosnia Mission Details Problems : Secretary General Boutros-Ghali cites lack of peacekeepers, resources and compromised impartiality.

Should the United Nations have peacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzegovina? Critics deride them. Snipers attack them. U.N. members lag in paying their costs. Many countries--especially the United States--refuse to let their troops take part.

In a recent philosophical overview of the difficulties of operating in the Bosnian quagmire, Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali concluded that since a settlement of the war may “at last be within reach,” it is best to soldier on. But his enthusiasm is muted.

The overview--a report to the Security Council on more than two years of war in the former Yugoslav federation--has not received much notice. But it is a remarkable analysis that reflects the secretary general’s personal feelings about what went wrong with the U.N. mission there.

As of last month, the U.N. had more than 30,000 peacekeepers in the former Yugoslav federation: 14,600 in Croatia, 14,400 in Bosnia and 1,050 in Macedonia. Since establishing the force known as UNPROFOR (U.N. Protection Force) in 1992, the Security Council has adopted 54 resolutions and issued 39 statements that, in one way or another, have redefined or added to the work of the peacekeepers.

A frustrating theme runs through the report: The Security Council has piled on missions for UNPROFOR without giving it the necessary troop strength and resources. On top of this, Boutros-Ghali believes that the Security Council, by assigning the United Nations the task of repelling Serbian aggression in certain areas, compromised the United Nations’ impartiality--”which remains the key to its effectiveness in fulfilling its humanitarian responsibilities.”

In his assessment, the secretary general reaches these conclusions:

* Although they never completely secured Sarajevo’s airport from antiaircraft fire, the peacekeepers managed to keep it open enough of the time so that 9,200 flights carrying 95,000 tons of relief supplies could reach the area in a little more than a year and a half.

Attacks on convoys, roadblocks and warfare hampered the distribution of food throughout Bosnia, but these relief efforts--combined with two mild winters and “the resilience of the population”--prevented widespread malnutrition and “mitigated the worst effects of the breakdown in essential services.”

* Through warnings and the shooting down of four Bosnian Serb planes Feb. 28, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization almost entirely stopped the flights of combat planes over Bosnia. But noncombat planes have violated the “no-fly” zone with impunity, defying the United Nations more than a thousand times in a year.

* The presence of U.N. peacekeepers deterred Bosnian Serb forces from mounting major assaults on those towns declared “safe areas” by the Security Council, but the “living conditions in the safe areas remain appalling.”

Discussing the safe area of Sarajevo, Boutros-Ghali said the Bosnian capital until recently “suffered heavy shelling and sniping, some of it provoked by offensive actions undertaken by forces” of the Bosnian government. Relative peace finally came to Sarajevo only after NATO threatened to bomb the Serbian forces if they did not stop their siege.

But Boutros-Ghali, clearly frustrated, said the United Nations cannot defend the other safe areas of Bosnia without more troops “equipped adequately to counter the besieging forces and defend UNPROFOR positions.”

Nonetheless, he concluded that “the tragedy that provoked UNPROFOR’s involvement remains an affront to the world’s conscience. Abstention is not an acceptable option for the international community at such a time.”

30,000 on Duty

The United Nations had more than 30,000 peacekeepers in the former Yugoslav federation as of mid-March.

Croatia: 14,600 troops

Bosnia-Herzegovina: 14,400 troops

Macedonia: 1,050 troops

The U.N. Toll Over Two years:

Cost: $1.6 billion

Deaths: 79

Wounded: 845