Bosnia: A Bosnian Muslim woman weeps near the body of a relative at a mass funeral for Bosnian Muslims and Catholics killed during Bosnian war held at Rizvanovici village, near Prijedor, Bosnia. According to the new study, 176,000 Bosnian lives were likely lost to war between 1955 and 2002. (AP Photo) From The Washington Post:
14 Years After War, Leaders Suggest U.S. Should Step In to Rewrite Treaty.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia -- Fourteen years after the United States and NATO intervened to stop war and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the old divisions and hatreds are again gripping this Balkan country.
In June, the international envoy who oversees the rebuilding of Bosnia invoked emergency powers that he said were necessary to hold the country together. Although U.S. and European officials have been trying to get Bosnia to stand on its own feet for years, many Bosnian leaders say the only thing that can permanently fix their gridlocked government is for Washington to intervene -- again -- and rewrite the treaty that ended the war in 1995.
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My Comment: A day in which shooting and killings are not done in Bosnia is .... from my point of view .... a good day. But the ethnic and religious differences are very deep, and this cannot pas away so easily. Coupled this with its history .... I have every reason to be skeptical.
Bosnia must be perceived as a 50 year project (at a minimum), in which the Europeans must be prepared to commit resources and (more importantly) military forces to keep the peace. Do they have the will to do this .... that is something that I do not know.
Should they do it .... the answer is yes. The Americans can facilitate the talks and commitment of resources, but it is the Europeans themselves who must step up to the plate. Failure to keep the peace can easily result in all out war in this part of Europe .... a scenario that will again kill hundreds of thousands and dislocate millions.
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