The balkin' States

The United States would be wise to stay out of the conflict in the Balkans, or else risk a protracted commitment

emocracy is a funny thing. When world leaders gettogeth- er on Friday nights to drink beer and play poker, demo- cratic heads of state never win. The reason is that they have to clear every decision with their wives, who are anything but discreet. Their hands are known by everyone at the table.

For the metaphorically challenged, I will translate. Leaders of the free world have to answer to their constituents. In America, for instance, the president will generally wait 24 hours after the public has been polled before choosing a course of action. Meanwhile, CNN and Fox News are broadcasting our policies to every country on the planet.

In light of the Vietnam War, it is no exaggeration to say that in a democratic country, war won't be declared until the people approve it. This being the case, other nations disregard the "poker face" of the leaders, and instead focus their attention on the face of the nation. The president of the United States doesn't have the option of bluffing.

It is important, then, that a democratic leader occasionally prove to his buddies that he still wears the pants. He must flex his muscles now and then, lest anyone doubt that he's the baddest ass at the table.

Translation: It's important to bomb foreigners now and then, to show off our arsenal. It also brings home the point that the leader can still garner the support of his own people. These skirmishes prevent world wars. The war in the Persian Gulf was not only a message to Saddam Hussein, but to any would-be aggressor who questioned American military superiority. Political maneuvering is nothing more than human behavior played out on a grand scale.

This scheme was supposed to work in Kosovo, but it hasn't. The plan was to knock out Milosevic in round one (the air strikes). But he didn't fall. Nothing looks worse for a champ than getting winded against a no-name opponent in a fight that should have taken 30 seconds. Well, almost nothing. Getting knocked down looks pretty bad too. We haven't hit the canvas yet, but we might. Here's why America needs to get out of this fight:

(1) We are already bobbing and weaving with Saddam Hussein. Why isn't anyone talking about the fact that we bombed Iraq last week? In the annals of military strategy, fighting a war on two fronts ranks right below Custer's Last Stand.

(2) We are facing a long and bloody war on foreign soil. It will leave us vulnerable to a real contender, like Russia. Just because they wait in line for three hours to get toilet paper doesn't mean they've lost their military genius. It comes as no surprise that the best chess players in the world have names that sound like brands of vodka. Have we become so arrogant that we overlook the possibility that, as with any fight, the opponent could land a lucky punch?

(3) We are interfering with the sovereignty of another country. Imagine a foreign leader dropping bombs on us because he disagrees with our domestic policy. Whether our behavior is right or wrong is not the point. The point is that, as a sovereign nation, we must conduct our affairs as we see fit. Has anyone considered the possibility that Serbians may have a right to self-determination?

(4) We will get restless. Our gas prices are going up faster than our bombs are going down. Our well-oiled military machine is more conspicuous in its consumption of natural resources than even the major corporations. America will have to fight a war on our own soil - a propaganda war, waged against our own people to secure support for a war in Europe. This place is going to get real ugly when our boys begin dying in somebody else's war. And, due to recent military downsizing, a draft might become necessary. Of course, taxpayers will go postal having to financially sponsor an expensive war.

This may be done under the guise of a NATO coalition, but we all know who is behind this war. And we're not so naive to believe the official reason behind it. Human rights are being violated around the globe, yet we overlook them.

Let us put an end to the genocide in Kosovo, but let's do it right. We're about to ignite World War III, and the world is watching.

Scott Bridges is a graduate
student in print journalism.

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 136, No. 58 (Tuesday, April 20, 1999), beginning on page 4 and ending on page 5.