4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 30, 2001
be Sirbi wn a
420 MAYNARD STREET
ANN Amwom, MI 48109
daily letter 1~a)umnic/i. edu
The misguided Bush world order
PETER CUNNIFFE ,NE.
EDITED AND MANAGED BY
STUDENTS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SINCE 1890
GEOFFREY GAGNON
Editor in Chief
MICHAEL GRASS
NICHOLAS WOOMER
Editorial Page Editors
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the
Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily
irst things
first are the
people who
live in America" was the
message from George
W. Bush yesterday dur-
ing his second news con-
ference as president. He
was trying to explain his
torpedoing of the Kyoto
environmental treaty, but that attitude is
emerging as the dominant one toward vir-
tually all international issues his adminis-
tration is dealing with. The problem is not
that he wants to look out for America, I
would hope everyone in Washington D.C.
is doing that. It is that Bush has a very dis-
turbing view of what America's interests
are.
The Kyoto treaty was killed at the
behest of big American polluters who were
also behind Bush's recent breaking of a
campaign pledge to cut carbon dioxide
emissions. "Too expensive," they said.
"Not in America's interest," said Bush.
Never mind that he apparently thought it
was in our interest during the campaign.
As things that are in America's interests
go, one would think preventing global
warming and environmental devastation,
not to mention working with in good faith
with other countries on those issues, would
rank fairly high. ,
Bush, or whoever is really pulling the
strings, seems to think it is in the interest
of the United States to piss off every friend
we've ever had. Welcome to the new Bush
unilateralism; where America decides it
doesn't need those pesky other countries,
we'll be fine on our own.
When South Korean President and
Nobel-laureate Kim Dae-jung came to
Washington, he probably wasn't expecting
to be told that America had lost interest in
peace between North and South Korea and
no more help would be forthcoming. What
Bush might have said had he cared to let
anyone in on the Machiavellian machina-
tions of Dick Cheney and Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who are calling
the foreign policy shots, was that Ameri-
ca's interest had simply shifted to needing
a convenient enemy. Bush spent much of
his loosing presidential campaign explain-
ing how a ballistic missile defense was
needed because of threats from various
"rouge states" and especially North Korea.
Upon coming to office, his administration
was no doubt horrified to learn that the
South Korean President had decided to try
and work things out with North Korea and
in the process deprive them of a stellar
talking point.
Not to mention that besides screwing
the Koreas, the disturbing interest of the
Bush administration in a missile defense
system is also causing a great deal of fric-
tion with every ally and adversary the U.S.
has and is undermining the strategic doc-
trine that has prevented the use of nuclear
weapons for the last 50 years. Russia has
made clear that if the U.S. violates the
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which pro-
hibits ABM systems, it will end compli-
ance with every arms control treaty ever
signed with the U.S. Considering that Rus-
sia is an incredibly poor country with one
extremely valuable and easily exportable
asset, nuclear weapons technology, Bush
seems remarkably unworried about that. Or
is it blissfully unaware?
Also, China a country with remarkably
poor relations with many of its neighbors,
has kept its nuclear weapons force small
over the years. But if the U.S. builds an
ABM system, it has promised to build
enough weapons to get through any U.S.
missile shield, understandably to prevent
the nullification of its nuclear deterrent.
This would likely cause India, an old
enemy of China to increase the number of
its nuclear weapons, which would obvious-
ly cause Pakistan to do the same. Hooray, a
new arms race.
Then there was the Bush Administra-
tion's criticism of the new European joint
defense force, the beginning of a collective
military which is the centerpiece of a new
integrated foreign policy system for th
European Union. Administration officials,
especially the hard-line Rumsfeld and
Cheney, oppose the European cooperation,
saying it could undermine NATO. Howev-
er, the force will actually allow Europeans
to be much more engaged in NATO, espe-
cially in military operations where a fre-
quent American complaint over the past
few years has been that the U.S. has been
carrying all of NATO's military burden.
What the Bush people probably really, and
irrationally, fear is a force with the poteA
tial to rival our own. But a European mili-
tary isn't a threat to NATO or our safety, it
is a threat to our ego. These are friendly
liberal democracies with deep historical,
cultural and economic ties to the United
States. We have nothing to fear from them
deciding they want to be able to better take
care of themselves in military and foreign
policy matters.
The Bush Administration has decide
that doing what is right for America mea
not working with anybody else. Ripping up
treaties, responding to perceived nuclear
threats by taking steps that will pump the
world full of new nuclear weapons and dis-
couraging allies' attempts to improve their
ability to defend themselves are the result
of this outlook.
You would think a man whose father
presided over the end of the last Cold War
would seem to be so stupidly stumbling
toward another one.
Peter Cunnife's column runs every
other Friday. Give him feedback at
http://www.michigandaily.com/forum/
or via e-mail atpcunf@. umich.edu.
Bus partnership
benefits only AATA
TO THE DAILY:
In response to the Daily's editorial "Spin-
ning the bus deal" (3/27/01), I attended Tues-
day's public meeting. During the 2 and 1/2
hour hearing, some of my worries were
cleared-up. The major North Campus routes
will not be affected by the current plans.
However, many other things at the hear-
ings made me worry. It was brought to my
attention that plans for a possible
merger/partnership/out-sourcing began in
December 1999. That scares me just a lit-
tle. It is now March 2001, we were in the
dark for 16 months.
My next big concern revolves around
AATA requiring all those associated with
the University to show their M-Card to
board the bus. At peak time this is the same
request as asking all students to show ID at
football games.
My biggest worry concerns the motivation
behind the partnership. The University hopes
to save money by reducing the number of
buses that they operate. The AATA hopes to
gain by increasing its ridership so that it can
apply for more government funding.
Who's going to end up paying for the
increased funding? We, the taxpayers, are
going to pay.-
The title itself, "AATA Partnership Expan-
sion Opportunities," clearly shows that the
advantage of the deal is for them and not us.
There are no benefits for the University,
only AATA gains.
MARNI ROSENTHAL
Engineering freshman
Anarchist questions
the 'mass civil
rights movement'
TO THE DAILY:
Dear members of the campus communi-
ty and any actual tuition-paying members
of BAMN/DAAP: I can't help knowing
you, but you don't know me.
Hello. I am just another student com-
pleting my education in the shadow of your
tireless efforts to politicize my campus. As
an anarchist, I share your distaste for
racism and classism. But the bitter lessons
of the Russian Revolution and the Spanish
Civil War teach those who love freedom to
never trust those who seek equality "by
any means necessary," as your group does.
On a more practical level, I prefer to
see the campus as a place to prepare for the
future, not a battleground. While you were
flyering and chanting, I was quietly busting
my ass studying for the GREs, doing my
homework, filling out grad school applica-
tions. and draining my bank account.
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Sorry, you'll find no guilt here.
Growing up in inner-New York City, I
was the minority, and this much I learned:
Nobody owes anybody jack. "Equality"
and "fairness" exist only as ideals and
everybody's ideal is different. The fact is,
if you want to succeed badly enough, you
work hard for it, make deals, and play the
game. I do.
Ask the black honor fraternities and
professional associations on campus. You
may find that they do. Only that old-school
resourcefulness can bring diversity to the
upper ranks of academia and commerce.
Not bureaucratic handouts, nor some pie-
in-the-sky socialist revolution.
But enough about the past and present.
Let's talk about the future - remember,
that thing liberals once wanted to hasten
and conservatives wanted to postpone?
This time next year, I will be in a lab,
looking for ways to bring about a healthier
life for you and your loved ones. Perhaps I,
my co-workers, and my investors will
eventually be rewarded for these efforts,
increasing the gap between the haves and
the have-nots. Think of it as a necessary
evil, though - the have-nots will still have
more than they do today. Certainly better
than everybody being equally disadvan-
taged in a bleak, stagnant, politically cor-
rect society. That's the counter-intuitive
thing about freedom, democracy, and
progress that eludes you.
So that's my plan.
Let's hear yours. No, not the "worker's
revolution." The real plan, be honest.
ALEX BOKov
LSA senior
Stop 'NAFTA for
the Americas'
To THE DAILY:
In the seven years since the passage of
the North American Free Trade Agree-
ment, it has proven itself to be a failed
experiment, with real wages declining even
a workers' nroductivity rises. environ-
sphere!
Perhaps the reason that no one has
heard of it is because the negotiations are
being conducted in secret, and that only
people with security clearance are allowed
to see any specific information about the
negotiations, or even the positions that our
own government is taking. Furthermore,
only Congress has the right to set terms for
treaty negotiations of this type. Yet these
have been going on for nearly five years,
and the administration has done nothing t
brief Congress on the FTAA, much lest
obtain authority to negotiate in the first
place.
, "NAFTA for the Americas" will be
complete in the next three years. It's dis-
turbing that these important negotiations
have reached an advanced stage without
the knowledge of citizens and elected offi-
cials. It's high time that the American peo-
ple demanded that Congress get involved,
and to put the negotiations on hold until we
find out what's going on behind those
closed doors.
ROBERT HAUL
Rackham
Amaer gives AI'
more of the same
To THE DAILY:
Tommy Amaker is Brian Ellerbe, only a
little bit better of a recruiter.
In his four seasons at Seton Hall, only
once did Amaker do anything great; he took
Cinderalla Seton Hall to the sweet 16. In his
four seasons as a coach for Michigan only
once did Ellerbe do something great; he led
his team to a Big Ten tournament title.
Both these men have been chronic under
achievers in their other three seasons. So why
then are we hiring Ammaker?
Most likely because he's a more prominent
national name and uses his Duke and Coach
Krzyzewski connection to boost his image in
the basketball world. Nonetheless, his record;
especially this year's horribly underachieving
etin lltea e.ak fr ;ic-
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