Grassroot American View on Kosovo?

Dear WSNers

I took the liberty of asking a friend of mine who has email, is not a
World Sytem thinker, is not an academic, is not party politcal animal,
just an everyday ho hum American what his views are on the Kosovo
situation.  While this is not a scientific survey, his answer came
across to me as VERY American and I wonder if this answer is an
atypical American view point?  And if it is, what do you think of it?

The message that I used to stimulate his thinking was Elson's response
to Collin's message.  (The responsdent has no knowledge of the World
System Network and thought I posted/copied something from a news
article I had seen somewhere.)

Message from my friend Bob
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi Rick

I guess that I have some comments to the news clip that was below your
 request for information about what Americans think about the Kosovo
conflict.  Elson seems to revel in the weakness of the Americans role
in NATO and seems  to mock the fact that the USA will not even risk
the lives of its children to enter the Kosovo conflict.  Americans
have been seeing attitudes like Elson's  for many years being
propogated by much anti-American propoganda throughout the world. 
Although many of us younger folks were not involved in WWII, we
respect the commitment and the determination of our elder old soldiers
and patriots who ran straight into barrages of bullets and bombs onto
Omaha Beach 
to begin the ousting of the German invasion throughout Europe and
Asia.  That the world has forgotten Americans suicide invasion to help
save the world from Hitler is a slap in the face of many people here. 
Maybe we would all be  slaves to an Arian race if that had not
occurred.  Indeed, there are many Americans who are fed up and say
that the rest of the world can go to hell, 
let's close our borders and defend them.   Let the rest of the world
and its people kill themselves any way that they want to.   Let's let
bullys have their way with other ethnic groups, wipe them out, but let
us not lift a finger to help them.  This is apparently what Elson
wants.  When Elson, and whatever ethnic group he belongs to are chosen
for ethnic cleansing, maybe he will make a phone call to our president
for a little assistance?   No, not Elson, all is right with the world
if nobody intervenes and bully's get their way at the expense of his
and his peoples lives.

What do you do when negotiations and peaceful means do not stop an
aggressive leader like Milosovich?   When people need help, who do
they call?  I don't see China or Russia risking any of their lives to
help others out of trouble.  Most Russian and China's activity is
aggression against its own people and others who do not think as they
do.  The end of the Cold War had allowed 
America to change its attitude toward the rest of the world and its
people.  
It is no longer an empirialist attitude because we are seeing the
world more and more as a multicultural, multinational, and
interconnected place.   America still believes that it is immoral to
wipe out a race of people and that the wrongs of violence are gray
areas, not black and white.   Sometimes violence as the last resort is
the better of two evils.   "Two wrongs don't make a right" is not a
black and white adage.   Sometimes it can only take a 
wrong to correct something that is more wrong.  When right fails, what
do you do?  Yet, there are those anti-Americans out there like Elson,
who do not see America as it truly thinks, but propogates and feeds
the hate against all Americans. 

Yes, in my opinion, Vietnam was a great mistake.  And many Americans
have been critical of this era and have changed their view of our
government's role in the world because of it.  We must do this while
having compassion for those who took part in this conflict, because we
know that they did it because they believed that we were righting a
wrong.  Most americans do not have an empirialist attitude.  Most
americans want to have peace and stay the hell out of conflicts. 
Personally, I am not proud when bullets are thrown at other human
beings as a last resort.   But then there is our responsibility as
human beings to help others who are in need of help.  But, truthfully,
we are a weaker nation and we can not stretch ourselves to all who
need help.   
Americans are confused as to where we should be helping and where not.
 Americans would choose to solve all of our problems diplomatically. 
America does not choose to send its children into conflicts that can
be solved either diplomatically, or,  in more desperate situations,
attacks on the infrastructures of the aggressors.  Elson seems to
believe that Americans are 
over here enjoying all of the pretty bombs and explosions.  That we
are blinded by our technological magnificance.   Nothing could be
further from the truth.  Americans are wary of our government's
intentions and are repulsed by anything that appears like the old time
British empirialism.  So, we watch what our government is doing and we
expect to have it explained to us thoroughly.  And until it is, we
will not send our young people into conflict.  And we give our
government the benefit of the doubt, knowing that 
it can only do so much without the truth being made clear to us (in
major conflicts, that is.  we know that there are many things that are
still being done covertly, we don't like it, but we can't catch the
sonabitches).  We will not save the world until the world tells us it
wants our help.  Then we know that our role is still only limited by
the commitment of the rest of our allies.  Americans do not want to
lead alone, they want to cooperate and have consensus with the rest of
our allies.  Elson seems to mock that we are not 
sending American troops into Kosovo.   I agree with the decision not
to do this until the United Nations gets involved in the manner, as it
should.  Were it not for Russia and China, maybe the United Nations
would have been the major force in this conflict.  But when the UN
fails to stop atrocities, should NATO sit back and say, OK fine?   The
United Nations includes the NATO 
countries and, it should be expected that NATO forces be included in a
multinational force to relocate the Kosovo people back to their
homeland.

Well, Rick, I have ranted on about this.  I guess that I am just as
sick and tired as many other americans in the anti-american propoganda
that is out there.   And, when we are aware of wrongs done by our
government, we do speak back and have open debates.   Sometimes,
things are not made clear and the 
extent of our need to be involved is not explained in the complete way
that it should be by our government.  The lack of ability to get the
press into Yugoslavia to see for ourselves the extent of harm, makes
many of us hold back our opinion and have a little faith that the
intelligence forces of our government is telling us the truth.  It we
find out differently, then there will be repurcussions between these
people and our governmental representatives.  Most Americans are good
people who love their children and 
care about the health and well being of the world.   I do not believe
that the rest of the world cares about this side of America.  They
only get the bad press, or they only seek out the bad press.  

see  you

bob