A prayer request

[Slatka]

My country is in a very difficult situation right now and the threat of war is very real - so real, in fact, that military leaders with European Force (EUFOR), the international community's peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have requested the necessary authorizations and equipment to "intervene militarily" should such a move become necessary.

There are many factors at play in this, the main one being the possibility that Kosovo will unilaterally declare independence from Serbia no later than December 10. The international community and most politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina have warned this is not a precedent that will allow the area of my country ethnically cleansed of non-Serbs during the 1992-1995 genocide to declare independence - known as the Serb Republic. However, a petition for just that has been signed by more than 300,000 Serbs who live there.

Bosniak, Muslim and Croat, Roman Catholic politicians have warned that every inch of Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to all of its people and my country's territorial integrity cannot be called into question - sentiments echoed by all in the international community with the exception of Serbia and Russia, both of which have made official statements threatening to support Serb calls for independence in Bosnia and Herzegovina should Kosovo be granted independence from Serbia.

If Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina try to separate, there will be war. Our politicians have promised it and the public is overwhelmingly supportive of anything necessary to maintain the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The outrage and willingness to fight is so strong that even the most nationalist Serb politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina are scared and they've made statements backing off on their earlier rhetoric. The public, of course, doesn't want a war and most blame the politicians for creating the necessary conditions for war just because they want to hang on to power in the face of constitutional reforms that are supposed to streamline Bosnia and Herzegovina's government and related services like police forces.

But that can't be confused with an unwillingness to fight if fighting becomes necessary. There have already been incidents like those leading up to the start of the war in 1992. Religiously-motivated fist-fights in Mostar, the attempted murder of the Muslim President of the Association of Concentration Camp Survivors, and other incidents. Things are getting worse quickly.

The economy has collapsed. Inflation is rising every day because of this political crisis, something that further makes war more likely - it's only in times of hardship that we've really gone at each other in the past.

There are many groups here that want war. There are Bosniaks and Croats who want to mirror Croatia's success in throwing off the effects of Serbian cleansing in 1995. That year, the Croatian Army took back all the land the Serbs conquered from 1991-1994 and wiped their new Serb Republic of Krajina off the map. They were supposed to wipe the Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina off the map too but it never worked out. So there's many who think... my God, if we can just erase the Serb Republic, that thing established by our genocide, then we can be as much at peace and as well-off as Croatia - which is, of course, very at peace and very well-off compared to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then there are Croats and Serbs that want war to finish off the Muslims. Then there are Serbs that want war to ensure independence. It goes on and on... there will be so many sides fighting for so many reasons if this war breaks out, it will destroy my country.

So, I can't request you to pray for the outcome I would like to see but please, please, please can you pray for peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and please, please, please pray that a new war doesn't start. Hopefully that will be enough.

If it does, please pray for me and my family. I have talked about all this with my family and if a new war does start, we are sending my niece with my grandmother to friends in Canada. My husband, sister and I will volunteer to fight. There is a possibility we might split up - my husband might go to his hometown to join the defenses there while my sister and I might go to my parents' and grandparents' village. We don't want to go to the front lines but we will if we are forced, we won't hide from our responsibilities to our country. Many thousands of Muslims and Catholics have returned to the homes they lived in before the war in what is now the Serb Republic. They are still a minority, even though they were a majority before the war, and a very vulnerable one. Our initial efforts will probably be to protect them in order to prevent another Srebrenica from happening and I cannot say no to that if I am asked to the front lines.

Something has to change, Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot continue to exist as it does. Either the constitutional reforms work and we are reunited as a single, whole country or an attempt to break this country up occurs and we have a war. Those are the only two options that could play out in our current circumstances. It has to come to a head one way of another. I pray to God that it happens through reform but I will fight for it if I have to. I don't want my niece to grow up in a country where she cant even go to the village her grandparents grew up in because its still controlled by the people who killed half the Muslims who lived there. I can't take that anymore, I tried, and that's the common sentiment here.

So, please God, through reform and not war. But either way, please pray for peace for us.

[Krashlocke]

I do earnestly hope for best results from all of this and that if something does break out that the rest of the world, including the U.S., is willing to help. If the U.S. is willing to help, I hope its' people have the tolerance and patience to invite our armed forces into a third conflict. I've always believed that the only shame in being the most powerful force in the world is the reluctance to use that power to bring the greatest good to all of our neighbors.

Please be safe.

[evearael]

I will pray for peace for you. *Great big hugs*

[Adventus]

Definately keep that in my prayers.

Mila, I'm not completely clear on why the independance of Kosovo would cause war in your country. Would that cause Serbs in your country to do the same?

[Gentoo]

You have my prayers as well. :hug:

[Slatka]

Yes, that's the threat they've made. If Kosovo is allowed to declare independence, then the Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina will declare independence.

Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats are barely tolerating the existence of the Serb Republic as it is and the past 10 years have been spent stripping it of its powers and responsibilities. The greatest successes have been in allowed many of the 2.2 million people driven from their homes in the genocide that created the Serb Republic to return to the homes they were forced from. Enough have returned that the regional government in the Serb Republic even has Bosniak and Bosnian Croat members now. It's barely tolerated - if it tries to become independent, there will be war.

For us, the Serb Republic is the result of the genocide - it's a political entity created by the extermination and ethnic cleansing of our people. It's the cause of most every political problem in the country, it's the reason we're not yet in the European Union, etc, etc, etc. Combine this with the very real impression that the government in the Serb Republic is still made up of the same war criminals who carried out the genocide and it all just becomes unbearable. The Serb Republic is in a dangerous situation. The city of Brcko, where enough Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats returned after the war to reconstitute a majority of the population, has already been declared the Brcko District - separate from the Serb Republic and free from its leaders. Survivors in Srebrenica, which again has a Bosniak majority, are pushing for the same thing. Countless other communities, like my parents and grandparents native village of Kozarac, have rebounded from complete devastation during the war. In 1995 there was not a single living person in Kozarac, now its an entirely Muslim town of 15,000. For us, all of this is progress towards reversing the genocide and reclaiming our country and this is what we want to continue. Seeing this happen is why nationalist politicians in the Serb Republic are stalling constitutional and police reforms being pushed by the international community, reforms that will further erode their powers and responsibilities.

It's something thats unlikely to be resolved through peaceful means but that is a possibility. There are two ways it could go... if war starts, either every citizen of Bosnia will grab a gun and go for it - with a collective roar that will be heard around the world. This is especially likely now because, unlike the last time around, the Serbs aren't the only one with an army. Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats have real soldiers, it wouldn't be just municipal police forces and volunteers fighting on our behalf. The Serb army is also not as strong as it was. It would be a more fair fight and we managed to save most of our country with nothing, so odds are we'll do well fighting with something.

Or, war will start and every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina will collectively say, "**** it" and refuse to fight. That's equally possible, the feelings that exist to create either of these two outcomes are not mutually exclusive and they exist within all of us. I have no idea of knowing which way it would go.

[beckysoup61]

I'll definitely be praying. *Hugs*

[Lizskid]

Oh, Mila, you are in my prayers as well.

[dawny0826]

Please know that you and yours will be in my thoughts and prayers. I pray for peace.

[Slatka]

This will give you an idea of what happened, Victor. Everything east of white line is what is now the Serb Republic:

Ethnic distribution: 1991
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/940/31438605hc0.jpg

Ethnic distribution: 1995
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/7475/88391265vg5.jpg

Our efforts are aimed at getting it back to the way it was in 1991 and reversing the genocide/ethnic cleansing.

[Adventus]

That sounds like a complicated situation. I don't know what I'd do; but just based on what you've told me it makes me want to grab my posse and kick the Serbs out. I'm sure that's not a realistic solution, nor a peaceful one, but they can't be surprised after all the crap they've done if you Bosnians take arms.

Mila, what does each color mean? I don't see a legend anywhere.

[standing_alone]

I'm not the praying type, but your and your country's situation will most certainly be in my thoughts, as I wish for the best and most effective (and hopefully, peaceful) solution. Like Krashlocke, if something does break out, I hope the the rest of the countries of the world (and especially, the United States) are willing to help in whatever capacity they are capable and wanted. At the least, I hope the world doesn't turn a blind eye and allow atrocity to occur.

[Broken Winged Birdy]

Mila,
You and your nation are in my prayers. I think people like you who seem to be devoted to a vibrant new and beautiful nation are the best medicine though. Inshallah it will all work out.

[James the Persian]

You may be surprised, but I will certainly pray for peace. Lord have mercy. I can't entirely support the way you portray the situation as the situation in Kosovo post the KFOR occupation is really not dissimilar to Republika Srpska. This is precisely the sort of thing I meant when I said I feared that granting Kosovo independence would set a precedent and be destabilising to whole regions. I sincerely hope and pray that there will be no more war in the Balkans but you can't support violent secessionists in one country and then complain if similar happens in your own. If the Albanians in Kosovo are given a 'right' to the country that they have successfully cleansed of Serbs then this is the sort of thing that I expect to happen. I only hope that when that terrorist they elected in Kosovo does unilaterally declare independence nobody is stupid enough to recognise it. Unfortunately my hope rather flies in the face of Bush's track record with regards international idiocy.

James

[Slatka]

I'm not surprised at all that you'd pray for peace, James.

I wouldn't compare the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the situation in Kosovo. I would compare the situation in Kosovo to the situation in Croatia. In Croatia, the Serbs conquered most of the country and ethnically cleansed it of Croatians. In Kosovo, the same. That is, until the tables turned. In 1995, Croatia managed to reclaim every inch of its territory and wipe the so-called "Serb Republic of Krajina" off the map. This resulted in the second-largest civilian exodus of the war (the largest being, of course, half of Bosnia's population) - more than 250,000 ethnic Serb civilians were forced out or fled. A majority fled but, of course, only because the fist wave was forced out. Something similar happened in Kosovo. The Serbs tried to take it all and, in the end, lost it all. Whether or not a province should be allowed to declare independence, it's a decision I'm glad that I personally don't have to make - but I wouldn't compare the situation to that in my country.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there was no turning of the tables. The war dragged on, the Serbs conquered and ethnically cleansed half the country, and when our slaughter simply became too embarrassing for the international community to ignore, they stopped the war. The Serb Republic of Krajina established in Croatia didn't survive the war, but the Serb Republic they established in our country did. It's a different situation to me - I don't consider these ideas of trading. And it will cause a horrible ripple effect, both in our favor and to our detriment.

If the Serb Republic declares independence and the ensuing war doesn't reunite Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole, then West Herzegovina will declare independence or seek a union with Croatia as well. Luckily, the Croatian government isn't as nationalist as the Serbian government and won't support or encourage such developments from the other side of the border. If that happens, the Sandzak of Novi Pazar - basically a region spanning northern Montenegro and southern Serbia - will try to declare independence or seek a union with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Not even Kosovo would end up unscathed because the north of the province would seek union with Serbia. Ethnic Albanian regions of southern Montenegro and northern Macedonia would probably push for the same thing, etc. No one locally is making these claims regarding Kosovo - because it is generally viewed as a different situation by all involved. One of the great victories of the Serbian campaign is to draw a parallel between Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, a false dilemma so to speak. Most of people's concerns here are related more to the threatened independence declaration from Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina more so than that of Kosovo. Kosovo has always mattered only to the Albanians and the Serbs. To everyone else, it's an impossibly impoverished and backwards province that isn't even on the radar and polls have shown a majority of non-Serbs in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Macedonia are largely indifferent to the issue. Our leaders as well haven't given any significant support to Serbian efforts in Kosovo, they've been mostly silent on the issue, but they've all come out arms swinging at the threats regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I just won't let them take my country, period - and certainly not as some trade for something I'm not even involved in. If your a child gives one of his toys to a friend, then the child's brother isn't allowed to just go take another toy from some random neighbor.

[Garam Dunia]

Of course I pray for peace for Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia. I expect nothing good from politics, but pray believers follow God and not the gun.

My wife is a child of Croatian refuges, and I just had a visit here in my Muslim nation from a new Orthodox friend from Serbia, who spent hours trying to explain his point of views. I didn't understand it all.

Being apolitical, I can only offer shelter if you must leave. But it's a long way from home.

[Slatka]

That sounds like a complicated situation. I don't know what I'd do; but just based on what you've told me it makes me want to grab my posse and kick the Serbs out. I'm sure that's not a realistic solution, nor a peaceful one, but they can't be surprised after all the crap they've done if you Bosnians take arms.

Mila, what does each color mean? I don't see a legend anywhere.

Green is Bosniak, Muslim. Red is Serb, Orthodox Christian. Blue is Croat, Roman Catholic. The legend M, S, C in the first means "Muslim", "Serb", "Croat".

That's the solution that comes to my mind only when I am absolutely furious and in the middle of some stress about something, Victor - hahaha. I do, of course, want the Serb Republic to be abolished and Bosnia and Herzegovina to be once again a country that is for all of its citizens. I support the re-establishment of our constitution that was signed in Jajce in 1943, our anti-Fascist constitution. It guaranteed equal rights for all people and so on - it was very different than the constitution we have today where everything is based on religion. You can't even be President here unless you are either Muslim, Orthodox Christian, or Roman Catholic.

But, abolishing the Serb Republic isn't a life and death thing for me - it's not some bloodsport I'm looking forward to. The Serb Republican can stay, really, if it is diminished to such a point that it can no longer cause offense to its non-Serb residents (for example, building churches on the ruins of mosques and Muslim-owned homes. Turning off municipal electricity during Muslim religious holidays, blah blah blah). There is a saying here about the Serb Republic that goes, "Yesterday, a de-facto state. Today, a weak entity. Tomorrow, nothing more than a county." The visual of revenge isn't as important to me as the end result of a whole and functioning Bosnia and Herzegovina. If the Serb Republic plays a positive role in that regard, and it has many politicians that wish to do so - even more now that they see there is a very real threat of war - then that's what I want more and it smothers any desire or satisfaction I would get from abolishing it by force. I'm very pleased that I can honestly say that and mean it because I couldn't years ago.

Lastly it's difficult because most people are good. I mean, you can be guaranteed every Muslim funeral in the Serb Republic will attract a group of protesters to spit at the mourners and sing songs glorifying Serbs and ridiculing everyone else - but it's a relatively small number. A few years ago, the entire city of Banja Luka rioted when they started to rebuild the Ferhadija Mosque, a former UNESCO World Heritage Site. They burned buses, beat Muslims in the streets, etc... it's come a long way since then. The political climate has changed enough that for some reason even those who misbehaved on that day don't feel the social support to do it again. But most people are just going about their lives. Most have absolutely no problem with Muslims or with Roman Catholics, they just feel safer with their own people in these uncertain times since the war.

[James the Persian]

I'm not surprised at all that you'd pray for peace, James.

I wouldn't compare the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the situation in Kosovo. I would compare the situation in Kosovo to the situation in Croatia. In Croatia, the Serbs conquered most of the country and ethnically cleansed it of Croatians. In Kosovo, the same. That is, until the tables turned. In 1995, Croatia managed to reclaim every inch of its territory and wipe the so-called "Serb Republic of Krajina" off the map. This resulted in the second-largest civilian exodus of the war (the largest being, of course, half of Bosnia's population) - more than 250,000 ethnic Serb civilians were forced out or fled. A majority fled but, of course, only because the fist wave was forced out. Something similar happened in Kosovo. The Serbs tried to take it all and, in the end, lost it all. Whether or not a province should be allowed to declare independence, it's a decision I'm glad that I personally don't have to make - but I wouldn't compare the situation to that in my country.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, there was no turning of the tables. The war dragged on, the Serbs conquered and ethnically cleansed half the country, and when our slaughter simply became too embarrassing for the international community to ignore, they stopped the war. The Serb Republic of Krajina established in Croatia didn't survive the war, but the Serb Republic they established in our country did. It's a different situation to me - I don't consider these ideas of trading. And it will cause a horrible ripple effect, both in our favor and to our detriment.

If the Serb Republic declares independence and the ensuing war doesn't reunite Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole, then West Herzegovina will declare independence or seek a union with Croatia as well. Luckily, the Croatian government isn't as nationalist as the Serbian government and won't support or encourage such developments from the other side of the border. If that happens, the Sandzak of Novi Pazar - basically a region spanning northern Montenegro and southern Serbia - will try to declare independence or seek a union with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Not even Kosovo would end up unscathed because the north of the province would seek union with Serbia. Ethnic Albanian regions of southern Montenegro and northern Macedonia would probably push for the same thing, etc. No one locally is making these claims regarding Kosovo - because it is generally viewed as a different situation by all involved. One of the great victories of the Serbian campaign is to draw a parallel between Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, a false dilemma so to speak. Most of people's concerns here are related more to the threatened independence declaration from Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina more so than that of Kosovo. Kosovo has always mattered only to the Albanians and the Serbs. To everyone else, it's an impossibly impoverished and backwards province that isn't even on the radar and polls have shown a majority of non-Serbs in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Macedonia are largely indifferent to the issue. Our leaders as well haven't given any significant support to Serbian efforts in Kosovo, they've been mostly silent on the issue, but they've all come out arms swinging at the threats regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I just won't let them take my country, period - and certainly not as some trade for something I'm not even involved in. If your a child gives one of his toys to a friend, then the child's brother isn't allowed to just go take another toy from some random neighbor.

Well, I wasn't actually comparing how the regions got the way they are and I know how successfully Croatia ethnically cleansed its Serbs (we've had this discussion before). I was only comparing the situation on the ground, by which I mean that where once you had an overall mixed society you now, as a resulty of those attrocious wars, have regions of near ethnic uniformity. My point is that if you set the precedent of saying that you will reward Kosovar Albanian ethnic cleansing with independence (and make no bones about it, they have successfully ethnically cleansed the majority of Kosovo right under the apathetic gaze of KFOR) then you can expect nothing other than for other groups who have done similar to expect the same 'reward'. I don't believe that either Republika Srpska or Kosovo should become independent and the sort of scenario you outline above is exactly what I would expect to happen Kosovo gains general recognition of any unilaterally declared independence. That's why I am so opposed to the independence of Kosovo - that and the fact that they elect terrorists as leaders while the UN pretends not to notice their blatant campaign to wipe out all trace of the people they bred and harrassed of their land. They simply don't deserve the sympathy that the world seems to lavish on them - unlike your people I might add. If the Albanians in Kosovo were more like Bosniaks I might be more inclined to be sympathetic to their calls for independence. As it is, I have absolutely no sympathy for them. I did once but their actions since the war have proven to me how undeserved that sympathy was.

James

[Slatka]

Well, that's certainly an answer I can't be offended by. :) I'm glad you do see some distinction between the situation of Bosniaks and Kosovar Albanians, even if it doesn't lead you to the same conclusions as me. Or, I should probably say, more specific conclusions than me because, deeply, I am undecided regarding Kosovo. I think if I was sitting in some cafe in France with my French parents perhaps I would inclined to support it but... I have, personally, so much to lose. Independence in Kosovo could start a chain of events that could literally take my life so it's a decision that becomes more and more complicated for me as time goes on.

I can understand your focus on the suffering of ethnic Serbs in Croatia and Kosovo both as an Orthodox Christian and just as a human. I tend to consider the ethnic cleansing campaigns launched against Croats and Kosovar Albanians as a greater crime because they impacted more people and they were... what happened to Serbs in Croatia and Kosovo was, in my opinion, revenge. It had all the criminal aspects that revenge normally has - it was against an entire people, not against individuals responsible for the initial offense, and so on. But revenge, to me, is still something a little less than the initial ethnic cleansing and territorial expansion campaign launched by Serbs and Serbia. What happened in Croatia and Kosovo could not have happened had the Serbs not first tried to do exactly what they suffered in the end to others. It couldn't have happened and Slovenia and Macedonia are excellent examples of how peacefully things could have gone if not for the policies of Serbs and Serbia.

There is a Serbian saying here, "Only Unity Saves Serbs" and, in Cyrillic, all these words begin with C. So "CCCC" is how we reference this sentiment. It's a common thing for people to simplify the relatively peaceful experiences of Slovenia and Macedonia by saying, "They had no CCCC factor to deal with".

But, whatever. We had a bad fight once before over some stupid technicality in our views about thisn - as is normally the case with any two people discussing these things. I'm glad that fixed and I don't want to do it again when, really, I'm contented with your response.

It reminds me of a joke here, I'll tell it the pre-war way:

Three African students come to Yugoslavia to go to university. One studies in Zagreb (Croatia), one in Sarajevo (Bosnia), and the other in Belgrade (Serbia). After they return to their African homeland they are discussing something trivial, about politics and religion, and can't agree. The debate goes on until the first African says, "**** your Serbian mother!", the other replies, "**** your Croatian mother!", and the one who studied in Bosnia says, "Now, friends. Lets sit down and work this out!" and the other two respond, "GET HIM!".

[Darkness]

You will be in my prayers.

[Slatka]

An article from the New York Times was published by most daily newspapers in Bosnia and Herzegovina today. In it, journalist Nicholas Woods claims the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not that bad:

"Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing its worst post-war crisis and its future is at stake," says Nicholas Woods, a journalist with The New York Times. He analyzes the situation in the region and says that "things might not be as bad as it looks on the surface". "Some are really afraid of a possibility of new war in Bosnia. However, it is clear that the key politicians in Bosnia are profiting from apocalyptic scenarios that are being discussed by analysts and citizens. That does not refer only to foreign officers in Bosnia and Bosnian politicians, but to Serbia and its leaders as well. They also profit from the crisis in Bosnia." But he cites tthere were only a few incidents with nationalistic motivations in the past few years. "An independent analysis states that Bosnia is much closer to European integration than to its own disintegration."

Let's hope!

[Slatka]

This is one of the difficulties we have reversing the effects of the genocide. :(

http://i7.tinypic.com/8byodja.jpg

Meliha Duric, shot to death in front of her father and brother six years after the war because the family dared to return to their pre-war home in the Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

YouTube - Serb (Orthodox Christian) Terrorists murder in Bosnia, (http://youtube.com/watch?v=2SJqRJeeMdc)

[Slatka]

Another I think the world should see. I have to warn you, this video is unspeakably graphic.

YouTube - bloody Sarajevo (http://youtube.com/watch?v=d4GIhMfklFw)

The song is Sva bol svijeta (All the pain in the world) - a song made during the war against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ja ne mogu skinuti zvijezde sa neba
I am not able to pull the stars from the sky

Ne mogu naci put, put do svemira
I am not able to find the road, the road to peace

al'Ti mogu ovu pjesmu poslati
But I am able to send to you this song

Da znas da sam ziv, ljubavi
Just to let you know I am alive, my love

Kad se nocas na mom licu suze zalede
Tonight, when the tears on my face freeze in the cold

Necu dati da me strah sa sobom povede
I won't allow fear to overcome me

Ja jos imam snage sam da pobijedim
I still have enough strength that, alone, I can win

Da smo zajedno, lakse bilo bi
But if we were together, everything would be easier

Sva bol svijeta je nocas u Bosni
Tonight, all of the pain in the world is in Bosnia

Ostajem da bolu prkosim
I'm staying here to defy the fear

I nije me strah stati pred zid
I'm not afraid to stand in front of this great wall of war

Ja znam da zapjevam
I am able to sing

Ja znam da pobjedim
I am able to win

[Slatka]

This is the reason for our national holiday the Day of Youth, commemorated on May 25 of each year. It was on that day that more than 70 teenagers were killed and more than 150 injured during graduation celebrations by a single shell fired by the Serbian Army into downtown Tuzla. Be warned, this video is also graphic.

http://i1.tinypic.com/6wp23j4.jpg

YouTube - das Massaker von Tuzla (71 getötete Teenager) (http://youtube.com/watch?v=9RtQWck8v7w)

It's also an important symbol for Bosnians because Tuzla was an is a very diverse city. Among the victims were Muslims, Roman Catholics, Jews, and even Orthodox Christians themselves. Their parents came together and decided to bury all the children in a special cemetery just for that purpose, with identical, non-religious tombstones.

[Slatka]

This is my ancestral home - it's the village where my family lived for generations until my parents moved to Sarajevo before I was born. The ethnic Serb woman interviewed near the end of this clip passed away in 2001 but, I'm happy to say, she lived long enough to see Kozarac rebuilt. One of the main streets in the village is unofficially named after her son.

YouTube - serb fascism in Bosnia (Prijedor - Kozarac) (http://youtube.com/watch?v=64PMowwhImo)

This one I can't really watch too often, hahaha. It's not graphic at all, but it's a little bit too much.

[Clancelt]

If you will accept the support of a heathen I will petition my gods for what they can do. If you are forced into war I will wish for your family's safety and your strength. You seem to me like a bright star and an asset to your people.

FFF,
-Eric

[Slatka]

Charles English, American ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, said today that the United States will not allow, and will not allow the international community to allow, a new war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He addressed all of Bosnia and Herzegovina's religious groups specifically - telling Roman Catholics that further dividing Bosnia and Herzegovina along religious lines will not be tolerated, he told Muslims that majority rule is not acceptable in Bosnia and Herzegovina right now because it can only lead to religious tension, he told Orthodox Christians that their place is in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the country will never be broken up.

American diplomat Richard Holbrooke said it was a big mistake for the United States and NATO to turn over responsibility for the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union. He said that the so-called Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina will attempt to separate in the months ahead and that the European Union's peacekeeping forces need to be prepared.

Michael Schmunk, German ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Germany - which of all European Union countries plays the greatest role in the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina - will not allow the so-called Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina to separate even if ensuring that it does not requires the use of force. He assured the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina that need no worry about a new war and expressed understanding that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina view such promises poorly given the fact they were made in 1992 before the last war and the worst crime of genocide in Europe since the Holocaust.

The regional government in the so-called Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina celebrated the first "Republic of Serbs Day" on Nov. 21, from now on an official holiday. Bosnia and Herzegovina's Statehood Day, on Nov. 25, has been removed from the list of official holidays. Bosniak, Bosnian Croat, and some Bosnian Serb politicians in the so-called Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina have expressed outrage regarding this decision. The announcement coincided with a series of religiously-motivated attacks. An ethnic Serb was attacked in Mostar while ethnic Bosniaks were attacked in Prijedor, Bosanski Samac, Bosanski Brod, Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Srebrenica, and Kotorsko.

[Ayodhya]

What is the current political situation within the country, Slatka? The general feeling and consensus among the people?

[Slatka]

The general feeling is "Oh ****... someone shut these politicians up before it's too late."

[marko]

i agree with miss slatka....i feel bosnia must be defended even from my own people . it is sad but im so ashamed

[moni_gail]

:hug:

[Slatka]

Obviously there is often a difference between what politicians say and what they do but, in the Balkans, even getting to say the right thing is an incredibly victory.

Along those lines there have been several very welcome and even surprising developments. First of all, Croatia has come out swinging in Bosnia and Herzegovina's defense. The President of Croatia has lambasted Serbia for its role in the current political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and for that country's generally negative impact on Bosnia and Herzegovina in general. He reminded the Serbian president that Croatia, years ago, told Roman Catholic Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina to "pursue their happiness in their own country" instead of fostering greater ties (and consequently nationalism). This is a direct contrast to Serbia's policies.

Additionally, the international community has praised the role of Roman Catholic Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the small successes we've had regarding this political crisis. They are being complimented for the positive role their leaders have played in trying to defuse the situation.

On the other side of things, the Serbian president recently visited the main, predominantly Orthodox Christian Serb city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and said some interesting things. Firstly, he said Serbia will respect the territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and will not support any constitutional changes that are not supported by all ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This, of course, means Serbia will not support the abolishment of the Serb Republic within Bosnia and Herzegovina but the language he used is certainly a step up.

Additionally, he asked - politely, I might add - that all Bosnians, regardless of faith, support Serbia in its quest to maintain sovereignty over the province of Kosovo.