Peacekeeping forces

Nov 23 04:54 UTC 2000

   
   [11]<| [12]The Onion 15 November 2000 
   
   Serbia Deploys Peacekeeping Forces To U.S.
   
         BELGRADE--Serbian president Vojislav Kostunica deployed more
   than 30,000 peacekeeping troops to the U.S. Monday, pledging full
   support to the troubled North American nation as it struggles to
   establish democracy.
   
                                                                         
              Above: Serbian peacekeeping troops patrol Washington, D.C. 
                                                                         
         "We must do all we can to support free elections in America and
   allow democracy to gain a foothold there," Kostunica said. "The U.S.
   is a major player in the Western Hemisphere and its continued
   stability is vital to Serbian interests in that region."
   
   Special Report 
   [13]Nation Plunges Into Chaos ¯
   [14]NBC News Reverses Earlier Report Of Gore's Death ¯
   [15]Serbia Deploys Peacekeeping Forces To U.S. ¯
   [16]Bush Executes 253 New Mexico Democrats ¯
   [17]Communication With Florida Cut Off ¯
   [18]Clinton Declares Self President For Life ¯
   
         Kostunica urged Al Gore, the U.S. opposition-party leader who is
   refusing to recognize the nation's Nov. 7 election results, to "let
   the democratic process take its course."
   
         "Mr. Gore needs to acknowledge the will of the people and
   concede that he has lost this election," Kostunica said. "Until
   America's political figures learn to respect the institutions that
   have been put in place, the nation will never be a true democracy."
   
         Serbian forces have been stationed throughout the U.S., with an
   emphasis on certain trouble zones. Among them are Oregon, Florida, and
   eastern Tennessee, where Gore set up headquarters in Bush territory.
   An additional 10,000 troops are expected to arrive in the capital city
   of Washington, D.C. by Friday.
   
         Though Kostunica has pledged to work with U.S. leaders, he did
   not rule out the possibility of economic sanctions if the crisis is
   not resolved soon.
   
         "For democracy to take root and flourish, it must be planted in
   the rich soil of liberty. And the cornerstone of liberty is elections
   free of tampering or corruption," Kostunica said. "Should America
   prove itself incapable of learning this lesson on its own, the
   international community may be forced to take stronger measures."
   
   (c) Copyright 2000 Onion, Inc., All rights reserved.
   http://www.theonion.com/


(from a fellow translator, when I told her I was not keeping up with the
political situation in Eastern Europe, as JIm was only reporting on US
Elections)   

response 2 of 6:

Nov 23 07:27 UTC 2000

One of my favorite Onion headlines is from the "Our Dumb Century" Book:

"Bottom 10 Percent Of Last Year's Graduating Class Ready To Take On Saddam"

I found it amusing mostly because a friend of mine has often made the point
that a lot of right-wing political stands on things like birth control,
school reform, and whatnot, can be explained by the need to have a large
number of "disposable people" to sacrifice in time of war.

response 4 of 6:

Nov 23 08:16 UTC 2000

In the middle ages the church had something of the opposite view: wars
were a convenient way to dispose of the "excess" people produced when
famine, crop failures, or domestic disturbances failed to eliminate the
usual percentages of people.  The crusades were a more or less
deliberate attempt to do this, with the added bonus that all the bloody
bits happened far from home so any bad news could be conveniently
laundered (like war isn't glorious, mistakes happen, good people die for
no good reason, etc.)

Malthus's _An Essay on the Principle of Population_, published while he
was curate of Albury in Surrey, represents a seminal stage in the
transition between medieval & modern thinking, and has ever since been
used as an argument against improving conditions for the poor.

response 6 of 6:

Nov 26 19:40 UTC 2000

From the same friend in Seattle, a pointer towards an article written for the
Union (not the Onion), by Peter Lippman, currently in former Yugoslavia doing
things like monitoring elections in Bosnia and Kosovo:

www.unionrecord.com/opinion/display.php?ID-229

Using lynx, you type this at G(oto) then tab down to the line about Bosnia.