In the midst of all the pandemonium surrounding the Russia-Georgia conflict I had a chance to chat with my wife’s friend, a Bosnian Muslim, who asked me if I had ever read the book ‘Fools Rush In’ by Bill Carter. We were chatting via Skype (the preferred method of communication for many aid workers) when she asked me about the book and so I looked it up on Amazon. I had never heard of it and have to admit I would have probably passed it over had she not mentioned it.
Our friend has been through a lot. She lived through the siege of Sarajevo and I know that she thinks about those years everyday of her life. When she asks me out of the blue, “Have you ever heard of ‘Fools Rush In’ by Bill Carter?” I pretty much already know that it is a must read.
I wonder if the conflict in Georgia isn’t stirring something up inside her and if that is why she mentioned it? Almost as if she was subconsciously pointing me back to a previous conflict to remind me that this war is not a new war. The images of this new conflict look, to my eye, the same as the ones I saw coming out of Bosnia over a decade ago. I imagine to her they must also look uncomfortably familiar, almost as they were a continuation of the past.
Moments like this remind me that for many people wars never end, they just relocate.
