Battalion
NION
Page 9 • Thursday, April 1, 1999
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iRVICES
GABRIEL RUENESAFhe Battalion
I n the year 168 B.C. the Se-
leucid Empire invaded
Egypt. As Egypt was an ally
of the Roman Republic, Rome
was understandably upset by
this action and sent an envoy
to the Seleucids to register
their disapproval.
The Roman delegate Popil-
lius met with the Seleucid king
Antiochus and drew a circle in
the sand around the king, telling Antiochus to de
cide whether he would have peace or war before
he stepped out of the circle.
Antiochus backed down and withdrew his army
from Egypt. Rome was the most powerful nation in
the ancient world and Antiochus knew that to re
sist Rome would bring destruction on him and his
people.
Today, the United States is supposedly the most
powerful nation in the world. But despite our su
perpower status, we have proven consistently in
capable of maintaining any kind of international
order. Rogue terrorist states like Iraq and Yu
goslavia openly and consistently defy the United
States, while American efforts to control them
prove ludicrously ineffective.
When Rome ruled the world it was able to keep
the peace by sending a single man to talk to its en
emies, why is it the United States can not even
maintain order with cruise missiles and stealth
fighters? The answer is simple, the ancient world
feared Rome, the modern world does not fear the
United States.
The principle reason why the United States is
not feared is because of something called the Viet
nam Syndrome. Essentially the Vietnam Syndrome
is the paralyzing fear the United States has had of
getting into a major war ever since Vietnam.
In some ways this has been a good thing as it
has probably helped save American lives by keep
ing us out of needless foreign conflicts. Unfortu
nately, it has also deeply eroded America’s inter
national credibility.
The international community no longer believes
America will go the distance if it comes to it. In
stead they believe that when the going gets tough,
America will get going. And quite frankly most of
the evidence supports their position.
When the hostage rescue mission in Iran failed,
the United States backed down and did not try
again. When American forces in Lebanon were at
tacked by suicide bombers, the United States
promptly pulled out of the country. And when the
Somalia operation turned violent, we quickly
abandoned it and gave up.
Even our recent victories have done little to re
store international confidence. Grenada and Pana
ma were both quick and relatively bloodless opera
tions. As for the Persian Gulf War, which President
Bush attempted to cite as proof that America had
moved beyond Vietnam, it was largely inconclu
sive.
The Gulf War amply demonstrated American
technical mastery and tactical skill, but it was won
so quickly that it offered no evidence that the Unit
ed States had the will to suffer through a long,
drawn out conflict.
To make matters worse, since the Gulf War
America’s enemies have gotten a lot smarter. Sad
dam Hussein has learned the futility of attempting
to challenge the United States to a conventional
battle, so now he has adopted a far more insidious
strategy of just trying to outlast the United States.
He knows America will never invade Iraq, so he
just has to be patient and wait. The worst we can
do to him is to launch the occasional air strike or
cruise missile attack and what does he have to fear
from that?
Such attacks actually strengthen his position at
home as he comes off looking like a hero for
standing up to the hated Americans, and they
make the United States look like a bully to the in
ternational community. Hussein knows he just has
to stay in power until he finally gets some nuclear
weapons and then the United States will have to
back off or risk losing Riyadh or Tel Aviv.
Slobadan Milosevic has adopted the exact same
strategy. He knows air power cannot win a war by
itself, and that President Clinton has ruled out
sending American ground forces to Kosovo.
Therefore, he has nothing to fear from the Unit
ed States. Milosevic called our bluff and he won.
The on going air strikes are doing nothing to stop
his forces (Serbian atrocities have reportedly in
creased since the air raids began), the only thing
that will stop Milosevic is if the United States com
mits ground forces to the region. Something that is
probably not going to happen.
If the United States is going to insist on trying to
contain the Husseins and Milosevics of the world,
we are going to have to realize that this is going to
require sacrifice.
The half measures that have been used against
Iraq and are currently being used against Yu
goslavia are simply not working. Neither Hussein
nor Milosevic fear the United States, because while
they know we have the power to crush them, they
do not believe we have the will to use that power.
And right now it looks like they are right.
Rome understood that ruling the world had a
price tag attached to it, it is time for the United
States to learn the same lesson. To stop Milosevic
(or Hussein) is going to require Americans on the
ground, and that is going to mean Americans’ guts
on the ground.
It is time for the United States to decide if we
are willing to pay that price or not, because what
we are doing right now is worse than useless.
Brendan Guy is a senior political science
and history major.
omosexual hotel should be allowed, residents’ fear irrational
omosexuals
are all child
molesters who
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more important issues.
The Hollywood Guesthouse is open
ing on the beach in Galveston and of
fers a completely secluded area within
the walls of the hotel where guests can
stroll around nude or semi-nude if
they choose to do so.
To protest, Grace Baptist Church
pastor Ken Barber wrote an opinion
column to the The Daily News (Galve
ston’s newspaper) saying that “in re
gard to the sodomite hotel ... every
body better grab your little boys off the
beach. These guys love fresh meat.
They will molest your children.”
Needless to say, it is better to have a
homosexual hotel that is not harming
anyone — whatever Barber misguided-
ly thinks — than have a protest led by
somebody who has no compunction
about labeling an entire group of peo-
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pie as child molesters.
This is a stigma that while untrue,
will be believed by a huge percentage
of the willing masses.
Look at the Holocaust. That is exact
ly what the Nazis did to the Jews. Be
cause, if someone is labeled a
child-molester, the general perception
is very slow to fade.
Further, the hotel harms no one.
Even if somebody believes that homo
sexuality is a sin, everybody sins to
one extent or another. Instead of
protesting somebody else’s sins and la
beling those sinners as sexual deviants,
people should focus inward and try to
improve their own lives.
Now, this is not to say that all the
protesting Christians believe what Bar
ber so virulently preached, but it is
just as bad to protest the hotel’s open-
MAIL CALL
ing for more “morally correct” reasons.
The homosexuals have a right, a le
gal right, to open whatever kind of es
tablishment they want to. If society
starts curtailing this right, because
“these people are sodomites,” it is just
as bad as if society does not allow
African-Americans the right to open a
hotel where African-Americans can re
lax. It is just as bad as saying that no
nudist colonists should be allowed.
Where can one draw the line?
Start with homosexuals, end with an
Aryan nation.
Galveston city council member
David Bowers said, “When hate rears
its head, it should be identified as
such. My comment was, ‘When hate
wears a religious collar, it is still hate.’”
This statement explains how society
should approach a homosexual hotel.
Do not preach hate against the “sin
ners,” do not use all sorts of slurs
against them, do not make them feel
unwanted in this society. Let them own
their hotel in peace.
As editor of The Daily News Heber
Taylor said, “We could stop insisting
we are motivated by love of fellow
man when we try to belittle or disen
franchise them.”
Read the Bible, everyone. While it
might preach homosexuality is a sin,
so is lying, cheating, stealing and gos
siping.
Did Jesus not say that “he who is
without sin can cast the first stone?”
Please, all the perfect sinless people out
there, stop badgering the homosexuals.
You have better things to worry about.
Lisa Foox is a senior journalism major.
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'‘tolerance not as
pOffi
« important as liberty
H6-2887. How misguided are we as a na
tion when we replace the cry for
^liberty with a demand for toler
ance. It seems that anyone who
stands and exercises his or her
edom of speech is accused of
being intolerant.
It is a sad day when the weak
nrnnded cries, “Can’t we all just
get along?” outnumber those who
,i t • we i iClesire t0 b 0, dly test their ideas
WIC ® a and beliefs in the free market of
Tuesday ideas. Sure we may not agree. In
ctwe may disagree 100 per-
|nt, but let us always be free to
argue, to discuss, and to chal-
Jinge each other.
Tolerance is for the weak spirit-
for those who fear opposing
^ALl0^ ideas - Liberty is far more chal-
Bnging. It requires that though I
dnesdayi [
HE
may disagree with you completely,
I will do everything in my power
defending your right to disagree
with me.
I am a Christian. I do believe
the Bible is true. I know many of
you do not. Let us disagree and
the other is wrong. Let us try to
persuade the other to our way of
thinking. Let us be civil and re
spectful, but let us be free. Liberty
is a hard road to follow, but it is
only here, when we are free to dis
agree, that truth can be found.
Curtis Sandlin
Class of ’00
Ignorance at A&M
blocks progress
The Constitution of this country
graciously grants us certain rights
that we hold dear, granting a free
dom not found in many parts of
this world.
But, it seems many take these
rights for granted, exercising them
without the responsibility that
goes hand-in-hand with these
rights.
It seems that certain Aggies
have exerted their freedom of
speech and added a new shirt I
hope will not become a regular
mainstay of this campus’
wardrobe.
Dawning a reprehensible
phrase, “No fags, A tradition since
the beginning” followed by soon to
be forgotten quote, this shirt rep
resents the ignorance that still
persists within this one of the top
schools in this country by imple
menting the “Vision 2020” plan.
It is disheartening to see that
while we strive to present our
selves as one of the best in the
country, certain people tarnish
this school and themselves by
adorning themselves with this
shirt.
I would, like no other, love to
see A&M reach the pinnacle of
higher education, distancing our
selves from the second-rate
school down the road. Unfortu
nately, certain members of this
campus still live in a world where
hate and intolerance prevail.
I hope that these people can
take the blinders society has put
on them and examine why they
feel so much hate for certain
groups, and perhaps figure out for
themselves whether disdain and
malice, as opposed to love and
understanding, can truly bring an
absolution to the fears and igno
rance festering within.
Ricardo Romanillos
Class of ’01
Picture tasteless,
insensitive, sad
Our condolences are sent to
the family and friends of William
Berry, Jr. It is horrible to lose a
loved one in this manner. Al
though many of us did not know
William, as Aggies we will mourn
his passing. However, the choice
of The Battalion staff to print
such a tasteless picture to cover
Berry’s death sickens us.
A picture of him should ac
company the article— a photo
graph to help us put a face with
his name, not the clean-up of the
aftermath of his death. The judg
ment of the editors is certainly
flawed when no consideration
was shown for Berry’s memory or
the feelings of his loved ones.
By printing such a tasteless pic
ture, The Battalion is searching for
sensationalism in order to attract
readers. As the campus newspaper,
its circulation is already guaranteed
without having to use such tacky
and cheap tactics.
Jane E. Bearden
Class of ’99
Accompanied by 57 signatures
The Battalion encourages letters to the ed
itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and In
clude 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 Mc
Donald 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@tamvml.tamu.edu