wfn.org | Commentary: Give peace a chance

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 7, 1999  News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71BP{318}

NOTE:  A file photograph of Bishop Marshall L. Meadors Jr. is available.

A UMNS Commentary
By Bishop Marshall L. Meadors Jr.

The logic of war in Yugoslavia goes like this: Milosevic commits atrocities
in Kosovo, so NATO commits atrocities in Serbia.

Milosevic terrorizes innocent ethnic Albanians, so NATO terrorizes innocent
Serbs.

Serb police have killed more innocent Albanians than we have killed Serbs,
so we can continue to kill innocent Serbs and Albanians.

What's the endgame here? When we have killed as many innocents as they have,
will we be even? Will both sides then call it a draw and halt the violence? 

NATO explains that when our bombing kills civilians, it's an accident. But
when we know from almost daily experience that the bombing will kill the
innocent, is it still an accident?

There have been too many accidents:
*	The bombing of the Chinese Embassy
*	The bombing of a civilian train on a bridge over the Jezna Morava
River
*	The bombing of Albanian refugees in southern Kosovo
*	The destruction of a civilian bus with 24 killed, including four
children
*	The demolition of four houses in the town of Merdare by
anti-personnel bombs "killing five people, including Bozina Tosovic, 30, and
his 11-month-old daughter, Bojana. His wife, six months pregnant, is in the
hospital." (The New York Times)
*	The killing of at least 11 people in a residential area of
Surdulica, a town in southern Serbia. Stephen Erlanger of The New York
Times, describes the scene of "mounded rubble across the narrow Zmaj Jovina
Street where Aleksander Millic, 37, died. Mr. Millic's wife, Besnea, 35,
also died. So did his mother and his two children -- all of them killed
about noon, when an errant NATO bomb obliterated their new house and the
cellar in which they were sheltering." 

American historian Howard Zinn reports the following message that he
received from Professor Didanovic, of the University of Nis: "The little
town of Aleksinac, 20 miles away from my home town, was hit last night with
full force. The local hospital was hit and the whole street was simply wiped
off. What I know for certain is six dead civilians and more than 50 badly
hurt. There was no military target around whatsoever."

Although NATO bombing does not seem to be defeating the Yugoslav army, we
are having success against the civilian population. And these deaths are
accidents!

Some say that it's OK for innocent Serbs to be punished because they have
not risen up against Milosevic. NATO has even indicated that a part of the
strategy is to inflict pain and suffering on the people, expecting that they
will overthrow their leader.

What irony. For years, Milosevic victimized his own people. Now they are
being victimized by his enemies.

Mr. Clinton seems surprised that when we bomb the Serbs, they don't blame
Milosevic. They blame us. 

Most heart wrenching of all is the violence to the children. Over 750,000
Kosovar Albanians have been displaced from their homes and their country. As
many as half of them are children 15 years of age and younger.

And the Serbian children are likewise victimized, violated and killed. Three
months ago, the children of Yugoslavia believed that the people of the
United States were their friends. Now the war has created a new generation
in that part of the world that will likely grow up hating their peers in
this country and throughout Europe. 

People of all faiths in Yugoslavia are calling for an end to the violence.
Jews, Muslims and Christians share feelings of solidarity with their Serbs
neighbors. 

All people of goodwill should be enraged at the dehumanization of both the
ethnic Albanians and the Serbs.

Violence will not defeat violence. Injustice will not cast out injustice. It
is time to demand a halt to the bombing. It is time to stop the ethnic
cleansing in Kosovo. It is time to stop the violence against the Serbs. It
is a time for peace in Yugoslavia. Any viable peace agreement is better
than the conflict and the violence. 

Mr. Milosevic has said that he will pull his forces out of Kosovo when the
bombing stops. Why not call for a 72-hour bombing pause? Give him the
opportunity to prove that he is serious. 

It is time to negotiate a settlement. It is time to give peace a chance. 
# # #
*Meadors is bishop of the United Methodist Church's Mississippi Area. He
visited Belgrade as a member of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's interfaith
delegation, which won the release in May of three U.S. soldiers who had been
captured by Serb forces. Meadors also is chairman of a task force guiding
the United Methodist Council of Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty.

______________
United Methodist News Service
http://www.umc.org/umns/
newsdesk@umcom.umc.org
(615)742-5472