What was the achievement of the twentieth century?  Millions desired and worked for peace, yet it was the most violent century in the whole of human history. It is almost beyond belief that humans, who have made such incredible steps forward in so many fields, should have brought international human relationships to a situation that is worse than anything ever before known to man. 

And the crowning failure came in the final year. As the century ended the most powerful nations on earth decided to set aside the institutions and laws so patiently constructed to bring about peace, and wage a ruthless war on a small country in Europe, and when it was over they determined not to offer no help to the larger part of it until a pro-US government had been democratically elected and Serbs had handed over their "war criminals" to an impartial court funded by NATO where they could be found guilty of all the war crimes in Yugoslavia after a fair trial. This court, after an impartial consideration of the evidence, would decide not try NATO leaders for their illegal bombing. 

Surely this behaviour is not acceptable to the ordinary people of the world. Surely we cannot ignore the enormity of what has happened and what has been done in our name. 

I hope there will be an uprising of people demanding an end to the use of state aggression, and calling for justice, respect for law, and help for the victims of war.

The avoidance of war, the promotion of peace, the resolution of conflicts by non-violent means, the fostering of non-violent societies, should be matters of major and urgent concern to all political leaders, religious leaders, and all people of goodwill throughout the world.

David Roberts,  2000.  Revised June 2002.

Kosovo War Poetry Index Page