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 »  Home  »  Letters to the Editors  »  (E) Letter to San Diego University Lecturer
(E) Letter to San Diego University Lecturer
By Nenad N. Bach | Published  05/17/2004 | Letters to the Editors | Unrated
(E) Letter to San Diego University Lecturer

 

To: Mieczyslaw Boduszynski, Woodrow Wilson Institute

Nenad:
Inspired by our dear friend Hilda, I had to give this guy a piece of my mind. Keep up the good work, prijatelju.

Peter Curko

May 14, 2004

To: Mieczyslaw Boduszynski, Woodrow Wilson Institute

Dear Sir:

It seems like only yesterday that Croatians in New York City were demonstrating at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, waving their flags and hoping the world would see what was going on in their country. Among the flags and signs, one could see Lithuanian, Polish, and Latvian flags as well, as Croatia's cause rightfully seemed to strike a sympathetic chord with those people who had seen oppression at the hands of their Russian neighbors. Surely, we thought, this will galvanize public opinion in our favor, and this historic injustice will end. Well, we all know it did not. What you, sir, are doing, only perpetuates this injustice.

Mieczyslaw (do you have a convenient nickname, by the way? How about Mike?), my good man, I think it was your turn to lecture, and you were at a loss for material, so you just picked the safest route: collectivization of guilt. That has been the popular way of dealing with the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Safe, clean, no dirty hands, no criticism, no worries. I can understand why the Polish "Solidarnosc" movement, or the Baltic struggle for freedom for that matter, is always viewed as some historic, heroic, fundamentally "right" battle for national identity. I cannot, though, understand why the same description does not apply to Croatia's struggle.

Croatia is free now, no longer subject to Serb overlordship. We have tried to appease the farcical tribunal known as the Hague/IWCT in every way, shape, and form. The newly elected Ivo Sanader has been about as different from the old-line HDZ as Polish kielbasa is from Indian curried chicken. And what, mind you, have the Serbs been doing in the meantime? Well, how does giving a sizeable chunk of the popular vote to Vojislav Seselj grab you? If there was a "Top 20" list put together of notorious, murderous men to ever hold public office, this man would safely assume his position on that list. Has Serb leadership cooperated with the IWCT? Hardly. Recently, a New York Times article described a near-miss in efforts to collar Radovan Karadzic by noting that the forces assigned with the task of capturing him was made up mostly of Serb policemen. Gee, I can't for the life of me figure out how he wiggled his way out of that one.

Let me sum up in one sentence what your lecture would take an hour to say: Croatia is moving forward, and Serbia is moving decidedly backward. You, sir, would be better off lecturing on more accurate and interesting topics like Estonia's projected 50% loss in population by the year 2050, or maybe even something regarding your institute's namesake, and how his fellow bumbling statesmen cobbled together a ruinous blueprint for Europe that still has tragic implications.

Sincerely,
Peter Curko

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