while not allowing the Serbian majorityrnin the Republika Srpska to withdrawrnfrom Bosnia?rnThe Serbs have been characterized asrn”bullies” due to the “ethnic cleansing”rnthat accompanied their actions in thernBosnian civil war. During the March debate,rnRep. Tom Bliley (R-VA) declared,rn”Remember, we hesitated and did not gorninto Bosnia right away. We were treatedrnevery night to the atrocities on CNN.”rnOne can only wonder how many of ourrnscarce Army divisions would be scatteredrnacross Africa if CNN camera crews felt asrncomfortable operating in Rwanda, thernCongo, or along the Ethiopian-Eritreanrnborder as they do in the Balkans. (Thernsame day Congress was debadng Kosovo,rnthe Ethiopian military assaulted the Eritreanrnenclave at Baduma with armoredrnand air forces; without media coverage,rnhowever, the battle’s perceived impactrnon the outside world was no greater thanrnits actual impact.)rnThroughout the debate. House membersrnseemed uncertain whether to brandrnthe Serbs as fascists or communists.rnShifting from the world wars to the ColdrnWar, Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-CT) arguedrnfor unlimited intervention as an extensionrnof NATO’s traditional role.rn”[F]or all the talk of an end game, if wernhad had the discussion when we put NATOrnforces in Europe to stop Communistrnexpansion, and said, how long are yourngoing to be there, are you going to be outrnof there in two years, out in a year, wernwould have lost Europe.” Will the “loss”rnof Kosovo today mean the loss of Europerntomorrow? And, if so, to whom?rnIn one of the strangest presentations ofrnthe day. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) seemedrnunsure whom we were opposing duringrnthe Cold War: “[T]he reason Europe isrnstable today is that we invested afterrnWorld War II to make sure that it wouldrnnot come apart; that it would not be takenrnover by fascists. We did that throughrnthe Marshall Plan.” Talk about seeingrnno enemies to the left!rnMoran then employed the dominorntheor’. “If we do not do the right thingrnin Kosovo today, tomorrow it will bernsome place else because other bulliesrnaround the world will be empowered byrnMilosevic’s success in Kosovo.” Butrnwhen the issue was the 1991 House resolutionrnauthorizing American troops torndrive Iraq out of Kuwait, reversing a truernact of aggression, Moran voted “no” afterrnattending an anti-war rally.rnAlexander Hamilton argued againstrntrusting the House to conduct foreignrnpolicy, writing that “accurate and comprehensivernknowledge of foreign politics;rna steady and systematic adherence to thernsame views, a nice and uniform sensibilityrnto national character . . . are incompatiblernwith the genius of a body so variablernand numerous.” However, beforernthe debate over Kosovo is cited as proofrnof the superiority of Hamilton’s preferencernfor executive supremacy in internationalrnaffairs, it should be rememberedrnthat the abuses of history chronicledrnabove were committed in support of arnpolicy formulated by the White Housernon the same suspect principles.rn— W. Robert HawkinsrnT H E “KOSOVO STANDARD ” mayrnbe the unseen danger in the U.S./NATOrnmilitary intervention in support of thernKLA and, presumably, in favor of theirrnpolitical ambitions. White House spokesmanrnJoe Lockhart has confessed that thernalliance is fighting for the “autonomyrnand self-government of the Kosovo Albanians.”rnIn other words, the United Statesrnand its NATO allies are supporting arnKosovo secession movement. This is thern”Kosovo Standard,’ and ethnic minoritiesrneverywhere that aspire to be freernfrom the fetters of the modern unitaryrnnation-state must be celebrating in anticipationrnof this alliance coming to theirrnrescue just as soon as fighting subsides inrnthe Balkans.rnIf the U.S. government (more precisely,rnthe American Empire) operated consistentiyrnon principle rather than expediency,rnit would be worried aboutrnestablishing a precedent for the KosovornStandard. Suppose that the AmericanrnSouthwest (including Southern California)rnbecomes predominantly Hispanicrnearly in the next century. The AztianrnLiberation Army (ALA), in an attempt tornbreak off territory in order to form an independentrnHispanic state or to bringrnabout a reconquista on behalf of Mexico,rnengages in terrorist activity against federalrnand state authorities and attacks non-rnHispanic civilians.rnThe ALA’s pretext? “Human rights violations”rnby the Lhiited States againstrnMexican-Americans. The U.S. BorderrnPatrol and National Guard units fromrnTexas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Californiarntake the field against the ALA tornthwart Hispanic territorial ambitions.rnPleas for action against “Anglo racism”rnare picked up and parroted by the internationalrnmedia. Videotape footage ofrnYankee brutality along the border dominatesrnthe airwaves, and La Raza undertakesrna massive propaganda campaignrnfor intervention against the Anglos.rnWashington is accused of “ethnic cleansing”rnas American forces succeed in drivingrnALA fighters toward the Mexicanrnborder. Streams of pitiful Hispanicrnrefugees follow them southward, chokingrnthe dusty roads leading to Tijuana,rnJuarez, and Matamoros. The BBC conductsrninterviews at border checkpointsrnacross the Rio Grande, soliciting tales ofrnhorror and brutalit’.rnRemembering the “Kosovo Standard”rnof 1999, Third World nations petitionrnNATO to act to prevent an “humanitarianrndisaster.” NATO officials balk at thernrequest. But how will they wriggle out ofrnthis one? All the preconditions for arn”Kosovo Standard” military action havernbeen met. Must the air strikes begin inrnorder to “degrade ” America’s military capabilities?rnShould the Hague Tribunalrnbrand the American president a “warrncriminal” and call for his immediate arrest?rnHow long will it take before TonyrnBlair calls him a “bush-league Milosevic”rnand CNN begins broadcasting picturesrnof “the worst humanitarian disasterrnsince Kosovo”?rnOf course, a wise and prudent administrationrnwould never have let itself bernsucked into such a sticky situation in thernfirst place. Simply put, it’s not America’srnplace to run the world. Hubris always exactsrnits price; pride goeth before a fall.rnWhat will the leaders of the Americanrnregime do when they find themselvesrnplaying the role of the Serbs in some nottoo-rndistant fuhire, trying to keep theirrnown multicultural and multiethnic empirernin order, and one of their ethnic minoritiesrnreminds the world of the KosovornStandard? Just something for our imperialrnmasters to think about—betweenrnbombing runs.rn—Michael HillrnPOLITICS, thev sav, makes strangernbedfellows, but that’s nothing comparedrnto constitutional amendment. A fewweeksrnago, I found myself testifying beforernthe Constitution Subcommittee ofrnthe House Judiciary Committee, and onrnthe panel with me, testifying in favor ofrnthe Flag Protection Amendment, were arnformer Miss America, a holocaust survivor,rnan African-American bishop, and arnmajor general (the president of the Con-rn8/CHRONICLESrnrnrn