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EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ryan Frank
EDITORIAL EDITORS
Kameron Cole
Stefanie Knowlton
question never
New policy
outlined on
the eve of
air strikes
on Iraq does
nothing to
solve the
problem in
the middle
east
‘ednesday, De
cember 16,1998
Clinton surprised
the American
people with a speech that many
believe was long overdue ,no
not the apology, but a speech
outlining a policy of action
against Iraq.
The first phase of the policy,
already underway at that point,
entailed U.S. and British forces
to preform air strikes over Iraq.
This part of the policy was de
signed to degrade Iraq’s
weapons capability and force
them to comply with the UN
weapons inspection agreement.
Although the strikes may
have destroyed some of Sad
dam’s weapons capabilities,
they did not insure that he
would stop production in the
future.
In fact UN inspectors are
now forbidden entrance into
Iraq, thus halting any further
weapons inspections.
Therefore, the first phase of
the new policy has done noth
ing and may have made the sit
uation in the middle east
worse.
Several Arab countries are
outraged at the United States
for taking military action with
out consulting the UN and they
plan to meet with Iraqi officials
to discuss the situation.
Another phase of the policy
calls for military action if Sad
dam takes threatening actions
“such as trying to reconstitute
his weapons of mass destruc
tion or their delivery systems,
(now without the UN inspec
tions team in Iraq, we have no
access to that information)
threatening his neighbors, chal
lenging allied aircraft over Iraq
(which he has already done yet,
other than return fire, we have
done nothing in response) or
moving against his own Kur
dish citizens.”
Clinton also cites that “the
best way to end the threat once
and for all is with a new Iraqi
government." However in
sightful that comment may
be, he does not offer how
this will be accomplished.
The tone of the policy out
lined is also surprising when
you consider that the strug
gle over Iraqi weapons in
spections began more
than seven years ago ,
and Saddam Hussein has
never fully complied with
the UN’s demands.
It was just recently that
this struggle caught the
public’s attention again when
President Clinton threatened
military action, only to back
down at the last minute in No
vember. Although he did so
under the premise of giving
just one more chance, no one
really believed Saddam
would comply.
Therefore, one has to won
der why he postponed an in
evitable military encounter un
til just days before the
impeachment vote when Sad
dam had not complied for a
good six weeks prior to that
date.
Overall, the new policy is
everything but. The solutions
offered serve as little more than
Band-Aids to
the Iraq situa
tion. Once
UN inspec
tors are let
back into Iraq
the cycle
will be
gin
again. That would actually the
better scenario. However un
likely, Iraq may be able to rally
support in the middle east and
take action against the US in
the future.
It is hard to dismiss this pos
sibility when the United States
in planning to increase the mil
Giovanni Sahrmnuv'Emerala
itary budget by nearly fifty per
cent over the next four years.
What are we preparing for?
This editorial represents the opin
ion of the Emerald editorial
board. Responses may be sent to
ode@oregon. uoregon. edu.
Letters to the Editor
No-fault is no good
When the Republican-led confer
ence reconvenes in January, again on
its agenda will be a bill which would
impose national “no-fault” insurance,
which the insurance industry claims
will foster competition and lower the
cost of automobile insurance. In truth,
the so-called “Auto-Choice Reform
Act” won’t result in lower premiums
and will instead benefit insurance
companies at the expense of con
sumers.
Under the proposed legislative
scheme, many injured people would
lose the right to seek compensation
from the party at fault and drivers
who negligently or even recklessly
cause accidents will be immune from
responsibility for the harm they
cause. This is nothing more than the
tired and unfair concept of no-fault
insurance, which has been repeated
ly rejected by most states since the
idea first appeared in the 1970s.
Nothing in the proposed legislation
would require insurance companies
to reduce premiums for anyone. The
truth is that of the ten states with the
most expensive automobile insur
ance, eight have no-fault insurance.
When Connecticut repealed its no
fault law in 1994, insurance rates ac
tually dropped 9.7 percent the first
year after the repeal went into effect,
in Georgia, a 6 percent drop was seen.
No-fault insurance does not fairly
compensate seriously injured people
and does not hold wrong-doers ac
countable. It appears that while the
Republicans pushing this idea in Con
gress are enamored with the concept
of personal responsibility on such is
sues as help for the poor or criminal
behavior, it abandons the concept
when requested by their friends in the
insurance industry.
Scott C. Lucas
Eugene
Truth in politics
To promote truth in advertising and
product labeling, why don’t Republi
cans in the U.S. House of Reprobates
swap Henry Hyde for Hugh Hefner
and trade Bob Livingston for Larry
Flynt.
Ron Black
Eugene
influence questionable
Either Duncan McDonald is re
markably naive, or he believes that
the rest of us lack wit. Contrary to his
statement that “people contribute to
the University and ask for little in re
turn” (ODE Dec. 3, 1998), 1 believe
most people are aware that hard
CORRECTION
The Jan. 4 News brief "Consolidated stu
dent loan deadline Jan. 31" should have
given the URL: http://www.ed.gov/Di
rectLoan/consolid2.html.
The Jan. 4 article “ASUO recognizes
headed business folk rarely fork over
substantial amounts of their hard
stolen lucre without some kind of
quid pro quo guarantee-the billions
spent on advertising is a good exam
ple.
And while it may be incorrect to
automatically assume that corporate
donations to universities buy undue
influence in curriculum and research,
considering the affect that large con
tributors have on the political
process, honest suspicion of the prac
tice in academia is hardly “paranoid
and idiotic as Dr. McDonald so gen
tly puts it.
BillSmee
__ University Staff
brewery club" should have read: “If the
brewery club is approved by the ASUO
Executive and the Student Senate, it will
receive status, that enables the club to
receive future funding from the Pro
grams Finance Committee."
The Emerald regrets these errors.
Thumbs
TO REMEMBER
ING THE TRUE
SPIRIT OF TOE
HOUDAYS:
Last month, South
Eugene High
School students
raised enough
money to fund a
Christmas party
with presents and
all for local home
less children.
TO A SAFER EU
GENE:
Police reports indi
cate that robberies
are down from 314
occurrences in
1997 to 247 in
1998. Police cite
measure 11 .which
increased a con
victed robbers sen
tence, as a major
ing contributing
factor for the de
crease.
TO MORE
WAR TOYS:
President Clinton
proposed a $100
billion increase to
the $25ibillion de
fense budget The
proposed increase
would be the great
est hike in military
spending since the
cold war. Citing that
the increase would
be a way to main
tain America's sta
tus “as the world’s
most powerful
fighting force” Clin
ton believes this in
crease in neces
sary.
TO TREATING
ADULTS LIKE
CHILDREN:
A recent article in
the Statesman
Journal claims that
under-age-college
students should be
suspended when
caught with alco
hol. Although curb
ing under-age
drinking is a good
cause, the pro
posed method is
ridiculous.