----- Original Message -----
From: "Louis Proyect" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> But the fact that he was able to do
>so reflects not just his personal qualities but a rough reflection of the
>Serbian democratic will, an unfortunate reflection on that population. And
>that is one reason I could support the Kosovo intervention and war with
>Serbia, precisely because there was collective responsibility by Serbians
>for the crimes in Kosovo - collective responsibility in the sense that all
>democratic systems share for their government's policy.
-Interesting. The Goldhagen thesis adapted to Yugoslavia.
Short memory. I did that a while ago. But the idea that people might have
some responsibility for the actions of their government is hardly some
bizarro way-out idea. It's a basic tenet of any democratic theory. And
when a people democratically support atrocities by their government, it is
not just the leadership that bears responsibility but the people themselves.
Some people have noted that Milsoevic was partly rejected in this election
because the population wanted to escape the sanctions that the US and Europe
have imposed. That result is exactly the point of imposing the sanctions.
And they made sense only because we had some expectation that popular
pressure could force Milosevic out. Compare this to the sanctions against
Iraq, which amount to the murder of innocents, since the Iraqi people have
so little democratic power, it is hard to hold them responsible for
Hussein's government's actions, and they have little power to oust him.
-- Nathan Newman
