Re: Human Rights

["John Gelles" <jjgelles@xxxxxxxx>]

	"Had NATO countries spent the up to date cost of the war
	 on infrastructure projects in the Balkans, they would have
	 made it an ideal place to live and work without anybody
	 cleansing anybody else."

		-- Elias Karagiannis, April 14, on PKT


	Although the above thought is possibly wrong, for it is
	also true that Yugoslavia and other Balkan nations might
	have opted for domestic spending programs to ensure
	full employment and economic prosperity, Karagiannis
	nevertheless expresses what most of us believe --
	create prosperity and a good many social problems
	will be more amenable to solution.

	Having expressed the wish that nations would spend
	for peace instead of war, what remains for decision
	now is how to end the war.  Should we end it with a
	an award to the Serbians for doing what they did to
	innocents in Kosovo?  Do they deserve our gratitude
	because evil is done elsewhere?

	Many who support NATO want all Serbian murderers
	out of Kosovo.  They want an international force to
	keep peace between the ethnic parties there.  They
	want crimes against humanity to be punished.

	Others, like some voices here, want a different ending.
	Interestingly enough, many of these voices are from
	people who live in an economically advantaged region.
	Yet they find they hate the politicians who serve them.

	It just may be that the problems we expect prosperity
	to solve won't go away.  Ethnic or ideological identity
	and all that goes with it may keep us at war forever.
	Prosperity may not be enough.  If human rights are
	not enforceable, progress may not be possible.

		John Gelles