Stop the Bombing now!

[Gar Lipow]

Max, you seem to have drifted on to safe ground by answering the
arguments of the ultra-extremists -- the ones who fall into your trap
on the "Hitler" question. I think the real questions in Kosovo are:
1) Does the bombing save lives? You still have provided no evidence
that the answer is yes. In fact you have admitted that you are
skeptical on th question. My friend, there is neither a moral nor a
practical basis for a  bombing that will kill thousands of people and
is likely to accomplish nothing in saving lives, or weakenign
dictators. (But the bombing will help M. get a stronger hold on
Serbia. People under bombardment always rally around their leader --
no matter how dispicable.)  
2) There is also no evidence that this bombing is legal under
international law. Opposing Hitler at Normandy and in fact the first
time he cross out of the border of Germany would certainly have met
the interntational law test.

If you want an alternative policy (like Paul, operating on the
counterfactual assumption that the U.S. actually has good intentions)
-- try direct bribery of the Serbian and Albanian peoples of both
Serbia and Kosovo to agree to a peace settlement. 

Erratum: In an earlier post, I said Margaret and Carrol were very
close to  mainstream opinion in the  U.S. on the Kosovo issue, and
thus were worth engaging.  I meant of course Margaret and Max.  I
would never deliberately accuse Carrol of such a thing . 

P.S. -- to Max on the Hitler test; in my old High School, I was on the
debate team. There was a rule that as long as the issue under debate
involved stuff that happened after WWII, and was not directly related
to German war crimes, the first person to bring up Hitler
automatically lost the debate.