Very interesting posting. Prudy
To the Editor, Miscellaneous murder is what's left over after considering war, terrorism and genocide. War and Terrorism belong to the class some thinkers know as "Sacrificial Deaths". The recently discovered 500 year-old bodies of children sacrificed by the ancients in South America would are an example. Wars of whatever ilk, Civil or merely unfriendly, are sacrificial. Drive through rural France - Read on hundreds of small monuments: "Mort pour la France". The "holy war" the "good death", the "people's" rebellions become sacred if they succeed.' Otherwise they are "terrorist acts". Genocides aren't necessarily sacrificial, but they are very special. Miscellaneous Murder is so commonplace its boring unless it interferes with your own life; but is dramatic and exciting when expertly portrayed in the news media, in movies, TV games or other entertainments. Family murders, among lovers, spouses, parents, children, other relatives and friends ares commonplace; although along with murder by cops, murder for hire, and as penalty for violating the codes of gangsterdom, family murders in this country may be declining. There is probably much we can do to reform our domestic culture of violence; but we also need more attention, discussion and resolution of our public attitude towards genocide. Whatever we learned from the history of the German and Russian genocides of mid-century has potential value other than movies, monuments and occasional reparations. Ethnic cleansing causes more pain than Hitler's ovens, for pain afflicts living victims, women and children who have lost their loved ones. Death is longer than life, but, so far as we know, the dead suffer no pain. Count the living victims of Kosovo cleansing; mostly women and children. They are herded like cattle, subject to beatings and rape, malnutrition, and disease, not to mention the psychological impairment of having husbands, parents, adult male offspring, murdered before their eyes or corraled for mass execution. World War I brought new terror for the innocent: collateral death from aerial bombs; but not personally authorized systematic ethnic cleansing by uniformed or un-uniformed agents of a supreme leader. Hitler and Stalin made genocide famous; but did not concentrate on women and children. The promise of Nuremberg and the United Nations has been wasted. Only rigorous development and enforcement of international legal arrangements can provide a framework for preventing "ethnic cleansing". NATO's undeclared war is somewhat like the practice in Vietnam of destroying the village to save it, except it means destroying ordinary people to save their genocidal leader. He perpetrated the ethnic cleansing from which he will once more escape scot-free as NATO makes yet another deal. So let's appeal to those who care most about justice, whatever their office, religious, philosophic, philanthropic, political or otherwise - Let these intelligent and learned and morally concerned citizens find a way for the nations of the world to apprehend, bring to trial, convict and punish those guilty of ethnic cleansing. Sincerely, Hugh Bone
