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. t Lr-.f+t__--_..I# - " : ~raUSt NO -- L RE ' F?ยง/ , LL t j5' jc S ~ T 1f IYOIL A/. TMM- (1i krr-~+( I ,l f f t 'j ffja i v , Y ~ ';j1 . . -5{f L r 'f[i.,,3 i i '"' ONCLA *A i. - 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- * ,.r ... 7 -77