4 OPINION Page 4 Saturday, November 12, 1983 The Michigan Daily Declaring war on the Third World 4 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 v 4 '4 MILITARY RESEARCH $ A DEAD ISS$a", a3r \\ ( tip 4 4 ~-. " 4 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 I 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 4 I* ,-- ---- dk . I I --I r m I