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MAIU&CALL
unction players shouldn’t
compared to ‘04 players
n response to Jordan Meserole's Sept,
ports column:
14
Meserole had the nerve to compare intramural
ports with college football. That is quite wrong of him
do. I know we don’t have the most spectacular team
latuftthe country. Utah is a good team no matter who says
ifferently. Plus, we are in a great conference. Meserole
tas no place to tell our football team they don’t have any
leart. There are plenty of walk-ons that play on the scout
earn who love this game and don’t have very much ath-
etic ability. But they play because they love it.
is quite a sham for someone to compare this foot-
all team with the Juction Boys. That was half a cerv
ury ago. Plus, don’t you know that the guys who quit
weren't good at all. Nobody missed them. The players
hese days go through just as much heat, beatings and
onstant running as they did in Junction.
As you might know, many of the players at Junction
iidn t like the movie because much of it was not histoh-
:ally accurate. Any of the players now could have made it
hrough Junction. These players only play each other and
he coaches, which is the way it should be. I advise you
o not question the team's heart before you know what it
joes through. And that does not include intramurals.
Jordan Chambers
Class of2003
ight is llndii
zrccs with]
for it," he sa
in initial
; can be
stan. but tk
suing it ned
ig it out.
nd stan mak
aid. “It wo
hat first wort'
have am
" ' f .' football have you played for Texas A&M? There are a bil-
dents intcreJ
py of BursciL
release date» ven our own student body, will bash and criticize our
m a book sirV wn team the second the opportunity comes up. How
J Noble on ‘■ough is it to have heart when your own fans don’t even
1016(0 9 p.nEack you up?
day duril After we got kicked by Utah, Alex Smith was on the
son Aggie i lover of The Battalion. The Utes star quarterback on
nd in ik ibifthe cover of The Battalion! I understand covering foot-
Students should support
earn no matter what
Heart? It’s easy to sit back and write about what they’re
[lot doing, and how much heart they do not have,
have a question for the critics, how many downs of
things that make A&M what it is today, and Aggie
ootball is one of them. It just amazes me that people,
mg
red.
the
AT!
f ball and other sports, but why put him on the cover of
I our paper? A&M Football is still the best thing at this
University. Here's a thought for the student body and
the people who constantly put down our team: Where
[is your heart?
Arley Pustejovsky
Class of2005
nhe Twelfth Man has lost
much of the missing heart
>lan and
st Day!
■TEST
jractice
ican Medical Collegf
ne print.
ALIO
FI EDS
5-0569
/OUR AD
I Not so fast my friend (to steal a line from one
If the three wise men of ESPN, Lee Corso). Let's
I tart with the fact that shutting out Wyoming is
omething that we should be able to get excited
bout. The last time an opponent was shut out at
(yle Field was Nov. 7, 1998. That is a span of five
easons, or 33 home games, between shutouts.
If anyone has lost heart since the days of Coach Bry-
mt, you have to look no further than your illustration
or your article, The Twelfth Man. We play as big a part
n the team as the players. Kyle Field is our home, and
: is not the dreaded place to play it once was. This
iaturday would be a good time for the Twelfth Man
o stand proud and show we have the heart to help
lefend Kyle Field. This is our time to help take back
(yle Field. This game is a good time to remind the old
;ies that Kyle Field can still be a place teams dread
o play, how deafening it can be, how our team feeds
iff of the Twelfth Man. Looks to me you challenged the
vrong people with this article. The Twelfth Man needs
o be challenged to step up and help to be the driv-
ng force for our team. Also, the last team we shut out
^ lefore Wyoming was Oklahoma, with some very easy
earns thrown in between the shutouts.
Peyton Carter
Class of2005
fomen on the front lines
rould cause more deaths
|n response to Jim Foreman's Sept. 10 col-
]imn:
It is an indisputable fact that women are physically
eaker than men, and men instinctively protect mem-
iers of the weaker sex. Mr. Foreman sublimely dismiss-
s these traditionalist claims, disregarding the fact that
hese ideas have survived to become traditional precise-
because their wisdom has been proven the world over
iy centuries of war.
Like it or not, war is about killing — and women, how-
ver tough, cannot battle against hardened fighting men.
he media glorified Jessica Lynch as a war hero ,but
he was never shot and never returned fire! Now she is
wised to make millions off a book while her comrade-in-
rms, Pfc. Patrick Miller — a true hero — did return fire
and goes unmentioned!
Americans need to rethink this issue and realize that
laving women serve in direct-action combat handicaps
wr military and will result in an unnecessary loss of life.
Justin Allison
Class of2005
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 11 • Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Pace Deiscn • MATT RIGNEY
For peace and posterity?
France must stand against terrorism to uphold democracy
CINDY
MCREYNOLDS
S ince the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2002, critics
have denounced the Bush doctrine, saying
unilateral preemptive war is unnecessary and
wrong that America’s pursuit of a cowboy foreign
policy is actually the root cause of terror-
^ V- 'y Wk * sm ‘ F renc h President
V> Jacques Chirac
^JP IHL threatened to
V y ■ use every
tactic,
including a
U.N. veto, to
prevent an Iraqi invasion. Chirac
hoped to protect his nation from
Islamic terrorism by proving to
the terrorists that his nation is
sympathetic to their cause.
However, as negotiations for
the release of two French jour
nalists captured in Iraq drag on,
one thing has become clear: The
French policy of appeasement has
not sheltered its citizens from the
hatred of terrorism.
On Aug. 20, Christian Chesnot
and Georges Malbrunot were kid
napped by members of the Islamic
Army in Iraq, who demanded the
repeal of a French law banning
Islamic headscarves in schools.
This tragic event is exactly what
the French have been trying to
avoid with their years of stagnant
diplomacy, their avid opposition
to the War on Terror and their
generally pro-Arab policies. Therefore,
French officials were shocked to learn
that their best efforts had failed to secure
the goodwill of the terrorists.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said, “Their kidnapping is
incomprehensible to all those who know that France ... is a land of toler
ance and of respect for others.” But his incredulity is misplaced, since
tolerance and respect mean nothing to those who only understand brute
force. In the words of Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, “Neutrality
doesn’t exist, as the kidnapping of the French journalists has shown. The
French are deluding themselves if they think they can remain outside of
this. Today the extremists are targeting them, too.”
Terrorists arc not rational, reasonable people. Men who would kidnap
and murder a non-combatant do not understand or accept compromise.
They are not willing to live in peace with those who merely tolerate their
extremism. As long as France continues to allow non-Muslims to worship
freely, permits the existence of nude beaches and otherwise deviates from
the terrorists’ concept of piety, they should expect to be targeted.
Yet, the French continue to blame America for the actions of terror
ists. The French-lraqi Friendship Association accused U.S. forces of
endangering the lives of French journalists by launching military opera
tions south of Baghdad. And Mohamed Bechari, head of the National
Federation of French Muslims, said “the U.S. and Iraqi forces don’t
want this release.”
To claim that the United States wants to see the French hostages killed,
whereas the terrorists are just looking for a safe place to let them go, is
nothing short of ridiculous. Yet it shows how far the French are willing to
go to excuse the atrocities of men who see human life as meaningless and
freedom as the great Satan. 9/11 proved that a see-no-evil foreign policy
provides only an illusion of peace and no real security.
Today, all nations, including France, have only two options. They
Brandi Dunn • THE BATTALION
must either succumb to the wishes of the terrorists by ultimately model
ing themselves after Iran and Saudi Arabia, or they must be willing to
take a definitive stand against terrorism. France acted on this principle
when it correctly refused to repeal the headscarf ban. But it is incon
sistent to stand up for a domestic law while allowing the terrorists to
dictate foreign policy.
The goal of terrorism is not any single domestic or military achieve
ment. They do not seek money or power in the traditional sense. They
seek the annihilation of the Western way of life. Because of this. Presi
dent Bush has argued that only by actively defending America against
those who seek her destruction can any lasting peace be achieved.
If France truly stands for “Fratemite, Egalite and Libcrte,” it should
join the United States by defending those principles at home and abroad.
Cindy McReynolds is a senior
electrical engineering major.
Zell Miller's convention speech
tarnishes his career as Democrat
JONATHAN
SMITH
ell Miller, a Demo
crat from Georgia,
f set the political
world on fire during the
Republican National
Convention when he
voiced support for
President Bush. Actu
ally, Miller did a good
bit more than just praise
Bush; his speech also at
tacked Kerry’s character.
Even though this sort of political displace is good
for show. Miller’s flip-floppery on the issue of
Kerry hardly makes him a reliable source.
In his speech, Miller screamed, “No pair has
been more wrong, more loudly, more often than
the two senators from Massachusetts: Ted Ken
nedy and John Kerry.” He also claims that voters
get from Kerry a “yes-no-maybe bowl of mush
that can only encourage our enemies and confuse
our friends.” This rhetoric is a far cry from what
Miller said when he introduced Kerry on March
1, 2001 at Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in his home
state of Georgia. Just three years ago on this day,
Miller said, “John Kerry has fought against gov
ernment waste and worked hard to bring some
accountability to Washington.” Does that sound
as if he is describing the same “bowl of mush”?
During this dinner, Miller praised Kerry for
fighting “for balanced budgets before it was
considered politically correct for Democrats to
do so.” In this comment, Miller actually praises
Kerry’s mild conservatism. He told everyone
there that, basically, he agreed with Kerry.
“John Kerry has been more wrong, more
weak and more wobbly than any other national
figure," Miller said. By virtue of years of agree
ment with Kerry, Miller has shown that he him
self is “wobbly.”
Almost worse than Miller’s flip-flopping on
the issue of Kerry is that he distorted Kerry’s
record to make him seem like an anti-war nut.
In truth, Kerry in the last decade has agreed
with Republicans regarding the military on
many issues.
The B-2 bomber, which Sen. Kerry opposed,
was also opposed by former President Bush. In
16 of his 19 years in office, Kerry hasn’t opposed
an annual Pentagon appropriation. That doesn’t
sound like a senator who is
weak on defense.
Miller also accused Kerry
of wanting to “outsource our
national security” by always
playing nice with the United
Nations. This ignores the
fact that Kerry voted for go
ing to war with Iraq. In fact,
in Kerry’s own convention
acceptance speech, he stated
“I will never give any nation
or international institution a
veto over our national secu
rity.” Yet while Bush proudly
defies the international orga-
nization, Kerry wishes to go
against it only if necessary. This sort of thinking
is what America needs if it is to repair the dam
age done to its image around the world during
Bush’s presidency.
When accusations ran out, Miller began to rely
on a recent Republican scare tactic to advocate
Bush’s presidency. Miller calls Bush “the man
I trust to protect my most precious possession:
my family.” This implies that Miller thinks his
family would be more likely to die of terrorist
attacks under Kerry. This ignores the fact that
more Americans have died under Bush’s first
term from terrorism than in both of Clinton’s.
In fact, Miller does his best to build up the
monster he called terrorism in his speech. Ter-
ln the end, Miller
has allowed his years
of credibility to be
damaged by an
incorrect and fiery
convention speech.
rorism is not nearly the killer in America that
heart disease or pneumonia is. When we hype
the danger of terrorism like Miller has done,
terrorists are better able to achieve their pri
mary goal: to negatively alter the United States.
Kerry realizes that terrorism is important, but
that the economy, education and America’s im
age are of equal importance.
In the end. Miller has allowed his years of
credibility to be damaged by an
incorrect and fiery convention
speech. Miller allowed the Re
publicans to bash Kerry without
getting their hands dirty. The Re
publicans allowed Miller to hog
the spotlight one more time be
fore he retired to Florida.
At the beginning of his address,
Miller asked, “What has happened
to the party I’ve spent my life
working in?“ The facts show that
Miller’s party (and Kerry’s) hasn’t
dramatically changed in the past
three years, but Miller has. His re-
fusal to change his party like oth
er conservative Democrats such
as the former Sen. Strom Thurman proves that
Miller has other motives for remaining a Demo
crat in title. As a Republican, Miller would just
be another voice in the crowd, yet as a Demo
crat he is able to get upon the national stage once
more. Americans must decide for themselves if
they agree with Miller’s assessment of Bush, but
the facts don’t agree with Miller’s condemnation
of John Kerry.
Jonathan Smith is a
junior history major.