OPINION
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Tuesday, August 8,1989
The Line For Sylvester Stallone's New Movie...
Inaction by America
could result in WWI1
Since 1979, when fanatic fundamen
talist Shiite Moslems swept the Arab
world into revolution and unleashed
their wave of terror across the world,
Americans have been the victims of a
war our government refuses to recog
nize.
The bombing of the U.S. Marine bar
racks, killing 250 men who were sent as
a peace-keeping force for the United
Nations, stands as a testament to the
deadly mindset of the Islamic revolu
tionaries. Other examples of the blood
bath include the bombing of Pan Ameri
can Flight 103, the Achille Lauro cruise
ship incident, the numerous hijacking
of U.S. planes and the killing of service
men in a West German nightclub, which
was traced directly to Libya.
■k 1
Jeff
Osborne
Guest Columnl#
Mail Call
Photo in bad taste
EDITOR:
The Battalion’s use of the photograph of the parents of
Robert Craig, one of the local teenagers killed in the rafting
accident on Tuesday, was in bad taste. Robert’s father, Dr.
James Craig, is a professor at Texas A&M.
The article was a big local news item, but the use of the
photograph showing two people in anguish at the death of
their son was too much. I know that if I were in that situation,
a photograph like that would make me hurt more. Since
Aggies are essentially the only people who read The
Battalion, it would be difficult for us to offend anyone but
ourselves. I feel it would be good policy for The Battalion to
try to avoid adding pain to those in our community who are
already hurting.
Laurie R. Marshall
Graduate Student
Fate of fountain lovers at stake
EDITOR:
Expansion of the MSC will cause Rudder Fountain to be
turned off. Yet the water is inviting
On a warm summer’s evening when the humidity is high,
what is a young couple to do but sneak over to Rudder
Fountain near midnight, sit on the marble ledge, dip their
feet in the icy water and then wade over to the red and blue
lights shining up into the showering fountain. Quickly then,
for its very cold, they step under the hard splashing water.
BRRR! Then, just as quickly, they escape to a hot shower.
On a warm summer’s eve, say Tuesday or Wednesday
during finals week, one remembers Rudder Fountain will
soon be turned off. What is a young couple to do
Frank Harmier
Graduate student
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves
the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the
author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the classification, address
and telephone number of the writer.
The sad fact is, the American govern
ment seems to have lost its backbone.
Except for the air strike on Libya in
1986 for the deaths of Americans in the
aforementioned terrorist bombing, the
United States has failed to protect the
lives of its citizens abroad by not fight
ing back.
lamic leaders. Just like Hitlerwrtsj
his intentions in “Mein Kampf,”i
lamic leaders have voiced their i
tions as well. They have called forai
out war against the United States,!
and Western Europe. Several
countries with hostile in ten tions, sue
Iraq, libya and Iran, have attempi
get nuclear weapons. We cannotij
these threats as the nonsense of fad
but as legitimate threats.
L
o:
In the past, America consistently
stood up with the full strength of our
military to protect or avenge American
lives. The German sinking of the Lucita-
nia in the Atlantic was the catalyst that
caused us to enter World War I. Like
wise, we declared war on Spain in the
1890s because of the explosion on the
U.S.S. Maine with far less evidence than
we now have against Iran and Syria.
The terrorists see our inactal
weakness. They do not understand'
thing except strength. The unrf
ness of other Arab countries
more land than Israel) to provic
homeland for the Palestineansisarl
ample of their attempt to cast ad
shadow over Israel. Bellicose neigtil
have attacked Israel in 1948,
1973.
Al
tate
mont
that ;
previ
ferin
Bu
Comi
form
Ur
Aug.
know
tenar
In the past, the government pro
tected its citizens far better. Being an
American was a symbol of pride and
strength. Now we are a favorite target of
terrorists because we fail to protect our
own people. With a $300 billionmilitary
budget, this should not be the case.
The truth is that there will profc
be no peace because the Arabs hau
all-or-nothing view that excludes Is
or American interests. Fanatic Isk
want a Jihad (Holy War) againstk
and the West. Any terrorist whode
this is a liar.
Move over Batman, make room tor.
My sources in Hollywood have indi
cated to me that because of the huge
success of the summer’s big hit “Bat
man,” we can expect a deluge of other
movies that feature such heroes and
heroines.
Lewis
Grizzard
Syndicated Columnist
small-town criminals. Would be a lot
more effective if he had more than one
bullet.
“There are already three more like
that about to be shot,” a source told me.
“You can expect movies about Spi
der-Man, Plastic Man and the Invisible
Man in the fall,” the source continued.
For those who don’t recall those three
characters from their comic book days,
I’ll brief you.
Spider-Man was also a law-and-order
freak. He would leap off buildings by
secreting an unindentifled substance
that acted as a rope.
He was, however, a rather unhappy
and lonely person. Women were afraid
of him and he was always being chased
by two guys from Orkin, who wanted to
spray him.
Plastic Man’s big problem was that he
wasn’t much use in hot climates. A cou
ple of hours out in the sun and he’d
start to melt and emit toxic fumes.
If a crook tried to run away from
him, Plastic Man could stretch his arms
hundreds of feet to rein in the would-be
escaper.
The Invisible Man was always one of
my favorites. The bad guys never knew
when Invisible was around, of course,
since he was invisible.
What a lot of fans never knew, how
ever, was that the Invisible Man was a
pervert. He spent a lot of time hanging
out in ladies’ restrooms.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Ellen Hobbs,
Editor
Juliette Rizzo,
Opinion Page Editor
Fiona Soltes,
City Editor
Drew Leder, Chuck Squatriglia,
News Editors
Steven Merritt,
Sports Editor
Katny Haveman,
Art Director
Hal Hammons,
Makeup Editor
My Hollywood source said the pro
ducers of the new Invisible Man had
one heck of a time casting his part.
“It’s not easy to find invisible actors
who can be a box-office draw,” said the
source. They finally gave the part to
Roddy McDowell, who nobody has seen
in years.
My source also mentioned a few other
movies we could expect, featuring new
characters like Bat, Sup, Spide, Plastic,
and Invisible, whose friends call him
Shorty.
• Tax Shelterman: His constantly
battling to get Congress to bring back
tax shelters for rich Republicans. His
cape is emblazoned with a gold dollar
sign, and he’s a 3-handicap golfer.
• Dodecahedronman: There are
many sides to his personality. And his
archenemies are high-school geometry
teachers who give out too much home
work.
• Service-Stationman: Loved by mil
lions because he always washes your
windshield and bears down to get the
bugs off.
• Cholesterolman: His sole purpose
is to kill chickens, thus doing away with
eggs, which are bad for you, no matter
what your mother used to say when you
were growing up.
• Fredrick’s-of-Hollywoodwoman:
She dresses in slinky little negligees and
fulfills the fantasies of men whose wives
are overweight and have unsightly facial
hair.
• Barneyfifeman: Emeny of all
• Easternairlinesman: Currently
bankrupt and unable to fly, but his law
yers are working on it. If he does get air
borne again, his first mission will be to
find Frank Lorenzo and make him eat
airline food until he throws up.
Politicians who blame Israel as a sca
pegoat are fools. Those politicians are
playing right into the hands of the fa-
=* *«**4ic terrorists. The publicly- stated
goals of the Islamic revolution are the
destruction of Israel and the United
States, and a worldwide Islamic govern
ment. Israel is our strongest ally in the
Middle East, and they are standing up
to terrorists and fighting America’s bat
tle. They are struggling for survival
amid hostile neighbors and have done a
good job at staying alive against over
whelming odds. It is high time we stand
up beside Israel and resolve to end ter
rorism once and for all.
It should be noted that not all)!
lems follow the violence and hatreds
ported by a very vocal and active:
nority. The prophet Mohammed'
quoted by a member of the U.S.C
gress on C-Span, the governmenc
work. The congressman used thews
of the Islamic prophet who said:
captives should be treated as wd
brothers, wit luOi e same food
clothes of their Moslem captors. The:
natic Shiites have twisted the meac
of their own religion into a mandat
spread terror throughout a dvi
world that does not understand.
to (
cienc
that I
If
the a
tion I
He
addn
prohi
being
We have seen this kind of fanatio
and willingness to die for glory btfa
Remember the Japanese in World' 1 R
II? Kamikaze bombers in planes
ing “Banzai” or Islamic suicide
shouting “Allah Akbar.” The refleffi
is strikingly similar.
• Deodorantman: Will not rest until
everybody in the world is safe from B.O.
He appears in various forms, including
spray and roll-on. If you feel something
moving around in your armpits, it’s
probably Deodorantman. And
why you haven’t had a date
months, and your co-workers
come within 10 feet of your desk.
that’s
When we let the enemy strike us re
peatedly without standing up for our
selves, we are opening the door for di-
saster. We cannot accommodate
terrorism or stand by without action.
Similar actions a half century ago led to
the rise of Adolf Hitler. We can fight
the problem now, or fight it five years
from now when it will be far more diffi
cult and widespread.
In the late 1930s and early 191
America was a sleeping giant. Itap|tf
that now we have become a para!'
giant. If we don’t react, we’re indanj
If we react, we’re still in danger ]
no-win situation frustrating Amerifi
is compounded by our lack of action
never
• Divorceman: Kills lawyers.
• She doesm’texistwoman: Her fa
ther’s rich, she doesn’t care if you go out
drinking with your friends, she isn’t in
terested in having a career, and she
really likes to cook.
No easy answers are available for
such a terrible situation. But sitting back
and watching Americans die one by one
is not my idea of living in the greatest
country on Earth. Call me a reactionary
or whatever you want, but I realize the
value of American lives. The blood of
Americans should be worth more than
indecision and words. It may be a situa
tion that is unwinnable one way or an
other, but we can’t back down.
The storm clouds of war are looni
on the horizon, threatening to col
whether we are prepared or not.
wait until these fanatics get nuclearic
sles before we take action? Histon
repeated itself time and again, la
years, I hope we don’t look back and*
that it has happened again. We cant
with the problem of terrorism befofi
leads to World War III, or sit bad
let history take its course.
Copyright 1989, Cowles Syndicate
Listen to the words of the fanatic Is-
Jeff Osborne is a senior
major and assistant sports editor:
The Battalion.
MAfi&VU&S
hcvsicn rosr
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Cara
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