U.S. Should Act In Kosovo, Africa
8.44 p.m. ET (145 GMT) March 28, 1999
ATLANTA U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson endorsed military action in Yugoslavia Sunday, saying Europe could fall like dominoes if NATO forces do not stop the slaughter of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
Rev. Jackson, head of the Rainbow-PUSH coalition, told reporters at a news conference that the United States and its allies have a moral obligation to use military force to persuade Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic to halt ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
"We know that unless we address Kosovo, that maybe Greece is next and Turkey is next and Europe is next,'' Jackson said. ''We must ...use this moment of strategic bombings to try to get Milosevic back to the table. He must not have the right to kill people while we stand idly by in isolation.''
Jackson, who has served as a special envoy for President Clinton to Africa, said not only should the United States be involved in ending the killings in Kosovo, but it should also apply the same policies to conflicts in Africa.
"It makes sense to me to help bail out people in Kosovo who are being killed by Milosevic,'' he said. "But if you do that, then you must include Ethiopia and Eritrea and Sierra Leone and the Congo one set of rules, just doing God's will.
"Our foreign policy must be driven by one common set of shared values,'' he said. "We've lost more lives in Sierra Leone than we've lost in Kosovo. We must use our leverage to end wars in Africa.''
As Jackson spoke, NATO forces launched a fifth night of bomb attacks aimed at Yugoslavia ground forces in Kosovo. The Pentagon said more U.S. warplanes, including long-range B-52 bombers, would be added to about 200 planes already involved in Operation Allied Force.
Jackson said the United States and its allies had no choice but to intensify the attacks. "We have the strongest, most modern military machinery in the history of the world,'' Jackson said. "We cannot stand idly by and use it just for parades when people are victims of genocide.''
Jackson was twice a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidency. He announced earlier this month that he would not be a candidate for a third time.