Re: RAT ANTI-NATO-ART

[leewochner@movingarts.org (Lee Wochner)]

So everyone on this listserv is against war. Well, good. That's not
surprising. Throughout this century, most people have been against war.
That everyone's against war isn't even relevant:  No one here has said he
was FOR war, only for taking action to stop the atrocities -- something all
the well-meaning good wishes in the world won't do.

John Sylvain makes a number of good points (hi, John), many of which I
agree with. For instance: No, these policies haven't been well-thought-out.
But I disagree with John when he calls for an end to the bombing as a
prelude to negotiation. Try this scenario:  Someone accosts you in a dark
alleyway with a gun to your chest. When he asks for all your money, what
happens when you say, "Well, I've got three hundred bucks, would you be
willing to take two?" Don't expect a counter offer. Expect an escalation in
violence. Milosevic wants one thing:  More power, more land. Barring that,
there's no reason for him to negotiate. Did anyone watch Richard Holbrooke
last night on MSNBCNN? This is a person who HAS negotiated with Milosevic
-- repeatedly -- and gotten precisely nowhere. And can't we learn from the
past? Poor Neville Chamberlain has been dead for ages and he's still mocked
as the guy who tried to negotiate with Hitler while Hitler was busy
shuttling Jews and other undesirables to quick extinction.

And I thank whoever suggested I read Noam Chomsky's analysis of the
bombing. It was good reading, and I bookmarked it to read again. Chomsky's
main point, however, seems to be that since we've ignored previous
atrocities, why are we not ignoring this one? One respondent on this
listserv said for reasons of race -- a partly valid reason for our viewers
at home, I'm sure -- but is that the point, really? Or should the goal be
to do humanitarian good more often (whether in stopping aggression or in
helping those who need help) rather than closing our eyes to need when it
surrounds us?

Lee

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