Letters
Tell ’em about it
According to Daniel Ellsberg, the
neutron bomb and the cruise mis
sle are new weapons of destruc
tion which must be stopped if we
are to save ourselves and future
generations. Because of its preci
sion, its limited fallout and be
cause it could kill people without
damaging property, the neutron
invites use. Though President
Carter has said he would not use it
if it were developed, the neutron
bomb, according to Ellsberg,
would most likely be the first nuc
lear weapon to be used since
Nagasaki, thus tnggering the use
of others. President Carter now
appears to be unready to decide
on whether or not to begin
N-Bomb production. Tell your
friends to call and write the White
House, Washington, D C. 20500
to urge the President to cancel
development of the neutron
bomb. (Phone the White House
before 8 a.m. at 1-202-456-1414
for 21 cents.)
David Zupan
Graduate Student,
Education
Proven record
On KUGN's talk-radio show,
March 28,1978, Rep. Jim Weaver
surprised a few listeners.
When asked about his position
on the decommissioning of Tro
jan, Weaver stated, “I have no
position on that, ft (Trojan) is going
and it’s giving relative inexpensive
electricity...” His statement
makes one wonder if Weaver has
not sold out to the utility com
panies and their money.
Also when asked about what
type of campaign he was going to
run, Weaver replied, “Oh, I’m not.
I’m just going to do my job.” If
Weaver is not going to campaign,
then why the large number of
mailout literature in such a short
time period? Plus, why the cam
paign office with a paid saff that
has committed Weaver to per
sonal appearances throughout
the district? Could it be that
Weaver is saying one thing and
doing another?
County Commissioner Bob
Wood, in contrast, brings to the
people of the 4th District a proven
record of working with and for the
people. Bob Wood speaks to the
issues and is unafraid to take this
campaign to the people.
I support Bob Wood for Con
gress and urge others to join me.
Craig Frasier
365 E. 16th, #10, Eugene
Credit for work
The ad in the Friday, April 7
issue of the Daily Emerald might
have given the erroneous impres
sion that course credit is available
for merely working on the Wood
for Congress campaign. This is
not the case. Credit can be ar
ranged with individual professors
for academic work associated
with such an experience — exten
sive reading and a term paper, for
example. In other words, credit is
not given by the University for
just campaign work.
If you want to develop an
academic program related to such
activity, and if you can find a pro
fessor interested sufficiently to
support it, then credit is possible.
Pam Burke
Senior, Business Management
Toothful fate
When a student asked Pres.
Boyd April 5 why he had the 23
students arrested, he said he had
them arrested because it would
have been too expensive to let
them stay. It is hard to believe that
it would have cost more to let them
stay than it will to have them ar
rested, booked and now tried
sepaparately.
If leaving them there “made no
sense,” having them arrested
made less. It was both expensive
Duck Soup
Oregon Daily Emerald
“Nice to know there’s nothing mysterious behind those errant radio signals.”
and unnecessary. If the protestors
had no legitimate grievance, why
not ask them to turn out the lights
when they left, and when the At
torney General gave his opinion in
“10 days” it would have shown
how foolish they were for not wait
ing patiently for the “wheels of
government to turn.” But two and
a half more months have passed
while the wheels of government
spin in 10 day cycles. Even if the
Attorney General gave his opinion
today he would have caused an
unnecessary delay of five months.
Time has shown the protestors
grievances to be legitimate. Pres
ident Boyd has shown that he
treats people with grievances as
potential martyrs, and that he in
tends to make sure the lions have
teeth.
Dana Towle
Senior, Music
-opinion
Nigeria’s position in Africa
Submitted by Bruce Bowers
of the People for Southern
African Freedom
At about the same time that the U.S. Army was
carrying out its genocidal “mopping up operations”
among the Native Americans, an obscure army
under hire by a British company was “making his
tory” in a similar fashion over 10,000 miles away. In
October of 1893, about 5,000 varriors of the
Matabele tribe were massacred by the mercenaries
of the British South Africa Company. This set into
motion a grand capitalist enterprise that today flaunts
itself as the “independent nation” known as
Rhodesia.
Recent pseudo events, such as U.N. Ambassador
Young’s cocktail squabbles with British Ambassador
Owen and Carter's patronizing stop-off in Nigeria,
have brought Rhodesia into the headlines. It seems
that the two major Western imperialist powers of the
past century are having some difficulty proving to the
world that they have “learned their lesson”. They
now find themselves in the awkward position of
rejecting a plan for the "peaceful transition to majority
rule" in Rhodesia because the plan’s participants did
not include Marxist guerilla leaders committed to the
violent overthrow of the present Smith regime
(Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe of the Patriotic
Front of Zimbabwe). With such a stance Carter
hopes to convince the world that the principles of
democracy, not capitalism, constitute the driving
force behind American foreign policy.
Before desparate liberals start sighing with relief at
this “turn-around” from a consistent policy of support
for fascist dictators, a few questions must be ans
wered. Question one: which country is the second
major foreign supplier of oil after Suadi Arabia? Ans
wer: Nigeria. Question two: Which country is viewed
by the vast majority of black African states as con
tributing most to their independent DEVELOP
MENT? Answer: Cuba. Question three: In which
country does the most maintenance of a pro
Western stance mean the most to the continued
expansion of capitalism in sub-Saharan Africa?
Answer: A year ago I would have said South Africa,
but now I think the answer is again Nigeria.
It is my belief that U.S. foreign policy advisers are
now viewing South Africa as an extremely risky op
eration. Vorster has revealed himself to be inflexible
in the face of insurmountable odds. His nationalism
runs counter to the interests of the multi-national
corporations which dominate his economy. As the
major protector of these interests, the U.S. govern
ment must at some point abandon Vorster, but this
can only occur after it has gained the confidence of
Vorster’s major opponents. Nigeria, as by far the
most populous and prosperous of the Black African
nations, is pivotal to this strategy. Cuba, fresh from its
army’s triumphs in both Angola and Ethiopia, repres
sents the major Marxist threat to the U.S. protected
capitalist hegemony over the most of the continent.
By appearing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the
Patriotic Front, the U.S. government is simultane
ously establishing credibility with Nigeria and other
Black African Nations and serving further notice to
Vorster that if he wants to maintain his racist empire
he had better come up with a form of exploitation that
is more in keeping with 20th Century capitalist de
corum.
It is difficult for most Americans properly to ana
lyze the situation in Southern Africa, since the
mass media is dominated by the perspective of the
present Administration. I would therefore urge all
those interested in obtaining a more balanced view to
attend a lecture by Calistus Ndlovu, the U.N. rep
resentative for the Patriotic Front of Zimbabwe. He
will be speaking today at 1 p.m. in 221 Allen Hall (the
journalism building). Admission is free.
f
opinion
Equal bloodbaths
in Mid-East
Submitted by Cliff Lamm
Junior, Sociology
During any political struggle it is difficult to find an objective
portrayal of historical fact. This condition fosters certain misrep
resentations of history which are then used to promote political
aims. The recent opinion appearing in the Emerald “U S. media
distort truth of Israeli terrorism” is a case in point. Perhaps, it is
guilty of the same bias through which it denounced the U S.
media. The prevailing tactic used was to present historical occur
ances or movements out of context.
For example, the Deir Yassin massacre was indeed hor
rendous. However, the Irgun, a Jewish terrorist group, was re
sponsible whereas the Jewish Agency and Jewish population
large denounced that act. In fact, the Jewish Agency continually
sought the elimination of the Irgun, which it achieved in 1948. To
attribute Deir Yassin to Zionists at large is an injustice. Further
more, both the Arabs and the Jews have commited bloodbaths of
equal magnitude. I beg the author to remember the massacre on
Mount Scopus killing hospital personnel, the 39 Jewish workers
killed in the Haifa oil refinery and the sniping in 1948 that claimed
an average of 50 Jews a week whether military or civilian.
The author also stated that "the Zionists have forcefully
evicted the Palestians from their homes." However, since 1947 a
gradual exodus of the wealthy Palestinians has been underway to
wait until "the Jews are swept into the sea." the Absence of these
local notables left the remaining Arabs without many potential
leaders and at the mercy of anxiety and fear. This is evident in the
Jewish takeover of Haifa in 1947. 60,000 Arabs fled Haifa after
the surrender though they had apparently nothing to fear. In fact,
the Jews did everything they could to prevent the Arabs from
leaving which was confirmed by the British District Superinten
dent of Police.
Israeli aggression must be understood in the context of the
Arab’s war of attrition. Beginning in August 1929 with a series of
riots and demonstrations against Jews which resulted in 472
Jewish and 268 Arab deaths up to the recent attack on a Jewish
sightseeing bus north of Tel Aviv, the Arabs have constantly
harassed Israel. Supplied and trained by such Arab countries as
Egypt and Syria, the Palestinians have continued guerrilla ac
tivities along the borders. In 1950, Egypt closed the Suez Canal to
Israeli shipping. Also in that same time, the Gulf of Aquaba,
Israel’s only other route to Asia, was blocked to all shipping. In
1950, the Arab League officially drew up a formal boycott to
prohibit any form of cooperation between the Arab states and
Israel including trade, shipping and cultural relations. In the face
of economic crisis and constant deaths during guerilla attacks
Israel was in a state of siege. Its very existence was threatened.
These kinds of policies have led to Israeli retaliatory raids.
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