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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
KameronCole
Stefanie Knowlton
VmclEj
Mot AgnU
Bill!
Gun mini Sahmerui'Emerald
Do the ends
the means?
As the U.N.
discusses
taking
action
against
Iraq,
nations
need to
realize that
air strikes
will do little
to change
the situation
in the Gulf
As 21,500 troops make
their way to the Gulf
to join the 23,500 oth
ers already posi
tioned to take action against
Iraq, war may be inevitable.
Frustrated by Iraq’s non
compliance with the U.N.'s
weapons inspection team, the
United States refuses to be
swayed by last minute letters
promising the long sought com
pliance. It is difficult to fight
the feeling of deja vu that one
gets when hearing the play-by
play.
The United Nations, tells
Iraq they have to comply. Iraq
says yes, but when it comes
time to produce the goods, it
quickly changes its mind. The
United States demands compli
ance and threatens military ac
tion. France and Russia ex
claim, “Let’s try diplomacy,”
and the cycle begins again.
This time, however, threats
appear genuine, and there is
mounting support from allies
for military action. The prob
lem is what do we, the United
Nations of the world, plan to
accomplish by a military at
tack?
If the goal is to teach Saddam
Hussein the lesson that we are
not to be trifled with, that is a
tough sell considering that he
refused to get the point last
time we took military action. It
is clear that Saddam has little
respect for the U.N. when he
continuously ignores its de
mands.
Therefore, it is doubtful that
air strikes will suddenly per
suade Saddam to see the light
and have a new-found respect
for the power of the United Na
tions. In addition, the air
strikes and the sanctions that
continue to make thousands of
Iraqis suffer, will lead the Iraqis
to blame the United Nations for
their situation. This would
only validate in their eyes any
measure Saddam chooses to
take against the United Na
tions.
If, however, the point is to
destroy their weapons capabili
ty, and the U.N. is just using the
inspection as an excuse to do it,
then what would stop Saddam
from amassing weapons after
these have been destroyed?
Do we plan to conduct air
strikes every five years or so to
prevent Saddam from building
weapons of mass destruction?
But why are we so afraid of
Saddam’s weapons capability?
For one, we are afraid he will
actually use them. But would
n’t continuous air strikes fuel
the fire we are trying to stop by
giving him a reason to use these
weapons? It could almost be ar
gued self-defense in such a cir
cumstance.
The air strikes could also be
promoted by the fact that we
have repeatedly threatened
military force but yet fail to do
so. The United States’ reputa
tion is on the line. Hussein, in
addition to others, may start to
question the validity of threats
made by the United States and
the United Nations.
Maybe the point of the air
strikes is to accidentally hit
Hussein in one of these air
strikes. If this is the point, we
have been incredibly unlucky
so far. It might be because Hus
sein is rumored to hide in civil
ian houses during air strikes in
fear of becoming a target.
With the money the Pentagon
invests in weapons research,
surely we could come up with a
Hussein seeking missile. This
cannot possibly be the mission
of the air strikes because our
government does not like to be
so overt about such operations.
When weighing reasons for
the strikes, one question contin
ues to come to mind: Do the
ends justify the means? The end
result of air strikes will be the
loss of innocent lives and a tem
porary reduction in the
weapons capabilities of Iraq.
Saddam will undoubtedly
build up his weapons again.
And Hussein's non-compliance
after the Gulf War reminds us
that this situation will not be re
solved with air strikes.
This editorial represents the opin
ion of the Emerald editorial
board Responses may he sent to
ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Letters to the Editor
Good news goes uncovered
There was certainly no shortage of
news coverage on the recent campus
Halioween violence and irresponsible
behavior of a very few students. And
in the aftermath many letters to the
editor were published condemning
this incident and those involved. Yet,
isn't it interesting that on the same
Halloween night Sigma Nu Fraternity
was engaged in a fund-raising event
for the benefit of at-risk kids in our
community? And not a bit of new cov
erage was dedicated to this event, nor
were there follow-up letters to the edi
tor for weeks afterward. So, for the
record, student members of Sigma Nu
put in a great deal of effort and many
hours of planning and gathering sup
port from local businesses fora haunt
ed house fund-raiser. They decorated
and staffed the first annual Sigma Nu
Fraternity Halloween haunted house.
As a result of their efforts, more than
$500 was raised for the benefit of the
Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
I know that good news doesn’t sell,
but 1 do know that many less fortunate
kids in our community are very grate
ful. And on their behalf, 1 say thank
you to these and many other Univer
sity of Oregon students.
Tom Diamantine
Program Coordinator
of Big Brothers Big Sisters
Radio column rocks
I thought this article (“Eugene radio
is hardly music to the ears” ODE, Nov.
6) was excellent. I work in a chemistry1
lab, and my co-workers and I listen to
the radio almost constantly. There
have been many times when we
wished Chia would be replaced by,
well, anyone. KNRQ is the only radio
station we can stand and only just
barely. Alas, we do not have enough
tapes and CDs to last the entire day.
The promos are not just stupid, they
are unbelievably, astronomically stu
pid. Being hired for an hour? How
ridiculous can they get? Not to men
tion the incredibly limited play list.
Mr. Bach did a good job of review
ing the qualities of our three undesir
able stations. I am sure he had to exer
cise restraint from rebuking them
more vehemently.
David B. Kimball
Graduate student in chemistry
Thumbs
TO STATE SENA
TOR LENN HAN
NON
In order to truly
understand the
struggles of the
poor, he is going
to live off food
stamps for one
month. He and his
wife will need to
make $15473 last
through the month
of November,
which of course
includes the
Thanksgiving holi
day.
TOKHELA
SINGER-AD AMS
For putting lots of
hard work and ef
fort into last
week’s child care
awareness week.
The non-tradition
ai student advo
cate organized
campus activities
that focused on
heightening the
awareness of the
demand for quality
childcare.
TO THE GROW
ING TREND OF
VIOLENCE
Stabbingsandthe
recent fatal shoot
ing of a Lisa Sue
Thom, a Lane
Community Col
lege student, leave
Eugene residents
to question the
safety of our city.
TO BLAMING THE
UNIVERSITY FOR
THERIOTS
In a recent report
on the damages
caused by the Hal
loween riots,
KVAL’s graphics
department decid
ed to place the
University's in
signia along with
pictures of the
damages.
CORRECTION
The article “Acting
troupe pokes fun
at piety" (ODE,
Nov. 12) should
have labeled the
troupe as WYM
PROV!
The Emerald re
grets the error.