TUESDAY JANUARY 21.2003
OPINION
4A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
AN=5A
TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2003
Peace rallies:worthwhile or waste of time?
Support peace protests
As the threat of a war with Iraq nears reality, two 60-person bus loads of KU students traveled to Washington, D.C., over the three-day weekend to rally against the volatile military frenzy. These Jawahraks rightfully demanded peace in the face of an administration misguiding our nation in the incipient "War on Terror."
Proponents of war remind us that Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the Kurds during a long 1980s war with Iran, that he calculated the invasion of Kuwait based on faulty territorial reasoning, and that he continues to pursue weapons of mass destruction. All of these claims have relative merit.
But the rationale for a preventative war with Iraq should be held to the highest threshold of justification.
Those who remember the president's brazen designation of North Korea and Iraq as part of a Star Wars-esque "Axis of Evil" should remember not only that the administration has openly antagonized these two nations, but also that hypocrisy in foreign policy invites our enemies to question our so-called higher motives.
Our government labeled Iraq the greatest threat to world security, but no proof has surfaced that Iraq possesses massive quantities of chemical and biological weapons. North Korea openly admits it own breach of the 1968 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty by possessing nuclear weapons and being interested in long range missiles.
Our nation's actions suggest pure self-interest in cheaper oil and spurring an alling economy. The Bush administration
forgets President Eisenhower's 1961 warning against a growing military-industrial complex in this nation — in fact, it seems to welcome such a system, which promotes only commerce and death.
The price of a military campaign in Iraq cannot be measured merely in the billions of dollars it would demand. Two-thirds of Americans think war would cause another large-scale terrorist attack in the United States, according to a recent Reuters poll.
Our country risks establishing a dan
gerous ina ntional precedent of preventative war and opening the world stage for future conflicts of the same nature.
Peace and stability will emerge through time and aggressive diplomacy. Not American and Iraq blood.
Sean
Pauzauskie for the Editorial Board.
Face-Off is a project of the Kansan editorial board. Two editorial board members argue opposing sides of a hotbutton issue that affects students at the University of Kansas.
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Advocate war effort
the organizers of the Jan.18 Peace March in Washington, D.C., bemoan the loss of life a
D. C., bemoan the loss of life a war with Iraq would surely bring, and they are absolutely correct to do so. But imagine if our government acquiesced to Saddam Hussein entirely. We would collectively have to sit back and wait to see the dictator decided to unleash a catastrophic attack on Israel, Europe or the thousands of U.S. troops already stationed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The protesters blast President Bush
Chris Moore for The University Daily Kansan
for acting in the interests of large oil companies.
The authors of a pamphlet supporting the rally said Bush's intentions in any future war would be solely to give companies like Exxon-Mobile and Texaco control of Middle Eastern oil.
The y posses a large kernel of truth — the Middle East is full of oil. Oil that we
need; oil that is the lifeblood of our nation.
Saddam Hussein personifies instability in a region Americans unavoidably have an interest in.
Even if the protesters were right in accusing Bush of bowing to oil companies, they would be overlooking the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The United Nations demonstrated its remarkable impotence by allowing Iraq to ignore weapons inspections rules for more than a decade. Hussein barred his gates to weapons inspectors and used chemical weapons on his own people, but only the United States and the United Kingdom recognize how badly he wants weapons of mass destruction.
Proof of the existence of those weapons may be hard to come by. Chief U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, said inspectors have found no "smoking gun." What a terrifying concept.
During the Gulf War, Iraq hit Israeli targets with 39 ballistic missiles. If Hussein gained the ability to add chemical or nuclear payloads to those missiles, the destruction could greatly surpass the tragedy of Sept. 11.
PERSPECTIVE
The protesters are grossly oversimplifying a complex problem. Pacifism has an admirable basis, but the United States cannot leave the lives of innocent Americans, Iraqis and possibly others in the hands of Hussein.
Israel is not the only possible target. German intelligence believes Hussein could strike Europe within five years.
'War for oil' argument not grounded in reality
GUEST COMMENTARY
Many arguments have been raised against possible military action in Iraq. A few of these have some amount of legitimacy to them. Others do not. One of the more asinine, yet widely accepted arguments, is the "war for oil" theory. If, like most people in the anti-war movement, your entire set of political beliefs can be expressed on a bumper sticker or backpack pin, this argument is for you.
Nathan Clark opinion@hansan.com
The gist of it is this: The Bush administration is run by former oilmen, Iraq has a bunch of oil, and therefore, Bush wants to get that oil to please his buddies in the industry. Based on this logic one could propose a theory that the war is all about baseball because Bush used to own the Texas Rangers and he's looking to recruit some Iraqi athletes to revive that failing franchise.
Both that theory and the oil theory have about the same amount of credibility. If the United States really wants Iraqi oil, waging a war might just be the worst way of going about it. A military conflict
Let's not be naive and think oil has absolutely nothing to do with this conflict.
could easily decimate the oil fields in Iraq, Saddam Hussein could burn them himself like he did in 1991. A civil war could break out. If the war went sour, Bush would likely lose his chance for reelection. If the war dragged on, the cost to finance it would be astronomical. Devastating potential outcomes exist that would leave Iraq's oil supply in jeopardy. Why would Bush risk so much?
It does, but primarily because of the belief that terrorist outfits in the Middle
If this were all about oil, the most risk free solution would be to simply buy it and convince the United Nations to lift the sanctions. Hussein could sell us all the oil we want from his largely untapped oil fields. Hussein has long professed an
eagerness to sell oil to whoever wants it including the United States. Buying Hussein's oil would be easier and cheaper than trying to convince the world that war is the only option.
Furthermore, if it comes to war in Iraq, it will not be the United States that is fighting for oil. The only thing Hussein has going for him is his oil. Many in the anti-war crowd wrongly blame the United Nations' imposed sanctions for the rampant poverty in the country. But, through the oil he is allowed to sell, Hussein could easily afford to support his people. If he were spending that money to help them, war would not be considered. But he's not. The money goes to himself and his weapons programs. For that reason, the United States will be fighting for security. Hussein will be fighting for oil.
East get most of their funding from leaders of oil-rich countries such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Therefore, removing a source of their support is consistent with the war on terrorism.
More available oil from Iraq keeps the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia from price gouging its supplies. This means cheaper oil for the rest of the world. Oil is a key issue in a possible war, but it's hardly the motive.
I don't claim to be an expert on foreign policy, but when such a claim as the "war for oil" theory is so widely accepted by protesters, something has to be said.
If people feel Bush's policies are wrong and want to voice their opinion, whether on Massachusetts Street or in Washington, D.C., that's fine. But don't get sucked in by this nonsensical oil theory. It comes from people who prefer to keep their political views expressible in five words or less.
Clark is a Kingman sophomore in journalism.
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Going to school on Thursday is absolutely ridiculous. The snow's heavy and no one should have to deal with this. For somebody who's late or doesn't come to class, they should not hold that against them because this weather is horrible. The people who decided to have school today should be fired.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
Perms on guys are so Cousin Larry.
isn't it kind of ironic when Fair-Trade coffee is the only coffee offered at a coffee shop?
B.
Yesh, I'd just like to thank the KU bus drivers for driving through slush really fast when there's no cars on the other side of the road!
Oh, and Mizzou sucks.
I have a message for the three seemingly grown women in the back of the red low- rider pickup truck with the lawn mower, to the ones who laughed in my face and continued to taunt me as I was walking to class. You asked if I was going sledding. No, I wasn't going to, however, I think you should go sledding. Maybe it would lighten you up a little bit, you very mean girls. And I mean, what's with the back of the pickup truck anyway?
When will the lazy people in front of Naismith learn to walk?
Windows ME, the most worthless OS ever created.
--day off should have to put a quarter in the dope jar.
Yeah, so I'm walking on campus today and there's this guy in front of me slipping all around and I'm thinking, "Poor guy, he's going to fall," and two seconds later I'm the one who falls on my butt and everyone was laughing at me. There's bad karma for yo.
I
I think that whoever decided that KJ should have classes while everyone else had the
426
Matt Pirotte dissenting
"Opinion page gives voice to students."
Man, Kansan, every semester you pull this crap. We know what an opinion page is. It says generally on the opinion page the address to write in, the phone number to call to get your opinion out there. Why do you have to keep telling us this? We're not stupid, we're in college. Lay off!
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I'm just wondering when KU hired Harry Carey as a professor, because he teaches my archaeology class.
Thank you to all the hard-working and terribly underpaid people who made the sidewalks on campus walkable and the roads on campus drivable today.
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George Bush is an oil-mongering terrorist.
He's a terrorist. Wake up people!
图
George Bush is a racist tyrant. All the oil in Iraq could never pay for his ego.
Happy Anniversary, Wayne.
Stacy, we broke up two months ago.
Well that doesn't mean we still can't go out
it does, actually. That's what breaking up is.
NO
Don't you want to open your presents?
If it's a severed head, I'm going to be very upset.
Open it
Open it.
What is it?
A gun rack? I don't even own a gun, let alone many guns, which would necessitate an entire rack. What am I gonna do with a gun rack?
A gun rack.
You don't like it? Fine. You know, Wayne. if you're not careful, you're going to lose me. I lost you two months ago. Are you mental? We broke up! Get the net!
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I was just wondering why every semester every year teachers say, "If you're in this class just to fulfill a requirement, you might want to think about another class," when sometimes you just need to take the class? Does every teacher think that their class is the most important? I'd like to see this stop.
106
On my way to Iowa last weekend, I got a ticket in Missouri for going 75 in a 70 zone. This is the main reason Mizzou sucks.
Call the Free for All and tell us about your New Year's resolutions. Have you kept them? Have you crashed and burned? We will print your responses Friday.
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