March 24th, 1999: Today, after the day's toils had ended, I had plans. I planned to go for a long walk in the spring air, to go home in the light that but a month ago was darkness, to work my fingers into the rich soil of my garden, tending the life that grows there.

But this evening is damp and grey, and the sky rains down chill water.

And today, half a world away, the sky rains down not water but death. Today, half a world away, death rides on silver wings and bears my country's name.

We did not start war in the land called Kosovo. That war was started by other tyrants, other men who serve the gods of greed and power and hatred. The army we attack is the weapon of murderer's, like all armies. The Serbian army has committed atrocities, has murdered the innocent, has murdered civilians, has murdered men, women, children, elderly.

Now we join them. Our bombs fall on the people of Kosovo. No matter how expensive the technology, how pretty the television footage, bombs will miss. Cruise missiles will fall astray. Our army of bombs and missiles will murder the innocent, will murder civilians, will murder men, women, children, elderly.

Our bombs will also murder soldiers, who too are human. Yes, some are vicious and cruel, and enjoy what they do. Some command, and give the orders to kill. Many more are young and scared, forced or coerced to fight this war by law and command, by family and custom, by promises of glory, by the false hope of patriotism, and by the failure to see another way. We drop our bombs, and our bombs will kill them.

We drop our bombs on fathers, sons, husbands, wives, mothers, daughters, brothers, sisters, lovers, comrades, and dearest friends. We drop our bombs on students who should be at their books, farmers who should be at their fields, parents who should be with their children. We drop our bombs on workers and scholars, artists and musicians.

We kill them all.

Make no mistake, I do not defend the Serbian army. Those soldiers who are fathers and sons and husbands and brothers commit horrible crimes that must be stopped. The people of Kosovo, Serb and Albanian, have a right to live free from fear, to speak the language they choose, to live in peace and dignity. We, the people of a nation thousands of miles away, cannot turn our backs on them, wash our hands and say this is not our business.

We cannot, like the Senator from the State of Washington, dismiss this as a three-thousand year old civil war in which we have no place. War is not a genetic state of the Balkan people. It does not grow naturally from the Balkan soil. Human beings make war. They make weapons, they build armies. It takes work.

But bombs do not bring peace. Bombs bring only death, destruction, despair. Bombs and armies only subdue, only conquer. They only teach the other side to come back stronger. They do not teach peace. They do not create peace. They do not even begin to.

Solutions are not simple. The bombs may stop the Serbian army, for a short time, from killing more civilians. The bombs may even, in this warped and twisted way, save lives. But are we so hollow, so childishly shortsighted, that this is our only option? Do we suffer from such a lack of vision and forethought that we must resort to killing to save lives?

And I do mean we, the people of the United States. Those are our bombs that are being dropped. The soldiers that fly the planes, drop the bombs and fire the missiles are our fathers and sons, husbands and wives. The bombs are made in our home town's, purchased by our taxes. The orders are given by leaders we elected. We, as the people of a nation, are responsible for this.

We can stop it.

This year, our nation, the United States, will spend more than two-hundred and seventy-five billion dollars on war, on bombs, on death. What could we do if we spent that money on peace? What could we do if we had two hundred thousand people trained and equipped with the tools to resolve conflict? If our armies were armies of peace, not war?

Can we envision what it takes to make a peaceful world?

Really, it shouldn't be that hard. Peace is a powerful thing. Governments around the world spend hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons and armies to prevent peace. They put millions of people into armies to fight against peace. Companies build huge factories and put thousands of people to work against peace.

Considering how much effort is spent to stop peace, peace must be the most powerful force on this planet.

All we need to do is let it go.