The Bosnian city of Mostar symbolizes much of what the war did to the country. What was once one city divided by a river is now de facto two cities- one Croat, one Muslim- divided by a river. The rebuilding of the city's famous bridge may help in certain small ways, but will it help ease the hatred and distrust that runs deep in Mostar as it does in most of Bosnia? Doubtful, but it is a step in the right direction.
Bosnians and foreign dignitaries on Friday celebrated the reopening of a more than 400-year-old bridge that became a symbol of the senseless brutality of Bosnia's war when shells destroyed it in 1993.
The reconstruction of the stone span — which had survived centuries of conflict, including two world wars, before it was shattered — raised hopes that the war-wrecked nation could rebuild a multiethnic society.
"It is good that we closed the gap over the Neretva River," said Eldin Palata, a cameraman from Mostar who shot footage of the bridge tumbling into the river when it collapsed 11 years ago.
"But until we close the gap in our heads, there will be no real progress. This is a good chance to allow our children to put behind all the evil of the war."....
The bridge was destroyed midway through a war that killed 260,000 people and drove another 1.8 million from their homes....
After surviving numerous conflicts through the ages, it tumbled into the river on Nov. 9, 1993, when Bosnian Croats blasted its sweeping arch with tank fire....
Mostar essentially remains two cities. Its Muslims and Roman Catholic Croats send their children to different schools, watch their own television stations and cheer for rival soccer teams.
This reality is not likely to change anytime soon, but it's a step in the right direction nonetheless. Peace may not be merely the absence of war, but in Bosnia sometimes that's all you can reasonably hope for. Sometimes a bridge is just a bridge.
