The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 14, 2004, Image 9
I 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