Kosovo - East Timor

Kosovo

I believe the Church would recognize the conflict in Kosova as a moral action. In the eyes of the church the situation in Kosova met the required criteria, and has turned to war to solve its political crisis.

There is real danger involved, since it involves thousands people, and thousands of innocent lives. The Albanians turned to war as a self-defense when the Yugoslav authorities began with beatings, arrests, and violence among the Albanians ever since they declared independence after the sovereignty referendum. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) decided to take military actions to achieve their independence.

Many actions were taken to try to resolve the problem without violence. NATO bomb threats forced the sides to try and work out a solution. Attempts were made to try and solve this in a political way but many politicians were killed or kidnapped in the doing. Little progress was made and talks fell apart and started a military war again. It was the last resort to end the struggle between these two sides.

The Albanians wanted to achieve their independence through other means than violence but they believed it was the only approach to achieve it. Since the Yugoslav government wouldn't compromise and was only killing the Albanian people, the KLA had no other choice but to defend themselves and try to gain their freedom.

The odds of success are much greater than the human cost of the war. There has been involved of other nations, which has calmed down the violence. Also a cease-fire agreement was signed which stopped most firearm violence.

In my opinion, the Yugoslav government should acknowledge their independence and settle an agreement with the Albanians. They won the referendum, and they should be allowed to separate. It's moral of them to fight for their rights and their country's freedom.

East Timor

There is a major conflict in East Timor between Indonesia. The Indonesian army invaded East Timor and has occupied it for more than 25 years. This has caused a great deal of violence between the settlers and the Timorese. More than one-third of the population (approx. 200,000) has died due to disease, starvation or murder. There has been an endless struggle to regain its land and freedom.