4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 13, 2005 OPINION aIbt £lirbigau ittilu JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief SUHAEL MOMIN SAM SINGER Editorial Page Editors ALIsON Go Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their author. NOTABLE QUOTABLE No, I don't feel in a bubble." -President Bush, when asked whether he lives in a bubble, on NBC's "Today Show," as reported yesterday by washingtonpost.com. 9 C COLIN DALY THE MICHIGAN DALY NYi The Ides of March SAM SINGER SAM'S CLUB 9 sraeli defense officials spent the better part of Sun- day afternoon scram- bling to bury claims in a reputable British newspaper that Israel is readying its armed forces for preemptive strikes against nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran. According to The Sunday Times, sources inside Israeli's "special forces com- mand" said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is mobilizing air and ground units for an elab- orate assault on Iranian soil that could begin as early as March. Sharon's decision purportedly arrives on the heels of a long-awaited internal intel- ligence report that the paper's sources say documents evidence of secret nuclear pro- cessing facilities Iran has thus far concealed from the * International Atomic Energy Agency. These same officials - once again alluding to March - warned of a rapidly approaching "point of no return," whereby Iran's uranium enrichment program will be advanced enough to manufacture sufficient fissile material to equip a nuclear warhead within two to four years. The Israeli government's response was out-and-out denial, first from Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who called the reports "ridiculous" and "baseless," and later from a senior defense official, who maintained that the Defense Ministry had no specific contingency operations in motion. It's certainly possible these officials were being forthright. After all, similar rumors have surfaced before, only to sputter out mid- way through the news cycle. That said, the vast majority of those rumors were specula- tive; most, if not all, derived from the public statements of outside analysts and hawkish members of parliament. This time around, it's different. This time it's an international- ly renowned news publication with sources deep inside Israel's intelligence apparatus. This time the facts are concrete and for the most part verifiable. But most importantly, this time the story makes sense. Tensions between Tel Aviv and Tehran appear to be approaching a climax. Novem- ber brought news that Iran helped broker negotiations between terrorist leaders from Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad in an effort to promote more coordinated violence against Israel. And last week, Russia sold Iran a $1 billion anti-ballistic missile sys- tem, a deal that not surprisingly coincided with the test launch of Israel's long-range Arrow missile. Most recently, Iran's Presi- dent went on yet another poisonous invec- tive, coming frighteningly close to denying the Holocaust and suggesting that Israel be permanently relocated to Europe. March remains close in the backdrop. Tes- timony from sources in The Sunday Times story appear to fall in place with statements from Israel's military intelligent chief, who recently told parliament that Israel could wait no longer than March for the U.N. Security Council to consider action. March also marks the release of the IAEA's next report on Iran, a defining moment for the European-led diplomatic effort that to this day remains dead in the water. Most nota- bly, the timetable laid out in The Sunday Times story ties neatly into the next round of Israeli elections set to begin March 28, when Sharon and his newly minted Kadima faction will face intense pressure from hard- liners to address Iran. By March, all the cards will be on the table. The IAEA's latest findings will be public. The Security Council, with full knowledge of the true extent of Iran's nucle- ar ambitions, will be under intense pressure from the United States to draft a resolu- tion threatening the use of force. Security Council holdouts Russia and China will have to stop dancing and face a resolution condemning Iran, one of their most loyal economic allies. Meanwhile, Israeli politi- cians will be under intense pressure from defense officials to take matters into their own hands. Absent a Security Council resolution, any efforts to bring Israel into a more diplomatic fold will likely fall short. For sympathizers in Europe, an Iranian nuclear weapon is an instrument of regional power projection; for Israel, it's a radioactive crater in downtown Jerusalem. Tehran is a hostile neighbor with long-range missiles and intimate ties to some of Israel's most vile enemies. We don't know whether this leak was acciden- tal, intentional or just completely erroneous. We do know that there are no circumstances under which Israel will tolerate a nuclear Iran. If the United Nations proves impotent in the face of an increasingly aggressive Iran, expect an Israeli-sponsored fireworks display this spring. Singer can be reached at singers@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR International student speaks out against bias TO THE DAILY: As an Asian international student, I didn't pay too much attention to recent racial dis- crimination issues on campus until last week, when I encountered some extremely radical, racially discriminating comments (not by the student). Therefore I am writing to you with outmost rage about this matter. Before I came to this country to pursue my degree, I was told that freedom, human rights and, most importantly, individuality were respected and valued in this country. Sadly, it seems to me that not everyone observes this rule, and certainly not every- one pays basic respect to people of different colors. Also, I would like to point out that most international students are not native English speakers; therefore, they don't know how to react when they encounter such situations. I believe that everyone is created equal. Why can't everyone just observe this sim- ple rule? As an international student, I face more pressure from racial discrimination. As much as I love Ann Arbor, I am still in a foreign land. Already bearing pressure from courseloads, no one wants unneces- sary trouble. I did talk back this time; however, I felt stupid afterward. I don't know how I will react the next time I encounter a similar sit- uation. Certainly I will not just stand there and do nothing, but I am not sure that what I do will actually solve the problem. These are just my thoughts; I sincerely hope that everyone can respect others, no matter their skin color. Kaikua Zhang Rackham SAFE should not have to explain its statements TO THE DAILY: We were surprised to open up the Daily a week ago and, among all of the affirma- First and foremost, the idea that all those who advocate, for Palestinian rights must speak to every action a Palestinian takes is not only ridiculous, it is racist. Nobody asked whites to apologize for the Oklaho- ma City bombing. Nobody asked the par- ents of the Columbine killers to apologize for their sons' actions. Nor do we ask any other student organizations to apologize for the actions of their respective communities. On that same note, SAFE should not have to explain itself for an event that was in no way related to the organization. Secondly, no organization has the right to label someone a "traitor" or condemn him "to rot in hell." These statements are simply out of the scope of our capabilities as a stu- dent organization. While SAFE advocates for peace, we cannot assume that everyone who carries out an act of violence is inherently evil. We must ask ourselves, "Why?" Currently, an apartheid wall encloses the West Bank, the Israeli military is in or surrounding every Palestinian West Bank city and F-16 fighter jets are breaking the sound barrier over the Gaza Strip at 4 a.m. The suicide bombing that happened more than one week ago is part of the violent retaliation to that same brutal occupation. Just as you cannot treat a disease by only looking at its symptoms, you cannot simply look at suicide bombings outside the context of the Israeli army's occupation of Palestin- ian lands. No, those people did not deserve to die. But like them, neither did the Palestinian fisherman killed by the Israeli navy, neither did the mentally challenged boy shot by the Israeli army, neither did the 15-year-old schoolgirl from Gaza whose murderer was acquitted. It's not until we start acknowl- edging the roots of this violence - the rac- ist occupation - that any progress can be made. Rama Sahi LSA junior Nafisah Ula LSA sophomore The letter writers are the president and vice president of Students Allied for Freedom and tion to professional journalism in pushing its viewpoint. In that editorial, the Daily addressed issues of credibility within Students 4 Michigan and the Michigan Student Assem- bly. That's all well and good; MSA should be able to take criticism. However, when the Daily stated and backed Walter Nowinski's comment, "The harmonica man on the Diag contributes more to students than the cur- rent assembly," something went wrong. Although the concert and parties are big issues within MSA, plenty of less newswor- thy accomplishments have come from MSA this semester. This semester, MSA successfully estab- lished an Ann Arbor City Council student liaison position, formed a joint student-City Council committee, sponsored the CHANGE and Congress to Campus programs, hired a housing attorney at Student Legal Services and made the hospital retrain its staff on its minor-in-possession policy. MSA has also been working to establish a reflection room on North Campus and has collaborated with various student groups to raise more than $18,000 for Hurricane Katrina relief, the South Asian tsunami and the Niger famine - and yes, we brought a major concert to campus. In addition, individual MSA members have worked to update Advice Online, put more students on University committees, increased available parking at the School of Music and ensured that all graduate students can see their graded candidacy exams. AirBus usage is up by 38 percent, and MSA has sponsored students attending the Millions More March, brought a United Nations goodwill ambas- sador to campus, organized a Toxic Tour of Detroit and a vigil for Rosa Parks. My point in all of this? MSA isn't perfect, but instead of sitting on the sidelines com- plaining, we're actually working to make campus better. We could always do better, and I welcome anyone who's willing to work toward improving MSA. All I want to do is point out how atrocious the quote made on Tuesday was and ask the Daily to base its opinions on fact in the future. Mohammed Dar Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Andrew Bielak, Reggie Brown, Gabrielle D'Angelo, John Davis, Whitney Dibo, Milly Dick, Sara Eber, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay, Jared Goldberg, Ashwin Jagannathan, Theresa Kennelly, Mark Kuehn, Will Kerridge, Frank Man-