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ny
PINION
The Battalion
Page 9 • Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Bring ‘em home
Considering the death toll and lack of help from Iraqis, troops should now return
|hase two of the war in
Iraq has begun with
Coalition forces fighting
the people they were sent to
liberate. The war has spread to
the south, the west and the
north of Baghdad, forcing
Coalition troops to move back
and forth to quell the opposi
tion. Indeed, this is not how
the occupation was supposed
oplay out, especially with roughly two months
eft until Iraq’s sovereignty is returned.
So what's the problem over there? Iraqis do
lot want to fight for democracy, and American
roops are prohibited from doing their job prop-
NICHOLAS
DAVIS
...if our military
strategy is destined to
remain under the
dutches of
political correctness,
the time has come to
bring our troops
home.
tion by stating, “The fact that we have been so
judicious in the use of this force should not be
lost on anybody. This country will not suffer
intimidation by the United States of America.”
Perhaps the lack of intimidation is part of
the problem.
Soon after the Coalition’s response,
insurgents kidnapped three Japanese, two
Israelis, several South Koreans, a
Canadian aid worker and a British citi
zen to blackmail respective Coalition
countries into withdrawing their
troops.
Simultaneously, a cleric named
Moktada Al-Sadr led a Shiite
rebellion across southern
lui r
fori
A|.J,§
irks.
rly. This is unacceptable and if America’s military strategy is
||Slestined to remain under the clutches of political correctness,
he time has come to bring our troops home.
The troops face many obstacles: the enemy is unidentifiable,
raqi citizens provide no assistance and, similar to Vietnam, poli-
gmirBics have taken over the military strategy. As a result, American
roops must assume the role of babysitter rather than peacekeeper.
In Fallujah, as reported by The New York Times, “Four pri-
security men were lured into a carefully planned ambush by
ien they believed to be friendly members of the Iraqi civil
lefense corps.” Subsequently, these security men were burned to
leath, mutilated and dragged through crowded streets as specta-
ors cheered. Later the body parts were displayed off a bridge.
This led American forces to seek retribution. The Times
lescribed troops as “fighting street to street under heavy rocket,
nortar and small amis fire from factories, homes and
inprc nosques.” However, the response for the most part by our
orces has been too ^
Gen. Abizaid
icknowledged the
icaled-down retalia-
Iraq, capturing the towns his 10,000 militia
troops encountered.
Sounds chaotic, right? And even the
most naive person can recognize that
returning sovereignty to Iraq by June 30
is a pipe dream. If the transfer of sover
eignty continues as scheduled it will
illuminate one thing: President Bush
only has the November elections on
his mind.
The Iraqi people are not ready to
govern a democratic country. How
can they be, when the two main factions, Sunnis and Shiites, are
not fighting each other, but they are fighting a common enemy,
the Coalition?
If the people of Iraq truly wanted democracy, they would aid
Coalition forces by identifying perpetrators of resistance, or at
the very least vocally condemn the attacks against Coalition
troops. None of this is happening.
In fact, in response to the retaliation on Fallujah,
angry protests erupted and
two senior Iraqi officials of
the Iraqi Governing Council
resigned because they viewed
America’s offensive strike on
the town as unjust.
Unjust? This is insane. If
anything, U.S. troops are being too
lenient. This is most likely due to
Bush’s desire to make the Iraqi resistance
appear minimal.
Nevertheless, every day, on average,
one soldier dies due to a suicide bomber
or a sniper shooting from houses or even
mosques.
U.S. troops must be allowed to actually
fight to win. If this isn’t going to happen,
let’s call off the occupation and recall the
billions of dollars America has pledged to
rebuild the nation.
In one week alone Coalition casualties reached
40. No longer can the death of Coalition personnel
follow with a half-hearted response. One American
soldier equals the lives of countless Iraqi hostiles.
The appropriate response needs a Machiavellian
approach. All towns showing signs of rebellion must
fall under martial law or face destruction; all hos
tiles, militia, clerics and sympathizers of insurgents
must be eliminated or detained, no questions asked.
The backbone of the Iraqi rebellion must be bro
ken quickly and decisively. Hearts and minds of the
Iraqi people will come later, as for now, the troops
have a second war to win and they should be allowed
to do just that.
Nicholas Davis is a senior
political science major.
Graphic by Chris Griffin
MAIL CALL
ress.
lacial preferences hurt
lucation opportunities
In response to an April 12 mail call:
Kellee Carr demonstrates in her mail
all that she should in fact be support-
g the Young Conservatives of Texas,
[ather than opposing our view that
acial discrimination in education is
prong.
Carr says that society must address
e “root” problem of failing public K-
2 education, and only then should
'e end racial discrimination in col-
ge admissions, recruitment and
icholarships.
What Carr fails to realize is that as
ng as racial preferences slap a
and Aid on the problem of unpre-
ared minority students, politicians
nd parents will never have to fix K-
2 education.
Carr should join YCT in our fight to
icrease K-12 education opportunities
rough school vouchers, which would
ive parents the opportunity to move
eir children away from inadequate
ichools and put them in the one of
eir choosing.
I do not think that Carr really believes
when she implies that students who
re on the loosing end of our adminis-
ation’s race-based policies should
imply sit quiet and take it. Rather, she
as bought into the idea that no one
lets hurt from discrimination against
ion-minority students.
In reality, no one wins from the
moral and arbitrary programs that
dge people on the color of their skin,
ith regents Mays and Jones stating
at race will count in our new admis-
lions policy and President Gates say-
ig the opposite, A&M officials need to
me clean with the specific criteria
at students will be judged on in
Emissions.
Hopefully, they will take the moral
igh ground of equal treatment under
e law.
Weston Batch
Young Conservatives of Texas
Class of 2007
Hildebrand blameless
in judicial court case
In response to a April 13 news article:
We are deeply disturbed by yester
day’s article concerning Jack
Hildebrand. It inaccurately reflects our
judicial court cases which were
against the Election Commission and
not Hildebrand.
We did not mean for any blame to
be placed on Hildebrand.
Furthermore, the judicial court
agreed in its opinions and faulted the
Election Commission for multiple fail
ures to uphold rules and inappropri
ate interpretations. It is the practices
of the Election Commission, and not
Hildebrand’s finances, that were
called into question.
However, because he was the only
student body presidential candidate
besides McAdams to proceed to the
run-off, his finance report was the
only other one audited by the
Election Commission and available
to use as evidence. These hearings
were the culmination of a three-week-
long battle with the Election
Commission over the regulations and
not a response to the election results.
In fact, McAdams announced in
judicial court that he would withdraw
from the race if Hildebrand was pun
ished. The end result of this process
will be the change in the election
process that we have been seeking.
We sincerely regret any harm that
has come to Mr. Hildebrand through
this process and wish him the best
of luck as our new student body
president.
Aaron Kinsey
Class of 2004
Jonathan Platt
Class of 2004
Artwork better than
articles they accompany
In response to an April 13 mail call:
I understand some people may have
a problem with the artwork chosen for
The Battalion, but they don’t speak for
everyone.
Daniel Nieswiadomy says “Aggies...
(don’t) read The Battalion ... to see a
picture of a girl in a skin-tight shirt and
low-rise jeans.”
I am an Aggie, and Ivan Flores’ art
work is one of the primary reasons I
read The Battalion. I feel that it is
beautiful. I often spend more time
staring at it than even at the text it
illustrates. I feel that there is nothing
offensive or shameful about the
female form or even sexually sug
gestive drawings.
I recognize, however, that not every
one agrees with me. In fact, I com
mend Mr. Nieswiadomy’s drive and
effort in expressing his opinion; how
ever, I think it is going a little too far to
tell The Battalion to stop showing
some pictures because you find them
offensive.
I feel that, rather than depriving the
Aggies who enjoy Ivan Flores’ artwork
of some daily enjoyment, that he sim
ply try to ignore them the best he can.
No one’s forcing him to read The
Battalion, after all.
Anthony Giarratano
Class of 2006
Art 'follows in artistic
legacy' of others
In response to an April 13 mail call:
Am I to understand at our institute of
higher education, where girls can be
seen wearing anything from skin-tight
jeans to tube tops, there is still some
one offended by Mr. Flores’ work?
For a gentleman who claims to read
The Battalion for "news, sports and
crossword puzzles" he seems oddly
unoffended by the pictures of girls in
our soccer team wearing rather skimpy
shorts. Perhaps he missed those dur
ing his indignant fainting spell brought
on by a sketched abdomen. One must
wonder if he’s capable of navigating
campus in anything but a permanent
state of outrage.
Personally, I find Mr. Flores' remark
able talent to insert thin, anime-styled
women into virtually every subject
amusing. Surely, in starting every proj
ect with the goal of working attractive
women into the subject matter, no mat
ter how improbable, Mr. Flores is sim
ply following in the artistic legacy of
such notable painters as Art Frahm
and Jay Scott Pike.
Matthew Gross
graduate student
More steps toward
uniformity needed
In response to an April 13 mail call:
I applaud Charles Holland’s mail call
about A&M’s utter failure to enforce
complete uniformity among all stu
dents. We suggest this be taken fur
ther and all students on campus wear
official A&M apparel, perhaps khaki
pants and shirts, possibly even requir
ing incoming freshmen to receive an
“official” maroon A&M tattoo. This hor
rible travesty against University pride
must stop immediately, unless we wish
to continue disgracing this University
with the freedom of expression.
Students attended Texas A&M for the
traditions, pride and school spirit.
These scandalous students ruin our
“most prideful” school spirit. It is a
shame that A&M students wear colors
like green, red, pink or even orange.
They do not have a place on campus.
Scott Phillips,
graduate student
Columnist's opinions
go back and forth
In response to Sara Foley’s April 13
column:
Ms. Foley accurately notes that
"(h)ad the fee referendum on the
recent student body election passed,
more student-led families could have
been eligible for discounts that help
them offset expansive child-care
costs." In bemoaning the current
state of childcare on this campus, Ms.
Foley seems to overlook one small
detail: She vehemently opposed the
fee increase in recent weeks.
In an opinion article from March 24,
Ms. Foley writes that the student
service fee increase wasn't neces
sary because it would merely fund
"programs that will likely be ignored
by the majority of students." Last I
checked, 31 families utilizing the
Children's Center was far from a
majority of students — one could go
as far as to say that the Center is
ignored by a majority of students —
but it is important that this service be
provided to those families as it makes
it possible for student parents of small
children to attend school.
To take an active role in defeating
the referendum with fallacious argu
ments and misleading statements,
only to turn around less than three
weeks after the fact complain that the
Children's Center needs more money,
is ludicrous and insulting.
Nathan Robinson
Class 2003
Andy Liddell
Class of 2006