Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Travel Page by american_tourister

Hvala na poseti! Nadam se da uzivate na mojoj stranici!

I moved almost everything that was on this page to a Bosnia and Hercegovina page. The fact that I had it listed in the Federation of Bosnia Hercegovina was causing confusion with my family members who use these pages to check up on my activities.

Bosnia was not only ravaged by war, it is split into two autonomous sectors called The Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina and another called Republika Srpske (Serb Republic). I was based in the Federation but traveled into RS frequently.

I am using this chapter for photos of the base I was located at, well, what I can show. Lots of stuff is sensitive in this part of the world.

I have added the next paragraphs because they used to be on my home page. Since I have changed locations and now am in the Middle East this was not current and had to be moved. I put a lot of thought into these comments though and wanted to present them in their entirety.


FORMER HOME PAGE INTRO

I am an American in Bosnia working for an American contractor who is involved in the rebuild and peacekeeping process. This country was devastated by a brutal war that was caused by many different sources. The causes and effects still linger even after 7 years of enforced peace. There is still an undercurrent of hatred and hostility that permeates the air.

NATO runs the show here through a group called SFOR (Stabilization Forces). There is a true multi national presence here that keeps a lid on a boiling pot. The country is halved between the Federation of Bosnia Hercegovina and Republika Srpska. It has a tenuous hold on the political strcuture and has a confusing and unwieldly rotating presidency.

This is a fabulous place for a VTer. I have met people from all over Europe in a very short time. We have Americans, Canadians, British, French, German, Russian, Moldavian, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Polish, Danish, Hungarian, Italian, Portugese, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanians, and Bosnians here.

All in all it has been a good experience. Here is a photo of myself with a Bosnian girl who works for us as a translator, and an Italian Carabinieri. We are at a joint US/Russian facility and are posing in front of American Thanksgiving decorations.

I have had numerous comments from people in this area who say that, "You do not understand". I hear this all the time. Here is what I understand. A group of people who had managed to live together and prosper together for centuries managed to destroy their country, kill multiple thousands, commit attrocities, and cripple their economy. Not matter which group you talk to, they state that it is all the fault of the other group.

This war was caused by so many things that complete books have been written on it. I cannot attempt to rationalize it for the people who read these pages but this statement I will make. Every culture at some point will have a tragic civil war of some type. It has happened all through history. It happened in England centuries ago. It happened in France in the 1790's. It happen in the USA in the 1860's. It happened in Spain in the 1930's. It happened here in the 1990's.

From the ashes will come reconstruction and rebuilding. The underlying reasons may never go away but they will learn that war is not the answer to their differences, tolerance is.

I write from an American perspective. I do not ask everyone to agree with everything I say but these are my personal reflections on places I have been. I also have a macabre sense of humor and find some things funny that others do not. I don't ask you to have the same sense of humor as me but try to understand that I try to find some humor in everything. Life is too dog gone short to be serious all the time.

My understanding is that VT is for people to share information and opinions on places, not to try and please everyone all of the time. I am sorry if anyone is offended but I am honest in my impressions

This is Britsh Army Staff Sgt. Jerry Field and myself. This is our "tough guy" pose that has embarassed the heck out of us since it was taken. We are really a couple of pussycats.

This was the first winter I had spent in colder climes for almost 10 years. I have taken a lot of ski trips but this was different. There was nothing magical or wonderful about the snow here. We could not go skiing so it was just white cold stuff that had to be moved a lot.