The tragic accidental bombing of Kosovar civilians by NATO and US warplanes demonstrate the need to stop and examine the consequences of the NATO attacks. Three weeks of vigorous NATO missile and bombing attacks have resulted in a humanitarian and political disaster of enormous proportions. War and ethnic cleansing have moved all parties away from the political goals that each stated when the conflict began. NATO's bombing has only increased the killing and escalated the ethnic cleansing. Tremendous suffering and a colossal waste of human and material resources have been brought to the region by the militarization of this conflict.
War is never the solution.
Lasting peace can only come through serious negotiations and creative, nonviolent alternatives. It is imperative that the world community, through the United Nations, bring its moral weight to bear on the region so that war and genocide can be stopped. Eight years of American military action in Iraq has not brought peace or stability to the region, but has strengthened the autocratic rule of the Iraqi government. Likewise the past three weeks of bombing have strengthened the rule of Slobodan Milosevic and weakened the forces for peace and democracy in Yugoslavia and Kosova. We urge the Clinton Administration and NATO to heed the voice of the World Council of Churches, the Vatican, and other religious bodies calling for an immediate cease-fire, nonviolent alternatives, and humanitarian aid.