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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: 4/18/99 NOTE---the e-mail addresses of several organizations working with Balkan refugees appear at the end of this column. They could all use your help. The voice on the other end of my office phone sounded like it had just taken a break from hyperventilating, but might resume any second. It was on a mission from God, and didn't have time for pleasantries like saying hello or giving its name. "All this talk about genocide in Kosovo doesn't make sense," it snarled. "What about the genocide at Waco?" I reacted like any reasonable person. I said anyone who could somehow equate the David Koresh-engineered suicides and murders at Waco with mass slaughter in Kosovo was a member of the Tim McVeigh fan club and not worth my time. I hung up as politely as I could. The voice then called an executive at the radio station where I work and threatened to pull his businesses advertising. Apparently you can be a success in business these days and still not be able to pass a saliva test. The voice claimed I called it a lunatic. I didn't, but that was an oversight. Anyway, the voice is one more reminder of why the war in Yugoslavia seems so tenative, and so ad-libbed. It's because we've chosen the leaders we've chosen. And many of them are in office because of the Wacky Factor, otherwise known as the Loose Screw Syndrome. George Bush may be the ultimate preppy who never outgrew Yale, but he also was shot out of the sky in World War II and held together a coalition to fight the world's first resource war, aka Desert Storm. He headed the C.I.A. And he was defeated by an ex-governor from Arkansas with a terminal case of Pinnochio syndrome. How come? The Wacky Factor. The political fringe was already boiling over Bush's okay of new taxes after his "read my lips" promise. And then along comes Ross Perot, the first Presidential candidate from outside this solar system. So millions of potential Bush votes shift to Perot, and we get Bill Clinton as commander-in-chief. Fast forward to 1996. Colin Powell dabbled with running for president as a Republican, a move that could have locked up the White House for the G.O.P. for the next generation. Except for the Wacky Factor. Far right gurus like Paul Weyrich whimpered that Powell wasn't politically correct on issues like abortion and affirmative action and that they'd fight in the trenches against him. Powell, sensibly, figured it wasn't worth it. So we get Bob Dole giving it his best, clearly baffled by our videocracy. Clinton again. And only the Wacky Factor can explain a phenomenon like Jesse Helms in charge of Senate Foreign Relations. So add it up. A President put in office by the Wacky Factor presides over a slash-and-burn series of cuts in the military, and a foreign policy determined by how much money's in it either for campaign contributions or corporate profits. Meanwhile, Congress, responding to Wacky enclaves all over the country, goes along with the reduction of our foreign service to ambassadorship by campaign cash, and okays reductions in defense spending. And that's left us with an Air Force of 366,000 active duty men and women, down from 511,000 at the end of Desert Storm. It's left us with Air Force planners gamely trying to fight what they call a "major" war--anything that requires over 300 planes-- with a shoratge of pilots, especially tanker pilots. Which is why the Reserves are being called up. The President can activate up to 200,000 Reservists for up to nine months with Congressional okay. And the Air Force says it can't guarantee that it'll honor its policy of keeping Reservists on active duty for no more than six months. NATO marks it's 50th anniversary this week. Half a century ago we had Harry Truman and Winston Churchill, now it's Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. The alliance is trying to run a major war by committee. It's trying to tell dictators, at least within Europe, that the world will not let them slaughter their own people. It's not doing either job very well. Meantime, the Wacky Factor is back, by phone and fax and e-mail, denying there's any need for any action, denying there's any stake in Kosovo, and even denying mass murder is taking place. I suspect one reason my phone caller was so upset was that he was born 50 years too late to defend the Holocaust. The following web site provides links to many of the organizations working with Balkan refugees: www.interaction.com 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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