{"id":2241,"date":"2021-12-15T19:20:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T18:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.balkan-conflicts-research.com\/archive\/?page_id=2241"},"modified":"2021-12-16T12:38:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T11:38:22","slug":"2241-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.balkan-conflicts-research.com\/archive\/2241-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE OF A BOMBING, March 1999"},"content":{"rendered":"

A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE OF A BOMBING<\/strong><\/p>\n

Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 22:28:46 +0200<\/p>\n

An Editorial<\/p>\n

Background<\/p>\n

Although I\u00a0 <\/span>am an American citizen, born and raised in San Antonio,Texas,I have lived,\u00a0 <\/span>studied and worked in Yugoslavia (Serbia) for almost\u00a0thirteen years now. I\u00a0 <\/span>initially came to help a friend build his house\u00a0in a\u00a0village near Novi Sad.\u00a0 <\/span>Subsequently I fell in love, got married and\u00a0established my family here. I have\u00a0 <\/span>been working at the College of Artsand\u00a0Sciences at the University of Novi Sad\u00a0 <\/span>as a language instructor for\u00a0about\u00a0nine years.<\/p>\n

In my time here, I have\u00a0 <\/span>come to love the people of this nation, and I\u00a0am\u00a0very proud of my new home here.\u00a0 <\/span>I have friends among many of the\u00a0nationalities who live here in Vojvodina and\u00a0 <\/span>have an enormous range of\u00a0friends, from farmers to university professors. Life\u00a0 <\/span>here has always\u00a0been\u00a0a challenge, dealing with the languages, with the economic\u00a0 <\/span>crises, with\u00a0the nearby wars. However, it has been overwhelmingly rewarding. My\u00a0 <\/span>life\u00a0was peaceful and full of love and companionship, until Wednesday, March\u00a024,\u00a01999. That evening, NATO bombs began to fall on my second homeland, and\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0 <\/span>town I call home. How could anyone decide to stay here in the\u00a0midst of\u00a0NATO\u00a0 <\/span>airstrikes, among a people the western press claims is committing\u00a0“ethnic\u00a0 <\/span>cleansing”?<\/p>\n

There are two reasons for my being here. My daughter\u00a0 <\/span>Sara was born\u00a0at\u00a02:30 a.m. on Monday, March 22, 1999 in the local hospital.\u00a0 <\/span>My wife and\u00a0daughter came home on the very day the bombing started. They are\u00a0 <\/span>doing\u00a0well, but they are obviously in no condition to travel. Moreover, in a\u00a0state of war, it is very hard to find a means of transportation which is\u00a0adequate to their needs. The wisdom of sitting in a metal container\u00a0with a\u00a0heat\u00a0 <\/span>signature at this time and place is also questionable. There are\u00a0also\u00a0the\u00a0 <\/span>technical problems of registering my daughter when I dare not step\u00a0out\u00a0of the\u00a0 <\/span>house. You cannot cross borders with an unregistered baby. On\u00a0the\u00a0other hand, I\u00a0 <\/span>am not sure I would leave even if those conditions were\u00a0met.<\/p>\n

My life, my\u00a0 <\/span>apartment, my work, my family, many of my friends-they are\u00a0all\u00a0here. I am a\u00a0 <\/span>loyal resident of this country. I teach, I translate, I do\u00a0whatever I can to\u00a0 <\/span>make my community a better place to live in, just as\u00a0would if I were living\u00a0 <\/span>somewhere in the USA. I have been met with open\u00a0arms and embraced by the people\u00a0 <\/span>of this land. Leaving them in this\u00a0hour of\u00a0need does not seem right. In the end\u00a0 <\/span>of all things, my son Luka and my\u00a0daughter are half-Serb.<\/p>\n

As the bombs\u00a0 <\/span>and rockets rip the land each day, I find myself\u00a0reflecting\u00a0about why this is\u00a0 <\/span>happening. Knowing that I have freedom of expression\u00a0in\u00a0my homeland, I have\u00a0 <\/span>decided to share my reflections. I find my thoughts\u00a0following two lines of\u00a0 <\/span>analysis. I would like to express them both in\u00a0this\u00a0editorial.<\/p>\n

First Line\u00a0 <\/span>– Citizens of Serbia<\/p>\n

From the standpoint of the people who live here,\u00a0 <\/span>shock was generally\u00a0thefirst feeling experienced when the attacks began. Now,\u00a0 <\/span>we are all\u00a0appalled\u00a0at what is taking place. The long term friendship between\u00a0 <\/span>Serbia and\u00a0the\u00a0USA was destroyed when the first bomb fell. It is true that the\u00a0 <\/span>Serbs\u00a0have\u00a0a traditional friendship with the Russians, but that is not to\u00a0<\/span>overshadow\u00a0their remarkable ties to the US throughout this century. The media\u00a0<\/span>have a\u00a0way of sidelining that fact, but the history books bear it out. People\u00a0here feel betrayed by a traditional ally – the US.<\/p>\n

Yet, the Serbs have a\u00a0 <\/span>history of fighting against greater powers. The\u00a0Ottomans, the Austro-Hungarians,\u00a0 <\/span>and the Germans. Now the Germans are\u00a0being allowed to take part in a new\u00a0 <\/span>campaign against the Serbs. The\u00a0Hungarians have allowed NATO to use their\u00a0 <\/span>airspace, as have the\u00a0Croatians.<\/p>\n

The raids are being launched from NATO airbases\u00a0 <\/span>in Italy. Seen in\u00a0terms of\u00a0the Second World War, none of that comes as a great\u00a0 <\/span>surprise. It also\u00a0comes as no surprise that, now that NATO has invaded a\u00a0 <\/span>sovereign state\u00a0for\u00a0the first time in its fifty year history (the cynics here\u00a0 <\/span>say it was\u00a0only\u00a0a matter of time), people here are not in a panic. They have\u00a0 <\/span>faced the\u00a0“big guy on the block” before, have taken some beatings, won\u00a0 <\/span>some\u00a0victories, and survived. They feel they will survive this as\u00a0 <\/span>well.<\/p>\n

In the past, the attackers were always neighbors. The current\u00a0<\/span>airstrikes\u00a0prove that the world has become indeed a Global Village, in the most\u00a0pessimistic sense of that phrase. President Clinton says that we have\u00a0vital\u00a0interests in the Balkans, and he is striking Yugoslavia as easily as if\u00a0it\u00a0were\u00a0 <\/span>a next door neighbor. The difference this time is that there are\u00a0relatively few\u00a0 <\/span>(are there ever too few?) civilian casualties. The\u00a0advanced\u00a0technology of the\u00a0 <\/span>NATO pact is allowing precision strikes on military\u00a0and\u00a0not-so-military targets.\u00a0 <\/span>(Blowing up an old soap factory and a defunct\u00a0cable factory seem to be the\u00a0 <\/span>questionable targets in Novi Sad itself).<\/p>\n

A\u00a0famous Serb author, Svetislav\u00a0 <\/span>Basara, has written that such advanced\u00a0technology was not created for humane\u00a0 <\/span>purposes. He claims that human\u00a0casualties are to be avoided because a dead enemy\u00a0 <\/span>is a dead consumer\u00a0for\u00a0the global market. You cannot sell fancy western products\u00a0 <\/span>to corpses.<\/p>\n

While cynical, there is a ring of truth to this. Thus, the Yugoslavs\u00a0<\/span>feel\u00a0they are being attacked because they refused to sign an agreement that\u00a0was\u00a0being sold to them by America, one which would ensure a “global” way\u00a0 <\/span>of\u00a0life, but one which would put NATO forces on their sovereign territory.<\/p>\n

These\u00a0 <\/span>forces would necessarily include American troops, by the way, no\u00a0matter what the\u00a0 <\/span>White House is currently claiming about its\u00a0unwillingness\u00a0to include ground\u00a0 <\/span>forces in this particular package. When one reads the\u00a0document signed by the\u00a0 <\/span>Kosovar Albanians in Paris, this becomes\u00a0apparent.<\/p>\n

It contains Annex B which\u00a0 <\/span>states that NATO would have the right to move\u00a0freely throughout Yugoslavia. In\u00a0 <\/span>earlier times, signing such a document\u00a0would be called a\u00a0 <\/span>“capitulation”, and from a territorial stance\u00a0“annexation”.<\/p>\n

Opinions about what should be done with Kosovo\u00a0 <\/span>were divided as long as\u00a0I\u00a0have lived here. Some said the Albanians were welcome\u00a0 <\/span>here. Some said\u00a0they\u00a0should behave more like normal citizens. (There are some\u00a0 <\/span>100,000\u00a0Albanians\u00a0living in Belgrade. On Sunday, some of them staged a protest\u00a0<\/span>against\u00a0the\u00a0bombings. This was warmly greeted by the Serbs.)<\/p>\n

Some said that\u00a0 <\/span>Kosovo\u00a0should be partitioned off and given to Albania. Others claimed that\u00a0<\/span>Kosovo\u00a0should be swept clean of Albanians and resettled by Serbs. There was no\u00a0consensus. When that first Tomahawk crashed into Serbia on Wednesday\u00a0night,\u00a0all\u00a0 <\/span>divisions ceased. Kosovo will now be dealt with the way the\u00a0government\u00a0here\u00a0 <\/span>feels it should with the whole-hearted backing of the general\u00a0populace. NATO has\u00a0 <\/span>rushed in where even fools do not dare. By declaring\u00a0war on the Serbs, NATO has\u00a0 <\/span>set the current humanitarian problem in\u00a0motion.<\/p>\n

There were always problems in\u00a0 <\/span>Kosovo, but the NATO strikes are clearly\u00a0at\u00a0fault for the fact that tens of\u00a0 <\/span>thousands of people are on the road\u00a0out of\u00a0the country tonight. Whatever people\u00a0 <\/span>here thought of Milosevic’s regime\u00a0before (and there are always varying opinions\u00a0 <\/span>about politicians), they\u00a0now\u00a0back him as their commander-in-chief. Just as\u00a0 <\/span>people would in any other\u00a0country.<\/p>\n

There is also a sense of frustration\u00a0 <\/span>here about the fact that Russia,\u00a0China, India, and Greece are being ignored so\u00a0 <\/span>blatantly. The news<\/p>\n

broadcasts from the UK and US keep showing government and\u00a0 <\/span>NATO leaders\u00a0talking about how they have the support of the “International\u00a0<\/span>Community”.<\/p>\n

Clearly, they have redefined the term “International\u00a0 <\/span>Community”. For\u00a0NATO\u00a0leaders that means anyone who agrees with them. Anyone\u00a0 <\/span>who dissents is\u00a0marginalized. One can presuppose that the tens of thousands of\u00a0<\/span>people\u00a0protesting in the streets all over the world are also not a part of the International Community. Turning a deaf ear to opposition is not one of\u00a0the\u00a0hallmarks of democracy, and is certainly incongruous with what we\u00a0Americans\u00a0consider to be the “American Way”.<\/p>\n

The stance of international\u00a0 <\/span>justice also seems to have gotten muddled\u00a0for\u00a0those of us who reside here. In\u00a0 <\/span>the first place, the Serbs have been\u00a0hit\u00a0by NATO twice before. Once in Croatia\u00a0 <\/span>and once in Bosnia. This newest\u00a0wave\u00a0of bombing proves that NATO has something\u00a0 <\/span>personal against the Serbs.<\/p>\n

No\u00a0one can answer the logical question of why the\u00a0 <\/span>Serbs are always the\u00a0ones\u00a0to be Satanized by NATO and the western media. An\u00a0 <\/span>analogy will help to\u00a0clarify the situation: when the Serbs attacked Vukovar and\u00a0 <\/span>it was left\u00a0in\u00a0ruins, they were labeled “war criminals”. On the other\u00a0 <\/span>hand, pictures\u00a0are\u00a0now coming out of Prishtina (the capital of Kosovo). The NATO\u00a0 <\/span>bombers\u00a0have\u00a0inflicted irreparable damage to the town, leaving it looking very\u00a0 <\/span>much\u00a0like Vukovar. How will the NATO leaders be labeled for that? The devil\u00a0inme doubts that they will be labeled little other than\u00a0 <\/span>“heroes”.<\/p>\n

The enormous spirit and tremendous sense of humor\u00a0 <\/span>among the Yugoslavs\u00a0is\u00a0overwhelming. True, many are frightened, in hiding from\u00a0 <\/span>the explosions\u00a0which seem to come from nowhere. But overall, the spirit of these\u00a0<\/span>people\u00a0is far from broken. They understand that NATO could have destroyed 600\u00a0targets in two days, but that the demands of psychological warfare\u00a0dictate\u00a0that\u00a0<\/span>it be drawn out over a longer period. The unease of knowing when\u00a0and\u00a0where the\u00a0 <\/span>bombs will come is supposed to generate feelings of\u00a0uncertainty\u00a0and discontent.\u00a0 <\/span>Such tactics are failing miserably here, and the\u00a0majority\u00a0of the people have\u00a0 <\/span>decided to ignore that particular element of the\u00a0game.<\/p>\n

Each day there are\u00a0 <\/span>concerts in Belgrade’s main square, people move\u00a0about\u00a0their lives and jobs with\u00a0 <\/span>additional care, but life has very much gone\u00a0on\u00a0here, as if to spite what they\u00a0 <\/span>see as the childish tactics of the war\u00a0technicians in Brussels. One of the most\u00a0 <\/span>startling things I have heard\u00a0these days was the comment of a young friend of\u00a0 <\/span>mine. “They can take my\u00a0life,” she said, “but they cannot take\u00a0 <\/span>away my dignity.” Her dignity is\u00a0more important to her than her fear of\u00a0 <\/span>cruise missiles. That gives\u00a0cause\u00a0for reflection.<\/p>\n

Second line – A Citizen\u00a0 <\/span>of the United States<\/p>\n

This is not about divided loyalties, a lack of\u00a0 <\/span>patriotism, or\u00a0schizophrenia. I have always loved my country, and I love it\u00a0 <\/span>today. I\u00a0still feel it is the greatest place on earth. As an ex-patriate, I am in\u00a0a\u00a0position to see many of the beauties of the United States from an\u00a0objective\u00a0distance, and thereby my love for my homeland is perhaps even stronger\u00a0than\u00a0for\u00a0 <\/span>many of the people who live in it. Moreover, I am one of the\u00a0representatives of\u00a0 <\/span>that country for, though I am only a private\u00a0citizen,\u00a0my work brings me into\u00a0 <\/span>contact with thousands of people. For many of\u00a0them,\u00a0I am the only American they\u00a0 <\/span>have ever met, or will meet, and their\u00a0impression of the United States often\u00a0 <\/span>depends on their impression of\u00a0me.<\/p>\n

Though I am no political or legal\u00a0 <\/span>expert (I am just a humble English\u00a0teacher), the situation in which I find\u00a0 <\/span>myself demands that I ask the\u00a0question of what the justification for these\u00a0 <\/span>airstrikes can be. Article\u00a0One of the NATO statute clearly states that the\u00a0 <\/span>organization’s members\u00a0are\u00a0not to use their military might against any sovereign\u00a0 <\/span>state, unless\u00a0that\u00a0state attacks them. Yugoslavia has attacked no one. Yet,\u00a0 <\/span>since\u00a0Wednesday,\u00a0NATO has been pounding a variety of targets all over\u00a0 <\/span>Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n

Logically, an organization which violates its own founding\u00a0 <\/span>principles\u00a0must\u00a0cease to exist as an organization, or it must reformulate its\u00a0 <\/span>founding\u00a0principles. Perhaps there was a secret meeting where NATO suddenly\u00a0<\/span>amended\u00a0its statute so as to allow it to attack at will, to crush countries who\u00a0have rejected their offers of membership, for example. Or, perhaps they\u00a0should\u00a0 <\/span>reconstitute themselves under a new name. NATO ceased to exist\u00a0as a\u00a0legal entity\u00a0 <\/span>at 7:55 p.m. on March 24.<\/p>\n

Second, in making the decision to bomb\u00a0 <\/span>Yugoslavia without a specific\u00a0resolution from the United Nations, NATO cast the\u00a0 <\/span>UN aside as a totally\u00a0marginal institution. The NATO members knew that if they\u00a0 <\/span>put up a\u00a0resolution in the Security Council to bomb Yugoslavia, the Russians and\u00a0Chinese would veto. Their excuse for the air attacks is Yugoslavia’s\u00a0non-compliance (as they describe it) with earlier resolutions. This\u00a0means\u00a0that\u00a0 <\/span>NATO will now have a free hand to attack any country which\u00a0refuses to\u00a0comply\u00a0 <\/span>with a resolution. Tonight, on the sixth night of bombing, the\u00a0UN\u00a0has taken no\u00a0 <\/span>firm action to reestablish its authority. The Russian\u00a0representative to the UN\u00a0 <\/span>has tried to pass several resolutions to stop\u00a0the\u00a0bombing, which are now all\u00a0 <\/span>being vetoed by the US. Catch 22. The only\u00a0conclusion I can draw as an average\u00a0 <\/span>citizen is that the UN must either\u00a0react to what is happening, or lose all\u00a0 <\/span>credibility as a political\u00a0factor\u00a0in the world. That will destroy fifty odd\u00a0 <\/span>years of hard work and\u00a0enormous\u00a0expense, and will certainly not make the world a\u00a0 <\/span>better place.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, as Americans we tend to think of the cost per\u00a0<\/span>value\u00a0aspect of\u00a0any exchange. The United States, with a population of about 250\u00a0<\/span>million,\u00a0the most powerful country to have ever existed, has already spent\u00a0<\/span>billions\u00a0of dollars of the taxpayers’ money blowing up military targets in\u00a0Yugoslavia, a country with a population of about 8 million. The\u00a0taxpayers’\u00a0money\u00a0 <\/span>is also causing “collateral damage” to schools, hospitals, and\u00a0private\u00a0 <\/span>homes, right in the heart of Europe. All of this is\u00a0inconceivably\u00a0illogical. Are\u00a0 <\/span>President Clinton and Madeleine Albright telling us\u00a0that\u00a0our enormous economic\u00a0 <\/span>and diplomatic power could not be used to\u00a0convince\u00a0an ally to remain an ally?\u00a0 <\/span>That is clearly a fantasy.<\/p>\n

The problem\u00a0rather\u00a0seems to lie in the fact that,\u00a0 <\/span>somewhere in the planning rooms, a\u00a0program\u00a0was drawn up to set the Balkans up in\u00a0 <\/span>a manageable way. With the Serbs\u00a0being the largest ethnic group in the Balkans,\u00a0 <\/span>it is clear that their\u00a0country must be atomized, they must be disunited so that\u00a0 <\/span>they are no\u00a0longer a regional power in Europe.<\/p>\n

In Paris, the Serbs were\u00a0 <\/span>presented\u00a0with\u00a0a fait accompli. “Agree to NATO presence, or we are going to\u00a0 <\/span>blow up\u00a0your\u00a0army and kill your citizens.” If one looks at the events of\u00a0 <\/span>the past\u00a0decade, this idea is at least worth consideration. In terms of buying\u00a0power, those tax dollars may have been better spent on an intensive\u00a0study\u00a0of the\u00a0 <\/span>problem, a detailed analysis of the history and characters of\u00a0the\u00a0peoples\u00a0 <\/span>involved, and a carefully planned negotiation process.<\/p>\n

I do not believe\u00a0 <\/span>that President Clinton has ever been to Kosovo. I do\u00a0not\u00a0believe he has ever\u00a0 <\/span>seen the beauty of the 800 year-old monastery of\u00a0Gracanica, which was also\u00a0 <\/span>damaged by the air attacks. He never saw the\u00a0mosques, the synagogues, the\u00a0 <\/span>cathedrals and patriarchates. I have come\u00a0to\u00a0doubt he ever really sat down and\u00a0 <\/span>talked with Albanians from Kosovo, or\u00a0with Serbs from Kosovo, to find out what\u00a0 <\/span>they really wanted. I am\u00a0convinced that he could have come to Yugoslavia, sat\u00a0 <\/span>down with the\u00a0parties\u00a0in the conflict, and convinced them there was a peaceful\u00a0 <\/span>way out. I\u00a0would\u00a0contend that, as the highest representative of the most\u00a0 <\/span>powerful\u00a0nation on\u00a0earth, he had a responsibility to do so, if one of the vital\u00a0 <\/span>interests\u00a0of\u00a0the United States is to ensure peace in Europe and in the world as\u00a0<\/span>he\u00a0claims. Rather, without a clear understanding of the mentality of the\u00a0people\u00a0 <\/span>who live here, after analyzing piles of statistics and military\u00a0data instead of\u00a0 <\/span>the moral and spiritual state of the people of\u00a0Yugoslavia,\u00a0he decided for\u00a0 <\/span>violent action. He thus put the lives of American\u00a0military\u00a0personnel in grave\u00a0 <\/span>danger, with very little or no authorization from\u00a0the\u00a0American people. In doing\u00a0 <\/span>so, he violated the principles of thePresidency, the principles upon which the\u00a0 <\/span>UN and NATO were founded, and\u00a0ultimately he was unfaithful to the American\u00a0 <\/span>people.<\/p>\n

I am not angry at\u00a0him. I feel misled and betrayed by him and certain\u00a0 <\/span>individuals in his\u00a0administration. With such actions and policies, the present\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>administration\u00a0is making the world an unsafe, even dangerous, place for all\u00a0 <\/span>citizens\u00a0of\u00a0the United States. That is clearly not in the interest of the\u00a0 <\/span>average\u00a0US\u00a0citizen.<\/p>\n

Let us be clear again: I am not trying to justify the\u00a0 <\/span>Yugoslav\u00a0authorities\u00a0or any of their actions. That is their business, and their\u00a0 <\/span>experts must\u00a0work on presenting a clearer picture of their vision of their own\u00a0<\/span>country.<\/p>\n

BOTH sides should have sat down and worked on a proper solution, that\u00a0<\/span>is\u00a0obvious. What I am saying is that the people of Yugoslavia, and\u00a0especially\u00a0the Serbs, are not genocidal monsters as they are being depicted by the\u00a0Clinton\u00a0 <\/span>administration and the western media. Please heed the words of\u00a0one\u00a0who has lived\u00a0 <\/span>and is still living among them, even when they are at war\u00a0with my own country.\u00a0 <\/span>These are a broad-minded and loving, if stubborn,\u00a0people. They have criminals,\u00a0 <\/span>and they have saints. They are an\u00a0invaluable\u00a0part of the vast cultural heritage\u00a0 <\/span>of Europe, and they deserve respect,\u00a0support and encouragement as they struggle\u00a0 <\/span>to become a vital part of a\u00a0thriving Europe. They do not deserve to be showered\u00a0 <\/span>with the wrath of\u00a0the\u00a0Clinton administration and its dependence on its ephemeral\u00a0 <\/span>military\u00a0strength.<\/p>\n

The Future<\/p>\n

The situation is infinitely\u00a0 <\/span>complicated here, and it would require\u00a0volumes\u00a0to explain all the intricacies of\u00a0 <\/span>the Gordian knot called the Balkans.\u00a0It\u00a0seems that President Clinton has made\u00a0 <\/span>the same mistake as one of his\u00a0political forebears, Alexander the Great. Unable\u00a0 <\/span>to untie the knot, he\u00a0simply took his sword and hacked it in two. And we know\u00a0 <\/span>the ultimate\u00a0fate\u00a0of Alexander and his Empire, and of all empires which place\u00a0<\/span>might above\u00a0right. Perhaps it is not too late, but a major turnabout is\u00a0 <\/span>due.<\/p>\n

To the sounds of air-raid sirens, tonight I will bathe my baby\u00a0 <\/span>daughter\u00a0and put her to sleep. I will continue to teach my five and a half\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>year-old\u00a0son to read and count. And I will teach both of my children to live by\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0principles upon which America, and all western civilization, was\u00a0founded. I\u00a0will do this because I believe the greatness of our culture is not in\u00a0its\u00a0material wealth or military power. It is in its commitment to\u00a0principles,\u00a0justice and morality.<\/p>\n

Tonight, light a candle and whisper a prayer for\u00a0 <\/span>us, will you? We will\u00a0do\u00a0the same for you. Peace on earth, good will to\u00a0 <\/span>men.<\/p>\n

Randall A. Major<\/p>\n

Novi Sad, Yugoslavia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE OF A BOMBING Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 22:28:46 +0200 An Editorial Background Although I\u00a0 am an American citizen, born and raised in San Antonio,Texas,I have lived,\u00a0 studied and worked in Yugoslavia (Serbia) for almost\u00a0thirteen years now. I\u00a0 initially came to help a friend build his house\u00a0in a\u00a0village near Novi … <\/p>\n

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