Hi all,
The crisis in Yougoslavia is not an internal matter for
that state. The Kosovan Albanians are a repressed national
minority attempting to assert their right to
self-determination. For the sake of peace one might support
a transitional settlement (the fredom to achive freedom as
Michael Collins put it). But the argument that it is an
internal question for the Milosivic regime, appealing to
China and Russia no doubt, is the worst form of legalistic
pedantry and collusion with reaction.
In days of yore socialists, while having no truck with
nationalist illusions, supported the right of democratic
national self-determination. As internationalists we should
support anything that furthers such democratic rights as
long as there are no over-riding countervailing imperatives
(for example, opposing Hitlerite expansionism clearly took
precedence over the national aspirations of Sudeten
Germans).
While NATO has its own selfish motivations (of course)
these do not strike me as over-riding to the extent that we
should oppose NATO military action at the price of leaving
the Kosovars to their fate. This is what NATO abstention
would mean.
There is also a danger of moral relativism here. The
milosovic regime is carrying out ethnic cleansing. The
moral responsibility for this cannot be shifted onto NATO.
One may as well blame the KLA for provoking repression. One
should not confuse the violence of the oppressor for the
violence of those who resist.
I hope everyone is well.
Fraternally,
Marc.
On Fri, 23 Apr 1999 17:05:07 +0100 J D Charlton
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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marc mulholland
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