The report this week that former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic had been arrested for war crimes sent many Americans scrambling through their memories. Who is Karadzic? What is he supposed to have done? Where, exactly is Bosnia?
It is understandable. It is more than a decade since Karadzic led a genocidal war against Bosnian Muslims. The murders, massacres, rapes and torture of that war have long been pushed out of the headlines here by al-Qaida, Afghanistan and Iraq. New wars tend to push old wars into the background, even though U.S. troops are still stationed in Bosnia and may be there for years to come.
So a little review is in order.
After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the country disintegrated and old ethnic grudges were revived, nowhere worse than in Bosnia, with its mixed population of Serbs and Muslims.
From 1992 to 1995, the Serbs tried to drive the Muslims out or, failing that, kill them. Karadzic was a leader of the Serbian nationalists. The war is thought to have claimed between 100,000 and 250,000 lives and to have made refugees of almost 2 million people.
Karadzic is accused of being responsible for much of the conduct of the war and for playing a direct part in the massacre of unarmed civilians. In 1995, an international tribunal indicted him for war crimes, including genocide. For three years, he remained free, protected by nationalists in the government.
As peace and stability began to return to the region, Karadzic went into hiding in 1998. It turns out he was hiding in plain view in Belgrade, Serbia. He would probably still be safe in his disguise as a bushy-bearded New-Age healer had not the Serbs recently elected a new pro-Western government that is eager for good relations with the rest of Europe. To join the rest of Europe, Serbia must lay the ghosts of Bosnia to rest.
So Karadzic follows former President Slobodan Milosevic to the Hague tribunal. Milosevic escaped justice by dying during his trial. Let us hope that Karadzic survives to pay for his crimes.
Most Americans may have forgotten about the agony of Bosnia.
Fortunately, justice has a longer memory.