Commentary / PERSPECTIVE ON INTERVENTION :...

The civil war in what was Yugoslavia is a religious war, deeply rooted in that most totalitarian of religions, Christianity, whose numerous sects often fight each other. Three hundred years ago, in the English Civil War, both Catholics and Protestants went into battle shouting, “Kill for Jesus!” Currently, Roman Catholic Bosnians fight Eastern Orthodox Serbians, as they have been doing, off and on, since the Fourth Century of our marvelous era. Wisely, the United States does nothing. We are too poor and too far away to put an end to the fighting. Also, we have quite enough race/class/religious wars here at home to keep us busy for another century.

Ideally, the United Nations should have military forces that could be used to monitor and ameliorate--if not stop--civil wars, but the United Nations has no money, largely because the United States chose not to pay its dues when we had the money. Now, of course, it is too late for us to influence great events in other lands. Time to detoxify our own garden.