Kate Thomas, London
gecko_mtc@msn.com
Re:
Dissent is democratic
Date:
23 June 1999
SIR - I am insulted by the
ongoing insistence that critics of
Nato's bombardment of
Yugoslavia are somehow
disloyal or misguided and I
would like to set the record
straight.
There are several very wrong
assumptions made about critics
such as myself. Firstly, this is
not about a lack of support for
'our boys', but rather a belief
that they have been misused
and led into a
politically-motivated situation
which could end in many of
them losing their lives. It is
important to remember that this
conflict was avoidable, and
anyone who doubts this cannot
have read the text of the
Rambouillet agreement, which
was basically the proposed
take-over of the whole of
Yugoslavia. No leader could
have signed such a document
and Nato knew this. Diplomatic
means for a solution were not
exhausted.
Secondly, I am sick of hearing
comparisons with other 'wars'.
This was not a war, as clearly
stated by Mr Blair himself -
there was no vote in Parliament,
no declaration of war and no
royal consent provided. It was
an offensive action launched by
an alliance set up to be a
defensive body, with no UN
mandate passed to authorise
the use of force. This is proof of
illegality in itself, as is the
targeting of civilian
infrastructure and the
'accidental' or 'incidental'
damage, death and destruction
caused.
For those who still maintain that
the 'blunders' were genuine
accidents, ask yourselves why
in most of these cases the
bombers came back within a
few minutes to have a second
or third shot. And why were
ambulances arriving at the
scene to help civilian casualties
also struck when they were
clearly painted white with a red
cross on the roof? The
hospitals hit were similarly
marked and therefore protected
under The Geneva Convention -
was this a case of extreme
mass myopia?
Thirdly, the vast majority of
people who were against Nato's
bombing from the start, do not
doubt that atrocities have taken
place but we rightly question the
unsubstantiated facts and
figures put forward in Nato's
propaganda. As war was not
declared, we are entitled to
demand an open debate about
an action which has major
long-term consequences to
global stability and our own
economy. If our processes are
undemocratic, then how can we
aim to spread democracy in the
most arrogant fashion to
selected countries deemed to
be a 'just cause'? We're fast
becoming a 'just cause' for
democracy ourselves.
Most of all, it is impossible to
reconcile such heavy-handed
tactics against innocent
Yugoslavian civilians in a bid to
punish Milosevic and his armed
factions responsible for
atrocities. Now these same
civilians are encouraged by
Blair to rise up against their
leader and overthrow him in
order to redeem themselves,
despite the fact that he has a
heavily armed police force and
they are now so poor that they
can't even afford basic foods.
Perhaps they can poison him by
throwing him into the
Nato-polluted Danube.
telegraph.co.uk |
