Kosovo

Justification for the NATO bombings to "free" Kosovo from Serbia has depended on a collectivist myth. This is the consideration of action by some Serbians as one action by all Serbians in what was Yugoslavia, as if all Serbians are cells of a Serbian-body (the nation of Serbia) which seized Kosovo. If all the Serbs could not be held responsible en masse in this way for the actions of some Serbs, there would be no justification for killing random Serbs in a bombing campaign. And, there would be no justification for crippling the economy of the Serbs in general, in order to put pressure on them to remove Milosevic. The same is true of much larger and much costlier wars. Although the price is death and destruction, the utility of the myth of collective action ensures its popularity among many politicians. Assuming they are sincere in this belief, their belief alone would still not have an effect. The effect of war comes also because those who carry out wars such as this, believe themselves to be part of a collective, an American-body (the U.S.) or a British-body (the United Kingdom) for example. Wars such as the conflict over Kosovo occur in large part because of those who obey without question, as though they are muscular cells responding to a brain.

previously published on May 20, 2000
page re-created on July 8, 2006
page updated July 8, 2006 1:39 EST

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