The Herald-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan • 9

Sunday. April 4, 1999 9A The HerakJ-Pafladium Benton Hartxx-St Joseph OPINION The 'powder keg of Europe' threatens tq explode but we took that same attitude in 19 14 and in 1939 and it didn't work out very well. German Chancellor Otto von Bismark years before World War I started said the next major European conflict would probably start "over some damned foolishness in the Balkans," and he was absolutely right Based on the historical record, there just aren't any good answer's when it comes to another crisis in the Balkans. Direct pre-emptive action probably causes more, problems that it selves, and trying to stay out of it probably causes more problems than it solves. Like President Johnson, Clinton perhaps failed to ask "What next?" if the bombing failed to work.

But the fl)se to the powder keg is lit and let's just hope someone can put it out -quickly. If there is any meaning to my dream, it's that this latest Balkan crisis is making me nervous. It's one thing if soldiers want to whack each other, but why take it out who can call in jets and helicopter gunships to make those pesky ambushcrs head for the horizon. But as far as the general population goes, bombing only makes them angry. That's how it worked in North Vietnam.

And mat's how it worked in England and in Germany. I don't know why any of our leaders thought the Serbs would react any differently. I'm not going to spend a lot of time I criticizing President Clinton, however. Some of my fellow columnists have already done an excellent job of that, while at the same time dazzling me with their erudite and complete knowledge of Balkan politics and history. But as they also claim to have a direct line to the Almighty, I should not be surprised at their omniscience.

Anyway, had Clinton done nothing', they'd probably be screaming for his scalp for doing nothing. Many say that the Balkan situation is a European problem and we should let the Europeans handle it. Perhaps, from somew here. At first 1 thought it might have come from the book I was reading, Robert Dallek's "Failed Giant," a history of LBA presidential term. But then I thought of the obvious the Kosovo situation and the NATO bombing ofYugoslavia.

Not that there are very many paral-' Ids between Vietnam and the Balkans, that region of ill-omen known as "the powder keg of Europe." But one parallel is that a lot of people are getting hurt for no good reason, and I for one am getting very tired of mat Another parallel is American presidents placing far too much faith in the effectiveness of bombing. As "Failed Giant" relates. President Johnson was quite certain that the American air onslaught would force the North Vietnamese to the peace table very early. It didn't If presidents did a.better job of reading their history books, they might have noticed that conventional bombing had less influence than one I rarely have dreams about the Army. What dreams I have are usually about getting drafted a second time, which proves the harm that the draft did to my tender psyche.

But I had startling dream the other night an actual dream, not the made-up ones I occasionally use as a literary device. The details aren't important, but it took place in Saigon where I and some other team mem-bersvere being chased by corrupt Saigon police in league with the Binh Xuyen, the river pirates and gangsters that President Diem had (in my dream) failed to eradicate. They caught us near the Cercle Sportif and we took casualties, but escaped and made it through Cholon to Tan Son Nhut airport where our agents whose cover had been blown had to catch the next commercial flight out, leaving me to Finish the I tend to believe that dreams are largely without significance, especially mine, but that one obviously came Other opinions Beware the Scottdale On most business days, you will find Steve Bergman at the hypotenuse of Berrien County version of the Bermuda Triangle -the Scottdale Triangle. No one vanishes in the Royalton Township hamlet, but more than a few motorists seeking Scottdale addresses have had to pull over, scratch their heads and ponder the mysteries. "Give yourself an extra 10 minutes' if you're driving to Scottdale to find a business, said Bergman, owner of the Village Lamp Shoppe on what is officially known as Niles Road South.

"But if I tell customers it's on Niles Road South, they won't know what I'm talking about," Bergman said. "I tell them, 'you know that little through road people use to avoid the The shop is on what locals call "the cutoff? a shortcut linking Michigan 63 to M-139 or is it U.S. 31? That's another mystery of the Scottdale Triangle. (M-63 and 3 1 are the right triangle's legs while the cutoff is No case for war Americans have been given no convincing reason why U.S. war-planes are bombing the Kosovo province of Serbia, one of the parts of the Yugoslav federation.

President Clinton says we have to do it. That's not a persuasive argument. The more he says it, the more Americans have reason to doubt it. Remember the way he wags his finger. It is frightening that at the end of the 20th Century we seem to have regressed to the way countries and alliances acted at the start.

NATO is a defensive alliance. Its mission an avowed enemy, is very murky. But that hardly justifies launching bombing raids in support of diplomacy against a country that has not raised a finger against any member of the alliance. Albany (Ore.) Democrat-Herald Milosevic must pay The State Department calls I the hypotenuse.) There is no M-139 south of the Interstate 94, as far as the Michigan Department of Transportation is con on women and children? I just wish there was something we could say to halt such ugliness before it even starts. I just wish people could forget ancient irrelevant hatreds and sit down with a few pitchers of good Slavic beer or a few glasses of sljivovica and thrash out their problems that way.

DONT MISS THIS ONE: City of David spokesman Ron Taylor is going to give a talk on the Israelite House of David faith at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Priscilla U. Byms Heritage Center in St. Joseph. Anyone with an interest in local history, or who wants to better understand Southwest Michigan, should be there.

The House of David had a huge impact on local history, and you can't really understand that well unless you also have a glimmering of the colony's religion. William F. Ast III is a staff writer for The Herald-Palladium. E-mail: wastOherald palladium. com Blown strategy President Clinton's speech to the nation on Kosovo was very much of a piece with the man.

Rather than the cold calculations of great power politics, he dwelled on the humanitarian aspects of the mission and his comas-sion for "innocent people taken from their homes, forced to kneel in the dirt and sprayed with bullets It's not the policy that's wrong; it's making the constraints public. Clearly, the president was trying to reassure the public and especially the Republican-led Congress where there is substantial opposition to American troops serving in Kosovo. But our insincere threats and self- imposed deadlines have only given the waning parties incentives to step up the fighting. By hedging Clinton has ceded the initiative to Slobodan Milosevic. The implication is that if he hangs on until NATO tires of the air strikes, he can resume his bloody suppression of Kosovo.

Make Milosevic sweat our intentions, not vice versa. The Naples (Ra.) Daily News A II OR visit us on trie internet 4 www etdef-beerman com your FREE Fashion Fair gift is here! William Astm might think even in World War II. It was very important, certainly. The Normandy Invasion, for example, was helped immensely by Allied bombing of German-controlled railroads and bridges, prior to the landing. But England's spirit was not broken by the Luftwaffe bombing of cities, nor was Germany's will to fight materially lessened by Allied bombs.

Our bombs didn't even halt German war production. Bombing is useful in tactical situations, and nobody loves close-in air support more than an infantryman Triangle challenge is making this simple in print But here goes ...) The local street addresses were cemented before the U.S. highway system was created in the '30s. During that decade, Niles Road began hosting the U.S.,33 route to Scottdale, where it merged with U.S. 31 which had come down M-139.

Niles Road lost its federal designation and became M-63 after inters tates 94 and 196 completed in the '60s -began carrying U.S. 31 from Holland 'to the M-139 exit From the exit south, US. 31 follows M-139. (Are you still with me?) In 1985, MDOT widened the junction of M-139 and Miners Road -which runs east from Niles Road and installed traffic signals. MDOT then designated Miners between Niles Road and the signals as part of M-63 though it took several years for someone to remember to remove the "Miners Road" sign at Niles Road.

What had been M-63Niles Road from Miners south to M-139 became simply "Niles Road South," or "the cutoff." (I hope I didn't lose you.) Sealing off the cutoff could have relieved some confusion and perhaps made Scottdale safer for motorists -but that would have isolated the businesses there. It would seem helpful to formally designate U.S. 31 from 1-94 through Scottdale as "US. 3 1M-139." Berrien County Road Commission Engineer-Manager Brian Berndt said the.coun-ty's maps already show that. 1 But MDOT Is maps only show "US.

31," said MDOT spokesman Ari Adler. And giving the road dual designation involves more than just a hanging a couple of new signs. If M-139 gains any new name in the future it will be "Old 3 1 Adler said. The state and federal government are building a new US. 3 1 from Berrien Springs to the 1-94196 interchange in Benton Township.

That work could be completed in the next decade. The new highway will bypass the Royalton Twighlight Zone, but it will do nothing for those looking for Scottdale addresses. "I don't really see a solution," Bergman said. Jim Dalgleish is The Herald-Palladium City Editor. He can be reached at these threats and challenges is principled, courageous, unwavering leadership.

For better or worse, the immediacy and graphic impact of television coverage have brought the world with all its glories and horrors into our living rooms in real time. This medium, coupled with talk shows, polling data and the Internet, has kept us more informed and shaped public But solid, well-defined, insightful policy-making does not occur through polling or televised town hall meetings. Strong leadership has no substitute. The president must educate and inform the public. He must use his political capital to convince Congress and the American people that his policy is a wise policy.

Without leadership, it will be difficult for America to sustain a credible foreign policy. This is one clear lesson from the situation in Yugoslavia. We do not know what the outcome will be of our efforts in the Balkans. But peace and stability wiM have no future in Europe if this situation is allowed to continue to burn out of control. There iswa butcher in NATO's back yard.

The United States and our NATO allies have committed ourselves to stopping him. History will judge us harshly if we fail. Chuck Hagel is a Republican senator from Nebraska. 4 cerned. An "M-139 ends sign is in the cluster of signs along southbound M-139 just north of Interstate 94 in Benton Township.

There is no U.S. 31 between 1-94 and Scottdale, as far as Scottdale business owners and the St. Joseph post office are concerned. In their eyes, U.S. 31 gets a two-mile break in its route from Mackinaw City to Mobile, All the addresses along the road from 1-94 to the south end of the cutoff are for M-139, though the highway signs say "US.

31." Dave Johnspn, manager of the Han-nepel Home Center, 4025 S. M-139, said the labeling quirk is no problem, for customers, mostly local residents who long ago got past the mystery. However, truck drivers making deliveries have been known to get lost, he said. The confusion poses no problem for emergency dispatchers, said Sgt Don Goulooze of the Berrien County Sheriff's Department. Dispatchers know enough to query callers about cross- roads and landmarks to get a precise location.

But the Scottdale mysteries do make what's occurring on the ground in Kosovo an "abhorrent and criminal action on a massive scale." Even that falls short of describing the savage war that Yugoslav troops are waging against their countrymen. Tens of thousands of Kosovars are fleeing along snow-covered mountain roads for the chance of safety across the borders of Macedonia, Albania or the Yugoslav province of Montenegro. The mayhem that Serbian soldiers and police units have waged against the Kosovars for daring to demand a return to the high level of autonomy they once enjoyed within the Yugoslav federation has mounted for What started as harassment, beatings and some political killings has turned in the past -week to unbridled fratricide. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, a Serb, bears responsibility for this violence and for the NATO attacks pn Belgrade, his capital, and on his soldiers in Kosovo. -The Los Angeles Times ANT WHAT YOU 1QAM-9PM Shop oy phone 1-800-BEERMAN (1 -800-233-7626) Jim' Dalgleish journalism a little tougher.

In few months into my Herald-Palladium tenure, I covered a fatal crash off the north end Of the cutoff. A cockeyed street sign there said "Miners Road," and- it was unclear if it referred to the cutoff or M-63. Our aged map on the newsroom wall was no help, and I misreported the location as Glenlord Road and M-63. This past March 18, a tractor-trailer sideswiped a St Joseph school bus off the south end of the cutoff. In that day's photo caption and the follow-up story, we gave the benefit of the doubt to MDOT, calling the highway "U.S.

31." A March 25 item about the driver being arraigned said the accident occurred on M-139. Historically, The H-P has referred to the road as US. 31. (For the sake of this column, I'll defer to the local preference.) Gary Klutts deals with yet another Scottdale mystery. By county and state standards, his transmission shop south of the cutoff is along 31.

But the address is 4367 Niles Road. Klutts said he tells customers calling his shop that it's next to the Mark III Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge. "Everyone knows the Mark HI," he said. But Klutts said he doesn't want to see his address changed, though the, Mark III has an M-139 address. Changing addresses would mean getting new letterheads, business filling more tax and licensing paperwork, and informing customers and vendors and the change increases the risk of lost mail.

For like reasons, Bergman said he has no desire to seethe cutoff get a-more distinctive moniker. If there was a move to change the name, he might advocate "Lampshade since the road hosts his business and lampshade maker Lakeshore Studios.Changes in Berrien's roads drives the confusion; a study of history makes it simple. (A do so we must not foreclose on any options. We must be prepared to do what ist necessary to achieve our objectives and ensure victory, including the option of ground troops. The most likely path to peace is in convincing Milosevic of pur intention to prevail.

If we show weakness or fail, then our adversaries around the world Iraq, North Korea, terrorist groups will challenge us in other areas at other times. Winning the war will stop the rolling genocide and Europe's largest displacement of people since World War II. Then comes the difficult challenge of putting people's lives back together and instituting a political settlement. Make no mistake: Each step is full of immense risk and uncertainty. Stopping tyrants and fighting wars do not come tied up in neat, antiseptic little packages.

Wars are ugly. But the consequences of not having the courage to do the right thing are worse. The Balkans war is providing us with a prelude to the 21st century dynamics of policy-making. We are seeing a glimpse of the future. The challenges for America, NATO and the civilized world will be dealing with situations such as this crisis.

To this end, we must prepare our force structure, our intelligence-' gathering and our thinking to address these new challenges. The key element when addressing Victory: The only exit strategy By SEN. CHUCK HAGEL The situation in the Balkans is the most complicated and dangerous, to confront the United States and our NATp allies since the end of the Cold War. There are no good options. NATO did the right thing in initiating the air strikes that began over a week ago.

We had no choice but to intervene. America could not stand by and not be part of a unified NATO response to the destabilization of Europe, the continued slaughter in the Balkans and the consequences that would have brought to Europe and the world. Just as actions have consequences, inaction also has consequences. The folly of allowing bodan Milosevic to go on undeterred reminds me of the adage about making a deal with a crocodile: "Leave me alone and I'll eat you last." The United States, Canada and our 17 European allies must win this war. Yes, this is a war.

To dance around this and call it anything else misrepresents and demeans the reality and the seriousness of the effort. The only acceptable exit strategy is victory a victory whose terms are defined by NATO, not dictated by a tyrant. Peace cannot exist in a Europe where genocide is tolerated. We must have the will and the vision to work our way through this, and to Your fret 7-pc. lew Jig Beariy gift with any Fashion Fair purchase of $16 or more includes: Botanical Cleansing Gel Plum 2000 Lipstick Deluxe hair brush Lip Highlight Fashion Fair No.

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