War Liberal

I think Hitchens is one of the most intelligent and funny authors I have read. But he sure does get on my nerves sometimes.

As bad as Milosevic may have been, the Good vs. Evil dichotomy created to describe the situation in the former Yugoslavia is no more based in reality than Bush's "us vs. them" mentality. It was merely the Liberal version of the Neo-Con's war on terrorism--and a convenient way to divert attentions from the Lewinsky mess that was going on at the time Clinton decided to bomb. I'm no Milosevic apologist, but I find the tendency to stamp with approval the bombing of Serbia while condemning the invasion of Iraq more than a bit hypocritical. Both were/are wrong, IMO. The dead civilians in Serbia are no less dead because they were killed by a Democrat. Besides, has everyone forgotten the rehabilitation of Nixon's image after his death? He was the leader in charge when more than a few war crimes were committed in Vietnam, but dignitaries were lining up to praise him.

"I'm no Milosevic apologist, but I find the tendency to stamp with approval the bombing of Serbia while condemning the invasion of Iraq more than a bit hypocritical."

The difference being that Milosevic invaded Kosovo and began a campaign of ethnic cleansing, not to mention his previous atrocities in Bosnia. Considering that WWI started because of Balkan nonsense, the situation was dangerous and had the potential of escalating past a regional conglaguration.

We bombed him without loss of American life and acheived the primary objective: Serbian withdrawal from Kosovo. It also helped initiate the war crimes tribunals for the architects of the atrocities that took place there.

I remember that at the time, Republicans were using a lot of the same rhetoric emplyoed by Democrats now, plus many of those who opposed the action were supporters of Milosevic. They cloaked their opposition in isolationist rhetoric, but I always detected a hint of admiration and support for a kindred spirit.