Yurope: Bahus War Diary

Bahus War Diary - A personal view

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?

For a few days there was nothing exceptional in the letters to the editor of the so-called newspaper San Francisco Chronicle. But than, on April 16th.1999. all of a sudden they printed three letters in a row that seriously question the sanity of those who wrote them as well as the mental health of the editors that are responsible for this unexpected shock to my system. I mean, have anyone listened to Bill Clinton's speech where he went to extreme length to explain to us why we are in Kosovo? And in spite of Mr. President's effort, there are still individuals who question the motives, and the reasons that he listed for our intervention in the Balkans! Shame on them. Let's strip them of the American citizenship, which is probably the worst punishment that a human being can be exposed to!

Here are those three letters and you see for yourself:

1. WHAT THE US COULD 'WIN' IN KOSOVO

Editor - For those who say "Now that we're in it, let's win it," I would like to pinpoint exactly what we can win:

1. Major casualties of American soldiers

2. The need to rebuild Kosovo at a cost of uncalculated billions of American taxpayer dollars.

3. The need to police an area on foreign soil where deep hatreds spill over artificially created boundaries.

4. The undying hatred of millions of Serbs who don't like Milosevic but are being pounded into death and destruction by our military.

5. The growing anger and fear of the Russian people, whose very unstable leadership still sits on several thousand nuclear bombs.

6. A group of European allies whose loyalty to US policies could disappear if forced to make serious sacrifices.

Who needs this kind of win?

Wouldn't it be better to save American lives rather than the administration's face?

Isadore Salkind

Oakland

2. NO GROUND TROOPS

Editor - Representative Ellen Tauscher has called for foreign troops to fight in Kosovo. She seems to find this so easy to do.

Troops are not robots. They are our sons and daughters... our relatives, fresh out of high school and starting families, some who will be returning home in hermetically sealed aluminum coffins, or in wheelchairs. They joined the Army to defend the United States. There are no vital security interests in Kosovo.

Ellen Tauscher has stated that "our values" are at risk. Our military personnel did not sign up for a ridiculous experiment to see if we can attack and invade foreign countries to remake them the way we want them to be. This "Star Trekian" notion that our troops can freely range over the glove, and engineer a better world by force is dangerously naive.

Support our troops. Keep them out of Kosovo and Yugoslavia.

Jane L. Hart

Livermore

3. POWER PLAY

Editor - When the smoke clears, we will find that the NATO war in the Balkans was a Cold War power play. Serbians didn't go along, so they were the bad guys. Atrocities, including bombed towns and villages, were committed by all the players. After the war there will be more sanctions which will further destabilize the region and many people will continue to suffer for years to come. Iraq is different. Iraq is about oil.

John Forsmark

Santa Maria

So it's the good news-bad news thing again. Good news is that there are still people who know how to use their brains. The bad news is that they are without any influence or power.