So many of us are trying to determine how we feel about the U.S. involvement in the air strikes against Libya. We are familiar with the horrible deeds done by its dictator, but getting a handle on whether the U.S. has a role there.
For insight, I turned to someone who knows firsthand the power of the United States' involvement in world affairs, because he experienced it in Bosnia.
Adis Alic reached out to me on Facebook, because he wants more people to know the story of how he says the U.S. saved him and some members of his family. This is his story:
I currently attend Le Moyne College and will be graduating with a BS in Biology this December and after that I plan to attend medical school (My dream since a little kid). I moved here in April 2001 and we really had a hard time to adjust especially because we were immigrants and Muslim (they placed us in a bad area and we had this kids throw rocks at us, put on loud music, steal our stuff, break in our house, shoot us with bb guns), but after few months we got away from there and move in to an area close to your station.
We came to United States because we had nothing, and whatever we had before the war was gone. We applied in 1999 to come to the USA and around 2001 they allowed us to enter. After the war we didn't have much, not a lot of food, no clothes and also no home... we moved into a house (which was ditched by it's owner and somehow survived.... no bathroom, no kitchen appliances, no windows (we used some plastic covering to cover it), so it was very cold during the winter. The war was a terrible experience because of being hungry for many days and no water. We went through an episode where the Serbs wanted to kill all of my family right in front of each other (I was so scared, until one younger Serb stopped him). While riding on trucks to freedom, they always wanted to kill us.... they threw rocks at us... I remember my mom wiping blood from her face and lips because she hid us with her hands and bags to keep us safe and took the rocks to protect us. When they let us of to an safe area we walked down this road... I still have dreams of it because on each side was a dead man... will never forget those faces and being 5 years old I was really scared. While walking my mom saw someone who looked like my dad and I took her hand and she went into the field to turn the person around... it was not my dad but another man that was full of blood... his face (well was not a face anymore)... sometimes I have dreams of that guy still. We thought they killed our dad because we didn't see him for six months, but we found out later that they were holding him as a prisoner and will release him soon. In the first few months, we cried so much and kind of accepted that our father was dead. When he came back he told us his horrible stories about being abused everyday and starved to death (He faces many problems because of that).
All of my uncles are all dead except one. Many were teens and some early 20's and some in their 30's. My cousins and friends were all killed and also many raped. There is a lot to my story, but I fought my way through it and hopefully I can achieve my dreams here in the USA. I think people should not feel bad because Obama did this or did that, I think it was necessary to some point, as long as he is trying to save peoples lives then his actions would be ethical to me. We just can't stand around and watch people die, put aside our differences and beliefs and let us help each other. When I am having a bad day or something, I thank God for still being alive and surviving the horrible experience. It was good that Obama helped the people quick and stopped the bloodshed because it took many years in Bosnia to stop it and many thousands have died just because of their religion. The war started back in 1992 and some people blame US and the world for not helping because they stood back and watched many innocent die.
Adis Alic
