Ivo Skoric on Thu, 31 Mar 2005 10:08:07 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> New US embassy in Sarajevo & the ex-Marshall Tito Bar |
More about US arrogance: March 21, 2005 Dr. Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of State Government of the United States of America Washington, DC Dear Dr. Rice: I am writing concerning the proposed plans for a new US embassy in Sarajevo. After a terrible war that brought out the nobility of a few but the baseness of many, and left countless innocent civilians at the mercy of those incapable of it, one of the few genuinely enlightened measures undertaken by the beleaguered Federal Government of Bosnia-Herzegovina was the donation of the ex-Marshall Tito Barracks to the University of Sarajevo. Few acts after so much destruction were so in the spirit of the Biblical injunction to turn swords into ploughshares than this decision to give over the huge Austrian-built, siege-scarred edifice to the enterprise that most directly provides the foundation for a productive and enlightened Bosnian future: higher education. The people of Bosnia had been subjected to mass murder and other crimes against humanity, but similarly terrible crimes were committed against culture and civilization in the name of primarily Serb but also Croat nationalist programs. Of these, the very worst was the deliberate assault upon the National and University Library on August 25-26, 1992 with incendiary shells, which, plunging through the magnificent stained glass skylight above the Library's atrium, caused a conflagration resulting in the loss of an estimated 1,500,000 volumes and numerous special collections. I ask you to contemplate the enormity of this crime, in absolute terms arguably the worst single case of deliberate book burning in history and a profound blow to Bosnia's historic knowledge, cultural heritage, and educational process. The beautiful building itself was an icon of the city. Where did the staff of the National Library and collections rescued from the conflagration find a haven? They found it in one wing and the original stables of the Barracks, which were renovated with funds from USAID, UNESCO, the Soros Foundation, and the World Bank. The Oriental Institute, totally devastated with all collections lost from deliberate fire, was also given a home there. With its new occupants, the Barracks' structures were performing a critical role in the University of Sarajevo's revival and in the intellectual life of Bosnia. So what does the US do? It asks the Bosnian government to hand over the site of the Barracks for a new embassy, and to clear it of the Barracks as well. In what can only be described as a desperate effort to curry favor with a great power whose attention has turned elsewhere, the Bosnian government capitulated, followed by the parliament, despite a thousand students protesting in the snow outside. This American plan can only be considered an arrogant disregard for the welfare of Sarajevo and of all Bosnians. If not a great masterpiece, the Barracks remains a central monument of old Sarajevo and a vital part of the city's institutional life. The Americans can afford to build anywhere, but with space at a premium after so much destruction, where will the National and University Library and the Oriental Institute, plus any other functions performed there go? You will build a bunker in the center of town that will be a blight on the cityscape and a reminder to all that the US gets what it wants, regardless of the cost to others. This should not be what the United States is about, which should be a commitment to the welfare of other, weaker nations, and to the support of the notion that might does not make right, as is implicit in this sorry process. This plan should be stopped before any actual damage is done. Yours sincerely, Jeffrey B. Spurr, Coordinator, Bosnia Library Project cc: President George W. Bush, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, Congressman Tom Lantos of California, Dr. Enes Kujundizic, Director, National and University Library of Bosnia-Herzegovina, James Carroll, The Boston Globe, George Soros, and others with an interest in the fate of Bosnia and its institutions --------------------------------------------------------- Ivo Skoric 19 Baxter Street Rutland VT 05701 802.775.7257 ivo@balkansnet.org balkansnet.org # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net