Letters to the Editor (Editorial Policies)
Posted on January 11, 2007

American public must share blame for Iraq

Saddam Hussein had more or less two options: claim he had “weapons of mass destruction” and face an internationally sanctioned war, or admit he didn’t and face the wrath of his own people. He chose a mix: he balked and sidestepped, creating an illusion in order to keep his people under control, but offering no serious evidence of a threat to the international community. Now America has been in Iraq for almost four years and things are getting worse.

Scores of civilians and soldiers have died, and most of us still don’t know why we’re there. Now the sectarian violence (civil war) is escalating, and people are still talking about troop withdrawals? I’ve never advocated this war, but leaving a country half demolished and ruled by scores of “thugs and terrorists’’ sounds like we’ve just created a new Afghanistan.

Remember Afghanistan? “Building a democratic model in the Middle East’’ sounds wonderful, but any military campaign in the most volatile region in the history of all humanity isn’t going to take just a few months or even a few years. Voting is not our only responsibility, and half of us don’t even do that. We must hold politicians consistently accountable, as American citizens. Bandwagon war supporters or apathetic 20-somethings that “don’t like to think about politics’’ don’t send any message, much less one of disapproval.  If you didn’t do anything to question the validity of this campaign to begin with, how far should you really look to place the blame?

Brian Tynan, junior international affairs major

Time to deal with environmental ‘truths’

A week ago I was privileged to watch Al Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” detailing the perils of global warming. While the debate continues by some whether this climate crisis is actually occurring, everyone should watch this powerful film that proves once and for all the “truth” behind global warming and how we as Americans can help save our planet before it is too late.

“An Inconvenient Truth” erases any doubt as to whether global warming is actually occurring. It cites the innumerable amount of weather phenomena and concrete data that points directly toward a temperature increase of the earth. It also addresses skeptics’ doubts that global warming is simply part of a cycle in which the earth undergoes hundreds of warmings and coolings. Alas, the recent warming the earth has experienced has been unprecedented, and if it is not stopped soon, our climate and world could change dramatically. Finally, the film offers hope to those who might accept this “inconvenient truth” and declares that all Americans can erase their carbon emissions to zero.

“An Inconvenient Truth” reflects Al Gore’s career-long dedication to this single issue and his efforts to educate and convince everyone he can. He says that he knows “it’s human nature to take time to connect the dots,” but “there can be a day of reckoning when [people] wish they had connected the dots more quickly.” Prevent this day of reckoning, watch “An Inconvenient Truth,” and accept and fight this global crisis.

Daniel Vaught, secondary education grad student