Monthly Review, Jul-Aug ’99    
U.S. Imperialism and NATO’s “Victory” in Kosovo

About NATO’s Bombing of Kosovo:

In the process, NATO also created another humanitarian disaster all its own: a whole country and its infrastructure wrecked, civilian lives ended or ruined (including the lives of people NATO’s action was supposed to save)…

Article quotes a lot from journalist Thomas Friedman on his advocacy of the bombing of Serbia and U.S. domination through constant warfare.

Quote cited from New York Times Magazine, March 28, 1999:

“The hidden hand of the market will never work without the hidden fist—McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley’s technologies is called the United States Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.”

What kind of free market requires aggressive warfare? That is NOT the free market. The free market needs freedom, peace and respect towards other nations. America’s aggressive foreign policy is a false caricature of capitalism and a disgrace.

In an article in the Times on April 23, for instance, [Thomas Friedman] called for a “merciless air war,” to “pulverize” the Serbian nation—bombing it back to the fourteenth century if necessary. “Give war a chance,” he said. In preference to a ground invasion that might bog the United States down as an occupying force for years, “Let’s see what months of bombing does.”

And all the innocent people suffer for the actions of the guilty. So those governments – democratic or not – who carry out the bombing are also guilty of whatever injustices they commit against life and property.

(Original Post)