Letter
to the editor
Protest, an exercise in democracy
In
response to the horrifying article printed
recently by Gerry Wachovsky (titled: Terrorists,
And Why I Hate Them) I can use his own words
and say that I, too, see a “misguided soul.”
Wachovsky expressed his disapproval of anti-war
protesters on campus in a very unsettling
and offensive way while also presenting
skewed “facts” and sloppy allegations.
The current war is not being waged to “protect”
anything except for United States economic
interests. While some may find the bloodshed
of civilians appropriate for that purpose,
I would hope that most of us here at Cal
State Long Beach do not feel that way. As
for the events of Sept. 11, most of the
hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, a “friend”
of this country, not from Iraq or Afghanistan,
two of the countries our White House resident
label as “evil.” The idea that war against
Iraq is somehow a preventative measure for
acts of terrorism is as far fetched as the
idea that the U.S. has “less blood on its
hands than most countries,” which Wachovsky
also expressed. This is simply not true:
The Gulf War was not fought for the “liberation”
of Kuwait, but rather in response to Iraq’s
growing control over oil and its revenues,
contrary to U.S. corporate interests (The
U.S. actually told U.N. weapons inspectors
to leave Iraq prior to bombing Baghdad,
before their mission was completed).
As for Afghanistan, the U.S. government
helped install the “evil” Taliban in the
first place, and the CIA trained the notorious
Osama bin-Laden. These facts are well documented
and anyone with any curiosity on these subjects
can read and learn more about how the U.S.
government does in fact have more blood
on its hands than any other nations. That
may be a well-kept secret to people like
Wachovsky, and I only hope that more people
publicly respond to his opinions.
Protest has a long history in the United
States and if Wachovsky has a problem with
people exercising their rights and standing
up for what they believe in, he might want
to rethink standing up for a country which
(arguably) once stood for democracy, back
when the people elected the president and
congress had to declare war.
For more information about these issues
please visit: www.alternet.org/waroniraq/
or talk to the Campus Progressives Collective
in University Student Union, room 309, 5
p.m Wednesdays.
—
Sheila Ketabian, CSULB Campus Progressives
collective and english major
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