2
THE GUILFQRDIAN
War proof of Bush's
false advertising
Andrew Horvat
Staff Writer
During the Persian Gulf War, American planes sent two
missiles into what the Bush Administration claimed was "a
military command post." The Bush Administration went so
far as to suggest that if there were any civilians in the
"command post," they were placed there to disguise it. This
was followed by the government saying, "Saddam Hussein
does not share our belief in the sanctity of human life."
I would like to mention an excerpt from a report filed by
Don Mosley. Mosley is the head of Jubilee Partners, an
organization in Comer, GA., that works for peace and
understanding in the world. Their work deals with political
refugees from Central America. Mosley headed a delega
tion of the official representatives of the Fellowship of
Reconciliation, one of the oldest peace organizations in
America, to Baghdad shortly after the beginning of the
Persian Gulf War.
In the May 1991 report of the Jubilee Partners, Mosley
wrote, "Baghdad is a modem city with well over a million
inhabitants. Middle class neighborhoods alternate with
commercial districts and parks... Many of the tallest build
ings are ruins, their steel frames supporting tons of debris
left from multiple strikes by laser bombs and cruise mis
siles. Here and there are private neighborhoods and less
conspicuous buildings that have been leveled by bombs. At
night the city's most widespread problem becomes more
obvious: the municipal power system has been destroyed...
Water is available only here and there, at very low pres
sure... Without electricity the sewage must be dumped into
the river untreated."
Mosley also traveled to the Ameriya shelter. "Dr.
Boghossian (director of a Baghdad hospital) had directed
the removal of the bodies from the Ameriya shelter after the
tragedy on Ash Wednesday. He took us to the shelter itself,
and soon we were picking our way through its charred
interior. The room was hauntingly lit by the sun's rays
filtering down through the hole blasted through six feet of
reinforced concrete in the roof. Built to withstand a possible
nuclear attack from Israel, the roof had been penetrated by
the first of the two missiles that hit it. According to every
survivor we interviewed in the Ameriya neighborhood, the
shelter had been full of women and children.
"After the initial blast some had made their way through
one set of steel doors, only to find that the outer set of doors
were still locked. About four minutes after the first explo
sion, according to witnesses, a second missile had plunged
precisely through that opening made by the first and killed
everyone except a few of those trapped between the two sets
of doors.
"After the attack, fire trucks had sprayed water into the
shelter for days to cool it... No one knew how many more
bodies were going to be found there to add to the hundreds
already removed..."
Who do I believe in this situation? Do I believe Don
Mosley, a man who helps political refugees and who led a
rag-tag group to Baghdad, or do I believe the president of
the United States?
How many massacres have occurred in Iraq and Kuwait
at the hands of the United States? Why have the newspapers
not been investigating the situation in Baghdad after this
war? Is there a figure, even to the nearest thousand, of how
many civilians died?
For a democracy, our nation has settled into a thunderous
and deafening silence in the period after the Persian Gulf
War.
For a copy of the Jubilee report, drop a note in box 17282.
If you would like to contact Jubilee Partners or Don Mosley,
write to Jubilee Partners, P.O. Box 68, Comer, GA., 30629.
Perspectives
*XT&FGHWK& Sfa — GW/MlflMb&Ctf/vetos—^
Supreme Court confirmation reflects
preoccupation with "little" issues
Ryan Page
Staff Writer
One of the top stories in the news this week is the
confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence
Thomas.
The debate has focused on his views on abortion, his
"blackness," and his views on natural rights. The first two
reflect our nation's sad tendency towards single-issue poli
tics. The last should be an issue, because it involves Judge
Thomas' legal philosophy, but it also has been turned into
an embarrassing display of ignorance about our history.
The constant rattling of sabres over abortion, which
manages to turn so many elections into circus acts where
each candidate attempts to straddle the fence better than his
opponent, continues to obscure what should be the real
concerns of the Senate Judiciary Committee, namely his
competence, his interpretation of the Constitution and his
voting record as judge.
This country needs to ask itself if it really wants an
Corrections:
Several pieces of information were
incorrectly printed in our Orientation
Issue.
Kathy Adams' official title is Acting
Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Academic Dean,.
Michael Geisler is the Coordinator of
Academic Affairs.
Provost Dan PoteeVs name was
incorrectly spelled.
The Editors apologize for any
misunderstanding these errors may
have caused.
incompetent on its highest court simply because of his
beliefs on a single issue. Thomas' record shows that he is not
incompetent, but what if he was?
What if he was a real loser, and nobody on the Senate
Judiciary Committee found out because they were all too
busy to either asking questions about Thomas' views on
abortion, his answering of which, by the way, would show
a striking lack of judicial discretion, since he will in all
probability be deciding cases regarding that issue.
So now, assuming he is confirmed, we have an incompe
tent justice on the Supreme Court, but, by God, at least he's
pro-life!
Or on the other side, what if he is the next Oliver Wendell
Holmes or John Marshall, and he is not confirmed because
of his abortion stance? Then we've got an eminently quali
fied juror who won't be serving our country because the
current members of the Senate Judiciary Committee felt that
their own political prejudices took precedence over obtain
ing a quality justice for the Supreme Court. And the real
>- continued to page 3
Editor-in-Chief Bruce James
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The Guilfordian is the student newspaper of Guilford
College, Greensboro, N.C. Submitted articles are wel
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editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and
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to The Guilfordian staff. Please address all mail to: The
Guilfordian, Box 17717, Greensboro, NC 27410.
September 16, 1991