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Pastimes : UN MEMBERS ARE BOMBING A MEMBER AND YOU ARE LOOKING ON? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: robnhood who wrote (11)	3/28/1999 8:46:00 PM
From: Rob Seligson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 23

Thanks for the reply. I have a five year old son. At the moment, he is obsessed with war. This is not an unusual interest for a small boy. From my experiences and readings, children approaching this age are confused about death and take a big interest in understanding the concept. I have done much work overseas and my son travels with me a lot. He was in Thailand, Singapore, Britain, Germany, and Indonesia during the latest crisis. And though he is only five, the following is a typical conversation with him, honest: he asks questions about the 2nd World War, Iraq, Star Wars, and SMALL SLOLDIERS, and specifically who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? I instill the idea that in most all wars, both sides believe that they are the good guys. The same holds true for the NATO/Kosovo crisis. Unlike the oil situation in IRAQ/KUWAIT, this is less an issue of economics but rather civility. Of course, there may be some undertones with the Islamic link to the middle east, but, the concerns with the majority of the NATO allies is the complete genocide of a people. How can anyone rationalize such a catastrophe. As I've said before, I am fed one side of the story, I'm sure there's another. Please enlighten me as to the Serb viewpoint. << If the people of the US are not enjoying this confrontation , why are the putting up with it... I believe it is because they have virtually no choice in the matter....They were told,, not asked....>> We are a very vocal people. I happened to be a very impressionable kid when the Vietnam protests were breaking out in the late sixties. Most all of the people I knew were very active and emotional about the day's issues. There are certainly a number of people that oppose the NATO strikes and are making themselves heard. We tend not to sit tight when we dislike what our gov't is doing. But in this case, I would have to say that the majority of the population does support the strikes. Again, it's a genocide issue for most people. As you know, America is but one voice in NATO, although certainly one of the strongest voices. Yet we take on the brunt of the criticism and become the greater target of terrorism, hence have the bigger risk. It would be much easier and certainly cheaper to turn a blind eye and let other countries kill each other. The cold war is over and the threat of communism appears to have been diminished, so why then is it necessary for us to continue to play the world's protector? If it's not economically - which I'm not so sure it's not - it must be based on our moral duties. What would have been the outcome if some nations took a stronger stand against Hitler when he walked into Poland? The outcome may have been drastically different, maybe even a more peaceful Balkans. Certainly, more of my family would be alive today. People overseas appear to have a very low esteem of Americans. I've spent much time on both sides of the pond. The truth, as I see it, is that we all peoples have basically the same level of intelligence though differing levels of education and exposure. The subtleties between the nations are greater, and not always so easy to detect. Why do the Brits generally hold their feelings in, the Americans louder and extroverted; why won't the Dutch offer you their first name when they meet you or the French reluctant to speak another language; and why do the Chinese nod their head yes to a question that is posed in front of their peers when they really mean no. These differences are what makes the world interesting and certainly not sufficient reasons for harming ones neighbor. Being an American, we take tremendous pride in the fact that we are a melting pot of peoples from all over the world. I for one, am from NY and have had the great privilege of living and working with most all peoples of the world. The Yugoslav population is quite large in NY and a few of the fellas I worked with some time ago had aspirations of making a lot of money in NY and returning someday. I don't know if their dreams ever came to fruition. I'm going to sign off for now. When you can, please provide your assessment of the Serbian public's feelings towards the conflict. regards, Rob