Hatreds May Fade Away But They Never Die

Yesterday was the 30^th anniversary of the massacre of Srebrenica. It passed with no apparent notice here, though there probably were in Bosnian neighborhoods of St, Louis, Chicago, Toronto, Utica, and elsewhere in the Bosnian diaspora. Some say 8,6000; others, 10,000 Muslim Bošnjaci were systematically assassinated, rank after rank, by Serbian Orthodox troops under command of a fellow, but Serbian Orthodox, Bosniak, General Ratko Mladić. Mladić also commanded Serbian troops during the siege of Sarajevo.

Also yesterday, appropriately, came word that General Ratko (isn’t that the right name for such as him?) Mladić, 83, had died while still imprisoned in the Hague. Mladić, hiding in rural Serbia, was captured in 2011 by Serbian security forces (at that time, Serbia was seeking admittance to the EU, and needed to be seen as reformed  – but is still awaiting admittance.) He was tried by the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, convicted in 2017, and sentenced to life in prison. (As you probably know, the US has rejected membership in and refused to recognize authority of the UNICTs and of the International Criminal Court, not only passively citing our sovereignty but also undertaking active opposition, which has included sanctions, legal barriers, and non‑cooperation. Jack Smith’s service in the Hague as an ICC investigator and later as Chief Prosecutor of Kosovo War Crimes trials, is in the eyes of he who shall not be named and of MAGAs his “treason” to the US.

When Ann and I were in Sarajevo in 2019, we visited the Srebrenica Memorial Center, another of Europe’s many grim memorials to man’s bottomless capacity for inhumanity to his fellow man. The Center should be a required stamp for any tourist visa holder or penalty upon leaving Bosnia of a healthy fee. The exhibits and photos are stomach-churning, searing themselves into one’s memory. Unlike Buchenwald or Treblinka, slowly fading into ancient history in the minds of young people, Srebrenica is still fresh enough to be relevant, still horrific enough to chill the blood.

Can such happen again? Of course. The only thing we seem to learn from history is how not to learn from history. And in the case of the Balkans, these land of honey (bal) and blood (kans), hatreds do not die. They may fade away but they never die. If the Russia-Ukraine War spreads, it may be Serbia that brings it to the doorsteps of NATO (i.e., Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Greece) via its dream of Greater Serbia throughout the peninsula. It is Ratko we should remember and vilify in our memories that this never happens again.

For more on the Balkans, read Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, A Journey Through Yugoslavia, as relevant today as when written on the eve of WWII. 

Je suis Canadien

 You’ve heard about Trump attacking Canada: fantasizing about it becoming one of our United States; trashing the tri-lateral trade agreement he signed with our two largest trade partners (yes, trade with Mexico and Canada are each larger than trade with China, and have been so for many years); and now putting punitive tariffs on Canadian products, claiming that our overall trade deficit with them and their attitude justify it. Take away our oil and electricity imports, however, and it turns out we have a manufactured goods trade surplus with Canada.

Trump is pissed at Mark Carney, first because of his speech at Davos calling for consortia of mid-sized economies to stand up to giants like the US, China, Germany and Japan; second, because of his rejection of Trump’s notion about Canada becoming part of or subservient to the US; and now, because he won’t roll over in Trump’s tariff war.

You’ve seen the headlines and perhaps short news clips of Carney’s speech to Canada. But until you see the whole of Carney’s speech, you don’t grasp what a powerful leader he is. My Vancouver (BC) friend Bryan R sent me the tape of his statement to the nation and his press conference. Here it is; the first 23 minutes are his views and report on why Canada is withdrawing from the trade talks and retaliating, dollar for dollar; the rest is press conference give and take: https://www.cpac.ca/headline-politics/episode/pm-carney-speaks-to-media-after-suspension-of-canada-us-trade-talks?id=6b77d2c2-d09d-47fb-9bf1-7c88f3c2445c.

 Take a look. Compare the Canadian leader behind his podium with ours. Their leader is articulate, smart and resolute; he is self-aware and self-controlled; he knows what his goals are and how to use his tools (e.g., dollar for dollar retaliation) to achieve them. He knows how to deal with a playground bully.

 And think about our Iran war; first we fight to close the Strait of Hormuz, next to keep it open, now to close it again. We achieved regime change, and now we face a more determined and radical regime than before. Meanwhile costs, interest rates, and inflation rise. What kind of leadership is that?

 A US/Canada trade war makes no sense. It is a trade war nobody can “win.” It raises the costs of living and of making – of food, gas, electricity, clothing, booze and beer, cars, lumber (for building new homes,) steel and aluminium (I said I was a Canadien), dairy products, beef, and all sorts of products. It hurts US households more than it does Canadian ones, but it hurts both sides.

I am a loyal American, but boy – do I ever admire Mark Carney and what Canada is doing and stands for. Compare how they handle immigration with our ICE-tyranny. Would that Mark Carney’s example embolden Republican Senators and Representatives to stand up and take charge. 

In the meantime, one of our granddaughters, a student at Toronto Metropolitan University, is awaiting her Canadian work permit and intends to eventualy become a Canadian citizen. Another loss for America.

When is Enough Enough?

 When is Enough Retribution Enough?

Retribution: isn’t that just a nice word for revenge? Netanyahu’s campaign is being defended and rationalized as destruction of Hamas and justifiable retribution for 7/10/’23. His campaign is being attacked as genocide of Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank, an unjustifiable retribution for 7/10/’23.

In 1943, the Nazi regime in Germany had instigated war and, as some people knew, was committing war crimes against their Jewish citizens, other minorities, and political opponents. “Bomber” Harris and General Spaatz collaborated on “strategic bombing” of Germany, a campaign aimed at destruction of war industries and, moreover, at demoralization of civilians -- a campaign rationalized in part as retribution. The Russians felt it; the western allies felt it – the satisfaction of revenge.  Hamburg, Dresden, Frankfort, Berlin, and other cities we obliterated; in all, 1,080,000 civilian casualties resulted, 300,000 killed and 780,000 wounded, in the bombings of Germany. 

After the war, a comprehensive US Government assessment, the US Strategic Bombing Survey, concluded that strategic bombing “significantly weakened Germany’s war economy” but “did not break civilian morale.” The campaign against civilians was defended by some as a strategic necessity and attacked by others as genocidal retribution.  

Is there a difference between then and now? How do Netanyahu and Major General Asor, head of Isreal’s Southern Command, which includes Gaza, differ from Roosevelt and General Spaatz, head of Strategic Air Command in WWII? Are they war heroes or war criminals?

When and how do you stop retribution? How much killing is enough? The Israelis lost 1,195 citizens on October 7^th; they have killed 72,000 Gazans since invading to eliminate Hamas – and to exact retribution?

How does one cease retribution, to declare over and enough? Especially in a democratic republic where leaders draw their legitimacy from a majority of the electorate? If people want revenge, they must have it – unless.

Unless there is a leader, a movement, a spiritual wave that eschews hate and revenge.  Jesus taught love of enemy. The Buddha taught that hatred is never appeased by hatred. Muhammud taught that forgiveness is superior to retaliation; that violence is only justified against attackers and that violence against civilians and non-combatants, especially women and children, is forbidden. Rabbinic law replaces ayin tachat ayin, an eye for an eye, with compensation, measure for measure.

The best way out of retribution is to never enter into it. More easily said than done, obviously. Humans are wired for revenge – an eye for an eye appears in the Code of Hammurabi, in the Torah, and later in the Bible books of Exodes, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. But the bloodbaths of the 20thC should have taught us that vengeance, retaliation, revenge doesn’t work. In the end, the vengeful are as wounded as their victims, if not more so, and the victims will spawn multitudes seeking their vengeance in turn.

Ghandi said “an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” Confucious said “before taking vengeance, dig two graves”. Netanyahu isn’t listening. The new ayatollah isn’t listening. Trump isn’t hearing. What other world leader will lead his people into vengeful victimhood, into the dead-end of retaliation? Who will have the strength of character to say “no, enough”?