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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1999)
"e Battalion PINION Page 11 • Monday, January 25, 1999 her leg, irgeon ti aught witln; they could unions said ’s left leg«- e the kneei nerve da: *9' A primary is doing topic of leg, Lemon;.|»monvei' ll to place: tiou in dgmentina ashington attorney sa r lie past i ‘s Medical veral weeks - for-profit ias been how diatricho5; deal with utpatientci: tddnm Hus-( aught between Iraq and a hard place erica and Middle East better off with addam in power, not fighting losing battle k 1 $ Mark PASSWATERS art emet; in. For those t children ho have been out of the loop ^Hie past decade, Saddam is e dictator of Iraq and a very id guy. Many Americans, both side and outside of the Beltway, am: to see Saddam disposed of ■Mediately, whether the United 1 ates is forced to act unilaterally not. A dissenting point of members c ®. though less popular, be- n Replant : ?ves th at Saddam Hussein ito see be 4 01 Id not be removed by the A&MrnnirJled States. The following are a ar die reasons why: ‘i tn .u|,. America’s Reputation in the incli]dineCoM on: while Saddam is hated , .aim, Kuwait City, Riyadh and ! i ]jtS ascus ’ an American-led at- ptanteaatmpt to depose him would go uni at the: /er jj^ a j eac j Walloon Arab na- a d- ® frown on outside interfer- plant conr. lce> especially from the West, lior anthropca^nt actions by the Clinton ad ders have phuni stration have shown a per- i preparatict-ct mixture of ignorance and stu- dit by ignoring this fact, the trees be:- Tjhe United States has decided ger and hearf si pport seven different opposi- ius years, an groups against Saddam; by ;e Stationw;»g this, they have guaranteed I Replant, ane of these groups will ever began inW 1 * 11 power in Baghdad. If there is aders and#t hin g that the Ira qi People 3 es to replau® 11 dislike more than Saddam t , ussein, it would be a govern- t has annual:' ieni the V see as a sto °g e of the m Dpnir • n ifed States. . thousand years of western ' , ‘ teldling in the Arab World, going ?vent. lc ^ t0 t ^ e c rusa( j eS) } ias W orn on ■oiledive mindset of the re- kB. It has gotten to the point that ■v Arabs believe that any Mus- —n t hat stands up to “Judeo-Chris- %■ Agression” is a hero. This is l l D pn®t Saddam was counting on in ■'M, but was left with egg on his a liable! ce and bombs on his palace be- • fte his Islamic brethren were hours? Uiwfflfthan thrilled with his attack on /ork with cidArab neighbor, ating toOnlim! If the United States decided to Emilaterally after Saddam, the 7 Bation would be totally differ- it. The United States would run te risk of not only changing Sad- il Bi from villain to hero, but ru- iig America’s status in the re- Juation 01 • T he populations of many rah nations might turn against bie, enthusias: merica and could cause a diplo- out more aboinat c disaster. With the patience r website, llations such as Syria, Jordan ■ Saudi Arabia already worn pi by the continued presence of •S. forces in the region, this is ot very far-fetched. Killing This Guy is no Walk in the Park: First of all, it has been against U.S. law for the United States to order the death of any foreign head of state for three decades. Saddam, while nobody’s favorite, is the acknowl edged leader of Iraq. During Op eration Desert Storm, an excuse of ’’knocking out the enemy’s center of gravity” could have been made for killing him. An op eration solely to kill this man would be against federal law. More important ly, people seem to forget that getting to this guy would require the use of American ground forces. Lots of them. The Iraqi military did not fight hard in 1991, not just because they were having the hell hammered out of them, but because they were not really fighting for their homeland. While Saddam and his stooges may have consid ered Kuwait part of Iraq, the average Iraqi could not care less about a mythi cal “Nineteenth Province” — espe cially when being attacked by B-52’s. Going to Baghdad to get Saddam would not be like knocking on the door and having him come out. The United States, would have to kick down the door, and the Iraqi people certainly would not sit still and allow a prolonged military operation on their territory. It would be a long conflict —Vietnam, anyone? Better the Enemy You Know: If Iraq did not fragment with Sad dam’s ouster (it is not one homo geneous nation), another possi bility is the next leader of Iraq would be a lot like him. One ugly scenario would have Saddam’s son, Uday, replacing him. Uday is not a nice boy. According to many published reports (including the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek), he has killed several people just for fun and lacks dear-old Dad’s tact. Whatever may be said about Sad dam, he is calculating (he may calculate wrong, but he tries). Udai is more headstrong and ag gressive. In other words, Udai could be goaded into a huge con flict which would engulf the en tire region, including Israel and its nuclear arsenal. Only the Con cerned Christians would consider this a good thing. Whether or not the next Iraqi leader is Udai Hussein, it is like ly the international community will cut him some slack. This would be a critical error. We know Saddam Hussein is not that far from having a nuclear weapon, because we watch him United States should take decisive action and oust Saddam Hussein before it is too late s addam should be killed, first and fore most, because he is evil. Sec ondly, Sad dam should be killed be- Richard cause the Iraqi PADDACK people want his head. Some have tried to as sassinate Saddam and his psy- like a hawk. The next guy may not be so well watched, which could have dire consequences. In 1918, the German Kaiser Wilhelm was forced to abdicate his throne after the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I. Europe relaxed, thinking that the primary cause of the war was gone. Then they reasoned peace would flourish on the continent. Fifteen years later, the Germans had themselves a new, democratically elected Chancellor. His name was Adolf Hitler. Funny how history tends to repeat itself... Mark Passwaters is a graduate electrical engineering student chotic son, Uday. After a failed coup against Saddam in 1996, relatives of the plotters got the bodies of their loved ones back, covered in bites. They had been eaten alive by savage dogs, which further illustrates just how evil he is. Saddam should be killed, third, because he is dangerous. With one rocket and one poison gas bomb, he could start a war with Israel, a country capable of retaliating with nuclear power. More importantly, the Clinton Administration should decisive ly reject Saddam’s brazen at tempts to undermine the United Nation’s inspection regime. It should convince the U.N. to pe nalize Saddam even further for violating the terms of the cease fire ending the 1991 Gulf War. But the United State’s highest priority obviously should be to create conditions that lead to the toppling of Saddam’s regime. As long as this vengeful dictator rules Baghdad, he will remain a major threat to U.S. in terests and American allies in the Middle East. Aside from the media and a small portion of the American public’s opinion, the De cember air strikes were not a 100-per cent failure. Had the Allies hit a bunker, killing dozens of children, then the United States would have seen and heard all about it. Because the mis siles hit the head quarters of several key players in Sad dam’s regime and several other strate gically crippling buildings, CNN was not shown cer tain areas of dam age. And, yes, it is right and humani tarian to bomb tor turers and killers, if there is no better way of bringing them to justice. The Administra tion should move quickly to translate these gains into stronger Security Council actions against Iraq while retaining the option to use military force, the only lan guage Saddam seems to under stand. The reasons why America should remove Saddam from this world are obvious and inumber- able, there are several ways the United States could expedite Hus sein’s departure. Specifically, the United States should: Rule out compromise on UN- SCOM (United Nations Security Committee) harassment: Wash ington should block any U.N. move to dilute UNSCOM’s pow ers or to make concessions that would give Saddam a face-sav ing way to back down. It should forge a Security Council consen sus that Iraq must either comply with Security Council resolutions or suffer the consequences. Push for tougher U.N. sanc tions against Iraq: Washington should press for the strongest possible sanctions to penalize Iraq’s continued failure to abide by its UNSCOM inspection oblig ations. These sanctions should include rescinding Resolution 986, which allows Iraq to export limited amounts of oil to pay for food and medicine; suspending Iraq from the General Assembly and all other U.N. forums; pro hibiting Iraqis from serving as U.N. agency officials and requir ing all U.N. member states to re strict the size of Iraqi embassies. Maintain a military option to punish Saddam: The United States should maintain a strong military presence. It is believed by many that a strong and deter mined military action would fur ther weaken Saddam’s dwin dling base of support, encourage defections and coup attempts and demonstrate to the Iraqi people that Saddam’s wicked aversion to compliance threatens their national interests. Develop a comprehensive strategy to overthrow Saddam: The ultimate goal of U.S. policy should be to oust Saddam, not just contain him. Washington should deny Saddam Hussein a diplomatic victory over UN SCOM by injecting a spirit of re solve into the U.N. Security Council. It should also make sure any military response is de signed to punish Saddam, not just slap his wrist. Saddam’s grip on power is vi cious and cruel, but it is not se cure. The Iraqi National Con gress — Saddam’s most dangerous opposition — believes he could be overthrown in 10 days if the “no-fly” zone became a’no-drive’ zone, specifically for tanks. The ground troops would be supplied by the Iraqi army, who hate the regime as much as the rest of Iraq. The Iraqi people would do the rest. The problem with Western policy concerning Saddam is its lack of clarity. To wound, to cage, but not to kill the tyrant is a dangerous mistake. Life will only get better for or dinary Iraqis once the West final ly stops hesitating and commits to a clear, unambiguous policy of snuffing out Saddam. And when he falls, the people of Iraq will ask, “What kept you? Why did it take you so long?” Richard Paddack is senior journalism major Admissions criteria need revision ■rom heckling « H drunks at 1 ■Northgate to s Fratei#P, tual scrapin s °f ■droppings off of e’s windshield at >h i .ot, Aggies are Bng back into hr old routines ssional* ,, Jan. 26 mer 113 0 p.m. David LEE aimmersing sin so Ives in the w semester. However, before the tradi- nai cursing of classes begins, students ould take a moment to pat each other i the back for being able to return to i i Prpcchni xas A&M this semester. Regrettably, many students were 10:00 p.m. rcec } t0 withdraw from school at the d of last semester due to their poor ades. It is understandable, at a hool of this caliber, that a certain irfientage of students fail out at one >int or another. However, it is saddening to see the tiyersity not take all the steps neces- ry io encourage as high a retention rate possible. The missing step lies within ■urrent admissions criteria for in ping freshman, specifically the ab- Be of a method for screening out stu- )rial , Feb. 1 views* ., Feb. 4 28 & 229 2:00 p.m. — “tits who are weak in the fundamentals ■ssary for certain majors. flBurrently, the admissions process at is relatively straightforward; once ■pplicant is accepted, he or she has ,eir pick of any academic major avail- WelcOW Ae at A&M. Unlike other leading uni pities in the state, such as Rice, Texas Tech and the University of Texas , there are no additional requirements for stu dents entering more subject intensive majors such as math or the sciences. The science and engineering depart ments at those universities require higher math SAT scores and/or a more exten sive background in advanced math, in addition to the admissions criteria for the university as a whole. These additional criteria prevent underqualified students from getting into a major in which their chances of success are slim. The effects of this policy at those uni versities are apparent. Because freshmen who are unable to get into their major of choice enter as an undeclared major — the equivalent of A&M’s general studies — they take basic level classes in order to strengthen the areas they are weak in. After obtaining credit in these classes, the department of their choice will be more inclined to admit them because their potential for success has improved. In contrast, A&M gives freshmen free reign when selecting a major. A freshman who selects chemical engineer ing, but barely passed high school alge bra, faces the probability of disappoint ment and frustration in his first semester because heavy doses of calculus and sci ence are part of the core curriculum. If the College of Engineering placed addi tional criteria — along the lines of the corresponding departments at these oth er universities — this student would be placed in general studies and would take additional courses to strengthen his foundation in mathematics, preparing him for such a math-intensive major. However, without these restric tions in place, students find out “the hard way” that they are not pre pared for their academic major, which is reflected in poor grades during the first semester. This leads to a waste of valuable time and mon ey — time and money that could have been invested in general stud ies to prepare and strengthen their academic background. It also puts them at a huge disadvan tage in regards to grade point ratio and those ever-precious Q-drops. If a student wishes to switch to economics after his attempt at engineering has failed, there could be a problem. His grade point ratio might not meet the transfer criteria. These students will be digging them selves out of a huge hole for the rest of their college careers. Granted, during the years the current admissions criteria have been in place, the student body at A&M has grown and prospered. However, it would be prudent to have an admissions process that re flects such high standards. If university administrators are re ally committed to the idea of A&M becoming a “world class” university, a reevaluation of the current admis sions criteria for many of its colleges is needed. David Lee is a sophomore general studies major Aggies defend A&M traditions In response to H. Green’s Jan. 21 Mail Call On behalf of this cam pus in which I am proud of, on behalf of a student body that works to pre serve tradition and honor and on behalf of all of the brave, courageous Aggies that the “architectural hodgepodge called the Memorial Student Center” represents: Please go back to La Porte, Texas and learn one thing, a word many Aggies know quite well. It is called respect. Rob Ferguson Class of '01 The grass surrounding the MSC is respected by all Aggies past, present and future. There are signs posted to not walk on the grass around it in respect to those Aggies who died in war. To H. Green, I apologize if you were yelled at rudely. I can understand someone asking you to get off the grass and explaining the situation to you, but I do MAIL CALL not know any Aggies who would have “ordered” you. If the individual did so, they were frustrated be cause you were walking on sacred grass. You traipsing through the grass is equivalent to me walking on your close relative’s grave. I hope you will visit again and learn more about our traditions so you will understand why this oc currence had to take place. I leave with this, “From the outside looking in, you can’t understand it and-, from the inside looking out, you can’t explain it.” Kimberly Rasco Class of ’02 Ceremony for women’s clinic First I wanted to thank The Battalion for printing the article about the Cham ber of Commerce’s deci sion to revoke Planned Par enthood’s membership in a fair and accurate way. Indeed, Planned Par enthood has decided not to have a ribbon cutting ceremony. However, members of the community have decid ed to have a ribbon cutting ceremony for them. If there are any stu dents, faculty or staff inter ested in signing a small piece of red ribbon to com memorate Planned Parent hood’s long tradition of ser vice in the Bryan-College Station area, they can con tact either the Women’s Studies office or the Gen-^ der Issues Educations Ser vices office. Community activists will present all of the signed ribbons to the Chamber sometime in February. Alexandra Hamilton Class of ’00 The Battalion encourages let ters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author’s name, class and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@unix.tamu.edu