Thursday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
“Peace In Our Time?”
Don’t Count On It
CAPTAIN
SENSIBLE
PAT PAYNE
It has been nine years since a
coalition of nations, led by the
United States and Britain, laid
low an Iraqi army that had in
vaded Kuwait. It has been at least
eight years since sanctions were
placed on Iraq because of Saddam
Hussein’s intransigence concern
ing the fulfillment of the terms of
an armistice. Hussein has repeat
edly prevented authorities from
doing their jobs. Yet, there is no
rush to resume the war or at least
tighten Hussein’s leash. No, we
can’t do that — he’s got oil. And
France, Russia and other coalition
members see profit in lifting the
sanctions and gaining oil conces
sions from the Hussein regime.
The last few months have
seen increasing pressure to lift
the sanctions from nations
that stand to benefit from
trade with Iraq. In fact,
France and Russia feel
so strongly about lifting
the embargo that they
have been flying sup
plies to Iraq without
United Nations ap
proval. Even in
the United
States, think
tanks like the
American Enter
prise Institute are en
couraging us to ap
pease Hussein a little,
so that he’ll give a little
back.
We would be foolish to
lift the sanctions. To do so
may invite war. World leaders of
Hussein’s temperament don’t play
games of compromise. Do you re
ally think that by letting him back
ipto the world community and
giving him what he wants, he’ll
behave? Well then, let’s do the
time warp again.
In September of 1938, leaders of
arguably the four most powerful
nations in Europe met in Mu
nich, Germany, to discuss ten
sions regarding the Sudeten
region of Czechoslovakia.
Neville Chamberlain, then
the British Prime Minister,
and his French opposite
number, Edouard Dal
adier, both of whom
were anxious to avoid a
general European war,
decided to give Hitler
the region. They
fervently hoped
that the Sude
tenland
would be
Hitler’s last
territorial de
mand. Chamberlain
crowed that the world had
achieved “peace in our time.”
Only six months later, German
troops marched into Prague, total
ly dismembering Czechoslovakia.
Chamberlain’s peace would last
less than one year. On September
1,1939, German armies invaded
Poland. Had Britain
and France acted to quash
Germany’s ambitions in 1935
when Hitler broke the Versailles
Treaty, or in 1937 with the annex
ation of Austria, or even as late as
1938, history would have been
quite different.
Ah, what could have been. But
by giving Hitler a little in hopes of
avoiding battle, what we got was a
worse conflict. And appeasement
forever entered the lexicon as a
code word for kowtowing to a dic
tator’s demands for fear of war or
for hope of profits.
And, again,
we’re back to appease
ment. Hussein is a new Hitler,
writ somewhat smaller. After the
Gulf War, Iraq signed an armistice
which forced it to give up its nu
clear, biological and chemical
weapons capabilities. Hussein re
fused access to United Nations in
spectors sent to check on Iraq’s
weaponry and shuffled the stock
piles around the country. This
was a blatant violation of the
armistice agreement, and the U.N.
reacted by imposing economic
sanctions on the country.
I know there are those of you
who would argue, and rightfully
so, that Hussein is being harmed
very little by the embargo, and
that it is the citizenry who must
take the brunt of the hardship.
However, there is little else that
Bryan Dixon Emerald
we can do other than form anoth
er coalition and invade Iraq to
force Hussein to destroy his
weapons.
The thing that we cannot do, as
cruel as it is to say, is lift the sanc
tions. We can bring in medical
supplies for the people, but we
can’t allow another dinar to enter
Hussein’s coffers until he decides
to follow the agreement he signed.
Lifting the sanctions, removing
the U.N. inspectors and hoping
Hussein will behave is the same
kind of bury-your-head-in-the
sand thinking Chamberlain dis
played.
When dealing with tyrants,
“peace in our time” isn’t. The
world should have learned that af
ter Hitler.
Pat Payne is a columnist for the Oregon
Daily Emerald. His views do not necessari
ly represent those of the Emerald. He can
be reached at Macross_SD@hotmail.com.
Bringing back the Bicycle Taxi would benefit us all
Guest Commentary
Ben
Andrews
Fun, free, environmentally
responsible'transportation
for all. Sounds pretty
good, eh? For the last two
and a half years, the Bicycle Taxi
provided just that kind of service
to the University community.
After the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics, David Niles, a bicycle
enthusiast, brought the program
to the University. He came to Eu
gene because he saw the impor
tance of bicycles to this city, and
he wanted to make responsible
transportation even more accessi
ble. The Department of Public
Safety (OPS at that time) adminis
trates transportation issues on
campus, and thus David Niles’ Bi
cycle Taxi program was placed
under its jurisdiction.
At the end of spring term 2000,
David Niles left OPS, and since
then, the Bicycle Taxi has been
unable to provide a valuable and
needed transportation alternative
to students. The taxi benefits all
members of the University.
Last year, students who need to
be picked up from the Greyhound
or Amtrak stations could call Bi
cycle Taxi and have a ride within
15 minutes. The taxi provided an
alternative to the other university
transportation services, such as
DDS and Saferide. When Bicycle
Taxi was operating, students who
were not intoxicated vet tempted
to call DDS for a ride home could
choose to call the taxi. Students
w:ho wpuld opt to call Sa'fefijip \
also had an alternative in the Bi
cycle Taxi. Because the use of
these two valuable programs is ex
tensive and there can often be a
wait before pick-up, many stu
dents came to rely upon the Bicy
cle Taxi for their evening com
mutes.
Perhaps the most important as
pect of the Bicycle Taxi program
was that it provided service dur
ing the day. This daytime service
was primarily for injured or dis
abled students who had difficulty
making it on time from one class
to the next. The taxi was the only
program that could assist these
students. Now, without the pro
gram, injured and disabled stu
dents have little or no assistance
to and from their classes and
homes.
The most attractive part of rein
stating the Bicycle Taxi program is
that the University already has the
pedicab. The pedicab, last year’s
most visible piece of the program,
is the big, yellow super-tricycle
that transported small groups of
students all over Eugene. Many
students enjoyed riding the pedi
cab, which was easier to ride than
a tandem or triplet bicycle and
was thought by more than few to
resemble a romantic carriage.
When former Bicycle Taxi em
ployees and riders learned that
the program would no longer be
running, an effort was started to
bring the program back. The Bicy
cle Taxi Advocates have been
meeting regularly to re-establish
the taxi. Now we are asking for
your support. On Thursday and
Friday, Nov. 16 and 17, we will be
tabling in the EMU Amphitheater.
At this time, we will have a state
ment of support available for you
to sign.
Only with your support can we
convince the department that
owns the pedicab of the impor
tance of the Bicycle Taxi to the
University community. Let’s make
sure that the pedicab is used for
its intended purpose: providing
fun, free, environmentally respon
sible transportation to all.
Ben Andrews is a geology student and a
member of Bicycle Taxi Advocates.
CORRECTION
Junior fencing club member Jason
Washburn was misidentified in an
article on club sports [“Hockey
skates by Idaho with ease," ODE,
Nov. 15]. The Emerald regrets the
error.