[Newspoetry] editorial from The nation

[Sam Patterson]

May 31, 1999

     Protest the War

     See below for background and related information.

     It's time to move from dissent to action: to quickly and vigorously
protest the Kosovo war.
     Whether President Clinton and NATO escalate this disastrous
military engagement or initiate
     sensible negotiation will depend in large part on the domestic
political dynamic over the next
     several weeks. The White House knows public support ebbs with every
"accidental" strike on a
     hospital or marketplace, and the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in
Belgrade further depletes
     NATO's political currency worldwide.

     An administration that once thought the Kosovo conflict would be
over in a matter of days now
     finds its clock running down under the 1973 War Powers Act, which
allows the President sixty
     days from starting hostilities to secure Congressional approval or
begin extricating US forces.
     Congress has already refused to endorse the air war by its
213-to-213 vote on April 28. If by
     May 24 we're still at war, the President will have to return to
Congress in search of a new
     majority or risk having the war slapped down in court. So it's
crucial to solidify the current
     antiwar base in Congress and persuade liberals like Paul Wellstone
and Bernie Sanders, who
     support the war's early stages, to change their votes. The New
York-based International Action
     Center plans a June 5 demonstration in Washington, but local
pressure on elected representatives
     is just as critical.

     The antiwar campaign has so far been smaller than in the early days
of the Gulf War, owing to
     many constituencies' revulsion at the Milosevic government's
atrocities. But with fifty days of
     NATO bombing increasing Balkan suffering, it is clear that a
cease-fire and international
     peacekeeping efforts are the only realistic option.

     Religious communities have shown significant leadership: The United
Methodist Council of
     Bishops passed a resolution calling on NATO to halt the bombing,
and the Rev. Joan Campbell,
     general secretary of the National Council of Churches, was a
co-leader with Jesse Jackson of the
     delegation to Belgrade. An April teach-in at The New School in New
York drew 1,000, and
     overflow crowds have been reported at similar forums from Santa
Cruz to Syracuse. Rallies,
     town meetings and vigils have been held in at least thirty-three
states (see www.iacenter.org). On
     May 23, KPFK radio in Los Angeles, Southern California Americans
for Democratic Action and
     The Nation Institute will host a teach-in on the war, to be
broadcast nationally over the public
     radio satellite system. Hillary Clinton was greeted by protesters
in Ireland; there have been
     demonstrations in Italy, France and elsewhere; and the rank and
file of the German Green party
     are rebelling against their leaders' endorsement of the NATO
campaign.

     One beacon of clarity is UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary
Robinson, who has
     forcefully denounced the Orwellian euphemism "collateral damage"
and insisted that both Serbia
     and NATO be subject to investigation for war crimes. The first
Washington resignation to protest
     the war came from Jeremy Brecher, an aide to Sanders. Brecher wrote
that he had asked
     himself, "Is there a moral limit to the military violence you are
willing to participate in or support?
     Where does that limit lie?"

     The Kosovo war exceeds defensible limits daily. This is the time to
write, to call, to march--to
     make our voices heard