Gary Hunt,
Outpost of Freedom
May 2, 1999Nearly every day, another bridge is destroyed in Yugoslavia. NATO/USG (US government) tries, desperately, to convince us that these are all military targets. Yes, I suppose this is true – for what item of goods or service does any civilian need that is not also needed by military personnel? Of course, bridges carry phone line, power lines, water and sewer lines, as well as train, vehicular and pedestrian traffic. So, by extending the definition to the extreme, virtually everything in the country of Yugoslavia, including television stations, is a ‘military target’.
Each day that another bridge is destroyed, or damaged, there is, however, one less object to put on the target list. This was becoming apparent when, on April 12, a railroad bridge near Leskovac was ‘hit’ by a television-guided bomb. Also ‘hit’ was a passenger train carrying civilians. To compound the attack, the plane made another pass and hit the train and bridge, one more time.
Other bridges have, when collapsed, blocked the longest river in Europe, the Danube. At this point, there are no significant bridges crossing that river, at least in Yugoslavia. Smaller bridges on smaller rivers have become the targets. One bridge, however, has become a symbol to the people, and the spirit of Yugoslavia. The Brankov Bridge, in Belgrade, has become a symbol of the resistance and defiance against the ‘invincible’ attacks from the air. Civilians, daily, stand shoulder to shoulder, singing songs, waving flags and wearing their "target" badges, in open defiance of the superior forces of NATO and its cronies.
Amidst all of the death and destruction, however, a new bridge was built, just this morning. That bridge was the sort of bridge that all hope for during times of war. It was a bridge to a means of peace. Only dictators, belligerents unwilling to compromise and insane leaders are unwilling to walk a bridge that might bring an end to the death and destruction.
Jesse Jackson (as much as I disrespect the man), on a mission of peace, and with the willingness of President Milosevic, built this bridge. When President Milosevic agreed to release the three American soldiers, who were captured on March 31, and asked that Clinton (not NATO) meet with him to discuss a resolution to the conflict, that bridge was in place.
President Milosevic, after what NATO described as their most intensive bombing campaign yet, especially considering the death of over thirty civilians when their bus was hit on another targeted bridge, had every reason to withdraw his offer of the release. Instead, standing to his word, he allowed the three GIs to leave Yugoslavia – free, once again.
Jesse Jackson carried a message to Clinton (not NATO), seeking negotiations to end the bombings and bring peace to Yugoslavia. Clinton bombed this bridge by refusing to do any more than acknowledge that he was grateful that the men had left captivity.
World War I and World War II ended with negotiated peace. Even the American Revolution ended with a negotiated peace. But, in each of these events, there were forces on either side capable of securing victory. In the instant ‘war’, however, one side acts with near impunity, both in their aggression and their attitude. A man, who holds no moral principle, at all decides NATO’s war. Without even consulting with the NATO ‘allies", he has decided that President Milosevic’s attempts to meet and discuss a resolution is without merit. This war is no longer NATO’s, nor is it the war of free people. It is a war owned, wholly, by the apparent head of the most despotic, criminal regime the world has seen in centuries. This is now Bill Clinton’s War.
The Bridge (of potential peace) that Bill Clinton just destroyed is a bridge that belonged to all peace-desiring people in the world. One man was able to destroy that bridge, without benefit of participation by the other members of the alliance in that decision. One man has created the means of perpetual war against, or absolute destruction of the sovereign nation of Yugoslavia. One man has become the ruler of the world --- unless!
Power is only obtained by assent or by force. Likewise, it is removed by assent or by force. Since all others, including the allies in this endeavor, have been ignored in the assertion of blind, insane and unconscionable refusal to seek a resolution, the maintenance of power is either by acquiescence, or not. If not, then the only means of the removal of this totalitarian authority is by force.
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