Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 3, 1990
be 31icg4an Dail
EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
420 Maynard Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Viewpoint
I-
NOAH FINKEL
Editor in Chief
DAVID SCHWARTZ
Opinion Editor
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.
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A date with war
U.N. resolution gives legitimacy to U.S. invasion
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THE PERSIAN GULF CRISIS TOOK A
dangerous turn last week when the
United Nations adopted President
Bush's proposal of a January 15 dead-
line for an Iraqi withdrawal from
Kuwait. This decision marks the adop-
tion of a military offensive as an alter-
native to continued economic boycotts.
Claims that the boycott has now
failed after only a few months, fueling
a pro-war argument, are inaccurate.
Economic sanctions work by applying
slow but steady pressure, which in
time severely depress a nation's liveli-
hood. Thesanctions have not been
given enough time to prove effective
and should be continued. The U.N.
has chosen an arguably quicker, but
more costly, alternative to the Kuwaiti
conflict.
The January 15 deadline is moti-
vated as much or more by United
States domestic politics as any United
Nations independent consensus. A
U.N. resolution for war is a token
gesture, because the nations of the
world have done little but acquiesce to
a United States invasion of Iraq. With
the dissolution of a bi-polar power
structure in the post-Cold War era, the
United States must not continue to as-
sume its role as world "police officer."
The United Nations needs to take on
the responsibility of maintaining inter-
national order, something it has been
unable to successfully do in the past.
It is likely that a Persian Gulf war
will be fought not by a unified United
Nations force, but by U.S. forces with
limited allied support. The United
States should not tun to war as the an-
swer, especially since there is signifi-
cant public dissent. Similarly, there is
much opposition from top military pe
sonnel, who have cited logistical prob-
lems as testimony against the war
Furthermore, members of Congress
should be more involved in the deci-
sion-making process and given the op-
portunity to iterate their concerns.
The January deadline is an effort by
the Bush administration to act quickly
and aggressively in the Gulf before los-
ing remaining U.S. public support.
Concern with opinion polls and placat-
ing voters is readily evident in argu-
ments which mention Iraq's nuclear
potential as a rationale for war. Until
last week, supporters of a war effort
ignored this tact, until a New York
Times survey indicated that Americans
will not support a war except to stop
Saddam Hussein from getting "the
bomb."
Iraq's actions should not be con-
doned, but it is ironic that the United
States should lead the fight against en-
croachment into sovereign nations. It is
hypocritical for President Bush to con-
demn Saddam Hussein's use of force
in Kuwait without acknowledging that
the United States has set the precedent
in world politics for using force to
achieve political goals - as is evident
in U.S. foreign policy in Latin America
and Southeast Asia. Why, then, are we
surprised when Iraq also uses aggres-
sion against another nation to resolve
political dispute?
Paradoxically, the U.N. resolution
is a measure designed to stave off the
use of force by setting a deadline for
attack. This shows an inability for ef-
fective diplomacy, because force is in-
creasing being used instead of negotia-
tion and non-military efforts as a solu-
tion to world conflict.
The most effective response to
Iraq's actions remains diplomatic ini-
tiatives, not senseless death as a result
of an unnecessary war.
Free Column! Or,
I just read the recent issue of Agenda,
Ann Arbor's alternate newsmonthly. If
you haven't seen this newspaper, it's dis-
tributed throughout most residence halls
where you can pick it up for free, or, (I am
not making this up) you can pay for a
subscription for $10.99. They even sug-
gest that you give someone a subscription
as a holiday gift. (Here's your gift, honey
- a subscription to Agenda! And I also
got you a lifetime's supply of air!)
At least when The Michigan Review
tries to get money, they just come right
out and ask for a donation. I don't see how
they get any, though, because every time
you read their newspaper you get the im-
pression that their staff consists of a
bunch of bitter, depressed white guys who
spend all of their time trying to think of
new ways to insult Jennifer Van Valey.
Also, the articles tend to include sentences
such as, "... Phillips claims that the 1981
Economic Recovery Tax Act caused the
current federal budget deficit by slashing
income taxes, and he bemoans the decline
in non-Social Security tax revenue as a
percentage of GNP," sentences which
most of us couldn't finish at gunpoint.
Agenda especially stands out in its
, if you want, you
Letters to the Editor section. The Review
doesn't print letters, and the only letters
you see in the Daily are from band mem-
bers threatening to crush Mike Gill's tes-
ticles with a giant tuba because he insulted
their formations or something. These lett-
ers get kind of monotonous for those of us
who are not in the band because, frankly,
at the football games we couldn't even
hear the band. This resulted in a situation
where "The Victors" would come out,
"HailHailHailHail to MichiganMichigan!"
with each section singing according to its
own interpretation of how fast the song
goes.
You don't see this in Agenda's letters,
which are all written by violent-sounding
prisoners and have exciting headlines such
as, "Death to Imperialist Pigs!" rather than
the wimpy titles in the Daily, like "Daily
should be more sensitive."
So, as I was saying before I got off-
track in the second sentence, I just read the
latest issue of Agenda, which covered the
anti-deputization protests. Referring to the
vote by those present at the demonstration
to not boycott classes, MSA Student
Rights Commission Chair Corey Dolgon
was quoted as saying, 'They have good in-
stincts, but they are not educated." He
hoped to rectify this situation through the
teach-ins.
I think Corey Dolgon is absolutely
can pay me!
correct. The students aren't educated. How
could they be if they voted incorrectly?
Hopefully, the students will eventually be
educated, through these teach-ins, to the
correct point of view.
But to simply spread the truth on the
issue is not enough. We must also elimi-
nate the lies. A good example was during*
the first day of protests, when we occupied
the News and Information Building, which
produces The University Record. Our goal
was to force the University Record to print
the truth about deputization rather than
spewing out regent propaganda. Although
we were unsuccessful in that case, the
technique is sound. Maybe we should oc-
cupy The Michigan Review, which has
consistently distorted the truth on several
campus issues. Hell, we could even oc-@
cupy the Daily, to stop its slanted cover-
age of the events.
Some people would argue that this
plan is somewhat contrary to the concept
of freedom of the press. Such people are
simply not educated. We should whip up a
quick mob, via chalk notification, and oc-
cupy their dorm rooms or apartments until
they can be enlightened. This may take
considerable time and effort, but we must 0
be willing to make such sacrifices if we
are to attain our goal of campus democ-
racy.
LET'S KEEP
MpM G
AUw~IrAAI
Many students do
favor 'U' police force
V
To the Daily:
In "The ball is rolling" editorial
(11/27/90), you state that "Already, many
students... have become part of the (anti-
deputization) movement, but there are still
many students who remain uninformed or
apathetic." This gross generalization over-
looks the possibility that there are many
students who are NOT uninformed and are
NOT apathetic.
There are, in fact, quite a few students
(maybe even a majority) who do not op-
pose the establishment of an armed
University police force. Yes there were
"more than 1,000 people who attended the
rally or teach-in." Yes there was a 70 per-
cent no cops vote from the 4,000 or so
students who voted in last spring's MSA
elections.
But you cannot possibly know what
the other 30,000 students feel about depu-
tization, let alone say that they are
"uninformed or apathetic."
Swain is a 'sacrificial
lamb' for the regents
To the Daily:
As the "forum" last Tuesday night
heightened frustrations and tensions of both
Interim Vice President for Student Services
Mary Ann Swain and those attending, I felt
sad. Not only was this discussion insulting
to the students, faculty, and staff - be-
cause Swain admitted that nothing would
come of the meeting - it was insulting to
Swain as well.
Although she claims that she held the
meeting on her own initiative, I could not
help but think that she was the administra-
tion's sacrificial lamb. Swain could not an-
swer most of our questions, especially
those concerning security brutality, the
deputization selection process, or the over-
sight committee for complaints against the
officers.
A pawn by the administration, she was
sacrificed to the students to pacify our 0
anger; in fact, she only fed fuel to our fire.
Linda Rosenfeld
LSA senior
Doug Thiese
./
.-oar Sar *Jol
DPS detains students who chalk on the Diag
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ToJV D
To the Daily:
The following is an account of a
Saturday afternoon encounter I had with
the University's Department of Public
Safety (DPS) and Grounds Crew. At about
1'35 n m . nI wwlkino from the T nion
nition. They then asked me to "step
against the truck." Feeling threatened, I
politely declined. Their response was to
call in a unit from the DPS.
Moments later, the officer arrived and
nroeerded to nuestion me hout my activi-
name and badge number. As I reached into
my backpack for a pen, she nervously
made the suggestion that I could possibly
have had a "firearm." I suppose if she were
a deputized officer, her gun would have
been drawn at this noint!