4 OPINION Page 4 Wednesday, November 21. 1984 The Michigan Daily The CIA: E By Brian Leiter All those who participated in last week's protest against the Central In- telligence Agency deserve to be com- mended for their successful demonstration against an organization which by the standards of both inter- national and American law can only fairly be described as "criminal." The success of the protest is all the more notable in that it occurred at a time when the national atmosphere is characterized by a complacency and dishonesty of mind and spirit unknown since the Truman-McCarthy years. For the past quarter century it has been the task of students along with society's most brutally excluded (e.g. blacks) to mobilize against crimes and lies of the state. Under Reagan's reign of myth, the CIA is as good a target as any to begin with. What is really quite stunning is the reaction of many to the routing of the recruiters. Regent Robert Nederlander calls it " an outrageous violation of rights." Regent Deane Baker describes it as "an intolerable situation." Frankly, I think such language is somewhat strong and melodramatic. What happened was representatives of an organization that has been instrumental in the murder of, conservatively speaking, one million people, were prevented from recruiting University students. If I were a regent, I should be quite relieved that Univer- sity students were not getting involved with such a group. I SHOULD pause a moment to justify the "one million" figure. I am talking about murder committed by gover- nments that were generally installed and the supported by the United States through the CIA and then trained and sometimes directly assisted by the CIA. Let me make the point about the regents' moralistic comments another way. During the past nine years, the government of Indonesia, which came to power in a CIA-backed coup in 1965, has been using American military aid and training to carry out the genocide of the people of East Timor. Estimates to date say probably 100,000 people (one-sixth of the population) has been killed. Fortunately, Indonesia has been a gold mine for U.S. investors, thus guaranteeing continued U.S. en- thusiasm for the regime. Now I would describe the situation in Indonesia, and perhaps I am alone on this, as an "outrageous violation of rights" and "an intolerable situation." I would assume that since Regents Baker and Nederlander so freely apply these phrases to what is clearly a minor incident by comparison (the CIA protest), that they were at the forefront of protests against the U.S.-backed genocide of the East Timorese. Their moral indignation over the CIA protest would be more than a little ironic if this were not the case; surely genocide poses a greater threat to freedom than thwarting CIA recruitment. BUT THE IRONY of the reactions surrounding the protest continues. President Shapiro plans to apologize to the dozen or so students who were plan- ning -to interview with the CIA. This strikes me as quite remarkable. If I were a student who had planned to in- terview and it turned out that a hundred of my peers were so incensed by this organization that they drove the organization fraffi campus, I would wonder what was going on. I might go look up the reports of the Church Com- mittee hearings on the CIA; or I might go read the Pentagon Papers; or I might do some research in the ida ngered European press or in non-mainstream : works by people like Gabriel Kolko and Noam Chomsky. And having done all this I would be quite stupefied if anyone came to apologize to me; in fact, I would probably sit down and. draft a letter of thanks to the protesters. (I am assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that most Michigan studen- ts are not pro-genocide or pro-torture even when it is in the interests of the9 U.S. business community.) And when all else fails, there is always "free speech." Ruth Milkman, 0 editor of the law school newspaper, clearly consumed by impatience over her naive colleagues at the Daily (who R)JOdiE supported the protest), writes that "students may be misinformed about y CIA activities. Thesolution is more in- j' formation, uqt less7Students also have a right to heam 'what the CIA has to say." To read Milkman's letter one would think that there is actually some Representatives risk that the CIA viewpoint will go were forced to a unrepresented. r One would be lead to imagine, in fact, suggestion or docur that the entire established media, in- that the United St cluding such bastions of liberalism as backs murder, tori The New York Times, does not faith- in the interest of th fully tout the basic state line on business never su American "imperialism;" one would York Times, let alo imagine that almost every Reagan ut- media. Where arf terance on foreign policy - which is advocates then? then broadcast in media across the about "free speech country - is not a sugar-coating on the CIA is least in need latest CIA-backed campaign of terror In any event, the or exploitation; one would imagine that stitutional protecti the vice president of the United States designed to prote is not the former head of the CIA and, government (read not surprisingly, somewhat partisan to says). When the that organization. and its agents OF COURSE, in point of fact, the om- systematic and per nipresence of the world view which to mobilize (qu condones the CIA and American im- popular support f perialism is quite stunning. And what der and terrorc is also quite remarkable is that any foreign climates fa or danger ous? It is a remarkable fact of human history that people do not perceive the crimes of their own state, only the; crimes of their enemies. Any upstan- ding American would tell you, quite honestly and rightly, that Idi Amin was an inhuman butcher. But how many are aware that Idi Amin is a 4 light-weight by comparison to Lyndon Johnson, Henry Kissinger, or Ronald Reagan? Can Idi Amin claim to have bombed out of existence several hun- dred thousand defenseless peasants, as Kissinger and Nixon did with the air strikes against Laotian and Cambodian peasants? Idi Amin only overthrew one government (Uganda's); Lyndon John- son has three to his credit: Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Indonesia (which subsequently engaged in 4 brutality far beyond the means of Amin). Idi Amin did not travel around the world preaching democracy and democratic rights while engaging in slaughter; Ronald Reagan employs such rhetoric regularly while actively backing murderous and brutal regimes in over a dozen countries - including vigorous military support for Guatemala and El Salvador, chosen in 1980 as the worst human rights violators in Latin America (replacing America's old friend, Argentina, at the top of the list). Protests, like the one against the CIA recruiters, have as their greatest value the focusing of public attention on the myths which enshroud America's foreign and domestic policy. The historical record on these matters is plain; the task is to bring it to light. With four more years of "The Great Prevaricator," the need for such Ec- tivity will be unprecedented. Students must rise to the challenige. Leiter is a graduate student in law and philosophy. Daily Photo by KATE O'LEARY s of the CIA and protesters shortly before the representatives bandon their recruiting efforts in the MLB last Wednesday. mentation of the fact ates quite willingly ture, and repression e needs of American irfaces in The New ne the less "liberal" e the "free speech" If we are worried h," I suspect that the of our help. fact is that the con- on of free speech is ct citizens from the d it, that's what it government itself start lying in a rsistent way in order ite successfully ) or programs of mur- designed to create vorable to American investment, then any effort to halt and untangle this web of deceit is in the best interest of truly free speech, free thought, and freedom in general. We would not regard the parrotting of Soviet pronouncements on the invasion of Afghanistan as an exercise in free speech; there is no justification for adopting a different attitude to those who parrot the State Department line on American foreign policy, whether they be the CIA or Jeanne Kirkpatrick. An astounding amount of untruth issues forth from the media and the government; at the same time, there is almost no forum for an alternative view. To invoke tolerance for the CIA in such circumstances is an act of cowardice. As a former professor of mine once said, "Don't be so open- minded that your brains fall out." i I Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCV, No. 66 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board SANS clarifies proposal NS CHM a~MaN of The SeNam .FoReiGN ReLcIBONS COMMJ'iTee, t WOULD j"MeDiaTPLr WiTHDpaw RecoOGN OF "Nose c.ommies IN CH Ma... aLL as CONTROL NeGOiaTi. WjTN TH2 EVIL EMPi%3 va T~N O'p STOP THe. ?MbIS OF YOUR FoReiGN POL'ICY 5eNATOR RMS ~4? DeVeLoPiNG New McRT5 FOR TOaaCco iN We Th iRD WORLD. 4 4 4 A9p STUDENTS AGAINST NUCLEAR Suicide does not wish to recommend that University students commit suicide when life gets too hard to bear and things are going badly. The group is trying to get University Health Ser- vice to stockpile suicide pills for op- tional student use in the event of nuclear war to emphasize the suicidal nature of a society that stockpiles an extensive arsenal of nuclear weapons. There has been some confusion over SANS' intentions that has hampered its attempt to get the Michigan Student Assembly to place the proposal on April's student election ballot. SANS has recently changed the proposal's wording to clear up any possible misconceptions University students may have. The clarifications are beneficial and should allow MSA to en- dorse the proposal with confidence. The measure originally read: "This proposal is intended to provoke serious thought and discussion of the urgent need to put a halt to the arms race. We believe that nuclear war threatens thinking of life in terms of the future and has the effect of negating choice." The use of the term "arms race," in- stead of "nuclear war" had the poten- tial to imply that SANS wanted to put a halt to the manufacture of all weapons, nuclear or non-nuclear. While this isn't a bad thought, in a technical sense it was inaccurate since the aim of SANS is to educate students about nuclear war. The phrase "negating choice" however, was not inaccurate or misleading. The potential for nuclear was to occur takes away each American citizen's power over his or her own life. The few top officials who may make the final decision to enter a nuclear war have the power to decide the fate of the rest of us. Thus, the wording of this part of the proposal does diminish SANS' message somewhat. But if this enables more people to understand the overall pur- pose of the proposal, then it is worth giving up the more abstract wording. The new wording explicitly states that, "The purpose of this request (for suicide pills) is to stimulate serious discussion surrounding the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war. This request does not in any way endorse suicide except in a post nuclear war situation." Because it specifically refers to nuclear war and explains that the proposal should not be viewed as an endorsement of suicide for reasons other than nuclear war, the proposal is much easier to comprehend. Those who originally had reser- vations about the wording of this proposal should be assured of its con- structive intentions. The Michigan Student Assembly should endorse the measure and allow students to vote on it in April. Already the proposal has launched meaningful discussions on the moral consequences of the world's extensive nuclear arsenal. 4 i sTare e c" T .6 I p181NPsA U. LETTERS TO THE DAILY CIA doesn't deserve protection 1 To the Daily: Nobody desires with any en- thusiasm the spread of totalitarianism. I accept the fact that genuine democracies must hinder the influence of any political system that rides roughshod over human dignity and respect for human rights. In the real world intelligence ac- tivities exist as a necessary evil. Insomuch as it confines its efforts to ingelligence gathering the CIA has a proper role. But when it crosses its legitimate boundaries and acts with flagrant contempt for the sovereignty of popularly suppor- ted governments, the CIA acts as an international outlaw and must be regarded as such. When it treats human rights with scorn it becomes a malignant growth within the tissues of the same society it obstensibly protects. When the CIA develops manuals of psychological warfare for use in Central America I wonder what plans it has for neutralizing nolitical dissent within the United "outrageous violation of rights" as Regent Nederlander puts it, had to take place and will again if the necessity arises. Freedom of speech is a sacred value and even the appearance of trampling upon it can only be justified when the need to avert even greater outrage is at stake. To paint protesters as adversaries of free speech is to misunderstand the full import of the situation. The issue is not altogether one of speech as certain concrete ac- tions also are involved. The aim of recruiters lies not in giving speeches. They are not public relations people nor apologists for the views of their agency. Their function is to recruit prospective employees to their organization. Neither American law nor the University en- courages or even permits all recruitment activity. It is illegal BLOOM COUNTY under sedition laws to organize people for the explicit purpose of overthrowing the government. The University would find it un- conscionable (I hope) to welcome representatives of the Mafia to campus for the sake of recruiting accountants, com- puter engineers, and hit men. Despite its outlaw status, as an official agency of the federal government the CIA can use many channels for spreading its propaganda and has many means of recruitment available to it. The University need not be one of them and its is morally reprehen- sible that it should want to be. -A.C. Townsend November 19 Unsigned editorials ap- pearing on the left side of this page represent a majority opinion of the Daily 's Editorial Board. 41 by Berke Breathed '2 . {i & ... ................. .. ............ m: X;x, M11, O NP0AOT UKE 1N/5I.~ PA Of 57RXtIPKG I loY1IN6 HAPP~5 FOIKS WHEN MY11tYET 71~0 NEAR WI'T P609tI.,. I RMAP It IN4 5c0fww8pY 5A2&Z5 Mlt WI A,,Ak1 7IA rh u.