Forgotten Past Equals Future Problems For Bosnia

By: Meghan Vosberg

In the 1990s the country of Bosnia was plagued with war. Homes were burnt to the ground. Families were separated. And rape was introduced as a fighting tactic. But why should a war from fourteen years ago, in which over 100,000 people killed matter today? Plus does it matter that the majority of those oppressed in this 3 1/2 year war were Muslim?

When you think about it, Bosnia is not near the top of our "Countries we need to worry about list," especially when it's compared with Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Korea. Ever since the Dayton accord ended the Bosnian war everyone assumed that the issue was resolved and everything is now peachy keen. This is not the fact in today's Bosnia."The economy has stalled, unemployment is over 27 percent, about 25 percent of the population lives in poverty, and Bosnia remains near the bottom of World Bank rankings for business development."http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65352/patrice-c-mcmahon-and-jon-western/the-death-of-dayton"

Bosnia was a "project" of the 90's. The Clinton's did many services to the country. A street in Sarajevo is even named after Hillary. Over $14 billion dollars was used in international aid. But with our own country in recession, and health care being a subject of issue, should we still try to help other countries in need?


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/weekinreview/06kulish.html?hp=&pagewanted=print