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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1991)
EDITORIAL If it worked in ’66, why not try it now? What’s good for the noose isn't always good for the gander That seems to be the case for Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, who has been very vocal in his opposi- i tion to the so-called "Gulf Orphans” bills that have been introduced in Congress. The proposed legisla tion. which was defeated in the Senate, would ask the Pentagon to reassign single parents and military cou ples with children who have been deployed to the Per sian Gulf. Cheney opposed the legislation on grounds it would discriminate against women and peo ple with dependents of a certain age. Me said it posed problems with the deployment abilities of the forces and added that everyone who joined the military' knew they might be put in harm's way These are very tough and patriotic words for a man who sought and re bn »*«-(►* «it kvfw'd C tvwn ceived determent Irom the Vietnam draft. In 19t>t> Cheney, then a father of young children, avoided the draft because he believed his children should have both parents at home But 25 years later he has no problem sending single parents, or couples with children, to fight in the desert. He neatly justifies his stance because they "volunteered" for the service while he was simply saying no to a draft. If Cheney believes "the battle for freedom" is worth allowing both of a child's parents to die in war. why didn't he volunteer to fight for his country in Vietnam. In 1966 he felt it was more important to keep his family together than to serve. In 1966 Cheney, then a father of young children, avoided the draft because he believed his children should have both parents at home. His actions of hilt! indicate lie believes tho con cerns of the country come Indore tli.it of family It ap pears his beliefs about the important e of family have changed now that he is not personally involved. The point lost on men who only see people as "units” to he deployed, is that the children who could lose their parents in the gulf did not volunteer for the service They did not join the military to make a living or pav tor college as their parents tin) Those children have the right to grow up with their parents And if the United States has one ounce of compassion left in its bureaucratic veins it should he doing everything in its power to make sure .it least one parent is left out of harm's way. The Defense Department's argument that the legis lation discriminates against women is a smokost reeii Women's rights have never been high on the Penta gon’s priority list It employs equal rights as a concern in this case because it doesn't want to lose part of its fighting force. Compassion lias never Ijeen •> common characteris tic within the military. Part of its job is to dehumanize the enemy, and the forces it commands, but in this case the lack of compassion is glaringly visible. In Pennsylvania, two women in the reserves were called up days before giving birth. In one case the woman was given 15 days to report to duty. In the case of 19-year-old t^arolynne Zales, she was given 10 days to report. Zales's husband has been serving in the gulf since August. When Zales called to say there had been some kind of mistake, she was told there were about 250 cases just like hers. At the moment there are 70.000 couples with chil dren and 67.000 single parents serving in the gulf. Can a country that touts itself as being the leader of “A new world order" of peace-loving, civilized nations realty commit acts so lacking of compassion. military in^EttW^ENCfc Saopam ^ oU VEAH ? Whi. S^vArt Hi'Ssav om v7i $VttL5 HE- 5 V11 LED . A3 MAWY W\ARItfE5 AS WE. WAV£ f J HOW MANV WOMEN AN'1 CHILDREN! ^ .DPAMW How Saddam t tuasEiM WtitN NVli.l SHS ■"U WAR ( DRAFT E MD » Military iMTt V.UCENCE APLSmm m UVV\ONvi f 0 LETTERS Promised land There were people in Canaan long Indore Moses, while in the i enturies between the Islamic conquests and the late lHtHls lews had most definitely be come a minority in the land, therefore the basis of the He brew's t laim to the place is no greater than anyone else's. To maintain otherwise is to do so on grounds that are strict ly religious and traditional the "promised land" concept The rest of the world is not obliged to accept this idea. Hal four Declaration and United Nations resolutions not with standing Yet Zionists seem deter mined to grab and hold that bit of desert and st rub for their own exclusive use, to right eously dominate it even at the expense of other nations and peoples t‘Ven at the risk tif World War III Isn't tt ironic that a group that has suffered so muc h at the hands ot rabid nationalists has taken that same tragit road it self rather than realize that clannishness of all kinds the us and them perspective is the root i ause ot so manv of the world's gravest ills7 And isn't it sad that someone like Phil Ztn kerman [l)l)F. (an J4I can point out the hvpocris ies ot a Saddam Hussein or a Hush, but ignore those of a Sha mir. whose idea of justice is to answer stones with automatic weapons. to bulldoze the homes of "suspected" terror ists. and to deny gas masks to someone solely on the Iwsis of their ethnic bai kground' Bill Smee Eugene Regressive tax? II vviis very disappointing to see .1 recent editorial (ODE. Feb 13) flatly state "A sales tax on non-essential items would l>e an equitable tax sys tem Where’s the proof? Sales tax es are regressive taxes because everyone is taxed at the same rate despite an ever widening disparity in ability to pay. Cam trasted with progressive taxa tion which requires that people with higher income pay a pro portionately higher percentage, regressive taxation is plainly another wav for rich people to live off the bar ks of the work ing i lass With all the t rises inherent to (apitalisin (recession, poverty, pollution. unemployment 1 present. Oregon's ruling class is blackmailing the people by saying in effet t "U e‘ll deprive the working people of health care, education, sot ial servic es and various other means until they give in ami accept a sales tax This shouldn't surprise any one because ail ruling ( lasses do whatever they must to res cue capitalism, a system that w ill eventually devour itself I sing Marxism's print iple of "Hat h according to need, each at t ending to abihtv " we of the working (lass <an challenge capitalism's doctrine ol "The many of unmet need, for the few by force of greed By refusing to lie blat k mailed we tan fight class oppression b\ opposing a sales tax in ()re v"ii If the I'mcrulcl purports to defend the common good it cannot at the same time en dorse a sales tax Kevin Mornbuckle Kugene Annoying Man In response to the malicious article by Pat Malach [ODE. l eb 13) that generalizes and displays a lack of truth regard ing the Persian Gulf War. Your reference to the gulf as the Gulf theater" is vulgar and in had taste So it's an entertain ing show to you. Malach. I fail to share your crude humor. "The bureaucrats wanted to shell out a few lives to get the war rolling ..." So. our demo cratically elected politicians want to kill Americans? Another fallacy in your arti cle. I quote: "There is a lot to be said for compromise. If giv ing Saddam Hussein one small concession so he could retain his dignity could prevent so much destruction. Why not give it a chance? At least talk to the man before you begin to de stroy his country and its peo ple." I question your simple an swer to this complicated prob lem Have we not offered Hus sein many opportunities to re deem himself? We have done all we can to reason with him and nothing has worked finally, by throwing disre spectful comments and not giv ing credit to our president you appear to be having a frenzied "tantrum " Bush did experi ence the hostile environment of World War II and came home a hero. Nlalach, obviously you've been influenced by Saturday Night Live. As they mimii Bush by using "prudent" in a comical, fictitious context you also mimii Bush by saving "throwing a war tantrum is the only prudent alternative for getting his was " Well I would like to mimii you as being Mr Annoying Man. from Saturday Night Live a man who al ways seems to step out of his bounds. Hr\i e Mil hael Lane I’re-Business Administration Bad habit I) smokers lire allowed to practice their disgusting self indulgent behavior in the KMU, what of those men recently caught masturbating in the knight Library and Condon Hall? Shouldn't they also lie given a place in the EMU where they might indulge? Why should smokers be given preferential treatment when dealing with people with obnoxious public habits? I. along with most people, would find public masturbating offensive — but is it any more offensive than unhealthy, sec ond-hand smoke which, re gardless of the degree of venti lation. always seems to waft its way into the clothes and lungs of those nearby? No smoking in the EMU. William Pfau Biology