Today's indictment of Milosevic on charges of committing war crimes, and
the reaction to it by Albright and others, underscore the importance of
the fact that Milosevic was legally elected: Albright said that the
indictment shows the Serbian people that NATO's fight is not with them but
with their leader. (Obviously, one might wonder why then it is the people
and not the leader who are being bombed, but one knows the answer to that.
Same story as with Bosnia and Karadzic.) But if the leader is
democratically elected--and in fact he is, and by most accounts he is
apparently more popular now than ever--how can that possibly be the case?
What happens, moreover, if, once Serbia is made safe for democracy, the
Serbs elect another genocidal nationalist? And why is it that we
Westerners, generally, are weeping for Serbian civilian bombing victims
while wishing death on Milosevic? (The height of absurdity: a couple of
weeks or so ago a team including a former U.S. Senator went to Belgrade to
assess the damage and see what aid should be provided for the Serbs.)
How blissfully ignorant our faith in the holiness of democracy!
Matthew
---Matthew A. King---Department of Philosophy---York University, Toronto---
"Early in the morning, when day breaks, when all is fresh, in the dawn
of one's strength--to *read a book* at such a time is simply depraved!"
--------------------------------(Nietzsche)--------------------------------
the reaction to it by Albright and others, underscore the importance of
the fact that Milosevic was legally elected: Albright said that the
indictment shows the Serbian people that NATO's fight is not with them but
with their leader. (Obviously, one might wonder why then it is the people
and not the leader who are being bombed, but one knows the answer to that.
Same story as with Bosnia and Karadzic.) But if the leader is
democratically elected--and in fact he is, and by most accounts he is
apparently more popular now than ever--how can that possibly be the case?
What happens, moreover, if, once Serbia is made safe for democracy, the
Serbs elect another genocidal nationalist? And why is it that we
Westerners, generally, are weeping for Serbian civilian bombing victims
while wishing death on Milosevic? (The height of absurdity: a couple of
weeks or so ago a team including a former U.S. Senator went to Belgrade to
assess the damage and see what aid should be provided for the Serbs.)
How blissfully ignorant our faith in the holiness of democracy!
Matthew
---Matthew A. King---Department of Philosophy---York University, Toronto---
"Early in the morning, when day breaks, when all is fresh, in the dawn
of one's strength--to *read a book* at such a time is simply depraved!"
--------------------------------(Nietzsche)--------------------------------