Leaders or Users
Saturday, January 01, 2000
Yes, President Bill Clinton should give a clear and abject apology to the Chinese people for the bombing of their embassy in Yugoslavia, offer reparation and express sorrow for the lives he cannot return.
But with so many good people working so hard to improve relations between races, it is very disappointing and frustrating to see China's leadership deliberately letting its people believe that the bombing was intentional. The leaders know it was not.
All too often, we see politicians stir up racial hatreds to advance their own power. It exploits natural tribal loyalty, but it is a ruthless manipulation that ultimately hurts those who are thus innocently aroused.
We should brand any political leader who deliberately and disproportionately stirs hatred against another people as a user, one who gains power for himself at the cost of those he is supposed to serve.
Philip O'Carroll