Genocide

[Seth Ackerman]

Doug wrote:

<<The point was originally raised in the
context of the Yugo war - that if the U.S. was claiming the right to
violate Yugoslavian sovereignty on the basis of genocide, the claim
could
be made with equal legal justification about the U.S. itself>>

I agree that the U.S. should be held to the same standards as every
other country. And there's no doubt the U.S.'s claim of genocide in
Yugoslavia is spurious. But the claim about ongoing genocide in the U.S.
rings terribly hollow to me. 

If you want a counterexample to Kosovo, look at the Kurds in Turkey.
30,000 people killed, versus, at most 3000 in Kosovo. 3000 villages
destroyed and depopulated, versus 200 in Kosovo. Estimates of internal
refugees range from 275,000 to 2 million versus 700,000 or 800,000 total
refugeed in and around Kosovo. With most of Turkey's weapons supplied by
the U.S. All because of scorched-earthed policies to combat separatist
guerrillas with shady reputations themselves, in both cases. As a U.S.
State Dept. official said in '92: the U.S. "sees nothing objectionable
in a friendly or allied country using American weapons to secure
internal order."

If Russia decided to launch a "humanitarian intervention" by lobbing
missiles into Ankara without going to the Security Council -- "hey, the
Americans would just veto it!" -- we all know what the American response
would be. 

As for the "U.S. genocide," I still think it's an abuse of language.

Seth