6 ~ Wednesday, June 2. 1999 — North Shore News Harbour IMEYRE not much of a seafar- ing bunch over at West Vancouver municipal hall. One _ shift in the wind on the issue of run- ning a passenger ferry service from West Vancouver to Vancouver and the whole bunch heads for safer harbours. Coun. Russ Fraser’s proposal launched earlier this year for a ferry service to help alleviate commuter con- gestion caused by upgrade work to the Lions Gate Bridge may have been short on detail and long on nostalgia, but it contains the kernel of a good idea. After all, the West Vancouver Transportation Co. ferried passengers to and from West Vancouver and Vancouver from 1909 to 1938. And the success of the SeaBus con- nection between North Vancouver and downtown Vancouver is ample illus- tration of the attraction of harbour nerth shore news VIEWPOINT links ferry commuter transportation. But faced with a report from municipal staff that found a West Vancouver passenger service too expensive and too risky, West Vancouver council let the idea drift into the sunset. The municipality’s approach of har- nessing private companies and leased ferries to drive the system proved on paper to be overly expensive and com- plex for the municipality. West Vancouver council should instead be lobbying the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority with the idea. The expansion of SeaBus service to West Vancouver makes sense on a host of fronts, including commuter transit and tourism. West Vancouver needs to push hard- er to make that ferry service happen. mailbox Human activity in Watersheds is ‘stupid’ Dear Editor: Re: May 23 Mailbox letter: Wondering about water works, J.K. .Ethanson states “...the so-called Friends of the Watershed, not one of whom has a scientific background in any of the disciplines that apply in this complicated field.” Well, he is dead wrong! . Through formal studies and practise in geological engi- neering I have an extensive background in hydrology, sedi- mentation, soil mechanics, geomorphology, and both classi- _ cal and applied geochemistry. I am not easily fooled by tech- nical babble. Long ago [ came to a scientific and logical con- clusion chat deliberate human activity in water supply water- sheds is just plain stupid! _ Friends of the Watersheds has nothing to gain from its voluntary efforts except pure water for Lower Mainlanders. The so-called experts who produce lucrative scientific reports at great public expense have a. vested interest in telling the GVRD What it wants to hear (various options for managing, i.c., logging the waterslieds) to maintain ‘its empire and the well-paid positions of those comprising it. . The answer to Ethanson’s question as to which opposing __ Broup should be listened to, if wisdom prevails, will not be ~ the one he seeks. ' MLE. Cowan, M.Sc., R.Eng. Friends of the Watersheds North Vancouver Mailbox policy LETTERS to the editor must be legible (preferably type- Written), brief and include your name, full address and tele- hone number. Due to space constraints the North Shore News cannot publish all"letters. Published letters may be edited: for brevity, clarity, accuracy, legality and_ taste. _ Submissions can be faxed to 985-2104: : J north Shore: . Worth Shore Nees. founded in 1969 as an incependent suburhan newspaper and qualiied under Schedule 11%, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, 16 published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press. Lid. and distributed to every door on the North ‘Shore. Canada Post Canadian Putticahons Mait ‘Sales Product Agrsemert Ne. 0087238. 2Asding rates available on request eee Mark Fancher . WHEN DID VANDER ZALM The Kesovo mess-up tests us all THERE’S a wise old saying that if you’re determined to will the end, you must be ready, at what- ever cost, to will the means. That sums up NATO’s present dilemma in Yugoslavia. After 10 weeks of ever more intensive bombing of tiny Serbia and Kosovo, yet still with no end in sight, what did the mighty 19-nation alliance led by the world’s super- power do wrong? Basically, nwo things. First, President Clinton's . public declaration, just as the bombs began to fall, that “I don’t intend to put our troops in Kosovo to fight a war”. This, despite every lesson of modern history showing that air warfare alone never defeats a stubborn enemy, as Bill’s generals also told him. Second, underestimating Slobodan Milosevic’s ruthless determination — once Clinton promised there. was to be no ground invasion — to hang on to power -. to the bitter end, even if it meant his country being blasted back into the Stone. Age. It's even been suggested that, like Hitler, the Serb dictator (whose parents both committed suicide) might ultimately be willing to fall on his own sword rather than surrender. Especially since he’s now a wanted man on an international arrest warrant. : So where do we go from here? Certainly nor with the faint-hearts and parlour peaceniks who now urge the West PETER SPECK Publisher Resources 985-2131 (101) 885-2131 (177) “Terry Pators Valerie $ General Manager Managing 985-2131 (153) to pull out of “this illegal, arrogant and poindess war” (hi there, old columnist buddy Trevor Lautens!) and write off the past 10 weeks to experience. They argue that Stobo’s ethnic cleansing caper in Kosavo is a purely inter- ii i nal matter, no business of NATO's and no threat to its members’ national interests. Plain undiluted hozvash often makes more sense. NATO was formed 50 years ago to defend — Europe. Milosevic’s “internal” action against the ethr.ic Albanian population of Kosavo has created a humanitar- ian catastrophe of gargantuan size with which the rest oF curope and the world must cope, At the s sie dime it threatens to destabilize the encire Balkan region and its immediate neighbours -— Creatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece —— one-fifth of the continental landmass outside Russia. In short, NATO's campaign to bring Milacevic to heel is very definitely in defence of'a vital comer of Europe as well hither and yon as expressing Western civilization’s horror - at the kind of genocidal terror we thought had ended 54 years ago, when Hitler took his own life in that Berlin bunker. So all we're talking about is how to correct the campaign’s very obvious practical mistakes to date. The key mistake being the initial ban- ning by Clinton — a charter member of the 1960s “make-love-not-war” genera- tion — of ground troops. ‘For Milosevic this effectively ticd one of NATO’s hands LETTERS 10 THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, full address & telephone number. VIA e-mail: trenshaw @ direct.ca ing Editor 985-2131 (116) Trixi Agrios Gavid Whitmen Galt Snetgrove behind its back. He rightly reasoned that aerial bombing alone could only win him support among the Serbs. Allied tanks rumbling down Belgrade boulevards would, of course, be a very different mat- ter. For now the bombing, with all its restrictions aimed at minimizing civilian casualties, will continue. If it can eventual- lv bring the Yugoslav monster to his knees, fine. Meanwhile, the ground troops vital for finishing the job must be assembled with all speed on Serbia's borders. Thar alone might persuade Milosevic that the game is finally up. Orherwise, they must go in and get him — at whatever cost. The alternative? The credibility of NATO, the U.S. and the UN as guardians of world peace and the rule of law shot for ever. Back to the 1939 days of the tooth- less League of Nations and tinpot tyrants... everewhere who know they'll never have to account for killing millions of their tel- Jow humans. . The Kosovo mess-up to date tests not: just NATO, Clinton and the UN., philo- sophically and morally it tests us all. As _ WA.C. Bennett put it so well: Stand for - nothing and you'll fall for anything! 900 - MANY HAPPY RETURNS of Saturday, June 5, to West Van's Edna Morse ... And talking of birthdays, chalk up June 5 too as the day Tory leader Joe Clark hits the prime of life at 60. ; . 9093 WRIGHT OR WRONG: The best para- chute folders are those who jump them- selves. — nwright@uniserve.com HOW TO: REACH:US Administration 985-2131 96041511 965-6982 - $86-8222 685-2131 Michaet Becter - News Editar 985-2133 (14) ; Andrew McCredie - Sports/Community Editor 985-2131 (147) Display Manager General Office anager 980-0511 {317} 985-2131 £105) internet- httpy//jwww.nsnew:.com Stephenson Photography Manager Classified Manager Promotions Manager 985-2181 (169) 986-6222 {202} . SBS-213T (218; Entire contents © 1999 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Ail rights reserved. Barbara Emo Distribution Manager Creative Services Director 986-1337 (124} 965-2131 (127) "61.582 {average curculaton, Weanesaay Frieay & Sunaay}