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OPINION

Page 4

Saturday, October 29, 1983


The Michigan Daily


Reagan's big

stick hammers Grenada


By Phillip Lawes
The hallmark of a civilized nation is a
determination to pursue its interests
through non-violent means. Though
violence cannot be ruled out
categorically in the affairs of states, the
use of force is always regrettable, and
justified only as a last resort. Citizens
of the United States have long prided'
themselves on being a humane and
reasonable people. In the democratic
tradition, the people of this country
have trusted their elected officials to
conduct an appropriately just and
humane foreign policy. This trust has
been flagrantly violated by the Reagan
administration's recent invasion of the
nation of Grenada.
The invasion of Grenada by elite
U.S. forces and elements from several
Caribbean nations is not the action of
civilized nations. Rather, it is a ruthless
and premature intervention based on
the most callous opportunism on the
part of the aggressor nations.
The action taken by the group of
Caribbean nations, Antiqua, Barbados,
Dominica, Jamaica, St. Lucia and St.
Vincent, should be looked at first.
.All these states are led by right-wing
regimes at present, and it is in the in-,
terest of these regimes (virtually all of
which have significant socialist op-
positions) to invoke the specter of "the
international Communist threat" in the
region to maintain their own hold on
power.
MR. EDWARD SEAGA, the
present Prime Minister of Jamaica, is
particularly experienced in screaming
"Communist." For several years after
Jamaica's independence in 1962, it was
standard practice of Seaga's party, the
Jamaican Labor Party, to go about the
Jamaican countryside at election time,
spreading the news of a Russian'fleet
just over the horizon, waiting to take
the country over in- the event that the

(Socialist) People's National Party was
elected. The existence of these phan-
tom Soviet fleets has neven been detec-
ted by any observer other than the JLP.
In calling on the regional superpower
to invade a neighbor, these six heads of
state have invoked a nasty precedent,
which has been suspended since the in-
vasion of the Dominican Republic in
1965, and opened the door to a new
round of U.S. military intervention in
the area. In essence, these leaders have
signed away their sovereignty inex-
change for a short-term expediency.
The extraordinary stupidity of this
action leads one to suspect that' there
was some degree of arm-twisting done
by the Reagan administration, which
exerts considerable coercive power
over the region in the form of its
Caribean Basin Initiative.
With regard to the United States, it is
quite clear that President Reagan's
stated reasons for the "joint effort to
restore order and democracy in
Grenada" (more commonly known as
"the invasion of Grenada," and labeled
"an act of war" by Sen. Daniel
Moynihan) are hypocritical in the ex-
treme.
Mr. Reagan has stated that the in-
vasion was staged" ...to protect in-
nocent lives, including up to 1,000
Americans . .'.to forestall further'
chaos, and .,.. to assist 'in the
restoration of conditions of law and or-
der and governmental institutions to
the island of Grenada."
The fact that these are presented as
the objectives of an armed assault by
elite troops and advanced weapons
leads one to wonder whether the
President's speeches are being written
by a gifted satirist. Mr. Reagan seems
to adhere to a credo that is a
paraphrase of Mao Zedong's most
memorable statement. To wit: "Order,
peace, and democracy come from the
barrel of a gun."
IT IS TO THIS nation's credit that

Stewart

.4
ANOTHER OBJECTIVE of the in-
vasion was stated by William Safire ip
the New York Times of Thursday, Ocr
tober 27. "The victory in Grenada,'4
Safire crows, "is taking place after the
defeat in Beruit; the ability demon-
strated by the U.S. to react to
provocation militarily will not be lost on
the Syrians."
When the foremost military and
economic power on this planet ("the
shining city on the hill," in the words of
candidate Reagan), finds it necessary
to assault a small island nation of just
over 100,000 people on order to prove a
point to its real enemies, there is trud
madness in the world.
Precisely as it was intended to do,
Mr. Reagan's regrettable action
spreads fear in the hearts of all the
people of the region. The Caribbean and
Central America is an area which
knows of the tyranny of powerful states
over small ones-indeed, the last 400
years of these nations' history is
precisely the history of such tyranny.
Among the instances of this tyranny
must be included the heavy-handed
practices of the U.S. in this century:
Invasions of Cuba, Nicaragua,
Guatemala, The Dominican Republic,
among others.
Mr. Reagan's resumption of "big-
stick" tactics must be protested by
people of honour and conscience in this
coyntry, as it is by the leaders of
Britain, Canada, France, and several of
our other staunchiest allies. If the
leader of the free world persists in
using its armed forces as its prime in-.
strument of foreign policy, this planet
teeters on the brink of destruction.
This world must not be plunged into
ignorance by Mr; Reagan and his band
of cold-warriors.
Lawes is an LSA senior.

wiser heads than the president's are ac-
tive in government. Among the many
voices of dissent in congress is that of
Sen. Moynihan, no pacifist himself, who
has categorically stated that, "We do
not have the right" to invade Grenada
in spite of the coup d'etat. He added, "I
don't know that you bring in democracy
at the point of a bayonet."
It is manifestly clear that the
president's prime motivation in at-

tacking Grenada are far less noble than
those stated publicly.
On ABC's Nightline program of Oc-
tober 26, Admiral Bobby Inman, the
previous head of the CIA, made it
clear that the savage coup in which
Maurice Bishop was killed was only
being used as a convenient excuse by
the administration. He stated,
"Earlier, whenever there was
discussion of various options (with

regard to intervening in Grenada, there
was no excuse available."
In a front-page news analysis on Oc-
tober 26, the Detroit Free Press stated
one reason quite categorically. "The
invasion of Grenada," it said, "is the
latest in a series of incidents in which
the United States and the Soviet Union,
directly or through proxies, openly ,or
secretly, are confronting each other
around the globe."



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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:

Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan

Administration reversed on MX.

. .

Vol. XCIV-No. 46

420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board J
A high price for education

HE HIGH PRICE students pay for
preparatory courses for tests like
the MCAT, LSAT, GRE, and even the
SAT may provide a big payoff for those
who can afford them. But this cost puts
poor students at an unfair disadvan-
tage in the college admissions com-
petition.
Taking these tests is required to ap-
ply to medical school, or law school,
any graduate school, or-even to be ad-
mitted to most undergraduate
programs. Scoring well on the tests is
even more important, if the student
wants to attend a prestigious univer-
sity.
And taking these courses can give
students a strong competitive edge.
A recent study by the University's cen-
ter for Research on Learning and
Teaching showed that average studen-
ts who took a top quality preparatory

course improved their SAT scores by
50 points. Because these students are,
able to fully realize their potential on
the tests, they have a better shot at
attending a top university, a better
shot at success.
But what is the key to this edge? It is
not" intelligence, not drive, not
curiosity. It is money. A top quality
course runs about $400-more money
than poor students can or should have
to pay.
The result is that poor students get
shoved out-out of the courses and
ultimately out of prestigious colleges.
Some must become discouraged by the
disadvantage they face, and quit.
Others take the test at a disadvantage
and have their abilities un-
derestimated by universities. Either
way they miss a quality education they
have every right to.

To the Daily:
The MX missile, the nuclear
weapons project that brought us
the "Dense Pack" basing plan
(the wonder of United States
nuclear strategy), will be con-
tested once again in Congress at
the end of this month. The last
time funding for the MX was
voted on it won by a mere 13 votes
in the House. This time around
an amendment to delete funds for
the MX stands a good chance of
killing the missile.
The MX is a dangerous
destabilizing first strike weapon.
It has the capability of destroying
land based Soviet missile silos
housing their intercontinental
ballistic missiles (75 percent of their
arsenal). Each missile will carry
10 warheads, each with 35 times
more destructive power than the
bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The
President would like us to believe
that the MX is a deterrent to
nuclear war. Reagan even went
so far as to call the MX the
"Peacemaker" to get across his
point. Due to its capabilities, the
MX is supposed to bring the
Russians to a serious arms con-
trol agreement. For these
reasons the MX is being touted as
a bargaining chip in a- very ex-
pensive and dangerous game of
poker with the Russians.
The administration has things
backwards. Due to its
capabilities the MX is not a
deterrent to war. Nor is it a
bargaining chip. It is a threat to
the Russians that would force
them to increase and improve
upon their existing nuclear ar-
senal. The MX is an offensive
weapon with a first strike
capacity and for this reason will
lead us closer to a nuclear war
rather than deter one. On the sub-
ject of the MX our representative
Carl Pursell has been the perfect
politician. On the first two votes
on the MX he voted the funding
down, and on the last two votes he
voted for the MX. Why not try
and please everyone? Why the
switch in Pursell? Jobs is no ex-
cuse since Michigan is not expec-
ted to gain any employment from
the MX project. Could it be that
Pursell is afraid of his conser-
vative constituency (that gives

Let him know that we are his con-
stituents as well as the rich
Republican party. Let him know
that we don't want the MX and if
he does than we don't want him.
Let him know that our votes and
concern for the safety and future
of the world are more important

... MSA, however, has the issue right

and powerful than any cam paign
contributions he might get so that
he can serve another term. Write
or call Pursell as soon as
possible. The vote on the MX and
the entire defense appropriations
bill will be coming up as soon as
the last week in October.

The MX will not lead us to peace;
thedeath of the MX will lead us in
the right direction. Let Carl Pur.
sell know.
- David Guttchei4
October N

To the Daily:
I'm writing to applaud the
initiative of the Michigan Student
Assembly in their effort to stop
the funding of the MX missile.
This project not only accelerates
the arms race, but also devours
tax money that could be spent on
important social programs, such
as student loans, food stamps,
and social security. This weapons
system will not significantly im-
prove our nuclear security, as we
already have the capability to
absorb a preemptive strike, and
retaliate with awesome destruc-
tiveness. Even if the Soviets
could knock out the thousands of
land based missiles that we
presently have deployed, our
submarines and bombers could
still annihilate the Soviet union
within minutes. This program
will only make the Russians more
paranoid than they already are,
and cause them to accelerate
their already massive build up of
nuclear weaponry. Hence, we are
literally burying over $87
BILLION in the ground at a time
when there are the greatest num-
ber of Americans living below the
poverty level since the
Depression. MSA has proved by
this action that it is not an inef-
fectual, impotent student group,
but rather an active body dealing
with real issues. This type of
leadership at the campus level is
indicative of the growing rein-
volvement of students in our
government's policy making.
Much of this activism has been
triggered by the gunslinging
foreign policy of Ronald Reagan.
We need new, progressive
leadership at the national level to
BLOOM COUNTY

reshape our military posture and
end U.S. bullying abroad. Many
observers feel that Sen. Gary
Hart could be the type of
president that could lead us out of
the current cold war, and into a
new era of improved security
through , international

cooperation and domestic
strength. He has led the fight
against the MX missile in the
Senate and will continue to do so
with the support of those with
vision, like the MSA
- Peter Giangreto
October 21

Students participate

To the Daily:
I am writing on behalf of the
Curriculum Committee of the
College of Literature, Science,
and the Arts in response to your
October 5 article ("Student
truency ~+plagues. committee
meetings") regarding student
participation in and attendence
at committee meetings. The
Committee asked me to tell you
that their experience, not only of
this year but also for past years,
has been that our student mem-
bers (three out of a committee of
twelve) have been regular atten-
dees of and participants in our

meetings. Moreover, their input
to our discussions, their 'service
on subcommittees, and their
research work for the
Curriculum Committee have
been constructive, valuable, and
dedicated. Their contribution of
the student viewpoint in our
discussions has been educational
forall of us.
It may be that some students
members of committees do not
follow through on their respon-
sibilites, but the student mem-
bers of the LSA Curriculum
Committee are not among them.
- Lawrence B. Mohr
October 20

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. R k X11;

We encourage our readers to use this space
to discuss and respond to issues of their con-
cern. Whether these topics cover University,
Ann Arbor community, state,national, or in-
ternational issues in a straightforward of un-
conventional manner, we feel such a dialogue
is a crucial function of the Daily. Letters and
guest columns should be typed, triple-spaced,
and signed.
by Berke Breathed

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