DRAFT version 0.12
April 9, 1999

We, the undersigned members of the Caltech community, demand an immediate end to the immoral and illegal bombing of Yugoslavia by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

NATO bombing has taken the tragedy in Kosovo to a new level. The fighting within Kosovo has escalated at the onset of the US/NATO attacks, serving the Serbian regime with a pretext for the expulsion of the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo. At the same time, it has shut down nearly all independent observation and relief efforts within Kosovo. War has also demolished the internal nonviolent resistance to the Yugoslavian government and its policies in Kosovo and elsewhere. Additionally, strategic bombing of targets in densely populated cities like Belgrade and Pristina terrorizes and kills innocents who play no part in the conflict in Kosovo.

The NATO bombing is clearly illegal according to international law. The UN charter allows use of military force in only two cases: self-defense and maintainence of peace by Security Council mandate. NATO's own charter allows the use of force only in the UN context or in the event of an attack on a member nation.We have no confidence in the ability of the US or other NATO governments to prevent this conflict from deepening or spreading; checks and balances, in the form of international law, must not be blithely undermined, regardless of the nature of the conflict.

The prevention of genocide and "ethnic cleansing"is a noble goal. The US and NATO governments have many opportunities around the world to prevent human tragedy on a scale equal to or surpassing that in Kosovo without taking dangerous military action. For example, by refusing military aid to the government of Colombia until it stops murdering and uprooting peasants and human rights activists, we can end a crisis similar in scale to that in pre-bombing Kosovo. To end the ongoing Indonesian genocide in East Timor, which has killed nearly one-third of the population there, we simply have to stop arming, training, and providing diplomatic cover for the very soldiers carrying out massacres. To end the unprecedented humanitarian disaster in Iraq, where hundreds of thousands have died as a result of US-led sanctions, we can allow the people of Iraq to rebuild their water-treatment plants, restock their hospitals, and educate their young. All of these noble goals can be achieved without strategic bombing, but all eyes are on Kosovo.

The crisis in Kosovo is complex, deserving of a great amount of attention and care. US/NATO bombing does nothing to solve the problem; rather, it exacerbates and fuels it, while creating new problems. A greater understanding between two ethnic groups can never be reached through an escalation of conflict. The US/NATO bombing of Serbia must cease immediately.

Caltech Progressive Coalition