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OPINION
Page 4
Saturday, November 12, 1983
The Michigan Daily
Declaring war on the
Third
World
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By Eric S. McDonald
A few short weeks ago, America unof-
ficially declared war on the Third
World.
Yes America declared war...not just
Ronald Reagan. It was through
America's complacency, naivete, or
willingness which brought Ronald
Reagan to the presidency. So far it
seems that a strong majority backs the
president's foreign policies. If not all
America agrees, that opposition is
discouragingly silent.
- America has embarked into the
dubious waves of gunboat diplomacy
once again. If the country involved is in
any way obstinate, America flexes its
iuscles. The problem is that physical
strength does not necessarily overcome
the strength of will and emotion.
America is stepping out of bounds into
the domain of the Third World.
GRENADA is where America
declared its opposition to the Third
World. It is more a fear of a Third
World network than of the expansion of
Soviet communism. America sees its
flanks being ringed by countries who
want self-determination. A split from
the American sphere of influence is
seen as a slap in the face to the United
States. What better place to retaliate
than a country with the square mileage
bf Detroit,and the population of a sold
out Michigan Stadium.
But what about the Soviet arms,
everyone points out vociferously. If
America did not constantly rebuke
Third World self-determination, those
arms could have very well been U.S.
arms. Maurice Bishop, the late head of
threat to the rest of the world. But when
America rejects and badgers the will of
new governments, America's position
will not be held highly by the Third
World.
IMMEDIATELY after World War II,
Vietnam asked for assistance from the
United States, who said its task was to
make the world safe for democracy.
America strongly objected to Viet-
nam's policy of agrarian reform.
Disregarding U.S. military might, the
Vietnamese forced the United States to
withdraw from the fight because of the
Vietnamese will.
Chile, under Salvador Allende, asked
for U.S. assistance in forming a system
of social democracy. The United States
strongly disagreed with Allende's
policies and sent the CIA to brutally
murder him amid a hail of machine gun
fire. Chile is now ruled by a military
group oblivious to human rights.
toward socialism. But they seek aid
from America before they inquire in the
Soviet Union. The Third World seeks
out America, supposedly the champion
of freedom and democracy. But, they
are strongly rebuffed, and at times
ignored. It can only be expected that
the Third World becomes a staunch
supporter of the Soviet Union.
Self-determination is a right of eadh
country. How quickly America forge,
that at one time it fought for its ow6
self-determination. Now America warit-
ts to impose its philosophies upon al
others. The threat to America, if there
is one, has been brought upon itself by
its callous attitudes and self-righteous
omnipotence towards other countries.
If America is to remain a symbol 4f..
freedom and democracy, it must lear
to negotiate. The new trend o
peacekeeping through gunboat(
diplomacy will lead to a view of
America as an imperialist country. Im-
perialism has nothing to do with,,
freedom and democracy.
America has to try to educate itself to!
the histories and cultures of other coun-
tries. There are too many others who
see the inequities of life to simply allow
for the Americanization of the world.
The United States must come to grips
with the reality that this is a world of
four billion, not 250 million, people.
McDonald is a senior in the
School of Art. He is a member of
the Black Student Union.
Nicaragua asked for a democratic
end to the strongarm rule of Anastasio
Somoza. America continued to back
the Somoza regime. Somoza was run
out of Nicaragua with the resultant
government being strongly anti-
American. Can we now expect the
AP Photo Grenadian government to be an arm of
ts will the United States, with the new head
being strong enough to quell any inter-
nal dissension?
should do CAN THE United States expect new
at before Third World governments to do
t, they are anything but to seek assistance from
)nalism is the Soviets? These fledgling gover-
)mmunist nments confess that yes, they do lean
If the United States is going to gain the respect and support of Third World nations it cannot continue to impose i
on nations such as Grenada. Negotiations and compromise is the proper course of action, not taking prisoners.
Grenada, two years ago asked the
United States for aid for his fledgling
socialist government. The U.S. gover-
nment denied his requests simply for
fear of the word socialist.
Since World War II, America has
rejected requests for aid by one after
another Third World government. Its
reasoning has been that it cannot
ethically support a socialist or com-
munist government. America;
a bit or research and realize th
these countries are communist
strongly nationalist. This natio
very unlikely to pose a co
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Stewart
TAE UNIeRSITY ADMIN-
ISTRATION POINT OF VIEW:
Vol. XCIV-No. 58
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
ji
Justice's sqi
I T MAY BE cliche to say that the
wheels of justice turn slowly, but for
the 100,000 Japanese-Americans inter-
'ied during World War II those wheels
have begun to spin in their direction. A
federal district court judge in Califor-
nia overturned a more than 40-year old
conviction that was one of the worst
miscarriages of justice in the long
history of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Judge Marilyn Patel reversed the
J942 decision against Fred Koremat-
u. Korematsu had been convicted of
refusing to obey evacuation orders that
orced 100,000 Japanese-Americans,
inost of them from the West Coast, into
Internment camps for much of World
II. The Supreme Court eventually
upheld Korematsu's conviction.
Patel's ruling is the first judicial
r-ecognition that the internment was
unconstitutional.
Thursday's decision - particularly
poignant because it came the day
before Veteran's Day, which honors
the people who served and died for this
nation in war - begins to correct a
case of racial discrimination that was
.
..
/
ueaky wheels
disturbing all the more because it was
perpetuated by the men who were sup-
posed to protect all the people from
such discrimination. It was a case in
which the institutions and laws
designed to check such discrimination
failed as well. Correction of the in-
justice is long overdue.
Perhaps Patel's ruling will pave the
way for the restitution due Japanese-
Americans rounded up merely because
of their ancestry and not because they
posed any individual threat to the war
effort.
Since the end of the war many have
recognized what a great injustice had
been rendered, though no one was
willing to right the wrong. The Depar-
tment of Justice, in its brief for
Korematsu's present appeal, admitted
that the case was "an unfortunate
episode in our nation's history." Judge
Patel said that statement was "tan-
tamount to a confession of error."
It only took 40 years to begin to
correct that error. But the system has
started to correct itself. That is Mr.
Korematsu's - and the 100,000 other
internees' - victory.
THE STONEY BURKE
POINT OF VIEIV
NUCLEAR WAR IS SUICIDE.
FEYT HING FUCKING DISI
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MILITARY RESEARCH
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LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Giggles and scribbles with the Moodies
To the Daily:
In response to Mike Cramer's
review of the Moody Blues con-
cert at Crisler Arena on October
29 ("The Moody Blues travel in
time," Daily, November 1): I
was one of the girls sitting next to
him. Until he let us know that we
were disturbing him, we had no
idea he could even hear us over
the music. And when he let us
know (very unceremoniously I
might add), we adjusted our con-
versation accordingly.
But to assume because we were
"stylish young women of the
eighties" that we would ap-
preciate Duran Duran more, is to
Correction
exhibit the kind of prejudice
found too much on the music
scene (and in the world in
general). After all, we didn't
question his preppy presence at a
concert by such a mystical band
as the Moody Blues.
Notwithstanding the fact that
Mr. Cramer was probably in
diapers when the Moody Blues
had their first successes, he
assumes that we know little of the
band because I shouted for "Blue
World", from the new album,
which he found to be "the least
thrilling of all the new songs they
played." To the contrary, I have
every one of the Moody Blues'
BLOOM COUNTY
albums, and I have just as much
right to my opinion as he, the critic
does. I was there from the start of
their career.
As for not being great fans of
the Moodies, just because my
girlfriend and I were discussing
the show doesn't mean we
weren't listening. Just as people
dress differently, so do they react
to events differently. Some of u4
scream and giggle and comment;
Some dance. Some sit reverently
in their chairs.
And some sit and scribble in
notebook and get paid for it.
- Amy A. Traction
November
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We encourage our readers to use this space to discuss
and respond to issues of their concern. Whether those
topics cover University, Ann Arbor community, state
national, or international issues in a straightforward or
unconventional manner, we feel such a dialogue is a
crucialfunction of the Daily. Letters and guest columns
should be typed, triple-spaced, and signed.
by Berke Breathed
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