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Charles Jaco has written opinion and commentary pieces for dozens of magazines and newspapers. Each week, read and comment on a fresh on-line version. The discussion page enables you to share your view points world wide. If you would like to make a comment go to the " Join the discussion" link below. If you would like to view past editorials visit the Editorial Archive.
Editorial: 4/11/99 Note---the e-mail addresses of several organizations working with Balkan refugees appear at the bottom of this column. All are worthwhile. All need money. So it's come down to this--Americans are either supporting or opposing force in Kosovo based on what they think of Bill Clinton. Congressional Democrats, who almost unanimously opposed Desert Storm, are gung-ho, while Republicans sound like Jane Fonda. But instead of Hanoi Jane, we now have Belgrade Rush, as in Limbaugh. The arch-conservative has used his daily infotainment show to repeat the rumors about 17 or 18 or 19 G.I.'s (depending on whose version of Serb propaganda you beleive) having been killed by the Serbs, and their bodies sneaked to Dover Air Force Base via Greece. The rumor--denied by every reputable journalist, diplomat, and military expert between Kosovo and the Pentagon--was first printed in an Athens newspaper. It's since flown around the Internet, propelled by e-mail press releases from apologists for Slobodan Milosevic among Serbian-Americans. Calling Limbaugh reprehensible is like calling Milosevic a murderer. It's true enough, but it doesn't begin to describe the scope of the thing. Three Americans are being held by Serbia. An American pilot has been shot down. Pilots are risking their lives over Yugoslavia almost every hour. G.I.'s in Macedonia continue their nervous trip-wire patrols, while troops in Albania help run refugee camps. None of them earn more than a couple of grand a month. Meanwhile, an effete six-million dollar a year commentator who's probably never done anything more dangerous than suffer a paper cut bleats propaganda rumors about slaughtered G.I.'s for entertainment and ratings. Trivializing matters of life and death may be pathetic, but it's not surprising. That Bill Clinton is weak, indecisive, and poll-driven is not exactly a news flash. But he's also trivial. And he may be the perfect President for our times. Instead of raising real issues of national security and preparedness, he gave us gays in the military. Instead of hard choices about Social Security, he gave us what-me-worry placebos. Instead of feeling our pain, he felt everything else in sight, which in turn gave us even more trivial pursuits as we watched all the President's women parade before the cameras. Give us O.J., give us Monica, give us S.U.V.'s, stock options, and unparalleled prosperity, give us Jon Benet, Oprah, Rush, and the W.W.F. Please spare us any hard decisions about the use of American force. In fact, don't even give us much intelligent debate. Instead, just give us pro-or anti-Bill, and make all of our choices simple. Clinton has so polarized the country that Democratic peaceniks sound like Dr. Strangelove while G.O.P warmongers have become sissies, all because this is perceived as Bill Clinton's War. We as a people have a decision to make. Is the slaughter in Kosovo any of our business? Is Milosevic Hitler for the new millenium? Do we care about photos of possible mass graves near Pusto Selo? Are we upset that neither the administration nor NATO seems in danger of explaining strategy? Are we paying attention to a letter from Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Senator Carl Levin that tells the truth? To wit: "There is little likelihood that the required military operations can be sustained without casualties, and the public needs to accept that eventuality." Are we concerned about reported mass rapes and executions at a Serb army camp near Djakovica? How about the eyewitnesses to dozens of executions in Djakovica? Do we really have anything to do with hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes? And does it affect us when British human rights observers estimate the Serbs executed ten to fifteen thousand people in the past two and a half weeks in Kosovo? If the answer is "No, just give us Geraldo and Larry and Oprah and Rush," then are we prepared for what might happen next? Milosevic murders like Wal-Mart sells-- in bulk. He did it in Bosnia. He's doing it in Kosovo. And who knows where his vision of Greater Serbia might take him next, especially if he decides Americans don't care? Besides, he can always get an American radio millionaire to spread his propaganda for free. The following web site provides links to most organizations working with Balkan refugees: www.interaction.org American Red Cross--www.redcross.org CARE--www.care.org Catholic Relief Services---www.catholicrelief.org Christian Children's Fund--www.christianchildrensfund.org Doctors of the World--www.doctorsoftheworld.org Doctors Without Borders--www.dwb.org Int'l. Medical Corps--www.imc-la.org Int'l. Rescue Committee--www.intrescom.org MAP Int'l.--www.map.org Mercy Corps Int'l.--www.mercycorps.org Save The Children--www.savethechildren.org U.S. Committee for UNICEF--www.unicefusa.org World Vision--www.worldvision.org |
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