4 - The Michigan Daily Summer Weekly - Wednesday, August 5, 1992 ,O IIO : EDITOR IN CHIEF ANDREW M. LEVY OPINION EDITORS GIL RENBERG DAVID SHEPARDSON Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of a majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Daily. 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 764-0552 Edited and Managed by Students at the University of Michigan 'Ethnic cleansing' continues unchecked In September of last year, Jan Karski came to the University to receive the University of Michigan WallenbergMedalofFreedom forhis work to inform the U.S. government in 1943 of the atrocities of the Nazi government. Nearly halfacenturylater, the world watches asreports begin to tricklein of hundreds of civilans being excecuted or starved to death by another bar- baric European regime: Serbia. The world only watches while the killing goes on. In a document published by the U.N. High CommisionerforRefugees, Serbian concentra- tion-camp guards said they would, "not waste bullets on detainees" because the would starve anyway. The actions of the Serbian government are intolerable and in complete violation of the Geneva convention. To disregard all concern for the children, the starving, and the homeless, in favor of acampaign to create "ethnically-pure zones" in Bosnia-Herzegovina is repugnant. A U.N. reportnoted last week that there are 11,000prisonersatone camp: Omarska. In total, tens of thousands of people are in internment camps in Serbian-controlled Bosnia- U.N. reports rampant atrocities being carried out by the Serbian regime while the world only watches Herzegovnia. The report further noted that at Omarska, most prisonershave no food, water or shelter,andarebeatentwiceaday. Theevidence isconclusive: eyewitnessreports, the RedCross and the United Nations all agree that the Serbs are taking monstrous actions. The Geneva-based International Red Cross (IRC)istrying to get access to all of the concen- trationcamps.Thusfar,theSerbiangovernment hasrefused toaccede to the demandsof the IRC. Withoutthe IRC investigation, the Serbians can continue to practice genocidal warfare on the Croats, Bosnians, Herzegovinans, and Muslims of the region. In the latest in a series of atrocities, Serbian troops shot47 innocent babies and children who were on a bus headed for Germany. The bus was proceeding along "sniper's alley" in Sarajevo without U.N escort. Two of the children were killed by sniper fire. Before opening fire, the Serbian police rescued nine babies whom they believed to be Serbian -another act of "ethnic cleansing." The fighting in the has created more than twomillionrefugees whoare scaterredthrough- out Europe. There are more refugees now in Europe than atany time since World WarII. The situation has become desparate. On Monday, the State Department spokes- person Richard Boucher announced that the United Stateshadconcrete proofthat theSerbian governmentis operatingeconcentrationcamps in which itlis overseeing the torture, starvation, and execution of Croatians and Muslims. Boucher said the United States condemns the actions but wouldnot supportmilitary action. BritishtPrime Minister John Major simiiliarly ruled out the use of NATO forces to end the fighting. It is important to note that the others in the old Yugoslavia - including the Croats and Muslims -have operated detention camps and some human-rights groups and Serbs have ac- cused themof improper treatmentofrefugees in their custody.But this does not even approach the killing-machine that has been created by the Serbian governnent. Jan Karskisaid in his speech about the world turning its back on the millions in concentration camps, "I learned that people in power have tremendous ability toreject the truth." The world cannot sit idly by, as it did a half a century ago. Condemnation is not enough. Time and time again, Bosnians cry out for the United States to intervene. ButtheUnitedStatesisnowhere tobe seen. It is an election year and the suffering of Bosnia is unimportant while our goverieent's top priority is sending thousands of U.S. ma- rines to conduct military exercises with Kuwait. The United Nationsmustimust use its peace- keeping forces already stationed in Bosnia- Htercegovina to ensure -by force, if necessary -that the Serbs follow the Geneva Convention and stop the sadistic treatment of the Bosnian people. Additional sanctions should be consid- ered toclamp downon Serbia. Toshirk from this monumental responsibity would be crmnnal. Bad comppany Surrounded by mediocrity, President Bush and the country - suffers; Quayle is least of concerns A s thePresident'sreelection bidsputters, the to report bad news to the president, it is i finger-pointing and search for scapegoats wonder thathe has become so out of touch. T by Republicans and the media is increasing. is not to make excuses for Bush. He re Recent targets of criticism are perennial favor- several newspapers and watches a great dea ites, Vice President Dan Quayle and Treasury television -and yet, nothing seems to make Secretary Nicholas Brady.Quayleis being pres- impression on him. He chooses instead tor sured by many Republicans not to seek reelec- on his advisors'. perception of events. It is tion, since his presence is widely-perceived to clear whether Bush is finally starting to rea be impeding Bush's bid for a second term. that part of his lagging popularity is caused It is fashionable to call for Brady's resigna- the poor performance of some of the peoph tion because of his failure to directthe Treasury whom Bush has placed the most trust. He mi department - in other words: the economy - end up getting a very rude wake up cal competently; Brady's recent use of the word November if he does not catch on sooner. "Japs" at a meeting of business reporters led to Dan Quayle has been singled out by th aresurgence in calls forhisremoval. Regardless who do not realize that he has less to do with of whether his critics are justified, the barrage of mess the country is in than other administrat negative comments about Brady are representa- officials, such as Brady, budgetdirector Rich tive of one of Bush's gravestproblems: many of Darman, and Council of Economic Advis the people in whomhe puts the most faith are not chair Michael Boskin. Quayle is perceived good for Bush or the country. many as the least competent member of Nicholas Brady is one of Bush's oldest and Bush administration, when he is probably dearest friends. However, he is also as much to more effective than several cabine-level blame for the recession as anyone at the White cials. Quayle's main job is to ensure that Sei House. Secretary Brady has received consis- Republicans support the president. Quay tently poor marks fromjust about everyone - initating speeches on "family values" and includingmany Republicans.A slipofthe tongue unfortunate gaffes have overshadowed onev like his remarks about"Japs" would doom most telling fact: not one of Bush's vetoes has b other cabinet members, but President Bush is overturnedby theDemocraticCongress. Quz unlikely to rid himself of someone whom he may eventually have to step aside if the Ret values so highly. licans are to maintain their hold on the W Unfortunately, one of Bush's best traits, his House, but he is certainly not the main ret sense of loyalty to his friends and assistants, is that Bush is floundering. dragging down the country with Bush. In addi- Although some of the high-ranking m tion to making too many mediocre appoint- bersoftheadministrationcertainlydeservec mentstocabinet-leveland other positions, Bush - Housing and Urban Development Secre has surrounded himself with yes-men who look Jack Kemp, for example, is in some waysb out for their own interests and agendas instead of presidentialmaterial than any other Republ Bush's or the country. For example, it has been candidate - there are too many who do reported that during the Los Angeles riots, some belong. People deciding whether to vote Black advisors on Bush's staff were reassuring Bush and Quayle focus only on these twon him that he had the support of the nation's however, voters should keep in mind thatt African-American community. have the power to determine whether Br With aides who are not courageous enough Darman;and the yes-men stay in power. A failure to lead U.S. role in AIDS Conference demonstrates a lack of resolve to finance the fight against the disease 0 tttle " ie VIIIth Annual International AIDS Con- his I ference in Amsterdam ended in widespread ads criticism of the United States for not allocating Il of significant resources to combating the spread of e an the epidemic. The conference focused on global rely prevention and the possible discovery of a sec- un- ond strain of the virus by researchers in Califor- tize nia. The AIDS Conference follows the Earth J by Summit as the second confernce at which the e in administrationrecently demonstratedits incom- ight petence in dealing with perhaps the two greatest I in social problems of the next century. The conference was slated to take place in ose Boston, but the administration several months the ago issued an order prohibiting foreigners with tion AIDS from entering the United States. This hard move was viewed by the world as a sign of sors hysteria, and as a result the AIDS Conference I by was moved to Amsterdam. the Protesters rocked the conference with dem- far onstrations criticizing the Bush administration offi- for a lack of funding. These complaints are mate indeed justified. While funding for the military yle's rose to $300billion in this decade, real growth in his AIDS research funds has gone down propor- very tional to federal spending. seen The administration declares that it is doing ayle all that is necessary to fight the epidemic, but pub- many research labs are understaffed and grossly 'hite underfunded. AIDS funding is still not seen as a anon top priority in this country. What is needed is a national mobilization of resourceslike the cam- em- paign to end polio if we are to defeat AIDS. redit The conference noted that in the poorest tary regions of the world, the virus is spreading at an etter outofcontrolrate. In these poor regions, there is ican little or no access to condoms. not Africahas been hardesthit.Estimatesput the for number of victims by the end of the century in men; the millions, while the United States refuses to they fund U.N. programs that sponsor birth control. ady, A U.S. congressional reportnoted that HIV is "spreading uncheeked among the, natioh's adolescents, regardless of where they live or their economic status." Now the sixth leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States, more than 5,000 children have died of AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. The world that is slowly losing its most important asset - its children -to the menace of AIDS. It is time for a globally-coordinated strategy headed by the United States to counter the disease. Without this, the number of cases and deaths will continue to rise exponentially. The United States' abysmal performance at the International AIDS Conference cannot be repeated. Ithis a far cry from what is so badly needed if we are to defeat this dreaded disease. A Fetal Error Last month, officials at the National Insti- tute of Health (NIH) admitted what experts had been saying for months: fetal tissues pro- vided by ectopic pregnanciesand spontaneous miscarriages would not be enough to meet the demandofresearchers.ThisexemplifiedPresi- dent Bush's willingness to put political gains ahead of the lives of Americans by banning its use in federally-funded research. The Senate voted87-12lastmonth to over- turn Bush's veto of the Health Appropriation bill. The House was convinced not to override by NIH officials who assured them that there is plenty of tissue for research. These claims have since been shown to be untrue. It is absurd that Bush opposes the use of aborted fetuses in research on the basis of abortion. No one has an abortion in order to donate tissue. In Alzheimer's and diabetes research, scientists desperately need fetal tis- sue to find a cure. But Bush will have no part of it. Unless the House joins the Senate in overriding the veto, cures for these diseases will be needlessly delayed."- ' I I