Doug Bandow reports on the messy aftermath of a war we launched against a country that didn’t threaten us, without UN approval, and at the behest of a president who acted unilaterally with few objections from a supine Congress that surrendered its constitutionally allotted war-making powers:
The Kosovo war is over, but the peaceful resolution has barely begun. In the West’s search for a solution, no one should unduly worry about respecting international juridical principles or seeking regional consensus. NATO abandoned any pretense of principle when it launched its unprovoked war against Serbia.
The allies should indicate that precedent is irrelevant. Every case, whether Kosovo or Bosnia or Croatia or Macedonia, is unique. International solutions will depend on particular circumstances and won’t be determined by any other settlement.
There are lessons to be learned. The U.S., with or without NATO, should say never again. Never again will Washington substitute ideological fantasies for practical realities when implementing its foreign policy. Never again will Washington intervene in a distant civil war of no geopolitical concern to America. Never again will America attack another nation that poses no threat to the U.S. The world is filled with tragedy, and the Balkans — let alone Iraq — demonstrates how difficult it is for outsiders to resolve ancient and intractable conflicts.
A Thinking Reed 
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