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Wednesday, April 29, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Opinions
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
What would compel 35 KU students to organize, raise funds, charter a bus and travel 48 hours for a weekend of walking around the streets of Washington. D.C.?
A moving experience
Not even a rare collection at the National Gallery or Art or a Beach Boys concert on the Fourth of July is likely to produce such an effort. These students were moved by something more compelling – independent ideas, the desire to make themselves heard and the thoughtful recognition of political maneuvering.
They traveled to participate in a march, which drew about 150.000 demonstrators from a wide range of organizations and interest groups from across the country. Their unified goal was clear: to voice opposition to U.S. foreign policy. They disagree with the Reagan Administration's "morally bankrupt" policy, particularly in Central America and South Africa, and they refuse to hop on the everything's fine-in-America bandwagon by ignoring their own dissention.
This weekend's protest signifies an even greater commitment to their cause because of Reagan's hard-line foreign policy stance. They recognize that their voices have only a slim chance of effecting change in the final two years of this conservative president's term.
The marchers also recognize that in our political system, money may do a lot of the talking but there remains some power in numbers. Perhaps the large array of disenticing voices present at the demonstration will point out to the candidates in the 1988 elections the widespread dissatisfaction among voters.
Last week, the federal government took a swipe at the head of a hideous beast that had been growing steadily in strength in this country. And although the blow was severe, it will not prove fatal.
The 35 KU students who took part in the march can feel satisfied with having contributed to the political viability of these critical foreign issues by placing them in the forefront of public awareness.
The battle's just begun
The government's attack came in the form of indictments against 14 leaders and members of white supremacist groups. The leaders were charged with transporting stolen money, seditious conspiracy, and plotting to kill a federal judge and an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Another indictment charged four people with plotting to kill liberal talk-show host Alan Berg in 1984.
The indictments were the result of a three-year investigation into the activities of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in the United States.
Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Order and the Aryan Nations have been growing in
number and in outspokenness the past few years. And even more disturbing, the groups have left the lynchings and secret associations of the past for guerrilla military training financed by bank robbery and counterfeiting.
The indictments may slow the activities of these groups for a while, but they certainly will not stop them. If the government hopes to battle these groups, it must enlist the help of the public. The government must counter the groups' arguments that they represent the majority, by pointing out that they are really a small minority in their hatred and stupidity.
Members of white supremacist groups need to be treated not like the Christians they claim to be, but as the terrorists they are. Hate groups must not be tolerated, regardless of whether the members belong to the majority or the minority.
The U.S. government has evidence of what most citizens have suspected all along — that money from the Iran arms sale was diverted to the contras.
The tip of the iceberg
For months after the initial story broke, it had been suspected that money from the sale of arms to Iran had been filtered to the contrasts to help in their battle with the Nicaraguan government.
Congressional investigators used Swiss bank records and other material provided by businessman Albert Hakim to confirm the diversion of more than $1 million.
This is quite a discovery, but the investigation is not over. On Nov. 29, Attorney General Edwin Meese III said the
diversion of money was in the range of $10 million to $30 million. That leaves leaves a lot of unaccounted for money.
Now that some of the money has been found, the government should not take this as a victory, but step up its investigation and completely solve the Iran-contra affair.
Government officials voted to give limited immunity from prosecution to two witnesses in order to compel their testimony. It's unfortunate, but it seems that this decision will have to be repeated to get a look at the entire picture of the Iran-contra affair.
Let's hope that this discovery will lead officials to the rest of the answers so that the entire ugly mess can be cleared up.
News staff
News staff
Frank Hansel ... Editor
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Latin American democracies still at risk
The latest crisis between Argentina's military and its civilian government has raised doubts about the strength of new democracies throughout Latin America.
Carlos
Chuquin
Columnist
Where was Abrams?
I was disappointed to have missed the presentation of Elliott Abrams, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, at the University of Kansas last week. After having read the published accounts of his speech, however, I was struck by how familiar it all sounded. It was frighteningly similar to the speeches that my generation heard just before the war in Vietnam got hot and out of control.
Although there have been no military troops in the region since 1979, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru recently have experienced incidents with their armed forces and the possibility that they can become real at any moment.
Early this month, jet fighters buzzed the National Palace in Lima, Peru, after President Alan Garcia fired his air force commander. In January, Ecuador's president, Leon Febres Cordero, was kidnapped for several hours by dissident air force commandos.
Mailbox
But the main reason I am sorry I missed his speech is a question put to Abrams from the audience and his response. When asked if he'd be willing to fight if the United States invaded Nicaragua, he responded. "If called upon I would be happy to serve." It is reported that he was smiling as he said, "It's a silly question to ask somebody who's 39 years old. I'm a little bit past service age."
It's not a silly question to ask a person who is advocating a policy that could require a generation who is old enough to serve, to fight and die in a place that many U.S. citizens don't believe is justified, especially considering Abrams' past "happiness" to serve.
I wish I could have been there to participate in that exchange, because I'm the same age as Abrams and I'm a disabled Vietnam veteran. Where was Abrams' willingness to fight during his generation's crusade to stop communist expansion? While more than 7 million U.S. citizens were serving our country, 3 million of them in Indochina, Abrams managed to stay in school throughout the war. I know that we could have used his help in my under-strength infantry unit.
If Abrams is so concerned about the evil that communists do, why doesn't he use his considerable talents to free U.S. prisoners of war, members of his own generation, who are still being held after our last crusade. . .
You know, the one he avoided serving in when he was old enough.
John Musgrave Baldwin City resident
Take a better look
If those people looked deeper into the issues and qualifications a coalition is offering, they might vote instead of being swayed by mudsling. Voting is important, for it is student input that elects a Senate that best represents the student. The election is over, and it's time to end the soap opera.
I find it hard to believe the victory of Bottom Line was due to a discount on poster printing. People who have taken the time to look only at the charges and the name calling are those who have created the "soap opera" atmosphere.
I am writing in response to the article and letter on the opinion page of Friday's Kansas addressing the Student Senate elections.
In Brazil, the country that in 1964 initiated the dictatorial trend in Latin America that lasted through the 1970s, speculation about the intentions of the armed forces also has increased in recent weeks. New economic troubles have led to mistrust, frustrations and unhappiness with the two-year-old government of President Jose Sarney.
Dawn Abrahamson Highland Park, Ill., sophomore
Despite the rumors and incidents about the rise of a new military rule era, Latin America's civilian presidents have created a so-called "demonocratic bloc" of nations as a way of displaying unity in the face of military actions.
This coalition reiterates once more that the Latin America people no longer are accepting a military dictatorship as an alternative. With this, the idea of a "democratic bloo" is to have a "democratic bloo" throughout Latin America that other nations in the bloo will not hesitate to intervene in coup attempts.
Recently, Argentinian army major
Ernesto Barriere, who had refused to
appear in court to answer charges of human rights violations was supported by fellow officers. Barriero, during the military dictatorship, was the chief interrogator of a notorious detention center known as La Perla. 440 miles north of Buenos Aires. Later, he surrendered.
Chile, under Gen. Augusto Pinochet, and Paraguay, under Alfredo Stroessner, remained under military dictatorship.
Although tensions between Argentina and Uruguay and their armed forces have centered on the issue of past repression by the military, it is believed the incidents also prove the broader difficulties experienced by the democracies in consolidating civilian rule and in keeping their military from interfering in politics.
The trend back to democratic governments in the region began in 1979 in Ecuador in the wake of the Carter administration's human rights campaign. With the Reagan administration also encouraging the end of an authoritarian rule, Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Guatemala all returned to civilian government.
Only in Argentina have former junta members been brought to trial and imprisoned for their role in the so-called dirty war against leftists and other opposition groups in the 1970s. With this notion, elsewhere in Latin America armed forces have determined not to allow themselves to be humiliated by civilians. They have remained on alert both to defend their own economic privileges and political interests and to intervene in cases of civil unrest.
A military takeover is far from reality. The civilian governments in Latin America are trying to solve their economic problems, and an interference by the military could hurt the total restoration of the civilian power. As Argentina's President Raul Alfonsin said, "Never again, will the military rule." A fact that still holds at this moment in Latin America.
Early enthusiasm for the Islamic system of government has been dissipating rapidly since Ayatollah Ruhula Khomeini assumed power in February 1979. Islam's character as a holy religion has been objectively transformed into an
Support for Islamic government fades like optimism of Iranians
Mansour Mojadad
Guest Shot
instrument of government. It is an inseparable part of a totalitarian state, and for this reason it has lost much of its authority. The change in the perception of Islam has significant implications for the internal affairs of Iran as well as international politics.
The Islamic regime drew its early popular support from a strong tradition of Islamic values and lack of alternatives. People believed that the slogan "freedom and independence" could be realized in the Islamic Republic. However, that only proved to be an illusion. The new regime espoused a fanatic version of Islamic fundamentalism that directed state policies. Islam became a doctrine of how the economy, politics, education and even personal practices should be conducted. This clearly ran contrary to the notion of freedom and required a great deal of coercion.
The incarceration of hundreds of thousands of political prisoners and the legal classification of women as second-class citizens are prominent symbols of Islamic repression. Political prisoners are no new story as far as Iran is concerned. However, the large
While this trend of disillusionment continued, the regime took advantage of the Iran-Iraq war in September 1980 and rallied support behind its policies. But the war gradually became the Achilles' heel of the Islamic Republic. The prolongation of the war and its extension to Iraqi soil revealed that what appeared to be a small defensive war was actually an excuse for repression at home.
number and variety of political convictions that the prisoners hold is a new phenomenon. This is an indication of the utterly undemocratic and sectarian nature of the Islamic regime. Women are forced to stay at home and take on historically outmoded roles. Morality squads in the streets decide for women how they should dress and behave. These policies disillusioned even some of the naive supporters of the Islamic government.
A convolution of various factors such as the Iran-Iraq war, a sharp drop in the price of oil, and huge increases in military spending are driving the country's state budget) has drained economic resources and led to crisis.
The regime has tried to deal with this crisis through tight state control of production and distribution. Goods are rationed and control of distribution has been turned over to a vast network of mosques. Coupons for basic commodities such as gasoline, flour and sugar are issued through the mosques. In addition, the mosques assume the role of information gathering, propaganda and secret services. In short, the mosques represent totalitarianism at its extreme.
This has led to an erosion of Islamic values. Mosques that once
were traditionally a place for praying, now are transformed into government bureaucracies. Now most of the praying is done not in mosques, but on college campuses!
Islamic demoralization of the Iranian masses is most obvious in suburban areas. Because the state-controlled media mainly broadcasts religious programs, people are no longer sensitive to the issues raised in the programs.
The dissatisfaction with the general state of affairs has led people to think of a creative variety of jokes made about important religious and governmental figures, including Khomeini. This is a form of negative resistance to clerical rule. For example, the designated successor of Khomeini, Ayatollah Montazary, is commonly known as the "male cat," referring to the Tom and Jerry cartoon show.
The revelations of the Iran-confraction scandal and the secret dealing of the Shite's "Imam," Ayatollah Khomeini, with the "Great Satan," the United States, will make Iranian masses further religious. As the people become more alienated from the Islamic Republic and Khomeini, they will have a stronger memory of the nations that supported the Khomeini regime.
Now is the worst time to help the Islamic Republic, because the popularity of Islam is at a minimum. There is a future for a democratic Iran, where religion is separated from the affairs of the state; but there is no future for the Islamic Republic.
Mansour Mojadad is a graduate student from Ahvaz, Iran, studying electrical engineering.
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathed