I am certain I join many Chicagoans who listened in disbelief to the news that the Clinton administration launched bombing raids on Sudan and Afghanistan in apparent retaliation to the tragic embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
I am deeply disappointed that President Clinton chose to respond to violence with violence, and that Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun applauded this action as a “blow against terrorism.”
Bombing people does not disrupt and deter terrorism, nor does it lessen the tragedy for those who have lost loved ones. Acts of mass violence as witnessed in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam are not committed by the ordinary citizens who bear the brunt of retaliatory strikes. Blanket punishments engender deep resentments that work against the possibility of reconciliation.
If the Clinton administration had compelling evidence regarding the embassy bombings, then it should have used non-violent channels to bring the bombers to justice.
