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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 1990)
Editorial Surprise in Panama may lead to others Like most Americans, we wore surprised by the Hush Administration's decision to invade Panama and remove strongman loader Manuel Noriega by force last Dec: 20. And. probably like; most Kugeniuns (being the good liberal folks ihev are), we wore initially cynical about this latest exercise of I I S. military machoism. Hut this is the* lirst chance: we've had to let our opinion la: known on the invasion and the' benefit of three weeks ol hindsight has tempered somewhat oiii initial misgivings about Operation lust Clause (though that stupid, jingoistic title* still smac ks of out dated Manifest Heston imperialism to our minds) I his tempering is due to the lac.I that while we wen* surprised In the invasion we’ve been more sur piiseel l>\ events that have tinlidded since then At first, we subscribed, unalrashedlv. In nor favorite con spiral.\ theories Pin: Hush Administration didn’t real lv want to bring \oiiega to 111st ic <• \s a lormer ( l.\ lii*ad. Hush would nevei risk exposing publii Iv embar rassing intelligenc e* lies that put \otiega in power and fueled the di ug ec ononn Despite tin* tough posturing. I he ad mini.st i at ion would t til a deal with Noriega \nd at first it all looked that wav Noriega s dec laralion of w.ti was too eas\ an opportunity for the 1 oiled Stales The deaths ol American mi lit.u\ person nel bv I’anamanian thugs seemed too convenient \nd then the invasion itself Some 2(1.00(1 troops lolled in but appaientlv before sending in a team ol 20 Hangers to locate the large! dic tator Noriega disap peared but showed up at a papal nunc m that had been left unguarded despite the nuncios past history ot tree refuge (a recent fusion too the opposition i an didales thill won Panama's elections last Mav were sheltered there from Noriega's Digmtv battalions) It looked like Noriega would get shipped oil to a third countrv out ot Panama but safelv out ot Hush’s hail. It all seemed too convenient, too arranged riicn ilii* suiprising thing happened. Hush held to his tough talk of captuiing Noriega and bringing him to the I'oiled States The administration appears ready to withstand a long, embarrassing tried Wait a minute! The Hush Administration doing what it said it would? Our verv worst fear happened, in that our other fears didn't The worst i ast: scenario didn't materialize. ( )! course, things «m*n t mushed yet I m* misn /\u mimsti.iti<tn slill m.iy settle; for .1 plea bargain deal with Noriega. And Id's be careful to reassess i.rafty ol' (.forge just vet The nuncio bishop's recently released diarv shows Hush was willing to send Noriega to a wealthy exile in the Dominic an Republic but the tlic tatoi ironically refused, fearing Panamanian assassins The invasion stands as an unc haracteristically hold move by Hush, who must have agonized over sending troops out just before Christmas If Noriega had gotten away nr if more soldiers had come home in body hags, the political damage would have been immense In stead. Hush is riding an all-time popularity < urve high Still, the apparent turn of events from the sc ript we expix led makes us hesitant to comment until things are settled Was the invasion worth it:’ Was it .1 vie lory in the larger ’ War on Drugs"? Was it a blow tor re gional self-determination? Our gut reac tion is to "just sav no" in answer, but history will have the final s.n These items we arc* decided on: W e hope the Hush Administration isn't so emboldened by the apparent success of Operation )us! (anise to consider American military intervention in this hemisphere* as .1 good al ternative’ to diplomacy The outrage ol the Organiza tion nl American Slates demonstrates the damage to Americ an interests in the region Administration officials say they have not revived the- Monroe Den trine1 and that they won t use the ex cuse of rigged elec lions in Nicaragua to invade there Hut Hush lias ordered the Navv to begin .1 1 ampaigi) ot drug interdiction oil the coast ol Columbia to that country's dismay. and to ours. We don't want a new "Hnsli Doctrine." To that end. we tall lor the tpcii k withdrawal of IPS. troops Irom Panama Their military mission is complete I 'nfnrtunalelv t S involvement in Panama is prohahlv just beginning After the military ac tion, we now have the expensive task ol lehuilding Panama So mm h lor the independent e ol the new Panamanian government, which is living hard lint to appear as a gringo puppet, as Noriega used to he Things look to lie on the iip-aud-up. hut we still wondei what strings are being pulled elsew Iteie C/A S"iup -Letters Save your bike W hili' 1 nisersils students bicker with OPS .mil KIM) ovet thi* cm rsMH* issue ot i itations .1 iiiiii h larger problem is not getting its share of attention Ihousanils ul dollars umlli ill bustles and hike parts are stuleii Iruiii (lie I 'mversitv i am pus eai h week Surprisingls enough a lul ul these thefts have hi i lined in tiroad das light II is inteasihle tin publii safe Is and piilue olficers hi watc h ever\ hike rack cnnsluntlv loi signs nl theft so it s time that students administration and puhln safets ssnrk together to solse the problem There are mans students that rels on Ini st les .is their main form ol transportation. Hut suite the numlier nl hike llielts has ini leased more students are afraid to ride to i ainpus and are svulking, ruling the bus. eti These students should not have to live ssith the fear tli.it their hikes might lie stolen it (lies lot k up on rumpus Mans students would !>c ss tiling to pas money (say $'■ a teim| to he able to loi k their hikes ill a safe area II Hit) pen jile svere interested, that ssould give tin* t'niversits $1500 a term In maintain a supervised hike garage" where students t.ould lot k their hikes ssith an assuratlt e that tiles ssould he safe Thieves would lie di.scour aged, and these students ss ho list* in tear i nulil ride to i am pus out e again This plan is only one idea, and I entourage people ssith ideas of their ossn to come lor ward Hut for runs protect your investment at all times The hike you save mas be your oss n Adam Smith Eugene Ban them This letter constitutes a i all for .1 boyt ott of the band i ailed the rhern I’oppitT Daddies, and any < lub \tlio hires them or allows them to play on the premises The name of the group insin ii.lies llir approv.il ol. an on couragernent of. at the very least an ai i eplance of the fre quent and horrifving truth that is the rape ol voting girls b\ then lathers The hand i aused an uproar last year with its choice ol name capitulated to puhlii pressure and i hanged it The\ 're bar k this \ ear. and ap parentlv haven't learned that \\e wont stand for it Did they think we wouldn't notice? Surr\ it’s an issue, a problem. that hasn't been sol\ ed It s time to stop this sexual violence against women and t hildren No. vou wouldn't rape anyone, so show vour out rage .it those u ho do by stn\ mg awa\ when these bos s |ila\ Apparently, they want noto riety Fine Let's just not give them any more money for their lack ol respect, lark of under standing and lar k of memorv Kate Mar.Queen hugene Coercion The proposed mandatory ASI'O health insurance re i|uirement lor the 19911-9 1 at a demii year is an outrage It smacks ol "central planning" ol the very sort that has bank rupted economies of commu nist nations the inefficien i ies and inequities of which hundreds of thousands of peo ple in I astern Furope are daily rising up against in a i horns of protest I he student bureauc rats in the ASl'O either presume to know what's best for <<11 stu dents or they realize that forc ing students to purchase a product they neither want nor need is wrong and unfair, hut justify it with the rationale that some students w ill benefit even if others .ire penalized In the wake of rising costs and eroding benefits in the ASl'O plan, many students have shopped around com pared available health plans and pure based other coverage These students decided the ASl'() plan was inferior to their alternatives Many younger students are covered through their family h(*alth insurance plans 1 un derstand the ASI'O i mild ntlet a better plan it all students were Ion ed to purchase it. lull it these lower rates are ai hiev able only bv coen ion it simply isn't fair The benefits are mi i ertain. and not worth the sac i iln e of our individual freedom ol i hoice II the AM () could formulate a plan that could stand on its merits, students would bin it v\ ithout coon ion Hut the trai k ret ord is not encouraging I’ei haps the honest answer to the i urrenl quagmire is simply that the ASI'O should not be in the health insurance business at all. Peter Mark Computer Scienc e No martyrs In response to the letter •Darn'' (O/JK. Dec 8). I must ask Did not Hitler. Capone and a host ol others die tor a c ause their cause? Since when does dying lor a cause make you someone great7 Also if anyone would like to read one of those "Unmasking Planned Parenthood" papers see me They came complete with reference's to Margaret Sanger's own writings, whic h are supposed to be in the knight Library Bob Weigel l.ab Tec:h Research I would like to publicly note <i mistake which was made in the latest issue of The Student Insurgent. Although 1 agree wholeheart edly with the viewpoints ex pressed in the article on Stu dents for Choice and Rep rod u< live freedom. 1 feel that it is necessary to point out that 1 am not the author of the art it le Some of the ideas are mine, but 1 did not write the article I merely researched it Rene DeCair Pre-lournalism
