4

OPINION

Page 4

Thursday, March 27, 1986

The Michigan Daily


semt tigan Bng
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Vol. XCVI, No. 120 420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board

Lies which no longer shock

4

U.S. out of Libya

THE ASSERTION that the
attack on U.S. naval forces by
Libyan missile installations was
"unprovoked" is ludicrous. Given
past and present animosity bet-
ween the two countries, the Pen-
tagon knew that maneuvering
ships into the Gulf of Sidra was an
agressive act which would
heighten tensions.
Whether the international boun-
daries is twelve miles from the
shore, as the United States conten-
ds, or at 32030' as Libya claims, is
irrelevant. No reason has been
given why any vessel, excepting a
Libyan trading partner (certainly
not the United States), would need
to use the gulf waters.
Western diplomats in Tripoli san-
ctioned U.S. enforcement of inter-
national law. Western countries
benefit from small shore boun-
daries, so they can develop water
territories to protect their resource
rights. If this is an international
dispute, then it should be ar-
bitrated by the countries involved.
The United States has no right, or
the authority to make this decision.
The Middle East is an unstable
area, and the Reagan ad-
ministration runs against the long-
standing U.S. policy to reduce ten-
sion in the region. This action mars
U.S. credibility and tends toward a
Soviet conflict, because there are
Soviet advisors in Libya.

Reagan's intentions are
ominous. He desires to harrass the
Libyans because of their in-
volvement in terrorism, in order to
back administration assertions
that it is willing to use force again-
st terrorism, and Reagan's man-
date to "get tough."
Reagan is also politically
motivated by the Contra aid bill. It
was advantageous for him to place
U.S. forces into a position where
they would be attacked because
this focuses public attention on the
vulnerability of U.S. troops,
creating a preceived need for fur-
ther military dollars. This impacts
the Contra aid bill: if he is able to
convince people that U.S. security
is at risk, it will be much easier to
rally foreign aid.
In attacking the Libyans,
Reagan has shown that he is
willing to commit acts of agression
similar to those he accuses the
Sandinistas and the Libyans of
doing. He has created an un-
necessary conflict for political
purposes. This fuels Soviet claims
that the United States is an
aggressive, warlike nation, giving
them an excellent propaganda tool.
The Reagan administration has
taken human life when it could
have been avoided. The United
States has neither right nor need to
be in the Gulf of Sidra, and it
should withdraw at once.

By Henry Park
first of a two part series
to be continued next Thursday
Last spring, I was under so-called in-
vestigation in connection to a basketball and
cocaine betting ring and three mafia style
executions. I had the dubious honor of ap-
parently connecting University of Michigan
basketball to organized crime.
After a late night, I woke up to the sound
of my doorbuzzer. Two Ann Arbor police in-
formed me that they wanted to do a routine
investigation of a murder. I wondered what
they had in mind and if there had been a
murder in my neighborhood so I let them into
my kitchen while I was still in pajamas.
On his way through the door, one of the
police said they had connected me to the
murder. I was not too shaken or worried
that I was even indirectly connected
because a certain statement they had made
tipped me off that they were lying from the
very beginning.
Still, I talked to the police as if they had
not lied. As an activist, I had deep
suspicions about their real reasons for
visiting me and I wanted to see what they
wanted.
It turns out that they had traced my phone
number through the phone company to
locate me at my address the police knew
me by name; although, I had never met
them. This was also shocking and when
they asked me my middle initial and other
information, I told them that they are cer-
tainly capable of finding that information
given what they had so far.
I tried to cooperate in regard to the sup-
posed murder aspect of the investigation.
Park is the Associate Opinion Page
editor.

The cops asked if I knew the victims, but
provided no newspaper clippings or other
evidence that the victims actually existed. I
told them that I knew nothing about the vic-
tims and countered by asking why they do
not know when I was supposedly connected
to the victims.
Next, the police intoned that they could
connect me to basketball betting and
cocaine. I asked them if they did not think
they were intimidating me. Then they
became excited and emphasized, "no, no,
no, we are just interested in the murder; we
can not even use what you say against you."
Not having followed basketball till I came to
the Daily this fall, I found this entertaining
but not amusing.
Since I "paranoidly" refused even my
middle initial to them, the police became
frustrated and stormed out of the house.
Leaving, one said, "now we think you know
something and we'll be happy to grand jury
subpoena your ass."
At the time I did not think I had any trust-
worthy and politically acute friends, nor did
I know any lawyers. So, when the police
left, I went to the library because I wanted
to find out for myself what was happening. I
looked over a number of newspapers and
found a small story in the Ann Arbor News
that verified that there were three victims
of a mafia style execution as the police had
said.
With this information in hand I could
begin to piece together what the police had
done. Although I was "connected" to the
murder, the Ann Arbor News let me in to talk
Finally, someone would know what had
happened besides me.
At the Ann Arbor News, I obtained more
information about the murder and how the
police could connect my phone to it. I also
found out how basketball betting and
cocaine crime rings turned up at other
universities.

When the Ann Arbor News finished taking
down the information, I pointed out that I
was suspicious of the police's motivations
given their lying. However, the Ann Arbor
News told me that while it was true that the
police had played games with my head, such
things happen all the time and it is not news.
Next I called the Michigan Daily, which I
had not joined yet. The Daily wasn't prin-
ting daily by that time in spring, but I still
got through to someone at News. The News
person told me that no one was really
writing at the time. I understood. Then he
said, "it sounds interesting. Let us know if
you're subpoenaed."
It angered me that the police could isolate
me so easily. As my good friends found out
about my problems, they stopped referring
to me as a "paranoid activist" and started
warning me of the dangers of getting
framed.
After reflecting on the Ann Arbor News
decison that my story was not news, I
became freshly disgusted but calm. After
all, I had always known that everyone from
the president down to the police lies day in
and day out. That really is not news.
Recently, the Supreme Court decided it
was not nice but not illegal for the police to
lie to a lawyer.' She had had false police
assurances that her client would not be in-
terrogated one particular night while she
was not there. In California, police just
agreed not to use press passes to fake their
*way into places Ann Arbor's police recently
attacked an anti-CIA demonstration at the
Student Activities Building, sanitized the
University image by taking banners away
from protestors at the Today Show and
followed students after a demonstration
against Livermore Labs two weeks ago.
Nationally and locally, even white middle
class activists do not escape police
harassment. I should have expected the
police to lie to me without the press' batting
an eyelash.

LETTERS:

Don't equate capitalism,

democracy

4

Le fascisme

THE STRONG showing of the
extreme right-wing group
known as the National Front in
French elections indicates a
serious problem. Led by Jean
Marie Le Pen, the National Front
won 35 seats in Parliament-con-
firming the party as a major
political force. The Front
legitimized itself for the first time
in its 15 year history by focusing its
campaign upon a call for a
drastically reduced number of
immigrants in France.
One should also note that French
conservatives won control of the
National Assembly in parliamen-
tary voting, ending five years of
the Socialist party's rule. This
choice illustrates the nation's
belief that the conservative anec-
dote of free enterprise and
deregulation will strengthen the
economy, lower unemployment,
and improve living standards.
However, the socialist-communist
alliance of five years ago has very
similar goals. The shift in power
from socialists to conservatives is
not as frightening as the ten per-
cent of the vote which the National
Front received in this election.
Neither the socialists nor the con-

servatives condone the
and opinions of the
National Front.

platforms
far right

Le Pen, President of the National
Front, has announced his
moralistic racism in public on
more than one occasion. After the
election, one fanatic follower of Le
Pen remarked, "Paris is a
beautiful city, but there are too
many Blacks and Arabs here now.
This isn't racism, but Le Pen un-
derstands that there are just too
many of them here now. They must
leave." Le Pen clarifies his stance
on the expulsion of immigrants by
saying that it will reduce unem-
ployment and restore law and or-
der. This scapegoating of im-
migrants parallels fascism.
The election was a testimony
which insists that the people are
dissatisfied and desire a change.
Luckily, only ten percent of the
voting population advocates
radical change, However, this
small precentage has grown
tremendously since the last elec-
tion. Now, the government of
France should recognize the root of
the extremists' discontent and
work to end this problem.

To the Daily:
George Nammur, Jr., wrote a
long and typically American
piece about Nicaragua and the
supposed conflict between
democracy and communism.
To the rest of the world, the op-
posite of democracy is
totalitarianism - and the op-
posite of communism is
capitalism.
It is capitalism which opposed
communism in Nicaragua, and
elsewhere. Those of us who
believe in democracy oppose
Perfection
To the Daily:
Wednesday morning, while
reading the Daily's report of the
Challenger's explosion and the
cover issue of Consider concer-
ning medical malpractice, I
detected a particularly in-
teresting analogy between the
two.
We are living in an era gover-
ned by a do-everything, have-
everything attitude. Books and
magazines convince us that we
can achieve the impossible. Not
only do we want successful,
lucrative careers, perfect mates,
perfect children, and perfect
bodies, we also expect this same
perfection from our institutions,
including the space program and
the medical establishment.
The track record of the space
program has been phenomenal.
Never before, in 56 manned space
missions, have Americans died in
flight. The space program has
enabled us to enlarge our under-
standing of ourselvesrand the
universe of which we are a part.
The advances in medicine are
equally astounding. A young girl
who would now be dead if it were
not for the advances in medicine,
lives today with the heart of her
young boyfriend beating inside
her. -
However, with such advances
in science and technology comes
responsibility on our part. We
have the responsibility to realize,
in the words of Aerospace
Engineering Professor Charles
Kauffman, speaking of the
Challenger catastrophe, "When
you get involved in risky
business, things like this hap-
pen." Similarly, we have Othe
responsibility to realize the

totalitarianism.
Capitalist America supported
Fulgencia Batista, Cuba's
totalitarian ruler, for two
decades - before Fidel Castro's
revolution installed communist
democracy there. This
capitalist nation murdered
Salvador Allende, the popularly
elected president of Chile,
because he was a communist;
Chile is now a totalitarian state.
Daniel Ortega was elected
president of Nicaragua in an
election which all of our
European allies reported to be
an open and free election. It is
the capitalist instinct, not
democratic principle, which wan-
ts to overthrow the legitimate
government of Nicaragua.
Until Americans learn the
capitalism is opposes to com-
munism, and totalitarianism the

antithesis of democracy, we will
never understand this world. In-
stead, we will continue to try to
defend America by imposing our
will on others. And the presum-
ption behind such offensive
defense - that might makes
right - is a purely totalitarian
presumption.
Democracy is not by definition
Israel doesn
To the Daily:
Bering's cartoon "Any Campus
U.S.A." (1/22/86) reminded me
of that Sesame Street song "One
of these things is not like the
others. One of these things does
not belong." What was wrong
with the fourth square was not
the "inconsistent" political
beliefs of the students. Rather,

capitalist, nor is communism
necessarily totalitarian. Indeed,
there is a close connection bet-
ween the ideals of communism
and those of democracy. The
ideals of capitalism, alas, are
most like those of the totalitarian.
Bert G. Hornback
Professor of English
March 12
'tflt cartoon
what was wrong with the picture
was the speaker's expectations
that the students would lap up the
ridiculous equation of Israel with
the Contras, the Savadorans and
of course, South Africa. What
"didn't belong" was Bering's -
cartoon.
-Jeff Parness
January 23


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