To the Editor:

“Clinton may have made a bad decision to get the United States involved in the war in Bosnia in the first place, but now that he has, Congress should back him up.”— Brent Snowcroft, former National Security Advisor to President Bush.

Does this scare the hell out of anyone except me? Does anyone else smell the rotting carcass of the Vietnam war trying desperately to resurrect itself?

Come on, people! Since when does a bad idea get transformed by a deeper commitment of human lives? A bad idea is simply that — a bad idea! There is a lot of discussion in the pit, I mean on the Hill about sending more young American men to a war that is, admittedly, a bad idea. The war lords bunkered in the Pentagon are estimating “only” about 17,000 are needed for only a year. However, let’s not forget about the other 20,000 that are already there and the thousands on alert “for insertion” into the war zone at the president’s command. (Have you ever wondered why terms for ripping the shit out of some country takes on sexual connotations when a war is involved?)

To belabor the point, I have a heavy sense of dej  vu when I hear statements like Mr. Snowcroft’s and the Pentagon’s and the president’s talking about a heavy “involvement” with Bosnia.

Do you students, Americans, reading this also know that you can be drafted at anytime by an act of Congress, signed by the president? According to the “new math” of military/political officials: 17,000 troops plus 20,000 add up to about 500,000 and a minimum involvement of 10 years!

When I first heard of this I wasn’t too concerned until I read a quote from Bob Dole, possibly the next president that we should support Clinton in committing these young men.

Now that’s scary since it means that Dole would maintain the course at further expense and loss of human life, if he gets elected next year. This situation is serious, folks. A few solutions seem to present themselves:

#1. Have a brainstorming session for more United States involvement in Bosnia with President Clinton, Bob Dole, the Pentagon leaders of the military branches and Robert MacNamara all present at the Vietnam Memorial and about 500,000 young American men and their mothers.

#2. Let the youth of America unite over this issue and demand that their elected leaders listen and refuse more involvement in a no-win situation that has way too many ear marks of another Vietnam.

#3. Why not try something really radical and admit that the whole thing is a mistake and not send more troops at all, and then bring home the ones we have there already?

As I read the paper today I heard of a Chinese satellite slated to crash to earth sometime next year and on board that machine is a diamond studded emblem of Mao Tse Tung. The chances of the space debris actually hitting a city are pretty slim, say those who know.

But wouldn’t it be cool if that diamond studded picture of a terrorist that scorned the significance of human life, landed earlier than expected, say somewhere on the lawn outside the Pentagon, the steps of Congress or the White House? Now, that would be a SIGN to stay clear of Bosnia!

Mike Tefft

Architecture

Junior