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Freethought Association of West Michigan

Wyoming Library, Wyoming, MI

Wednesday, June 9, 1999, Meeting #48

In the announcements, it was mentioned that Dirk Nebeling was

recovering nicely from heart surgery, and Charles LaRue badly injured a

knee in a bicycle accident.

The censorship of internet material in the Hudsonville and Jenison

libraries was reviewed by Tim. Hudsonville has allowed one terminal to be

'open', but Jenison does not allow any to be open, possibly begging a

future lawsuit. Access to a Planned Parenthood site was blocked by the

Jenison library.

"Kosovo Crisis" was this evening's topic, moderated by Dr. Kris Lou,

Assistant Dean of International Programs and Cultural Studies at Aquinas

College. Regarding the downside of the conflict he said that some

international organizations were weakened by NATO action. One casualty in

the war is our relationship with China. Russia has not been entirely

supportive because a majority of Russians feel that NATO is a threat. If

the World Court deliberates, the U.S. may have to deal with the hypocrisy

of our not having been supportive.

Dr. Lou said that in that region the intermingling of the population

occurred under Communism. Even though the Slavs should be considered more

of a linguistic group than an ethnic group, a form of "bipolar

disintegration" triggered the strife. After the Soviet Union broke up,

ethno-nationalsim was released in that region that previously had been

curtailed. People remember the atrocities that occurred in past

generations as their lands were the site of wars and changing rulers. The

religious shrines in Kosovo are so sacred to the Serbs that they don't

want them under Muslim dominance. There is some

irony to our support of Muslims in this conflict.

Why did U.S. and NATO become involved in this crisis? Dr. Lou quoted

the statement "You can lead American people to information, but you can't

make it think." The media may not have portrayed the situation accurately

as they have not been allowed to be present. TV is not totally reliable

as the nature of that medium is to provide a quick brush of the scene with

its concomitant lack of depth in reporting. There has been a heavy

emphasis on the idea that we have been involved because of

humanitarianism. Economic reasons, however, loom largely on the basis

that a capitalistic economy is superior. The stock market has flourished

during this war period as never before, and war related industries have

especially benefited. It was feared that a destabilized Europe could

threaten the economy.

Other points of discussion centered on the futility of war, that no one

wins. The U.S. appears to believe that bombing equates with doing

something. There may be reason to question why we call a war defensive

when we go beyond our borders to make war. With the apparent success of

victory in Kosovo, will the U.S. and/or NATO be expected to stop ethnic

cleansing in other areas? Will there be a problem with trumping the

victory?

If the current conflict was to have been avoided, possibly truer

negotiations could have been tried, especially in Dayton where Kosovo was

granted to Milosevic. More could have been done, possibly, to rejuvenate

the local economy.

In summary Dr. Lou indicated that NATO has to be cautious as to how the

victory is regarded; it is not known how it will play out. The war crimes

issue will be a sensitive matter. NATO could come under criticism as the

charter (1) forbids aggression against a sovereign nation, and (2) bars

destruction of civilian targets, utilities, generators. He also felt that

NATO violated the War Powers Act which requires Congress to decide on

matters

of war.

_______________________

Next meeting: Wednesday, June 23, at 7 p.m. "Diversity" by Tharani

Jayaratnam. Wyoming Library.

Keep in mind that our meetings are held every second and fourth Wednesdays

of each month at the Wyoming Library, 7 p.m. , 3350 Michael Ave. SW,

Wyoming. As the attendees discovered at this 6-9 meeting, hot humid

weather is no problem; there is air conditioning.

Marv Boyes left copies of a very interesting and topical article he wrote

under the banner - the INFIDEL'S NOTEBOOK, #1. The title is "What Would

Jesus Do?"