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Monday, October 12, 1987 The Michigan Daily
LETTERS
Terrorism is a political label

Edat stan t
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan

Vol. XCVIII, No. 23

420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other
cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion
of the Daily.
Pentagon engineers Gulf interpretation:

Suspect th(
M EDIA REPORTS ON U.S.
aggression toward Iran ultimately
stem from direct reports from the
Pentagon and its interpretation of
events there. Though it seems
likely that Iran has placed mines in
the Persian Gulf, it is impossible to
judge the facts from the Pentagon's
media barrage for which there is no
independent confirmation.
The Pentagon unjustly portrays
the largest U.S. naval mobilization
since the Korean war as an effort to
protect international waters in the
face of Iranian attacks. Instead, the
United States' show of force is an
imperialist provocation only a few
miles from Iran's coast.
Contrary to U.S. efforts to say
that it is playing a peacekeeping role
in the Iran-Iraq war, the United
States is actually forcing Iran to
expand its war and divert capital
and human resources from its war
with Iraq. The Iranian mine laying
operations destroy Iranian oil, leave
Iraq's landlocked pipelines
untouched, and play into Iraq's
naval advantage in the war. These
factors, combined with previous
U.S. attacks on Iran, demonstrate
that the Iranian attacks are simply
responses to U.S. hostilities.
The Pentagon used an infra-red
video tape to justify the capture and
destruction of the Iranian ship, but
later the Pentagon determined that
its own videotape was unviable.
The Pentagon supposedly ruined
the tape in production. The tape,
therefore, could provide no
evidence that the Iranian ship had
mines on board or was involved in
mine-laying.
The alleged attacks of October 9
also remain unconfirmed and are
denied by the Iranian government;
yet, the United States continues to
form policy on these events. Navy
gunships responded to alleged
gunfire which, even the pilots
admit, might not have been targeted
at the naval helicopters.
The popular press constantly
asserts its objectivity. But mass
media's pseudo-journalists take-off
and land on U.S. Navy battle ships
at times and places designated by
the Pentagon.
The media is acting as a
megaphone for the Pentagon's
interpretation of Persian Gulf events
and Middle East policy. The
Opp ortuni
PATRICIA SCHROEDER'S with-
drawal from the presidential race at
the end of last month is an
interesting indication of the flaws in
the political system. Schroeder had
declared that she was running for
the Democratic Party nomination for
president, but soon found that she
could not run a successful
campaign.
Whether or not Pat Schroeder
would have been a good president,
her reasons for withdrawal indicate
that those who mount the best

presidential campaigns are not
necessarily those who are most
qualified or popular. Despite her
second-place finish behind the Rev.
Jesse Jackson in the polls, she had
already determined that she could
not organize enough delegates to
win the Democratic nomination.
There were two reasons for
Schroeder's withdrawal that the
nres scited .Earlier in therm-

press
manipulation of public opinion is
compounded by use of unnamed
Pentagon sources rather than
specific press secretaries or
officers.
The Reagan administration desires
to regain prestige lost in the Iran-
Contra affair by instigating a
popular war and the media is an
important tool to consolidate public
opinion. In the beginning of the
U.S. invasion of Grenada, the
administration released much
information to the press, but banned
all media from the island. The
press nationally televised the
military version of the news and the
invasion received popular support
which resulted in status for the
Reagan administration.
The government manipulated the
media similarly over the Libya
bombing. The government circu-
lated reports that Libya was
responsible for the bombing of a
German discotheque and the United
States bombed Libya. Later,
however, the government revealed
(without incident) that Syria was
responsible.
The proposal to send the U.S.
Coast Guard to the Gulf indicates
more clearly the administration's
intentions. A national defence
mechanism is used to protect U.S.
resource interests in the Persian
Gulf.
In strengthening its stranglehold
on the Persian Gulf and the oil
produced there, the United States
also desires to block out the Soviet
Union.
The flags of anti-Soviet policy
and blind hatred of Iran comprise
the Reagan administrations banner
of protection in the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. government should admit
it is engaged in a full scale war
against Iran in its attempt to shut out
the Soviet Union and seek public
support. Congress must demand
that the War Powers Act be invoked
and that all U.S. forces be
withdrawn from the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. media coverage of the
Gulf situation lacks so much in
first-hand reporting and analysis,
that it indicates more about the
media's relationship to the Pentagon
than it does about the Middle East.
Whether or not the Pentagon reports
are true, the media provides no help
in deciding.
s delight
advice on make-up and earrings that
other successful candidates had
used. As someone who appears to
have some integrity, Schroeder
found this difficult.
In order that the election system
select good candidates that the
people want, and not just the
candidates who figure out how to
amass money and television atten-
tion, it is necessary to make the
mass media more accessible to
candidates. In Michigan, the elec-
tion laws allow candidates to

organize and get on the ballot, even
if they do not belong to a major
party or have large amounts of
money. In the last election for
governor in Michigan a Trotskyist
group managed to obtain enough
signatures to get on the ballot.
If the government mandated free
television time for candidates that
gathered a reasonable number of

To the Daily:
I feel a certain urgency to
reply to I. Matthew Miller's
opinion in the Daily, "PLO
shut-down correct." (Daily,
10/8/87) My purpose is not to
debate First Amendment rights
or the closing of the PLO
offices. Rather, I want to note
Mr. Miller's narrow minded-
ness which stunts the logic
requisite to the formulation of
any opinion.
I admire and relate to Mr.
Miller's want for a peaceful
planet, democracy, and "civil-
ized diplomatic means to secure
rights." Certainly, this world
should not be a place where
civilians fear for their lives on
a daily basis - but we can't
divorce ourselves from
knowledge of historical events.
Yes, the U.S. should finally
take a firm stand to eradicate
terrorism. Is this how they've
done so? They've had more
pressure and ample opportunity
to eradicate their own terrorism
in Central America.
What is "terrorism" to you,
Mr. Miller? Can you tell the
difference between a "terrorist"
and a "freedom fighter?"
Clearly, nations choose which
Rape and ass
To the Daily:
I feel that an important
issue has been neglected in the
debate concerning the Neal
case, namely the difference
between rape and assault. Neal
was found "not guilty" of rape
because the jury found
reasonable doubt as to whether
the plaintiff hadconsented to
sex. This would be an
appropriate decision in the
light of the fact that one of the
criteria needed to constitute
rape is that it be committed
against the will of the plaintiff.
(However, to say that the jury
made a logical conclusion is
not to say that Neal did or did
not commit rape.)
As we know, one type of
criminal sexual conduct is rape.
Let us new address the issue of
physical assault, devoid of any
sexual aspect. Let's suppose

soldiers to label terrorists and
which to label soldiers of
liberation. Terrorism could be
seen as the warfare of the least
powerful. America is spending
billions of dollars to be pre-
pared to kill innocent people.
That's the warfare of the most
powerful, and terrorism at its
finest.
Is the PLO really the only
organization distributing "pro-

paganda?" Furthermore, is the
"security of the planet" the
same as the security of the
United States to continue
reaping enormous profits from
the less-developed nations of
the world?
I wish your assumptions
about the motives of U.S.
policy were true, but history
and current realities show us
differently. Please take

responsibility to open your
eyes; because you've been
believing propaganda and
ignorantly consenting to the
terrorism that you despise. A
more wholistic perspective will
surely aid. you in the
assessment of world problems
and direct you toward the true
world peace and justice that all
of humankind dreams of.
-Martha McCaughey
October 8

fl

Daily's anti-working class?

To the Daily:
A couple of weeks ago you
ran an editorial calling on stu-
dents to support the strike
against Herman's Sporting
Goods stores because they had
racially discriminatory hiring
policies. (Daily 9/25/87) While
I wholeheartedly agree with the
basic thrust of your editorial,
you also included a line to the
effect that the UAW, the union
that is organizing the strike,
wants the workers' dues.
You seemed to find it
important to mention this
possible ulterior motive. While
this annoyed me in some
ault separate
that Neal was on trial for
assault, instead of rape. Here,
relevant questions would be
"Did the accused strike, or
otherwise use physical force,
with damage to the plaintiff?"
Here, it is irrelevant whether
the plaintiff consented to have
sex, or actually did have sex,
with the accused. In this case,
would a jury find Neal "not
guilty?"
My point is that Neal may
be guilty of assault yet not
guilty of rape. Campus groups,
by protesting, are saying (even
those who think that the Neal
decision is valid) that we
should not misinterpret its
implications. They want to
make this point clear: Consent
to sex is not consent to
assault.
-BS Blair
September 29

abstract sense at the time, I
came to think about this issue
somewhat more concretely
when I received my annual
solicitation from United Way.
The top executives of United
Way draw salaries well in
excess of $100,000. It's
routine however, for news-
papers or University adminis-
trators to call on people to be
generous in supporting United
Way. I've never heard any of
these people qualify their ap-
peals by mentioning the pos-
sible ulterior motives of United
Way administrators.
This is why I was bothered
by the Daily's reference to the
union's desire for dues.
Obviously, when a union loses

members, it will also lose its
ability to support its adminis-
trative staff, some of whom
may lose their jobs or endure
pay cuts. However, it is
difficult to see why this should
give us greater reason to
question a 'union's motives
than it does the motives of
those who have much higher
higher paying jobs working for
charitable organizations.
Perhaps it is simple residual
anti-union or anti-working
class sentiment that leads us to
denigrate those who would help
the poor and working classes
empower themselves.
-Mark Greer
October 6

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Marilyn Monroe offends

To the Daily:
The life-size cardboard standup
of Marilyn Monroe in the
window of Michigan Book and
Supply is not only offensive to
women, it is pornographic. In
its display placement, with
James Dean's right index finger
pointing at Ms. Monroe's
exposed body, and the balloon
coming from Ms. Monroe's
mouth stating, "Take me
home," it is a blatant sexist
suggextion that it's okay for
college men to "sow their wild
oats."~
There should be no place on a
modern campus for such an
old-fashioned moral as the
double standard. Ms. Monroe
died in her thirties, the double:
standard, and the idea that-
women are property to be used
by men, helped to kill her.
I'm reminded of the words of
the black spiritual sung at
many marches to e n d
segregation during the 60s:
"This old hammer killed my
mother,
Won't kill me, Lord,
Won't kill me..." '

Are we, in 1987, going to
allow the hammer that killed
Ms. Monroe to continue to
psychologically damage-and
kill- us, as college students ;
in the 80s? '°
Mr. Ulrich told me, i 1,
September, that he does notr
plan to remove the stand-up of
Ms. Monroe from his window[
Ulrich's seems to have the
monopoly to sell textbooks to
university students. If Mr.'
Ulrich won't listen to student
protests, the University is
giving Ulrich's its raison
d'etre, and we must demand,
through the University, that
Ulrich's show some sensitivity,
to our real needs as student;
who are people, not just
students who have bucks.
Instead of Ms. Monroe's.
cardboard stand-up in the
display window, how about an"
educational exhibit about rape,
in its place, maybe pert
together by POWOR ors
SAPAC?
-Judy Bonnel-Wenzel
October A

Innocent till proven guilty

To the Daily:
In a letter printed in the
Michigan Daily ("Daily
insensitive on rape issue,
Daily, 10/6/87). Barbara Rans-
by addresses the issue of the
Daily's coverage of the recent
rape trial involving two
University students. Ms.
Ransby writes that the paper's
coverage was in a "...biased,
insensitive and sexist manner."
I have no argument with Ms.
Ransby's contentions that
journalists have a duty to
maintain a high standard of
integrity in delicate cases
involving such personal crimes
as rape. She raises some very
good points about the respon-
sibility of the editorial staff in
covering such stories. I also
have no disagreement with her
contentions that many rape
victims are cruelly a n d
needlessly manipulated during
these trials.
What bothered me about her
letter was the double standard
she employed in discussing the
case. Throughout the letter,
Ms. Ransby refers to the wo-
man who claims she was raped
as the "victim" and the
defendant, Griffith Neal, asthe
"rapist." The purpose of the
trial is to determine the guilt or
innocence of Mr. Neal. There
is no victim or rapist until the
man is declared guilty. And
everyone, even accused rapists,
are innocent until proven
guilty. It seems that Ms.
Ranshv has alreadv decided that

Last week, Mr. Neal was
acquitted of the sexual assault
charge. Not having attended the
trial or followed the case
closely. I must assume that the
jury returned the correct verdict.
I acknowledge that Ms.
Ransby's letter was written
before the verdict was decided
and she may have changed her
view of the situation. How-
ever, I hope in the future that
she will practice the same
unbiased, objective analysis of
the issue she preaches to the
Daily.
What really saddens me is
that despite the not guilty
verdict entered in favor of Nr.
Neal, it seems certain from the
tone of her letter that Ms.
Ransby will always think of
Mr. Neal as a rapist.
-Robert L. Jones
October 9

Celebrates 50th anniversar

To the Daily:
In 1937, during the great
depression, several Ann Arbor
student co-op houses, Palmer,
Rochdale, and Michigan Co-
Ops, comboned their resources
to become the Inter-
Cooperative Council (ICC) at
the University of Michigan.
The co-op ideal of the ICC
was to provide economical
room and board for students
through member owned and
democratically operated student
residences. Since 1937, over
10,000 students have been

members of ICC Co-ops in 22"
houses. Houses consistently,
save their members over $900,
per year compared to dormitory
costs. The 50th Anniversity
reunion, to be held October 17,
and18, will fremember the,
friendships and good times of
co-ops. Alumni wishing to
attend the celebration op"
needingamore information
should call Jim Jones, 662-
4414 at the ICC Office.

I

-Joan Bucheler
Luther Buchele
October .,


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NEWS ITEM: REA6AN PRESIDENCY
COULD BE CRIPPLED BY IFtAT OF BORKI.

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