...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Friday, July 11, 2003
      ( 12:05 PM )
 
It's Time To Talk About the Past

While the news swirls around us about the current travesty of lies that led to death and destruction, there is a commemoration taking place today for Bosnian Serbs that has been a long time coming. The Srebrenica massacre was the worst on European soil since WWII, and it happened only a short 8 years ago.

Some 8,000 Muslims, mainly men and boys,
were slaughtered by Bosnian Serb soldiers
who in 1995 overran the town in eastern Bosnia,
which was supposed to have been under United
Nations protection.

But despite finally being able to mourn this incredible loss, the Bosnian Muslims who used to live here still are outcast:

Only a small fraction of the town 27,000
Muslims have returned since the war, and
these are said have been subjected to
verbal harassment by Serbs.

This is a dark spot in American history too. While we vex and worry about whether we should have some sort of "interventionist" role in the world, we can look back and see how remaining silent and ignoring cries for help can result in devastation beyond description. It provokes another thought as well. And that is one of racism. Why is it that the American government has been so quick to act on behalf of the interests of Israel and out of vengance for our own loss (albeit against innocent parties not associated with that attack), and yet historically let Muslims in Bosnia be massacred, Africans in Rwanda starve, and now Liberians be raped, murdered and disappeared? Could it be that we are not liberators or protectors of life and liberty and freedom...we only use that excuse when it's convenient to disuade the public of our true intentions? It is a horrible thought to me that the democracy this country was designed to be has turned into an empire that cares not for humanity but the perpetuation of its own dominance and the fat bellies of its contributors.

Srebrenica reminds me today that it's up to me and my fellow citizens to change my country and how it views the rest of the world and then behaves toward those who need our help most and those who could do without our interference the most. If I leave it up to those in power now, who's to say another Srebrenica won't happen while we stand idly by?

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