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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 4, 1991)
1991 'y yand siirti- : plays ;ct be- heavy good, "You i "Up ner is u like don't 1 Seri- to the ethat rtdisc assies i "In- oality ie ns i ncore in 46 Posei- meys a bil- cable don't acked three ijunc- ative- >arent went 1 Bob order 5torer unfair omers a free se au- fexas, r e fol- », and r An- issing other ve on with ting a Palm Cl su- ;ee to s en- ► First gainst il very- cast." only ressly E-ded. Lment F con- "It's rr task rations Flor- K they Book- = way snter- = to a // The Battalion Tuesday, June 4,1991^1 Bush, Schwarzkopf prevail in mother of all cover-ups "He who knows nothing doubts no thing" — French Proverb. Nothing is what Americans know about George Bush's naked aggression against the people of Iraq. So much dis information and deception has been dished out by Bush's military propo- ganda machine and the cheerleading national U.S. media, one hardly knows where to begin to set the record straight. One column can't correct all the lies, ! but here are some truths which will ! probably not be found in the George i Bush Presidential Lie-brary. j The "war" took place in the Gulf, Iraq, Kuwait, Suadi Arabia, Israel, Tur key and India, which the U.S. used for ! bombing runs. The assault on the Gulf itself was | waged by the U.S., not Iraq, in the | form of oil spills and the ignition of oil I wells caused by the bombing. The bulk of the "war", however, was an unpro voked and systematic bombing, by a U.S.-led force with total air superiority, I of the people and infrastructure of Iraq. I Leading the U.S. Propoganda Parade i is the "Stopping Naked Aggression" i lie. The Jan. 6 edition of the St. Peters burg Times published Landsat photos | of the Middle East taken on Aug.2 — the day Bush told Congress that Hus sein had placed 120,000 troops and 850 j tanks along the Saudi border. I The surveillance photos revealed an j empty desert with major roads buried ' Bush violated U.N. rules by invading Panama in a failed attempt to eliminate his old CIA buddy Manuel Noriega. I He then had the gall to turn around a few months later and seek the U.N.'s blessing to destroy Iraq, which he got I by threatening and bribing U.N. Secu rity Council members with millions in I U.S. aid. | "Stormin" Norman Schwarzkopf led i the U.S. assault on Grenada in 1983, an I attack justified by a non-existent mili- ; tary threat Ronald Reagan successfully i fabricated to con the U.S. public for his | re-election campaign, a technique duly noted and now repeated by Bush in Panama and Iraq. In 1954 Norman Schwarzkopf Sr. was an advisor to the Iranian national police when Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh announced the nationalization of Iran's oil compa nies. The elder Schwarzkopf worked with the CIA's Kim Roosevelt to overthrow the democratically elected Mossadegh. They installed the Shah, a dictator just 1 as brutal as Saddam Hussein, but who j dutifully protected American oil inter ests. Like father, like son. The oil-drenched landscape caused | by U.S. bombing certainly qualifies as "Lubricating Kuwait". However, the j "Liberate Kuwait" premise was so ab- | surd, even the hawkish mainstream media questioned defining it as liber- ! ation. The March 4 Independent of Britain S reported that "Kuwaiti forces drove 12 ; armored vehicles into the Palestinian j Hiwali district, shooting into the air,. . . ; and beating civilians .... American Special Forces troops accompanying | the Kuwaitis did nothing to stop this I indiscipline, and shouted obscenities at journalists who asked why they did not j intervene." But the N. Y. Times reported on April j 3 that "U.S. Army officers have several i times dissuaded the Kuwaitis from conducting an armed sweep through the main Palestinian neighborhood, ; Hiwali." j On April 28 the Minneapolis Star Tri- bune reported that the son and Michael Worsham Columnist nephew of the Crown Prince of Kuwait were found by U.S. undercover forces to be involved with death squad at tacks. Amnesty International reports wide spread torture and killing in the "libe rated" Kuwait. The much-heralded Patriot missile represents another major military mis information campaign. Pierre Sprey, a special assistant for systems analysis during the Johnson and Nixon admin istrations, told Congress in April that very few of the intercepted Scud war heads were stopped from hitting the ground and exploding. Sprey said recent figures indicate that Israeli casualties per Scud fired in creased 80 percent after the Patriots were deployed. "The country has been poorly served by the shamelessly doctored statistics and hand-selected video clips of iso lated successes that were pumped out to the media during the war in order to influence postwar budget decisions," Sprey told the House Armed Services Committee. As for the so-called "smart" bombs, a month after Bush's genocide began, it was finally disclosed that mechanical failures, electronic interferences, and cloud conditions caused "smart" bombs to miss their targets about 40 percent of the time. "Smart" bombs made up less than half of the total number of bombs dropped on Iraq, making for a lot of misses, death and destruction. U.S. bombs missed a bridge near a teaching hospital in Basra twice, prompting the people to contemplate blowing up the bridge themselves to stop further U.S. bombing misses. There is a light at the end of the long, dark tunnel Bush has dug for human ity. It shines from the Resolution of Im peachment of Bush introduced by Texas Congressman Henry Gonzalez, and the Commission of Inquiry for the International War Crimes Tribunal, led by former U.S. Attorney General Ram sey Clark to document U.S. and allied war crimes against Iraq. Hope shines most of all from the re vived interest in the Reagan-Bush deal with Iran to postpone the release of U.S. hostages. This development shows that hidden facts will eventually get a fair hearing, even if it takes awhile (eleven years in this case). The scandal may also by itself remove George Bush from power. Meamvhile, economic sanctions con tinue to devastate not the government, but the people and especially the chil dren of Iraq, who Bush once said the U.S. had no quarrel with. Everyone should call the White House (202-456- 1111) and insist that sanctions against Iraq be lifted so that necessary food and medical supplies can reach the suffer ing people and children of Iraq. We must also demand that the U.S. immediately lead an all-out effort to stop the burning oil well nightmare, which is destroying the Gulf region and effecting the entire world's envi ronment. Remember, protecting all of that oil now going up in smoke is the main reason this whole disaster started in the first place. Michael Worsham is a graduate stu dent in environmental engineering. The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Timm Doolen, Editor Todd Stone, Managing Editor Krista Umscheid, Opinion Page Editor Sean Frerking, City Editor Jennifer Jeffus, Callie Wilcher, News Editors Jayme Blaschke, Sports Editor Richard James, Art Director Rob Newberry, Lifestyles Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-sup porting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opin ions of Texas A8cM administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. The Battalion is published daily, except Saturday, Sunday, holidays, exam periods, and when school is not in session during fall and spring semesters; publication is Tuesday- through Friday during the summer session. Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester, $40 per school year and $50 per full year: 845-2611. Advertising rates furnished on re quest: 845-2696. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed Mc Donald, Texas A&M University, College Sta tion, TX 77843-1 111. Second class postage paid at College Sta tion, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843- 4111. The Graduate MAReaies <£>WITHE RgCGfSP NEW Mail Call The Battalion is interested in hearing from its readers and welcomes ail letters to the editor. Please include name, classification, address and phone number on all letters. The editor reserves the right to edit letters for style and length. Because of limited space, shorter letters have a better chance of appearing. There is, however, no guarantee letters will appear. Letters may be brought to 216 Reed McDonald or sent to Campus Mall Stop 1111. Religion raises questions of logic EDITOR: After reading Mr. Truesdale's recent column, I am ap palled that such blatant logic errors could be made by one person. You raised the point that Christianity is irrational. I am not that interested in your views about Christianity, but I am interested in correcting your logic errors. Paragraph 3: "Belief in anything we can't see, touch, hear, taste or smell requires a suspension of reason." Really? Do you believe in honesty, Tim? How about the abstract concept of time? As far as I know, those cannot be sensed in the physical sense, but only a fool would dismiss them as irrational. Paragraph 4: You seem to say that Christ's crucifixion was irrational. Very good, but what does this have to do with the beliefs of Christians? The followers of Christ didn't crucify him, the Pharisees maneuvered the Romans into killing him. True, Christ's death is the instrument through which his followers are saved, but this doesn't mean that they wished him to die. Paragraphs 5 and 6: "... Christ's teachings demand one to subordinate reflexes to religion." What could be more ir rational than a reflex, Tim? As I understand the word irra tional, it means without reason. The spinal cord causes re flexes and the spinal cord does not reason. You're contradicting yourself. Paragraphs 7 through 8 1/2: You counter Christ's argu ment that we should love our enemies by saying that we should love our friends. You might as well say that we should recycle aluminum because we should recycle steel. Christ wants us to love our friends and our enemies. Once a person gets beyond his or her abject hate for another, they can begin to understand that person. Understanding is a good basis for a reasoned discussion of the grievances by two persons. Your argument doesn't seem very rea soned to me. Paragraphs 8 1/2 through 10: You sight Christ's teach ings that we should seek heavenly wealth instead of earthly wealth as irrational. If one accepts the "irrational" belief that one will go to heaven after one dies, this argu ment is very valid. Remember, Tim, you can't take it with you. Paragraphs 11 through 13:1 don't think Christ intended his followers to seek death. To seek death, or commit sui cide, is to laugh in the face of God's creation, to throw away one of his greatest gifts to mankind. If a person is to leave this world for a perfect existence, why should one be wary of dying? If you cannot accept the belief of heaven, then try any one of many high ideals that persons have died for in the past and present, such as freedom, equality, and human rights. Oh, but I forgot, you can't see any of those, can you? I feel sorry for you, Tim. Your god of reason seems to be letting you down.- Owen P. Crow '93 A&M policies seem self-abusive EDITOR: Recently, there has been considerable discussion about whether Texas A&M is truly a world-class university. The football team, the large student body, the physical size of the campus, and our acedemic quality should thrust this University to the forefront of recognition and praise in the nation's eyes. However, coaching scandals, prejudicial and ultraconservative ideology, poor administration poli cies, and our inane attempts at national recognition are all "shooting us in the foot" so to speak. Most of these problems are rooted in the administrative policies of A&M. Mr. Mobley's decision to change the Statement on Harassment and Discrimination exemplifies the current attitude of the administration. He and the Board of Regents made this decision without the proper in put of students, faculty, and staff of this campus. The vague wording of this new statement could prove harmful to many people at Texas A&M. It is also apparent that edu cation ranks near the bottom of A&M's priorities, consid ering the recent decision to axe several summer school classes. Perhaps the most pathetic actions of this "repre sentative" body were the name change of Jersey Street and the invitation of General Schwarzkopf to be the Chan cellor. These ridiculous attempts at national recognition will force many American's to not take us so seriously. The other factors preventing A&M's ascension to great ness and respect concern the student body. I am disgusted with the prejudicial feelings that are all too common on this campus. Hating someone for their beliefs and personal activities is not only asinine, but is also completely anti- American. Too many people on this campus prove to be colossal hypocrites by displaying their undying love of God and the "Red, White and Blue" while insulting and abusing others for their beliefs. Instead of blurting phrases from the Bible and waving a flag in everyone's face, take a break and contemplate the real meaning of these sacred icons. The students of this University must take the reigns and steer A&M away from the course of prejudice and an tipathy to a new road of compassion and scholastic excel lence which will lead us to a bright horizon of national re spect and adulation. Greg D. Harper '93 Taiwan remains undemocratic EDITOR: After reading the April 27th editioral by Dr. Chang, we felt it is our responbility as a member of Taiwanese Student Association to respond. Dr. Chang stated "...the people and government of Taiwan have been completing the diffi cult process, started years earlier, of shaping a more ma ture and realistic democracy for our nation." We don't 18503know what he means by "realistic democracy", but we know that people in Taiwan can only elect 25 percent of the Parliament. The Nationalists, through control of the media, obtain 70 percent of this 25 percent. The remaining 75 percent is reserved for the Nationalist Party's "lifetime members of parliament". These men attained (by one means or another) their positions before 1949 in mainland China and have been there ever since. The resulting imbalance from this undemocratic struc ture manifests itself in many ways. The April 12th brawl in parliament is one instance when the frustration of the op position could not be contained. On April 17th hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets to protest this fundamental political inequity. Dr. Chang also points to the "...unshackling of martial law..." as evidence of political reform. But the reality is that martial law has simply been replaced by the equally restrictive National Security Law. Freedom of speech is still an illusion in Taiwan. Evidence of this is the ten-year im prisonment of Mr. Huang Hua for expressing his political beliefs. Finally, Dr. Chang claims that "Taiwan has been a part of China since the beginning of mankind.". We would like to point out that 80 percent of the population of Taiwan ar rived there about 300 years ago. The Nationalist Party rep resents the remaining 20 percent of the population that be gan arriving in 1946. Before their arrival, Taiwan had been occupied successively by Holland, Spain, China and Ja pan. We feel that the people of Taiwan have the right to self determination. This includes the right to request a "realistic" democracy and to declare ourselves indepen dent of the People's Republic of China. Taiwanese Student Association j