scams like NAFTA, GATT, and European Union. The veryrnidea of a people determined to go its own way is the internationalist’srnworst nightmare.rnForget about the Serbs. I like them for personal reasons;rnthere is no reason—apart from national honor—why yournshould care one way or another about these strange peoplesrnwho might just as well live on Rora Tonga or Mars as in thernBalkans. But what does it mean for us as Americans, when ourrnown ruling class, despite the collapse of communism, is determinedrnto persist in waging perpetual war for perpetual peace?rnFor us the outlook is very dim. Both parties arc in favor of war,rnand only a few verv Red Democrats favor the kind of defenserncuts that could restore fiscal sanity to the federal gocrnment.rnThe militarist regime imposed on us during World War II isrnnever going to be dismantled, and the corporate welfare lavishedrnon defense contractors will continue to empty our pocketsrnand drain value from our dollar. Worst of all, a regime thatrnwhets its appetite for blood on Serbs, Iraqis, and Somalis has already’rnshown that it has no reluctance about turning its gunsrnagainst its own citizens. So far the assassins have been drawnrnfrom tlie ranks of the BATF and the FBI—soldiers who mightrnbetter be described as ineffectives, rather than effectives. Butrnwith the emasculation of the Posse Comitatus Act, it will notrnbe the armed geeks of the BATF kicking our doors in or burningrnus with the occasional tank or fully armed reconnaissancernplane. Before long, we will be staring down the wrong side ofrnthe barrel of a gun wielded by soldiers of an all-volunteer armyrnand Marine Corps that more and more resemble an army ofrnHessians, global rent-a-eops hired out by the world’s policestate:rnFrom the Halls of Montezuma,rnto suburban Kankakee,rnThey will fight their country’s battlesrnagainst guys like you and me.rnEditorial note: Before going to press, a London Times story castrnfurther doubt on NATO’s report about the Sarajevo shell.rnFrench and British experts had “warned the U.S. that the mortarrnwas Bosnian” but were overruled by a “senior American officer.”rnOn another front, the disingenuous NATO Secretary GeneralrnClaes has been charged with taking bribes from an Italianrndefense contractor.rnBr’er Rabbit and Br’er Hawkrnby Gail WhiternWhen the hawk swooped down into my woods and caughtrnup the rabbit, it was not at all the wayrnit looks on television, where wildebeest fallrnto lions without a pang. The rabbit shriekedrnand sent me into screaming terminal outrage.rnI wanted it back. I wanted all the rabbitsrnback. I didn’t give a damn aboutrnthe balance of nature, the population explosionrnof rabbits that might inhale my entire lawn,rnwho’s who on the food chain. I wanted hawks to eat grass.rnBut after a few days, the balance shifted.rnYou can’t stay outraged forever at injusticernin the ecosystem, where everything is preyrnthat isn’t hiding, and after all baby hawksrnare fuzzy too. No doubt the parent raptorsrnhold PTA meetings where the reigning mottornis “Our chicks come first,” and they all get sentrnto private raptor schools. It may be justrnweak-minded sentimentality, but I’ve comernto accept the fate of the rabbit (long since shreddedrnfor the benefit of the fledglings) as a bitrnof cosmic wisdom or even, in some weird way,rnof cosmic love. Do I need to look any furtherrnthan my own family gathered for Thanksgiving dinnerrnto see the beaks and talons clawing in lo’e?rnDECEMBER 1995/11rnrnrn