OPINION
Page 4 Wednesday, March 2, 1988 The Michigan Daily
Salvadoran repression funded byU.S.
house curfew imposed from 6:00 p.m. to seemed very nervous and unsure of them- individuals. The Captain explained that he learned that the Colonel of the 6th
By Julie Laser 6:00 a.m., torture, death threats, and dis- selves; they appeared no older than fifteen would "like to let the group go to San Brigade, Inocente Orlando Montano, had
appearance are commonplace for members and many were not much larger than their Juan de la Gosas, but that he was afraid of made a public statement the week of Jan-
Since 1982, the Salvadoran government of the displaced community who speak out U.S. made machine guns. We told them our security since the community was lo- uary 13th, 1988 that both Salvadorans and
has carried out the most intensive bomb- against the military policies, crops are that we were bringing the supplies to San cated in a 'dangerous zone'." After Internationalists were allowed to pass
irg campaign in the history of the western burned if the military has not given per- Juan de la Gosas. The soldiers got more unfruitful discussion and strict adherence freely through and visit the entire depart-
hemisphere. The primary target of these mission to plant, constraints are imposed nervous and said that we would have to get to the military bureaucratic policies, the ment of Usulatan. It was also discovered
bombs is the Salvadoran civilian popula- on the influx of food, materials, and visi- permission from the Captain at the 6th captain said that neither the supplies nor that permission from the High Command
tion. The Salvadoran government's tors from the outside, military personnel Brigade of the Salvadoran Army. The sol- the students nor the Salvadorans could go takes between 8 an 15 days to be granted
bombing tactic was learned from the forcibly live in displaced people's homes. diers then boarded the supply truck and to San Juan de la Gosas without permis- and then the supplies are usually required
United States' strategy in Viet Nam: to On January 20th 1988, ten North "escorted " us to central camp of the 6th sion from the High Command of the to be delivered by the military. The sup-
displace the civilian population from their American students (myself being one of Brgade, military back in San Salvador. The per- plies "delvered by the military have a
land in order to remove any possible base them) accompanied by a member of Passing through the barbed wire fence mission would absolve the military of any very low incidence of reaching their at-
of support for the guerillas. From the in- CRIPDES (Christian Committee for the and the heavily armed guards at the en- responsibility if anyone in the group was tended recipients.
ception of the heinous military strategy Displaced in El Salvador) and four other trance, the camp itself did not look very killed by "subversives" while en route or The United States government gives 2
over 1.2 million Salvadorans (one out of Salvadorans were delivering a truck filled different from its surrounding area: corru- in San Juan de la Gosas. The Captain million dollars in aid everyday to the gov-
every five) have had to flee their homes with beans, rice, corn, and sugar to the gated tin shacks, outhouses, and open air added that even though it was an hour and ernment of El Salvador. Three-fourths of
and farms. In most instances after leaving community of displaced people at San kitchens. The primary difference was the a half drive back to San Salvador, the this aid goes directly to the Salvadoran
their homes, the Salvadoran military Juan de la Gosas in the department of extensive amount of American artillery permission could be obtained within ten Military and the remaining fourth goes to
gathers the displaced people together and Usulatan. The group had passed over the equipment and the seventy-five soldiers minutes of completing the forms at the secondary aid to the military. It seems to
puts them in militarized displacement Puento d'oro bridge where the military, stationed at the camp dressed from head to High Command and we could probably me that our tax dollars could be better
camps. In these camps, the military pres- checkpoint was located for the entrance toe in U.S. combat helmets to U.S gen- reach San Juan de la Gosas later in the spent than blockading food for displaced
once is always felt: members of the camp into the department of Usulatan. Not more cral issue military boots. day. The Captain then told us to go back people in El Salvador. It should be further
are not allowed to leave, there is an in than a half a mile after the checkpoint, a The Captain of the 6th brigade requested to San Salvador and said that if we tried to stated that the planes, bombs, military
number of soldiers came out of the bushes to speak in private to the head of the stu- take any pictures our cameras would be equipment and supplies used to forcibly
Julie Laser is a graduate student in the and stopped the passenger vehicle and the dent group and one of the drivers and de- confiscated. remove these people from their homes
S'chool of Social Work, truck carrying the supplies. The soldiers manded to see the personal papers of these Upon returning to San Salvador, we Couldn't the money go to a better use????
t Co l ntt e m n ygo a b te s ? ?
4
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
'Vol. XCVIII, No. 101 420 Maynard St.
AnnArbor, 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.
"The B-m-ovie president
CIA
visits not free speech
D URING THURSDAY'S PRESS
conference - the first in four
maonths - President Reagan
demonstrated why his aides have
sheltered him from speaking on his
own for so long. He showed intel-
lectual weaknesses and little under-
standing of world issues.
Reagan attributed South Africa's
problems to "tribal rivalry," dis-
counting the fact that the white mi-
nority is repressing, torturing, and
murdering the Black majority in or-
dor to maintain power. This is a
victim blaming explanation which
ignores South Africa's imperialist
past and existing system of racist
repression.
Rep. William Gray (D-Pa.) de-
scribed the President's perspective
as one where "he still sees South
Africa through the eyes of 1930s,
B§-grade Hollywood movies, like
Tarzan swinging through the jungle
among the tribes - Tarzan in this
case being P.W. Botha, and the
majority population being a bunch
of, tribes." Reagan's actions and
words reflect his view that Blacks
are unable to govern themselves.
Reagan also explained why he has
not condemned Israeli treatment of
Palestinians. He, again, blamed the
victims of repression. He claimed
"there is evidence that these riots are
not spontaneous and homegrown,"
because he has seen "intimations
that certain...outsiders suspected of
being terrorists going in and stirring
up trouble." Reagan seems to think
the Palestinians are not spurred to
action by the miserable life of an
occupied territory but by outside
terrorists who somehow get past
Students sh
Students should utilize the voter
registration tables around campus
this week. Since University stu-
dents live here at least nine months
out of the year, they should register
to vote in upcoming Ann Arbor
elections.
Students should register here be-
cause they have a real stake in local
elections and ballot issues. For ex-
ample, student votes are imperative
Israeli soldiers and coordinate
protests.
As Reagan was sharing his wis-
dom, Secretary of State George
Shultz was on his way to the Mid-
dle East in an attempt to get the Is-
raelis negotiate a peace. His Presi-
dent's insensitive remarks can only
make it more difficult for Shultz to
succeed.
Reagan further exposed an incon-
sistency in testimony from members
of his administration in trying to
cover up their roles in the Iran-
Contra debacle. Shultz and Defense
Secretary Caspar Weinberger testi-
fied to a Senate committee last year
that they opposed selling weapons
to Iran for any reason. Reagan said
on Thursday that they did not object
to the principle of selling weapons
but only to the possibility that if ex-
posed, it would appear to be an
arms-for-hostages trade.
Reagan appears to be unaware of
or unable to grasp the concepts
needed to carry on a meeting with
reporters; one can imagine his per-
formance when attempting to carry
on a coherent discussion with other
world leaders. Reagan's aides seem
aware of his shortcomings, which
is why he has been one of the most
unavailable presidents in history.
Thursday's press conference
merely put on public display the
vacuum at the top of the U.S. gov-
ernment which has cleared the way
for the immoral and unethical
abuses of power by many adminis-
tration members. The office of
President demands someone who
can reason and has some accurate
basis for making decisions.
)uld register
Students have demonstrated the
power to influence Ann Arbor pol-
itics through voting in the past. For
example, graduate student Dean
Baker was able to mount a viable
candidacy against Rep. Carl Pursell
two years ago by mobilizing student
voters.
Registering to vote in Ann Arbor
is easy. Students can register here
even if they have previously regis-
By Rackham Student
Government
It has recently come to the attention of
Rackham Student Government, the gradu-
ate student governing body at the Univer-
sity of Michigan, that many of your fac-
ulty believe that student activism against
CIA campus recruitment constitutes an
abridgement of free speech. This attitude
came to light in written and verbal con-
demnations of student efforts to prevent
CIA campus recruitment made by mem-
bers of your faculty shortly after the can-
cellation of the recruiting and speaking
engagement by Arthur Hulnick, a CIA
operative who was scheduled to visit your
institute a few weeks ago. The RSG
would like to take this opportunity to
point out the faulty conceptualization of
the nature of free speech in a democratic
society reflected in your faculty's views
and to propose a forum for meaningful de-
bate about the nature of the CIA. We will
turn to the former first.
It is of course true that local peace ac-
tivists have attempted to shut down CIA
campus recruiting in the past and will
continue to do so in the future. A few
moment's reflection about these actions
readily reveals that they are no more than
efforts to stop CIA recruitment per se,
rather than efforts to squelch public debate
about the nature of the CIA, or to remove
the CIA as a participant in other debates.
First of all, a recruiting session is obvi-
ously not an instance of public debate and
discussion over the nature of the CIA; in-
stead, it is a private meeting between a
CIA operative and a potential, recruit. At-
tempting to prevent these sessions thus
does not constitute the stifling of public
debate over the CIA's role in world poli-
tics. Furthermore, the primary weapon
student peace activists have used to fight
CIA campus recruitment is the threat of
public discussion and debate over the
CIA's role in the oppression of Third
World peoples, primarily people of color.
After discovering that a scheduled visit of
one of its recruiters is to be met with
massive student protest and leafletting,
activities that publicly raise the issue of .
and open up debate about CIA involve-
ment in the oppression of Third World
peoples, the CIA usually cancels the visit.
Therefore, the effort to undermine debate
about the nature of the CIA originates in
the CIA, not local peace activists. I would
also like to point out that Career Planning
and Placement has numerous restrictions
on campus recruiting, such as whether the
recruiting organization provides "suitable
employment" for University of Michigan
students, none of which have been raised
as violations of free speech.
Local peace activists have striven to
open up public debate between the CIA
and its critics. The Latin American Soli-
darity Committee, a campus organization
opposed to U. S. sponsored oppression in
Latin America, has had an outstanding of-
fer over the past several years to the CIA
to send a representative to campus to de-
bate the role of the CIA in world politics.
The CIA has refused this offer. Further-
more, student peace activists welcome
public discussion and debate with any CIA
operative, such as Arthur Hulnick. We
believe that such discussion and presenta-
tion of opposing views are vital whenever
a CIA operative visits campus, given that
it is official CIA policy to spread dis-
formation within the U. S. populace in
order to quell public opposition to U. S.
foreign policy.
Turning now to the second proposal we
wish to make, we hereby propose that'
Rackham Student Government and the In-
stitute for Public Policy Studies co-spon-
sor a debate between an official
representative of the CIA and a repre-
sentative of Rackham Student Govern-
ment's choosing to publicly debate the
following topic: "Is the United States
Central Intelligence Agency directly in-
volved in the systematic and widespread
violation of basic human rights?" Rack-
ham Student .Government would take re-
sponsibility for finding and funding a
speaker to criticize the CIA, and your in-
stitute would use its contacts with the
CIA to bring a CIA spokesperson to the
debate. You have no reason to be con-
cerned that the debate will be disrupted by
CIA opponents. This type of debate is one.
that local peace activists have been look-
ing forward to for quite some time. Also,
just a couple years ago, the Latin Ameri-
can Solidarity Committee sponsored a de-
bate between one of its members and a U.
S. State Department war criminal over U.
S. policy in Central America, and no dis-
ruptive actions whatsoever occured. I don't
know how your faculty ever came to be-
lieve that local human rights activists
would disrupt public discussion about CIA
involvement in terrorist activities - this
attitude certainly isn't justified by the
facts.
Although we are certain that IPPS
shares Rackham Student Government's
desire to encourage' debate over this topic
and will undertake efforts to bring a CIA
spokesperson to the debate, we doubt that
the CIA will take you up on your offer.
The CIA will refuse to do so due to its
deep apprehension about public exposure
of its hideous crimes against humanity.
The CIA has always gone to extraordinary
lengths to avoid public discussion about
its activities, and will undoubtedly con-
tinue to do so in the future. Therefore,
Rackham Student Government has reason
to be skeptical that the debate will ever
take place.
A
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LETTERS
.
Flemin by-passes studentinu
4
To the Daily:
In my capacity as both an
alumnus of the University of
Michigan and a previous Co-
Chair of the University Coun-
cil, I am deeply disturbed at
hearing that President Robben
Fleming is attempting to force
a code of Non-Academic Con-
duct on the students.
Fleming would be bypassing
Regental Bylaw 7.02, a
regulation which has so far
mandated that any type of Code
to be imposed upon the stu-
dents of the University be cre-
ated in a fairly democratic
manner through a process
which elicits student input.
Analysis of the situation
Code: the rights afforded to
them in the United States
Constitution will be taken
away by the University admin-
istration if a Code of Non-aca-
demic conduct is passed. Stu-
dents will be liable to the Uni-
versity for any conduct of
which it disapproves.
The gprinunecnc o thic
rights deemed necessary by the
country at large, and instead
removes the rights given to
citizens upon their birth or
naturalization. It, is my
conviction that the United
States legal system, with all
its faults, is vastly superior to
the one which Fleming would
rhnc, t imnneP _ Cariy this
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