Alumni clash over conduct of the war

Dear Editor:

Mr. Knight and I have disagreed and debated about important public policy issues during our time as undergrads at the University of Denver. After reviewing his editorial, I have come to the conclusion that it’s an affectionate form of disagreement.

I concur with Mr. Knight on the terse nature of my editorial. No justice can be given to any public policy issue in 300-500 words. However, I do not control the editorial policy of the Clarion, so I am restricted in how thoroughly I can cover important interlocking issues. I never expected to compose a research paper in my editorials; however I always want to address critical contemporary issues.

The issues I covered in my editorial should not be relegated to the back of the Clarion editorial pages. The war with Iraq, civil liberties, social policies and the environment are issues in their own right that warrant in-depth and extensive front page media coverage.

Instead the media, like the U.S. Congress, has abrogated its responsibility to inform the American public and critically question the Bush Administration about important foreign and domestic policy. Instead, the media has resorted to the use of terms such as WMD, Bunker Busters, and Shock and Awe to describe the conflict in Iraq. I have tried to unveil and explain these euphemisms as what they truly are: convenient words to cover up the true horror and brutality of the war in Iraq.

This tragic and unnecessary war is now being defended by some whom would say that the ends justified the means. However, the deception that Iraq was a threat that was used to justify the war has now resulted in an unknown amount of dead Iraqi civilians, over 100 dead U.S. soldiers, the discovery of no weapons of mass destruction and the obvious truth that Iraq never posed the threat that the President insinuated.

We see the freedom of Iraqis standing over the toppled statue of Saddam Hussein. However, now we also see the images of freedom with thousands of Iraqis calling for the end of the U.S. occupation. Furthermore, the images of liberty in Iraq are pointless when chaos and looting reign in Baghdad and U.S. soldiers have killed an unknown number of unarmed Iraqi protesters expressing their freedom in Mosul. Instilling Iraqi Democracy has become a fiction as the U.S. continues to occupy the country and as the future of Iraq is siphoned off by the president’s campaign contributors. This makes a mockery of our ideals and of the self-determination of the Iraqi people. The legitimacy of the U.S. government is dependent upon its course of action and policies, in Iraq and in America.

At home, neo-McCarthyism has been used to stifle dissent from Clear Channel Radio stations boycotting anti-war bands to the economic reprisals and retributions against the Dixie Chicks and Tim Robbins for expressing their first Amendment rights. There will be no democracy or success in Iraq if we plant the seeds of tyranny and oppression here in the U.S. In the quest for a better world, regime change must start here at home in 2004. – Chris Rutan, graduate student

Dissasembled statue does not equal Iraqi peace

Dear Editor:

In response to the letter written by Ed Hanks, I would like to say that all Americans should be against the war, for one good reason. No matter whom the people are on this planet, or what religion they follow, nobody should be having a bomb dropped on their house, evil dictator or no. The Iraqis and the Afghanis do not and will never consider us their friends. Sure, the media portrays them as flying kites and dancing for joy, but we must remember that this is the same monopoly run media that couldn’t recognize Saddam Hussein when he exchanged his contact lenses for glasses after a bad night of the U.S. bombing a city that he rightfully lived in. The scene of a disassembled statue was actually only a small group of Iraqis who were fortunate enough to have survived in a city that had been burnt to a crisp.

I am well aware that some freak fundamentalists who were disowned by their families caused a lot of pain to our country, but does that mean we need to stoop to their level of infancy? We too, can be grown ups about the situation. But no, we wanted to watch green flashes on our television and be talked to like kindergarteners about how everything is better now that their entire country has been blown to little bits. I mean, please, the “evil-doers”? Do I look like I’m six?

And don’t think that telling me about the rights of women and girls over there will make me change my mind. I do notice reproductive rights being stripped away in our country by a government that’s looking more and more fundamentalist every day.

I realize it’s too late to complain, but could we please be more sensitive to other people in the future? – Megan Sullivan, student