A recent conversation with an acquaintence ended on a disconcerting note. The subject of Bosnia came up (not entirely out of context, although anyone who has had to withstand one of my periodic tirades might question that!) just as I was leaving. I sensed that this friend was a non-interventionist at the time (we didn't know each other then, nor have we ever discussed the issue before), and based on the few comments he made I am quite sure I am correct.

What was disturbing about the conversation was that he paraphrased Canadian general Lewis MacKenzie (he didn't remember his name), the former 'peacekeeper' turned Serbian nationalist spokesman. MacKenzie discounted any Western attempts at intervention, essentially arguing that the blame in the war was shared equally, and that all three parties were determined to fight regardless of the consequences.

That MacKenzie's dishonest 'neutrality' hasn't been more fully exposed is a shame. In case anybody wonders why I was compelled to start this blog years after the war ended, here's your reason--a reasonably well-read American was completey unaware of the biased nature of MacKenzie's 'neutrality.'

I am reading "Sarajevo Blues" by Semezdin Mehmedinovic. I can't recommend this book highly enough. A collection of poems, short prose pieces, and brief essays about the war in Sarajevo, the book was originally published in Zagreb in 1995, and has been translated into English. It is a marvel--wry rather than bombastic, Mehmedinovic focuses on small, intense moments of clarity derived from clear-eyed observation. I highly recommend it.

Here's a link to a summer camp for children in Bosnia by the Global Children's Foundation, a non-profit that aims at growing peace by bringing children of different groups together. From this site you can read about the organization, donate money, and even volunteer for the camp (which is somewhere near Sarajevo).

Global Children's Foundation

A worthy cause.

The bad news--Ratko Mladic continues to live as a free man; justice is still delayed.

The silver lining--the EU shows some integrity, and makes good on threats:

CNN Story on EU Action

In short, the EU has suspended talks on Serbian membership now that the deadline for Mladic's arrest has passed without seeing the butcher of Srebrenica in international custody. Good for them.

Let's not forget that Karadzic is also still on the run, shuttling back and forth between the Republika Srpska and Montenegro. If the independence of Montenegro goes through as is widely expected, the international community needs to hold their feet to the fire on this issue.

While I maintain a link to the Bosnia Institute to the right, I thought a separate link to this book review was worthwhile:

Review of "Srebrenica: A Genocide Foretold" by Sylvie Matton

The book is in French, unfortunately, but hopefully an English translation will be forthcoming. In the meantime, we can take grim satisfaction that Matton is holding feet to the fire.

LA Times Story About Threats Against Actress in Film "Grbavica"

On the one hand, this is a depressing story. On the other, it is encouraging that the pirated version is selling briskly. Any facsist government is essentially a thugocracy, and it's clear that in Republika Srpska, the bullies are still in charge. But if clandestine copies are selling briskly in that ethnically 'pure' pseudo-state, then we must believe that many Bosnian Serbs are eager for truth, for dialouge, for contact, for light. The musty staleness of 'Greater Serbia' must be confining indeed.

An interesting article from the BBC:

BBC Story "How Islam got political: Bosnia"

Although couched in the typically European 'all sides were to blame,' 'those crazy Muslims will believe anything' this article does underline the moral hypocrisy and spinelessness of the European 'response' to the genocide in Bosnia. That the British alienated their own Muslim populations is unfortunate, but not surprising.