European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 30, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday december 30, 1092 commentary the stars and stripes Page 13no military Quick fix to suffering in Bosnia this Holiday season passions Are running particularly High passions stirred by the terrible pictures of starving children in Somalia and by the horrible stories of the atrocities inflicted on the suffering Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A do something a say Many americans. A put an end to this barbarism a such passions Are not new. War said Karl von Clausewitz in 1831, is a remarkable Trinity composed of the military the people and the government. While the military fights wars it is the a Blind natural Force of the passions of the people that is wars driving Force. The task of government is to leaven such passions and transform them into a an instrument of policy which makes a military involvement subject to reason  but in our current Rush to commit . Military forces to right the wrongs of the world the government has not Only failed to leaven the Peoples passions it has become their captive As Well. Operation restore Hope in Somalia where . Forces have been committed in the name of passion alone is a Case in Point. We Are beginning to see that while policy based on National interests can provide firm limits to involvement a setting up As it does a simple equation where the value of the interests can be measured against the Effort Money and lives necessary to secure those interests a passion alone is a seductive trap. In Somalia for example pressures Are now building to expand what began As the temporary task of providing Security for Relief workers into a Long term Mission of disarming the warring factions and rebuilding the somalian government. The first task while not As  it at first appeared can be done. The second May Fitell be beyond our ability to accomplish. And the prospects Are even less promising in Bosnia where pressures again Are building for the United states to use its military to end the awful depredations there. The news Media have been filled with stories and pictures of serbian a ethnic cleansing a including concentration Camps rape torture mutilation and the Harry g. Summers Wanton Slaughter of innocent civilians. Rep. Frank Mcclosky d-ind., appearing last week on in no a Larry King live obviously was deeply moved by the human misery he witnessed during a recent trip to Bosnia. An air Force Veteran Mcclosky was convinced that air Power could end the serbian attacks and bring peace to the area. Such involvement has already begun. A the nato Alliance agreed today Quot reported the dec. 18 Washington Post a to make its military forces available to enforce a ban on serb military flights Over  . Officials said they expect the . Military a which has volunteered combat planes for the operation a will take the Lead in this  adding a further moral Edge to the . Involvement Secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger told a 29-nation conference on the Balkans meeting in Geneva that those involved in a crimes against humanity should be brought to trial. That begs the question of who would a Bell the cat a i.e., who would invade Serbia to arrest the serbian leaders and bring them before an International court of Justice. Certainly that could not be done with air Power alone. And it is hard to figure out How an enforcement of the ban on serbian flights Over Bosnia would affect the killing there. Artillery mortars and Small arms not serbian air strikes Are the prime instruments of death and destruction. Wipe the serbian air Force from the skies and the fighting would continue unabated. Mcclosky therefore would go a step further. Although opposed to the commitment of . Ground forces he would use air Power to strike serbian fighting positions in Bosnia attack their depots and other military installations in Serbia itself and interdict their Road and rail Supply lines. Classic a just War theories impose six preconditions to the use of military Force. Is it a just cause docs it have the right intent is the decision made by competent authority Are the ends proportionate is it a last resort arguably these five conditions have been met. What has not been met is the final condition docs it have a reasonable Chance of Success the sad truth is that air Power alone cannot solve the problem in Bosnia. With total control of the air in both Korea and Vietnam we were unable to Stop the flow of supplies and it is unlikely we could do so in How about some non ethnic cieansin6? Serbia either. We would Widen the killing for innocent serbian civilians would inevitably be killed in the bombing attacks without having a decisive effect on the conduct of hostilities. Human suffering in Bosnia is heart rending. But there is no military Quick fix. As Clausewitz warned a the mistakes that come from kindness Are the very  military operations based on passion rather than policy can Only add to the suffering. C Tho los Antolos Olmos ill fitted school teaches children hard lessons every school smells the same an amalgam of disinfectant Chalk steam table lunches and a faint whiff of wet Coats. The odor rises around you inside the door at Public school 291. So does the sound the High pitched Babel of elementary education. Linoleum blackboards the marbled covers of Copybook. Universal school. But every school is its own self too unique specific. Sandwiched into a commercial strip on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx . 291 from the outside is a strange Flat slab of a building Blank and unwelcoming. History tells us Why a it was in a past incarnation either a movie theater a Bowling Alley or a skating rink depending on whom you Are talking to. Now it houses 558 children grades k through 4, its Walls their universe. Their universe has no windows. No Light except the jaundiced glow of fluorescence. In one classroom there is a window made of paper taped to the Wall a hopeful charade. The biggest Story in the new York City school system these last few weeks has been the Battle Over a curriculum called a children of the  the  behind it is simple kids should learn that the world is an amalgam of different cultures races and ways of life and that All Are worthy of tolerance. Anna Quindlen Selling school boards on the concept has not been simple at All. Here As elsewhere there Are those who want kids to grow up with righteous contempt and tear. In the Battle Over the Rainbow curriculum contempt and fear focus on Gay people the heirs to the communist threat in the minds of those who believe in evil empires and conversion conspiracies. But its important while we Are supporting lessons in respecting others to remember that Many of our youngest kids need to learn to respect themselves. You learn your Worth from the Way you Are treated. The children at . 291 learn that they barely deserve oxygen. Of this is a place where Good is routinely done from hot breakfasts to Parent volunteers. Some teachers work very hard and some students thrive. But they thrive even though the school has no windows no gym no playground and no auditorium that parts of it Are partitioned like a Railroad Flat. Mrs. Coens second graders listen attentively when they Are read a Story. This is remarkable because you can hear most of what is going on in the second Grade next door the Wall Between the two stops Short of the ceiling. This open classroom approach is because one ventilation outlet must serve both rooms. Some teachers would like to take their students for a walk on the Street to fill their Heads with uncirculated air but there is the fear that bottles might be thrown at them from the elevated tracks. And so first graders who were created for the express purpose of running manually after one another at recess Are indoors from Mornini until late afternoon. Newith    of mos mics. Then the Fioto fluff inc school. I you be got to shake your sillies out in the cafeteria where everything from music class to school performances takes place. We know the limits of government. We understand that we May espouse tolerance but we cannot graft it onto the world View of the unwilling. We cannot arrange by Law for women to love babies they do not want or for fathers to remain with their families rather than moving on. But there Are obvious places in which government can narrow the chasm Between haves and have not. One is in Public schools which have been seen As the great leveler the authentic melting pot. That today is nonsense. In his scathing study of the nations Public school system titled Savage inequalities Jonathan Kozol made Manifest the truth that we have a system that discriminates against the poor in everything from class size to curriculum. Universal school is a myth a construct of our egalitarian imagination. These Are children who live in crumbling buildings who walk on filthy streets. And yet we assume they will magically develop a sense of the dignity of humanity. When they Are grown up disappointments in trouble or on welfare we wonder what went wrong. There Are Many answers but some of them Are Small and simple. A building without windows is a metaphor so obvious that a writer might reject it. But . 291 is no literary device kids Are trying to become people there learning How the world looks without a View. C the new Yorac times the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this pegs represent Thoss of the authors and s in no Way to be concede red is representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government