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Opinions
The Pendulum
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The Pendulum
Can an ordinary student
combat terrorism?
Wlien David Halberstam spoke Jan. 16, he mentioned
the United States should be cautious of a war with Iraq.
His message of hesitation resulted in an interesting and
lively question-answer session the following day.
During the session a student asked Halberstam, “What
can I, as an individual student, do about terrorism in the
world?” While it was a relatively standard query, it
seemed to floor Halberstam. His only response for the
student was to keep abreast of world affairs by reading
the newspaper every day.
But is that answer good enough? Doesn’t the student’s
question deserve a more substantiated response?
Halberstam’s half answer does not seem to fully address
the growing concern that many students are having about
a possible war on Iraq and further terrorist attacks.
President Leo Lambert and the administration
expressed their concerns to The Pendulum about the
issue of terrorism and have asked that it be brought to the
forefront of a campus discussion.
So the question for students is: What can we, as ordi
nary students, do about terrorism in the world? What are
the possible efforts we can make to combat this global
problem'?
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and issue so important in today’s society. Upon receiving
your responses, The Pendulum will compile and publish
them in the Opinions section. Please e-mail your
response to penduIum@elon.edu.
The Pendulum
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Does America truly believe that Iraq
is the only enemy? Keep guessing
Simple
logic
seem.s to
dictate that the
world has
changed since
Sept. 11.
We are now
fighting a war
against terror
ism, pushing
for war in the Middle East and
dealing with dictator on the
Korean Peninsula.
Over the holidays, I was ques
tioned by my uncle.
He asked me, “Where do you
and your friends want to go war;
North Korea or Iraq?”
This question has gotten me
thinking on the events in both
regions of the world. The ques
tion that we now pose to citizens
of the world is where the next
threat will come from.
Recent surveys in both the
United Kingdom and Europe has
shown that people feel that the
United States is the greatest
threat for world peace.
I can see why many people
may feel that way, however I
think their vision is blurred.
With the situation in Iraq the
United States is pressing for
intervention in order to get rid of
a totalitarian dictator that has
shown his lack of compassion for
the people he governs.
I may agree at times that the
United States are acting too hasti
ly, but overall they are playing by
the rules in the United Nations
resolutions drafted late last year.
However, the bigger threat to
world peace in my mind is the
North Korean situation. It may
seem logical but, sometimes peo
ple don’t understand the conse
quences of not intervening into a
situation.
With the North Korean situa
tion, this is what we know: The
communist country has a nuclear
device, as proclaimed by the gov
ernment.
The government has forced
slave labor camps that imprison
thousands of people at a given
time.
Monitoring devices for
Dan
Hanson
KRT Campus
//
The question that we now pose to citizens of
the world is where the next threat will come from.
Recent suiveys in both the United Kingdom and
Europe has shown that people feel that the United
States is the greatest threat to world peace.
nuclear reactors have been
removed, leaving the internation
al community blind about the
nuclear program within the coun
try.
And finally the regime has
announced that it would quit the
armistice that ended the Korean
War in the 1950s.
The recent events logically in
my mind have but the North
Korean situation on the radar
more so than Iraq.
I feel that the North Korean
situation in my mind is graver
because of two reasons: the
weapons involved and the region
which the country is located.
First off, nuclear weapons are
not to mess around with, espe
cially when a government has the
means of delivering that weapon
on a missile.
This is exactly what the case is
in North Korea.
If recent trends continue in the
next few years the North Koreans
will have the means of delivering
a nuclear weapon to the continen
tal United States.
The second reason could be a
•definite possibility. Sharing
boarders with Russia and China
the North Koreans could throw
the region in tailspin creating a
dangerous situation for the
United States.
This region is essential for the
development of the United States
economy, as many manufactured
goods come from China and
Southeast Asia.
The stability of the region is
essential for relations as both the
South Koreans and Japanese have
strong ties to the United States.
Now looking at the past poli
cies of containment with the two
countries, we see drastic differ
ences.
With Iraq, since the war in
1991 there have been minor skir
mishes, but nothing really of sig
nificance.
Containment in North Korea
has led to an increase in nuclear
arms production along with dis
belief in the international system.
I feel that the Bush
Administration needs to focus, as
hard as it is, on the North Korean
situation in order to solidify
world peace for the next genera
tion.
Contact Dan Hanson at pendu-
lum@elon.edu or 278-7247.