a positive plan

>How can we "combat" such horror? Well, step one in my book is to stop
>*committing* it. Close to or more people die each month in Iraq. Each
>month. Serbia is mostly rubble, much of it
>contaminated. Columbia...Columbia is a disaster area. And we've 
>declared
>"war" there (though "not really").

This is a dangerous slippery slope.  If we are going to simply withdraw 
from the world then what does that make us?  If we have the capacity to 
ease suffering, and we do not even try what does that make us?  As an 
example, take the issue of Aparteid.  If we had not used sanctions it 
is likely that that oppressive system would have lasted a lot longer, 
perhaps even until today.  While I agree that there are a litany of 
evils included in the actions you have mentioned there is an equally 
severe moral abuse in not even attempting to right these wrongs for 
fear of making enemies.  As a further example take the recent Farce in 
Durban.  Following a policy such what you have implied above, a 
conference on ending racism would clearly create enemies in other 
nations and might even, in the end, require some sort of enforcing 
mechanism, such as sanctions, which would of course create further 
enemies.   Thus, we should not attend such conferences, or any other 
international conferences on any topic for that matter.  
     What is needed is an entirely new formulation of our foreign 
policy. It is not enough simply to say, "we should stop the sanctions 
against Iraq" or "we should cease to use pesticide against peasant 
farms in Columbia" or even "it is not right to bomb innocent people 
that are citizens under a regime that is committing genocide."  unless 
you also supply an alternative to solve the underlying problem.  Where 
would the world be if it was always said, "my brother is in trouble, 
but i can see no clear way of helping him, so i will not try." this is 
why it is important not merely to point out mistakes, but propose 
alternatives.
     This is especially important with regards to the issue at hand. it 
is easy, and important, to remind the emotional that it is just as 
wrong to murder innocent people in a foreign land as it is for people 
from a foreign land to murder innocent people here.  However, it is 
more important to supply an alternative way to acheive justice.  If all 
that we can do is say what is wrong, but we can not propose an 
alternative, then we have failed.  We have infact failed doubly, since 
our failure to create a pardigm to apply to future situations and 
troubles, so that these situations will continue to arise, and abuses 
from both sides will continue.  
     From the events of the last few years 2 specific question arise 
is: what is the proper way to sanction a state which has wrongly acted 
without unjustly harming its people? what is the proper way to respond 
to a group of people that has acted unjustly without harming the people 
and nations around them?  If we don't answer these questions then any 
attempt we make to improve the current state of affairs is doomed to 
failure.