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Page 2 The Blue Banner September 20,2001 Opinions Letters to the Editor American Ideals Will Carry On Dear Editor: In light of our nation’s recent gro tesque tragedy, I have been observ ing our generation’s national pride. During last November’s elections, our youth did not vote proportion ally to previous generations. This consistency of patriotic apa thy has bothered me deeply, as I myself try to be proactive in local, state, and national events and poli tics. We as a generation have been lec tured over and over again concern ing our lethargic ways, and until now we have failed to take notice. War by nature is a tragedy, how ever, historically every generation must feel its own pain, which con nects them with history and their nation. Our parents had Vietnam, their parents had World War II, their parents had WWI, and so on. A generation without pain is a generation without a cause in which to gather people together in order stand up for what they believe is right. This event in history will forever bind us youth together as a people of our nation. I am not advocating that all of us go enlist to fight in a war, but I do believe that we should support America whole heartedly in her defense against acts of cowardly terrorism and in helping her vic tims get through this heartwrenching event. To those who exclaim that Ameri can ‘got what it deserved,’ I beg to differ. How can you say that those 5,000 (as of current counts) civil ians in the World Trade Center deserved to die? They had families, hopes, dreams, losses, memories, and souls just as anyone else. No one ‘deserves’ to die, especially the innocent. Those who were killed in this mass calamity of terror never sent bombs over to the Middle East. When America has had clashes in the past with the Middle East our govern ment has tried to strictly attack the military establishments who force fascist ideals upon the most basic of human rights. A fellow student recently stated to me that America was the land of greed and money. Perhaps, but at least we have the freedom to choose if we want to take a role in greed and money. As I see it, every person who be lieves in the principles of liberty and justice is an American, and thus the American ideals are im pregnable and shall forever live Jenny Bowen Junior, Multimedia Arts and Sciences and History Major New Addition to Ramsey Cafe Takes Away Stress Dear Editor: In an otherwise traumatic week for our nation, I was able to find a breath of fresh air, a small amount of peace on the UNCA campus. On Sept. 13, 1 had a wonderful lunch in the new Glass House that is part of the Ramsey Cafe. No, not the food—the atmosphere! For a brief moment, looking at the struc ture, I was reminded of the “glass house” of the twin towers in New York City. I wondered, is our nation a glass house? Is our window open to those who are trained to do harm to those in glass houses? Then, my worries and stress of the week were gently taken away by the melodic sounds of flowing water and music. I was able to have a brief time to enjoy two students per forming guitar music. They are not professionals, they are our own, doing what they can to take ones’ worries and stress away. The department of Student Life, in cooperation with the UNCA Music department is sponsoring lunchtime entertainment every Wednesday and Thursday from 12 p.m. to 1p.m. in the Glass House. My thanks to the students. Stu dent Life and music sponsors of this weekly event. I hope that all students, faculty and staff will be able to stop-by the Glass House during this academic year to take a break to enjoy a few stress-free moments during the day. Psalm 37: 1-11 Nancy H. Hofmann, Coordinator Federal Work-Study Programs Office of Financial Aid Where Does America Go Now? Dear Editor: What are we, as a nation, to do now? Most Americans, as the mass media presents it, are eager to go to war; apparently not comprehend ing that doing so might result in unpredictable escalation and possi bly even nuclear exchanges between us and other nations that would oppose us. Are we so stupid as to believe that the rest of the world is going to conveniently behave itself while the United States, the self-appointed global cop, sends the bulk of its military to chase after a few hun dred “cowardly madmen ?” What do we really want to do? Fight the Taliban, while the Iraqis, Iranians, North Koreans, Chinese and who knows who else supplies them with missile technology and who knows what else? Do we want to suffer the same kind of humiliation and pointless loss of life as we did in Vietnam or the Soviets did in Afghanistan? Do we want to keep fueling the hatred much of the rest of the world feels toward us? Will that not only result in greater sponsorship of terrorism against us? Why can we not instead learn that we are not immune from the nega tive consequences of our govern ment dictating to other sovereign nations how they must live and conduct their affairs? Can we not comprehend that when we allow our military to be used to drop smart bombs and cruise missiles on nations that are unable to defend themselves that most of the rest of the world is going to hate us for it? Why cannot we, as a sovereign nation, stay out of other peoples’ conflicts and go about our nation’s legitimate business as Thomas Jefferson advised us to do, instead of putting our military at the dis posal of “strategic allies,” the stock exchanges, power-hungry interna tional agencies, and multi-national corporations? Why must our draft-age young people and our civilian population be sacrificed for wars in foreign parts that bring them no benefit whatsoever? What would be so bad about not having to live in fear of interna tional terrorists, who target us only because our government and armed forces hurt the nations and people who sponsor the terrorists? Before we unleash the dogs of war in the name of “freedom and de mocracy,” should we not pause to consider that there may be another (and better) way to protect ourselves from international terrorists? What do we, as a nation, have to lose by minding our own business and being tolerant of other nations with different cultures and ideolo gies, so long as they do not attack our citizens or territory? Why must we fight wars for the benefit of international financiers, private in vestors, and foreign ideologies? Yes, America has been attacked and thousands have been killed. Our enemies have made their point in a way that has attracted the at tention of us all. We’re angry, and we want to hit back. Even so, let us not lose sight of some important facts. During the past few decades, U.S. foreign policy and military actions have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thou sands of civilians in other nations that were unable to defend them selves. The terrorists who struck back at the symbols of the New World Order in Washington and New York are not trying to dictate to us how we must live, who we can worship, or with whom we may do business. They are not attempting to extort anything from us. All they want is for our government and our mili tary to stop hurting their sponsors. Dismissing terrorists as “cowardly madmen” is absurd, just plain stu pid, and not helpful. They laugh at us and at our impotent, dull-witted propaganda when we do that. They are not the least bit afraid of us, and they are prepared to sacri fice their lives for their cause. It is patriotic and good to die protecting the territory or sover eignty of one’s own nation. Who would disagree with that? Even those “cowardly” terrorist “mad men” would agree. The problem with too many in our government is that they define “fighting for freedom and democ racy” as sending our sons and daugh ters to die for the benefit of multi national corporations, international agencies, or “strategic allies” (whose loyalty to us is highly questionable). Let us send some new messages to our federal government: “Leave for eign entities alone so they will leave us alone! Don’t sacrifice our chil dren for your profit margins! Let other countries settle their own af fairs! Don’ttakeaway our freedoms to protect your earnings! Stop us ing our military as a mercenary force for the New World Order! Treat honestly, openly, tolerantly, and fairly with other nations and peoples! Respect diversity: don’t drop smart bombs on it!” In the end, we, the citizens, are responsible for the behavior of our government. If we don’t want ter rorists targeting us, we had better pay attention to the fact that our leaders in Washington have been treating us like mushrooms (keep ing us in the dark and feeding us bulls—t) and using us to enrich themselves and their friends. Now, they appear ready to sacri fice the flower of American youth to protect their bottom lines. Let’s give them a lesson in real democracy and hold them account able for their behavior, before ter rorists hold more of us accountable for not doing so. I remember Vietnam. I remember what happened to the Soviet Union when it invaded Afghanistan to “teach those Muslims a lesson.” I do not want to see the sons and daughters of people my age pressed into military service and die in for eign countries fighting for globalism, international finance, and multi-national corporations. Young people, do not be fooled by the mass media and by your gov ernment into believing that this undeclared war has anything to do with what is best for you or your futures. Instead of making yourselves ready to be sacrificed in the name of “free dom and democracy,” take a look at what your government has been doing to the civilian populations of other countries and figure out why people in other parts of the world hate us so much. Don’t make yourselves cannon fodder for your government; make your government accountable to you. Organize. Protect yourselves. Get politically active. Otherwise, be prepared to watch your classmates go away and never come back. Been there, done that. Don’t let it happen to you. I and others who have been through this before can help and advise you if you want it, but you have to take responsibility for work ing to protect yourselves. Uncle Sam will be wanting you soon, so unless you and your friends want to start losing your lives for the benefit of the New World Or der (oops, I mean “freedom and democracy”) you better start edu cating yourselves about what is re ally going on and start making some Robert Owen Roth, Alumni UNCA, Class of 1986 War is not the Answer Dear Editor: For the students, whose minds have historically been open, and whose voices we’ve historically lis tened to. I am a tired American. Tired of hearing “inescapable conclusions” and that we must “exact retribu tion.” Tired of hearing how we can “emerge triumphant” by striking back in further acts of terrible vio lence. Tired of the anger in which we wallow, where clear-headedness might buoy us up. Tired of our unwillingness to understand the ‘why’ behind such tragedies as the events of Sept. 11. How far are we willing to go in the misguided path of revenge? How many more times must we submit to hate, and thereby perpetuate vio lence that does not grow worse by mere coincidence? The only inescapable conclusion after this historic tragedy is that many people will have died in vain if we respond to this injustice with violence. We cannot and must not. To do so would be to continue playing a game that we can never and will never win. To demonstrate that we are no better than the perpetrators of this horrific event, except that we are capable of far greater, more calcu lated swathes of destruction. We cannot guarantee our safety until we finally understand why others would lash out in this way, and help provide them an alternative to do ing so in the future. If we must punish, then we must not do so with violence or without understanding. I am a tired Ameri can, yet I will be damned before I spend my remaining energy stand ing ‘united’ in the solidarity of fur ther violence. I love this country, but I do not love it enough that I am willing to hate for it. Brian Kent, Alumni Cornell University 1995 Pray For the Souls of the Victims of the Attacks Dear Editor: First and foremost, I have to say that Jacob Komisar is absolutely right in his analysis of the current situation that the United States is facing. I hope that Americans will wake up to the fact that we are now in a fight, not simply a fight for Ameri can interests but a fight for our very way of life, and for our survival as a people. I have heard scores of stu dents throughout UNCA who have stated that the U.S. received its just desserts because of the way the U.S. has shaped its foreign policy in re gards to Africa and our alliance with Israel. To those individuals who believe we have received our just desserts I tell you, HOW DARE YOU!?, HOW DARE YOU?! Excuse the acts of vicious human beings killing over 5,000 of our own people. I hope in the coming days and weeks you will be ashamed of making such comments. Instead, we should be screaming in one loud voice with our friend Israel, and in Europe NEVER AGAIN! Never again we will allow the likes of Arafat and others to achieve legitimacy in the world as statesmen. We must now all pray for the 5,817 souls now lost and pray for the well-being of our marines, sol diers, airmen, sailors, and coast guardsmen who in the coming day and weeks will ensure the reality of never again. G-d bless America and of our friends and allies. Avi Mechanic Western North Carolina Jewish Organization Can You Draw? Consider submitting a cartoon for The Blue Banner. Each published one receives $ 10. Advocate Peace, Not War Dear Editor: The corruption of the World Trade Center was to teach Ameri cans a lesson. The fanatical terror ists wanted to teach us that we are still vulnerable to the hardships of humanity. Many of Americans take our daily safety for granted. We don’t think about the people who have to struggle with hardships that we could never fully imagine. War should not be a result of this terrible event. Our politicians are shoving the word “freedom” down our throat because their general view is that freedom should be paid for with war. We do not need war, because in order to prevent these catastrophes from happening, peace should be the underlining goal. The leaders of this country are trying to play God. They are trying to justify the death of so many innocent civilians with the death and destruction of more people. Many Americans are in agreement with President George W. Bush, and they believe that the only way to right this wrong is to prove our strength and power through vio lence. The terrorists strike was an act of war, and they wanted the reaction we gave them. The terror ists probably want us to strike back so that our world falls apart. The best action against this war would be no action. Just think of the huge statement this country would make if we de cided not to take any military ac tion. We could try and achieve peace through peaceful talks and the united effort of all the mourning Americans. I am not suggesting for giveness or acceptance of the ter rorists. Instead, we could achieve so much with a quiet strength that will resonate everywhere. Humans are strong enough to withstand devastating events and continue on with daily life. We should not cross the lines into their country and declare war, we should let fate take its place and allow people to do as they will. Those who committed this crime against humanity were not ratio nal, and war is not a rational action. The act of terrorism was so far outside rationality and humanity that the organizers are outside the realm of humanity. When a person wills the death of so many innocent people, they have lost the person inside themselves. This happens because of religious fanaticism and demoralized ethics. These terrorists became obsessed with proving theirs religious con victions that they brutally murdered thousands. History has repeated it self, once again. This inevitable cycle of bad people killing the innocent comes from peoples intensely irrational religious beliefs. Francois De Voltaire un derstood the situation we are in now, even though he preceeded us by about 300 years. “What can be said in answer to a man who says he will rather obey God than men, and who conse quently feels certain of meriting heaven by cutting your throat?” The value of human life is more precious than the retaliation of the terrorists. We must not allow our country that represents freedom, liberty and happiness to kill more innocent people. If we look within our human selves we will find that war will never make what happened right. Megan Fazekas Junior, Mass Communication Editor's Note: Due to the re cent tragedies in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Penn sylvania, all sporting events at UNCA were cancelled last week. The Blue Ban- /lerwill not have a Sports section this week.
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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