American troops are at it again: claiming to "keep the peace" in a foreign country while bombing that country to pieces. President Clinton ordered American soldiers, under NATO command, to try to stop a conflict in Kosovo that has been raging for hundreds of years. And on Tuesday evening, the U.S. Senate voted 58-41 in favor of a resolution supporting U.S. participation in NATO military operations in Kosovo, just hours after Secretary-General Javier Solana gave the go-ahead for air raids in Yugoslavia.
While it might seem that this raid on foreign soil is proper, necessary, and good for international security, the opposite is true. Majority Whip Don Nickles, who was part of a bipartisan group of senators who wrote the resolution of support, voted against the measure. He said that "I'm concerned we're making a mistake. I just don't believe you can bomb a country into submission and force them into a peace agreement that they determine is against their interests. I don't believe you can bomb a country and say, 'We're going to bomb you until you agree to have stationed 28,000 troops in your homeland."
The second World War, one of the bloodiest conflicts ever arisen on the face of our earth, was started by a small conflict in Europe. It ignited as more countries got involved, and grew to become a world war. The Kosovo crisis is feared to be the same situation. Senator Ted Stevens said that "We're coming close to starting World War III."
President Clinton is trying to make America the world policeman. The problem is, America is not. America should not be the world policeman. Trying to "keep the peace" in a country by bombing the country is like trying to stop a fire by adding more lighter fluid on it: it does not work.
This is not a matter for the use of the armed forces of the United States. This is not a matter demanded by our national security. This is not a way that we would even settle the civil war taking place in Kosovo today. As Senator Robert Smith said, "This is a mistake. This is a civil war. We're going to regret it." And as Russia has started mobilizing their army against us, it is clear that America and President Clinton have made a mistake: getting involved with the Kosovo crisis.
This article was written by Ryan Lee Stollar, the President of the Center for American Freedom.
