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Opinion
The Battalion
Page 9 • Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Assassination not an option
Press Secretary Ari Fleisher should not have encouraged a coup in Iraq
_ /~\ ^ 4. ic T";.. . . J-
0
JENELLE WILSON
n Oct. 15, The New York Times
reported on the Bush adminis
tration's policy shift toward
publicly encouraging a coup inside
.The administration is hoping
i generals, when faced with the
threat of being brought up on war crimes charges, will overthrow
Saddam Hussein in an attempt to save themselves. Ari Fleisher,
President Bush's Press Secretary, said a single bullet would be a
quick way for Iraqi citizens to avoid a confrontation with the
United States and its allies.
While this single bullet would take care of Hussein, it would
[necessarily make the situation in Iraq any better. Publicly sup
porting a military coup or the assassination of the leader of a sov
ereign country is not the
message the United
States should be
sending right now,
especially as it tries
to garner support for
a U.N. resolution
to invade.
Fleisher's
remark was inap
propriate and
offensive. Openly
being flippant about
the assassination of
a country's elected
leader - no matter
how frivolous that
leader’s
election
actually
was -
makes the
United
States seem
like a bully.
Hussein is
clearly a despica
ble man. He openly admits to killing Iraqi citizens that oppose
his regime's control. He killed almost 150,000 Kurds in Northern
Iraq with chemical weapons in the 1980s and later razed the
Shiite lands in Southern Iraq to force them out of the country.
The Iraqi people have been executed, mass murdered, tortured,
raped, starved and forcibly displaced, according to the
Washington Post.
However, the only acceptable way for the United
States to get him out of power is in a diplomatic man
ner, with world support behind it. Hussein should be
brought to trial in a world court for the appalling
things he has done to the Iraqi people. After 23 years
of living in fear, the Iraqi people deserve to see him
condemned for his actions.
Coups are violent, destructive and
they have an irritating ten
dency to fail.
According to CNN,
more than 60 people
died in April during
the removal of
Venezuelan president
Hugo Chavez from power,
only to have Chavez reinstated as the coun
try's leader 48 hours later.
The New York Times reports that during the
1990s, military coups were tried and failed at
least six times in Iraq. Last spring, senior offi
cials dismissed the hope of a rebellion, but now
they are hopeful that some Iraqi generals are
becoming scared enough that they may switch
sides. They know Hussein is going down and they don't want to
go with him, even if they deserve to.
Hussein is a world menace, and he should consequently have to
answer to the world for his actions, not to some military general or
other Iraqi administration official who is just trying to skirt his
own culpability. Hussein’s entire regime should be held account
able for the deaths and terror it put the Iraqi people through.
Hussein must be replaced by a leader who will truly attend to
the needs of Iraq and not just some guy who does not want to
face responsibility for what he has done while supporting
Hussein.
Hussein is highly paranoid, and, in the New York Times arti
cle, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfield pointed out that
those he is closest to are just as guilty as Hussein himself for
the oppression of the Iraqi people and development of his pro
grams. Hussein being assassinated and then replaced by one of
these men would not signal any progress for Iraq.
Jenelle Wilson is a junior
political science major
&
r?
e by
AT-
nee
E.
Violence following Nebraska game disgusting
Security problems, Nebraska fans and overzealous stadium protection to blame
A fter Saturday’s football
game against Nebraska,
hundreds of Cornhusker
fans celebrated by rushing out
onto the field, where at least one
female fan was tackled by a Kyle
Field security guard, according to the Lincoln
Journal Star.
Numerous fans at the game witnessed a
member of the Corps of Cadets punch a
Nebraska fan in the face. This disgusting situ
ation was created by poor Kyle Field security,
an overzealous protection of Kyle Field and
blatant stupidity on the part of Nebraska fans.
The first, and most important, step to pre-
venting such occurrences is for fans to have
the maturity not to run out on the field.
Football fields are the domain of authorized
Personnel. When fans charge the field, they
e ndanger the athletes, coaches, media person-
ool and others who have a legitimate reason to
he on the field.
The Nebraska fans were behaving in a
ndiculous manner. It doesn’t matter if it was
ebraska’s first win on the road this season, or
1 Nebraska’s victory over the Aggies was an
,m Portant win for its fans.
They endangered themselves and others
Jhile running out onto Kyle Field and they
Served to be punished. However, that pun-
RICHARD BRAY
ishment should not have come
from an overzealous cadet.
Instead, it should have come
from Kyle Field security, which
fell miserably short Saturday. If
security officers alone are not
enough to prevent fans from charging the
field, then barricades should be used. If chain
link fences are required to keep fans from the
field, so be it.
Innocent people are endangered when fans
rush the field, and it is the job of security offi
cers to ensure that the field is safe for the ath
letes and fans. Current security measures are
obviously not successful and security must be
improved upon in the future.
It is not as if such an event was entirely
unexpected. After all. one only needs to look
back to last year’s game against Texas Tech,
when a melee ensued following the Texas
A&M-Texas Tech game, to see that the Big 12
Conference is not immune to embarrassing
debacles that can result in injuries.
Another example of this obnoxious behav
ior is the Kansas-Baylor game that took place
earlier this season. Following Baylor’s victory,
fans stormed the field and tore down the
goalposts.
This behavior keeps occurring after Big 12
Conference games and steps must be taken by
stadium officials to prevent them in the future.
This failure on the part of security does not
excuse the cadet who punched a Nebraska fan
in the face. What the Nebraska fans did was
stupid and disrespectful, and they deserved
punishment, but assaulting Nebraska fans only
embarrasses A&M.
If Aggies hate to see other schools raid
their field, they should demand better security
at the games. Taking matters into their own
hands only serves to desecrate A&M’s reputa
tion. The A&M football media guide referred
to Texas Tech as “classless clowns” for their
behavior following the game last year, but the
cadet’s conduct Saturday was equally class
less. “Defending” Kyle Field does not serve as
a legitimate excuse to run up and punch some
one in the. face.
This is not just an example of the Corps
being out of control. There were plenty of
non-regs present who would have done the
same to “defend” Kyle Field. The student who
punched a Nebraska fan could have been one
of any number of Aggies present, but that still
doesn’t make it right. To think one is justified
in punching someone in the face for running
onto Kyle Field is exceptionally poor judg
ment, and is definitely not “good bull.”
By defending the field themselves rather
than leaving it to security officials. Aggies
made the situation even more dangerous. Had
the violence escalated, there could have been
serious injuries.
The excuse that Kyle Field is a memorial
and must therefore be defended by any means
necessary is simply false. Although the flags
surrounding Kyle Field are a memorial to the
Aggies who lost their lives in World War I, the
field itself is not a memorial.
In 1918, plans were made by a group of
students to construct a new memorial library
and stadium in memory of those who lost their
lives in World War I, according to an article by
A&M Archivist David Chapman. This project,
however, never got off the ground. Chapman
says the perception of Kyle Field as a memori
al has persisted, but Kyle Field has never been
officially recognized as a memorial.
If Aggies want to prevent opposing fans
from storming the field, they should demand
extra security measures instead of taking mat
ters into their own hands. Although the
Nebraska fans’ behavior was immature and
dangerous. Aggies need to have the self-
restraint to handle the situation better.
Assaulting those who run out on the field only
makes a bad situation worse.
Richard Bray is a senior
journalism major.
ganic
>logy
sea**
Daily crossword puzzle
always be intact
n re f or, se to the Oct. 28 crossword
puzzle:
0 Was a Ppalled Monday when I
crn ene d The Battalion to find the
s $word puzzle cut off at one end.
5 a result, I had nothing to do dur-
a$ l e ^ classes and, consequently fell
J hat : course, put my good stand-
ineviThi professors in jeopardy,
Cr j t jc j y lowering any subjective, yet
thir' 8 rac te I might receive during
15 semester.
This
uu| Ou trageous crime is inexcus-
an j e | not 0n ly because my colleagues
our Were Prohibited from exercising
taca C °^ n ' t ' ve abilities, but also
Mond 56 error occurred on a
t^p a y ~ tbe one day of the week
This? 6 ' S actual| y solvable.
unrh S so Phomoric mistake is
of ara cteristic of The Battalion and
SC ^ 00 ' striving to be counted
§ the most elite of academic
institutions.
In the future, I hope a collective
heightened sense of awareness will
prevent any further catastrophe of
this magnitude.
Blu Tidwell
Class of 2004
Database wouldn't have
prevented shootings
In response to Collins Ezeanyim's Oct.
29 column:
Mr. Ezanyim’s article should put fear
into every red-blooded American. The
idea that a ballistics database would
have prevented the recent shootings
or even future ones is laughable.
Does he really believe that if a data
base was made that a criminal is
going to buy a gun that is on the data
base?
One more unenforceable law does
not prevent a crime.
Next, his comparison between the
disarmament of Saddam Hussein and
that of the right of Americans to keep
MAIL CALL
and bear arms is appalling.
Saddam is a dictator bent on
destruction and domination, and the
last time I checked there weren't too
many Americans seeking nuclear
weapons, but maybe a hunting rifle is
similar to anthrax or smallpox to Mr.
Ezeanyim.
Even though he tries to discount the
violation of the second amendment in
his article, Ezeanyim would learn from
history that any type of government
database of guns has always lead to
confiscation.
In 1933 Nazi Germany implemented
a gun registration program, less than
two years later all weapons were con
fiscated.
Our allies in the war on terror,
Australia and England, have both
implemented gun registration and
confiscation of firearms laws.
They do not just take automatic
weapons or high caliber weapons, but
hunting rifles and shotguns.
These programs have forced law
abiding citizens to turn over family
heirlooms and antique guns.
Finally, his stretch of reasoning that
registering a car is like registering a
gun is completely false.
The constitution is a limit on the
powers of the government not on the
people, if he were to read all of the
Bill of Rights he would see that it says
"Congress shall make no law..."
This means the government can not
prohibit us from owning firearms, and
it means that they can make no law
impeding on the right of Americans to
keep and bear arms, this being so a
registration or a database is just one
more hurdle for law-abiding citizens.
Clinton McCoy
Class of 2005
Corps should play larger
role in gameday security
I was very glad to see the actions of
the Corps immediately after the
Nebraska game took place. Kyle field
is a sacred ground to all Aggies.
Consequently, both Kyle Field, and
the student body, deserve more
respect than was showed us.
I for one don’t see why the security
guards did not intervene and stop the
melee before the necessary actions
were taken.
It seemed to me that the "security"
was provided more from the Corps
side of the field for some unknown
reason.
This also poses another question.
During the Oklahoma game when
Sooner fans decided to show their
ignorance, a good number of Corps
personnel went and took care of
business. This time is seemed only a
few were out there. Is this due to an
increase in security presence or were
their actions against Oklahoma repri
manded?
I think that if a person wants to vio
late our traditions and storm our field,
then we should be able to take
actions against them in order to make
a statement, even if that statement
does manifest itself as a little physical
violence.
Kyle Field and Texas A&M are
unique, and we should keep them
that way.
Kikki Dilley
Class of 2003