PAYBACK TIME IN KOSOVO BY GLOBAL MARINE CORP
Mixmaster
[Jon Dougherty]
------------------------------------------
[WND Exclusive Commentary]
------------------------------------------
'Payback time' in Kosovo?
------------------------------------------
Š 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
"I want to see some action. It's payback
time," said Sgt. Alexander Aguilastratt,
24, from Miami. "The thing that makes me
really mad is that Serb units were
behaving like they were returning war
heroes. They got their a-- kicked." He
added, "When we see the leader of the
Tigers Brigade saying that, if Americans
bring troops to Kosovo, it will be another
Vietnam, all we got to say is 'bring it
on.'"
The above excerpt came from the June 18
online edition of the London Times,
describing the sentiments of some of the
U.S. Marines from the 1st Division that
have been sent to enforce the peace in
Kosovo. I can't tell you how saddened I
was when I read this and other comments
being made by U.S. Marines and other
American forces that have been sent to
take part in yet another dubious
"peacekeeping" effort, compliments of the
Clinton administration. I can only hope
that whomever is anointed with the Oval
Office in 2000 has the foresight and
wisdom to get our military forces out of
regions like Bosnia and Kosovo before they
become, in essence, fortified zones on the
caliber of North and South Korea. We'll
need the next eight years to rebuild our
forces after the decimation they have
suffered at the hands of the corrupt
Clinton regime.
As a former naval reserve corpsman combat
trained by the Marine Corps, I have no
illusions that the U.S.M.C. is very
capable of stifling any resistance they
may encounter in Kosovo, be it from Serb
army regulars or KLA narco-terrorists
refusing to give up their guns. What
saddens me is that our troops seem to have
gone beyond the neutrality required to be
peacekeeping forces, and instead see their
role in Yugoslavia as something more than
what it is. This is worrisome, because
despite what you may think about Serb
forces, KLA forces in many cases are no
better. Anyway, this conflict isn't now,
nor was it ever, our fight to begin with.
Consequently, looking for "payback"
signifies to me that both the U.S.
government and U.S. commanders on the
ground have done a dangerous thing in this
civil conflict -- they've taken a side.
Not a smart thing to do when you're
supposed to be bringing peace to all
factions in the region. Also not a smart
thing to do after taking sides in the
civil conflicts of Korea and Vietnam.
I now wonder: has the Clinton
administration successfully turned the
entire U.S. military into a force designed
for retribution instead of a force
designed to protect and defend the United
States? If that's the case, it's no wonder
the Founding Fathers feared a standing
army. Obviously they were afraid some
future corrupt U.S. administration could
eventually turn any standing military
force into something like what it is today
-- well-armed policemen and paid political
mercenaries to be used against anyone,
foreign and domestic.
My "hitch" in the reserves, which began
during the last days of the Bush
administration, was enjoyable, rewarding,
and fulfilling. Even though I was a
"swabbie" in a Marine Corps world -- which
had its risks -- I was able to learn to
appreciate the Marine Corps and was more
than willing to "put it on the line" for
the Marines in any platoon where I was
assigned. Those, however, were the end of
the "good ol' days" -- before military
training turned more towards awkward and
ambivalent "peacekeeping" and away from
good old fashioned combat training.
Perhaps our troops today don't remember,
but there have been plenty of other
political reprobates in the past with
powerful militaries and axes to grind. In
many cases, their military misadventures
were launched because they convinced their
people and their armies that it was
"payback time" for somebody who didn't
deserve it. Troops, eager to please the
boss, eagerly went forth and executed
their missions flawlessly, which led to
years of conflict and much unnecessary
death and destruction.
God in Heaven, I don't want to see that
happen to our military.
At the outset of our involvement in World
War II, it could easily be said that, yes,
we "owed some payback" to the Japanese for
what they did to us, but we're not talking
about a surprise attack on Sunday morning
against one of our largest naval
facilities. Today, we're not talking about
defending ourselves against an aggressor.
We're talking about recrimination against
Yugoslavian army soldiers who were doing
what they were ordered to do, and who
never threatened the U.S. even once while
doing it.
Thinking that we need to "payback" the
Serbs is not only morally wrong but it's a
slippery slope we don't want to negotiate.
If we apply the logic the Clinton
administration used in Yugoslavia to the
rest of the world, well, there are plenty
of other regimes that need to be "paid
back" as well. Are we going to attack all
of them too?
Then there are the regimes in the world
who feel the United States ought to be
"paid back" for one thing or another. We
may not see it that way, but you can bet
your jackboots they do.
What our gung-ho troops don't understand
is that perception is nine-tenths of
reality. Though they may feel the Serbs
are at fault in Yugoslavia, the Serb
soldiers, for the most part, are convinced
they were acting in Yugoslavia's national
interests, which is more than I can say
for NATO and the U.S. Serb soldiers were
attempting to reign in a rebellious
Yugoslav province.
You can forget the mainstream media
ranting about "mass graves," "Serb
reprisals," and "ethnic cleansing,"
because the ethnic Albanians have done,
and continue to do, the very same things
Serbs have been accused of doing.
The point is, Serbs believe they were in
the right. The KLA believes it is in the
right, and now, U.S. Marines and other
"peacekeeping" forces believe they are in
the right. There cannot be three "right"
sides in this conflict; somebody has to be
"wrong." But whom? That depends on which
uniform you're wearing.
With so much ambiguity regarding right and
wrong, it cannot be appropriate for U.S.
forces to land in Kosovo with the feeling
that they somehow "owe" one warring
faction more pain and suffering while
ignoring the other. Regardless of how
"right" we think we are, before all of
this is over in Kosovo there will a number
of different factions who disagree with
us. They will take their disagreements out
on our forces.
"Payback" is not an appropriate reason for
warmaking.
-------
Jon E. Dougherty is a senior writer and
columnist for WorldNetDaily, as well as a
morning co-host of Daybreak America.
--------------------------------------------------------
[WorldNetDaily.com]
---------------------------------------------------------
Š 1999 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
---------------------------------------------------------