OPINION
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 22,2004
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FACE-OFF
www.kansan.com
Fear and campaigns in America
Nation safer after Sept. 11 Bush ignored citizen safety
With billions spent on new programs to make America more secure, it is certainly gutsy to claim that the safety of Americans is more in jeopardy now than ever before. After all, government has — in a largely unprecedented bipartisan
PRO OPINION
JAY KIMMEL opinion@kansan.com
effort — equipped first responders, audited failed policy, reorganized countless agencies and posts, spied on Americans and visitors to the United States and even invaded multiple countries. What else is to be done?
The University of Kansas has no armed anti-terrorism forces securing the campus and there is no gendarmerie — a group of national police officers — patrolling Massachusetts Street. But these were measures I witnessed this summer in the heavily
militarized and, in my opinion, highly secure capital of Turkey, Ankara. It doesn't seem appealing to trample yet more civil liberties and sacrifice yet more social programs by over-funding an obsession with security in America.
Since the October 2001 anthrax incidents, no terrorist incidents have affected Americans in the homeland. America is not experiencing the same disorder as countries like Russia and Iraq, where ideologically motivated persons intent on harming civilians roam with impunity.
Each candidate has asserted that there is a clear and present danger. Kerry demands that the government "meet new threats" and face challenges to the ever-vulnerable homeland and Bush demands that the government "face new challenges" and meet threats to the ever-vulnerable homeland.
The similarities between what both presidential candidates are saying are striking. Both messages rely on fear and an immagined sense of urgency and impending danger. With the way the campaigns are spreading their messages now, fear may well be the path to power for the victorious candidate.
Fear is also the path to new policy. Both candidates are demanding new
spending on big-ticket homeland security items, new military forces and continued military engagement abroad. These demands eclipse what is important now that we've secured the homeland: schools wrought with inequity, increasing unemployment and the like.
Leave out the fear and you
leave out the problem. We are safer now, safe enough to place our worries on the things that matter most.
The only thing Americans have to be afraid of now is fear-mongering. That's what is really scary.
- Kimmel is a Wichita sophomore in political science, economics and international studies. He is a member of the Kansan Editorial Board.
In this heated election season, with so much emphasis on national security in light of the invasion and current troubles in Iraq, it is essential that we all ask whether the nation is truly safer three years after Sept. 11.
CON OPINION
RYAN SCARROW opinion@kansan.com
Our nation is not any more secure. While our country has taken strides to address matters of security that had been so obviously overlooked before the terrorist attacks, the Bush administration and the Republican Congress have not followed through.
They have shown themselves to be distracted by foreign wars and tax cuts while putting homeland security on the back burner.
For example, the state of our port security which many experts consider one of the greatest potential threats to the nation,
would be laughable were it not so tragic: Ninety-five percent of cargo containers enter the United States without any physical inspection, according to the August issue of Mother Iones.
SACK'S VIEW
The same article stated that the Customs Service urged the government to provide 1.600 permanent, upgraded
radiation detectors to be deployed nationwide. The administration's budget for 2005 will fund only 165.
And on the subject of the war in Iraq, a recent Op-Art piece in The New York Times entitled 'Safety Second' illustrated what could have been done with the then $144.4 billion spent on the invasion and aftermath in Iraq. It outlined 17 fundamental programs and urgent safety upgrades in spending, with the costs totaling the same $144.4 billion.
STAR TRIBUNE
IRAQ "NO-GO" ZONES:
Steve Sack/STAR TRIBUNE
But most disquieting was that the administration is currently providing for such items as upgrading the Coast Guard fleet, outfitting firefighters, improving radio for first responders and securing weaponsgrade nuclear material. All this for a war that was apparently for naught, as the Iraq Survey Group has just said in its final report.
The administration has tried to convince us that military might and effort overseas can help take care of the terror threat here at home. But as a columnist in the London-based The Guardian warned after the appalling events in Beslan two weeks ago, "In asymmetrical warfare everyone is involved and anyone is a potential victim."
Sept. 11 was supposed to teach us that we are not immune to attack. But the government has been unwilling to learn from our tragic experiences or change policy and methods to provide more protection to our citizens.
In so doing, the bureaucrats have kept the nation wondering and worrying about what we may see tomorrow.
Scarrow is a Humboldt senior in history. He is a member of the Kansan Editorial Board.
Free for All
Call 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansan editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
Wow, I'm the ultimate KU student. I got my cell phone on my left hand, my Nalgene bottle on my right, I'm wearing a Muck Fizzou shirt and a Lance Armstrong bracelet. Rock Chalk.
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The C.S.I. marathon took over my life last week, too it was awesome.
Thirteen hours a day.
Hey, I'd just like to say I love your crossword puzzle because it taught me how to spell "caribou." That came in handy.
to anyone who talks behind me during Human Sexuality class: Your relationships are going to go down the freakin' toilet if you don't keep quiet during lecture.
Yeah, it is like 5:00 in the morning,
just got back from a fire alarm from
McCollum and the people out there
who think it's funny: It isn't funny
when you're trying to sleep.
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If I had a dollar for every time my roommate wet the bed, I'd have about $6.
to anyone who talks behind me during Human Sexuality class: Your relationships are going to go down the freakin' toilet if you don't keep quiet during lecture.
景
We're bringing side ponytails back in. Whoever said they were supposed to stay in the '80s: Yeah, side ponytails.
to anyone who talks behind me during Human Sexuality class: Your relationships are going to go down the freakin' toilet if you don't keep quiet during lecture.
Just last week, I saw a kid with a shirt that said, "I eat glue." Do you have any idea how priceless and funny that is?
to anyone who talks behind me during Human Sexuality class: Your relationships are going to go down the freakin' toilet if you don't keep quiet during lecture.
This is for all the John Kerry bashers: At least he can pronounce "nuclear" correctly.
Hmmm, that cigarette doesn't look like it's 20 feet from the door to me. My asthma and I hate cigarettes on campus.
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I was gonna take a shower an hour ago, but then I turned to damn Animal Planet.
Did any of you guys see that gorilla running around 6th floor Oliver?
It's 11:00 at night and there's techno candy glow stick ravers on Wescoe Beach.
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said private donations paid for the memorial.
The monkeys are back and we're gonna take over the world. Ha, ha, hal
EDITOR'S NOTE
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Comment needs fact clarification
A Free For All comment printed yesterday needs clarification.
The so-called "goofy-looking brick pedestal" on Memorial Drive is actually the Korean War Memorial under construction. The monument will serve as a memorial to the approximately 60 University of Kansas alumni, faculty and students who served during the Korean War.
The Free For All caller implied that money from increased tuition went toward the construction of the memorial. This is not true. Jeff Weinberg, assistant to the chancellor,
Alumni and friends of the University from South Korea contributed the majority of the $120,000 raised through the Kansas University Endowment Association for the memorial. Other funds came from an area alumnus.
Another error in the comment was the location of the memorial. The memorial is west of the Campanile near Snow Hall. It is not behind Bailey Hall, as the caller said.
The memorial will join other monuments along Memorial Drive that commemorate the sacrifices and honor of those from the University who served our country in times of conflict.
The existing memorials include the Kansas Memorial Union and Memorial Stadium for World War I; the Campanile and Memorial Drive for World War II; and the Vietnam Memorial, according to the University Relations Web site. www.urku.edu.
The comment was in bad taste and contained misleading information. It should not have been published.
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Price, Noristor, Nynas, Saskimon,
Anne Wettner and Michelle Wood
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