From: "Dave Coull" <d.y.coull-AT-dundee.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 12:31:11 GMT
Subject: We're All In NATO's Republic


Excerpts from an article by Jermey Hardy entitled 

>WE'RE  ALL  CITIZENS  OF  NATO'S  REPUBLIC

in the London-based  "Guardian"  newspaper.

>Those who are not confident in their views 
>often resort to abuse    -    the bastards !

>This appears to be very much the case with the pro-war
>lobby. Anyone who is not convinced that bombs are the best
>way to defeat Milosevic is met with a tirade of juvenile insults.
>Then, of course, Hitler is mentioned, in order to suggest
>that anyone asking exactly what are the aims of this
>war is a closet Nazi.

>I have not seen a substantive counter-argument 
>to the view that the war is destroying local opposition
>to Milosevic. It might be true that the cause
>of Kosovan independence is not widely popular
>among Serbs, but there has been persistent 
>opposition to Milosevic's terror. That opposition 
>has now been silenced.

(that is, silenced by NATO's bombs, which 
have only served to strengthen Milosevic.)

>Rather than considering Alex Salmond's description
>of "top-down nationalism", some on the left 
>have wandered towards the conclusion that
>the Serbs are just racists, that it is in their blood.

>The war's supporters are right to say that we all
>live in the same world. Indeed, some have pointed 
>out that British socialists volunteered to fight Franco.
>But so far, no one I know has volunteered to fight
>Milosevic............


Dave