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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online: www.dailyemerald.com
Friday, May 7, 2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
Future ASUO
president
confesses his
cigar habit
ASUO President-elect Adam Petkun and Vice President-elect Mena Ravas
sipour will take office May 25. Petkun, a junior political science major, sat
down with the Emerald for Quick Quacks — a short question-and-answer
session aimed at giving readers an expedient look at campus and community
members' thoughts.
Emerald: Why ASUO President?
Adam Petkun: Since I've been here, I've seen a lot of things that I think
could be better and a lot of things I would really like to get involved in,
and I wanted to make an impact.
Emerald: What three words best describe your plans as ASUO president?
QUICK
IACKS
Adam Petkun: Communication, vision and action.
Emerald: If you had one hour of free time per day, how would you
spend it?
Adam Petkun: I would probably spend it playing — next year it will
be NCAA Football 2005 — and right now it's NCAA Football 2004.
Emerald: First stop at the ASUO Street Faire?
Adam Petkun: For me, it's definitely — I for
get the official title — but it's the barbecue king,
i H That's my favorite one.
Emerald: Last movie you saw?
Adam Petkun: Actually, I'm kind of embar
rassed to say this, but last weekend I actually decided to indulge and
watch "Bad Boys II," which I was pleasantly surprised with.
Emerald: Who is your favorite elected official and why?
Adam Petkun: I'm a really big fan of (Oregon State Sen.) Floyd Prozan
ski, D-Eugene, just because he works really well with students, and he real
ly listens and he's really helpful, too. And kind of like a mentor as well.
Emerald: First impression of the University and how has it changed?
Adam Petkun: My first impression was that there wouldn't be very
much for me here and that I was going to become bored here, but I've
learned that there's so many different things that I can be involved with
and that would also be stimulating academically.
Emerald: Who would win in a fight: Mandrake or Donald?
Adam Petkun: I think Donald would have to win. I think Mandrake's
costume is outrageous and I think that it's really slick so I think he would
probably fall at some point and then Donald would win.
Emerald: One building in Eugene you would have demolished if
possible?
Adam Petkun: I would like to see improvements made to PLC. I'm
not going to lobby for it, but PLC is not my favorite building on cam
pus. I do enjoy — I really like the name though. Prince Lucien Camp
bell is a fantastic name.
Emerald: What was the best thing that happened to you this weekend?
Adam Petkun: The best thing that happened to me was that my ex
pectations for "Bad Boys II" were surpassed. I was expecting absolutely
nothing, and I actually enjoyed the movie.
Emerald: You were just given a yacht. What would you name it?
Adam Petkun: I would just name it the S.S.A.P. because my nickname
is A.P. and it would be kind of weird to have a yacht named the S.S.A.P.
because people would think it is an acronym, but it's not.
Emerald: What is your concept of a fruitful day?
Adam Petkun: For me, the concept of a fruitful day is waking up on
time, which I'm getting pretty good at, attending all my classes, and then
getting work done, not just sitting in front of a computer and thinking
about all the things I need to do, but actually getting things checked off
the list.
Emerald: What is the best reason to vote in an ASUO or other election?
Adam Petkun: I think the best reason to vote in any election is because
there are so many things that affect you, whether it be in the ASUO election
— something like housing standards for Eugene — really the housing stan
dards is a actually good example because it pervades every single level of of
fice ... Citywide offices are really important right now for working toward
housing standards for Eugene. There are so many things that are impor
tant to us, be it economically or socially or just in terms of our safety.
Emerald: What happens after graduation?
Adam Petkun: After graduation I take a breath, and then hopefully I
will relax for the summer and then maybe head off for law school, but
we'll see how the next year pans out.
Emerald: Finally, where can we find Adam Petkun on a Friday night?
Adam Petkun: I don't know. I do a lot of different things. I think often
you will find me behind my laptop reading newspapers — trying to
catch up on the news I missed during the week — but, at the same time,
sometimes, every once in a while, you will find me at Max's or you'll just
find me out, walking around town, maybe smoking a cigar.
CONDUCT UN-AMERICAN
Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba must
be having a rough couple of months.
By late February, he finished penning
some 53 pages of what was originally
intended to be an internal report sum
marizing the findings of an investiga
tion of conditions at U.S. military pris
ons in Iraq. The investigation,
commissioned by Lt. Gen. Ricardo
Sanchez (the senior commander in
Iraq), revealed a pattern of "sadistic,
blatant, and wanton criminal abuses"
— torture, both physical and psycho
logical — at the Abu Ghraib prison.
Hie torture disturbs all but the sick
est sensibilities and threatens to cloud
a military campaign that already suf
fers from strategic ambiguity and re
gional unpopularity.
The revolting and inhumane be
havior detailed included: "Breaking
chemical lights and pouring phos
phoric liquid on detainees, pouring
cold water on naked detainees; beat
ing detainees with a broom handle
and a chair; threatening male de
tainees with rape; allowing a military
police guard to stitch the wound of a
detainee who was injured after being
slammed against the wall in his cell;
(and) sodomizing a detainee with a
chemical light and perhaps a broom
stick."
Taguba's report fingered the 372nd
Military Police Company as chiefly re
sponsible for the abuse, the photos
and videos of which were sometimes
not included in the account because
of their "extremely sensitive nature."
In one of these offending photos, a
young private points at the genitals of
an Iraqi man — naked except for a
sandbag covering his head — as he
masturbates. Another picture depicts
the beaten face of (now dead) prison
er No. 153,399.
The conduct is — in Bush's words —
abhorrent, from a human rights stand
point. But, this behavior points, at least
circumstantially, to a wider problem
that reaches upward into the chain of
command, and at least above the rank
of staff sergeant (the rank of Ivan
"Chip" Frederick II, the highest rank
ing of the indicted officers).
For one, Special Agent Scott Bobeck,
of the Army's Criminal Investigation
Division, reported that Frederick said
he and his colleagues had not received
any "training guidelines." This clearly
does not absolve the offending sol
diers of the inhumane behavior, but it
points to a dangerous lack of organiza
tion. Taguba found, too, that the
prison was filled beyond capacity, and
that the guard force was understaffed
and underequipped.
At the least, inhumane treatment
seems to be the exception, rather than
the mle. Hayder Sabbar Abd, one of
the Iraqis depicted in the incriminat
ing photos, told The New York Times
that during his first six months as a
Travis Willse
Rivalless wit
prisoner, soldiers treated him well.
The revelation of the gross prisoner
abuse presents a damaging philosoph
ical challenge that doubles as a maybe
irreparable public (and foreign) rela
tions disaster in the region. These
problems complicate the United
States' efforts to build a rapport with
the Arab and Islamic worlds, which
have, since the beginning of the war,
proved marginally successful at best.
Mansoor al-Jamri, editor in chief of
Bahrain's Al Wasat newspaper, suggest
ed, "This is basically a very good and
useful piece of propaganda to be used
by the extremist forces who are waging
war right now in several countries, in
cluding Iraq and Saudi Arabia." The
military has pressed charges against at
least six soldiers, and — since these al
legations were made public — the
United States has taken the issue head
on. The Army is now delving into at
least 35 cases of possible abuse or tor
ture.
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the offi
cer currently overseeing Abu Ghraib
(Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Janis Karpin
ski was relieved of command of the
prison), plans to reduce the com
pound's population from about 3,800
to fewer than 2,000 in the coming
months. Given that Taguba's report
concluded that some 60 percent of the
prisoners appeared to be innocent, the
move is both politically and philo
sophically prudent.
Even the often media-shy President
Bush granted interviews about the sub
ject to Arabic-language news networks
Al-Arabiya and (the U.S.-sponsored)
Al Hurra, condemning the abuse as an
tithetical to American policy in Iraq,
and more broadly, American ideology.
"The America I know has sent
troops into Iraq to promote freedom;
good, honorable citizens that are
helping Iraqis every day," Bush said
on Al Hurra. Still, seeing such inhu
mane acts in a prison that Hussein's
Baathist regime once used to
imprison and torture Iraqis (in gross
ly overcrowded conditions) doesn't
draw a contrast dramatic enough for
many in the Arab world.
"I can't describe what I felt when I
saw those scenes; they revolted me and
proved the barbarity of the occupation
forces," traffic policeman Mohammad
Salman told Reuters. "What's the dif
ference between them and Saddam?
They are finishing what he started."
And such is the philosophical crux
of this heinous disaster: If American
soldiers are committing gross human
rights violations in the line of duty,
what ethical coherence remains in the
legacy of the Iraq regime change?
Bush's Arabic network interviews,
which offered a defense largely worded
in generalities, evidently haven't quelled
the region's man-on-the-street driven,
and increasingly deserved, cynicism of
the American mission in Iraq. Bush did
highlight, though, the most important
difference between the American occu
pational forces and the ousted Hussein
regime: that of principle.
"We're an open society, we're a so
ciety that's going to investigate — ful
ly investigate — in this case, what
took place in that prison," Bush as
serted. "That stands in stark contrast
to life under Saddam Hussein. His
trained torturers were never brought
to justice under his regime. There
were no investigations about mis
treatment of people."
Hie Bush administration's wavering
openness aside, at least the American
political structure makes room for in
quiry and constructive dissent. And
herein lies the true, extant legacy of
regime change — at least as Iraq stands
at present.
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., the ranking
Democrat on the Foreign Relations "
Committee, suggested that the price
for unsatisfactory answers from de
fense officials should be resignation —
including, possibly, Secretary of De
fense Donald Rumsfeld's.
But, before the details of accounta
bility are hashed out, any soldiers
criminally involved in the abuse or tor
ture of Iraqis — no matter the reason
— should be punished to the maxi
mum extent of the law. Not only for
their gross misconduct and their negli
gence of the basic rights of others, but
for flagrantly and myopically jeopard
izing the already precarious American
mission in Iraq.
Contact the editorial editor
at traviswillse@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Oregonians' tax dollars
must be spent wisely
As the new state senator for District
4,1 want to address an issue that re
cently has surfaced in the Oregon De
partment of Human Services. I was
extremely frustrated to learn last
week that an additional $120 million
was "found" by DHS. I understand
why voters lose their confidence in
government when a fact such as this
comes out AFTER the Legislative
budget process, which was agoniz
ingly long, as we worked to balance
the state budget in the face of shrink
ing income.
The Oregon State Legislature relies
on data provided by state agencies to
build a budget, and in this case the
data originally showed that the
Legislature needed to increase revenue
this session or else state services would
have to be cut drastically. As both a
senator and a voter I am extremely up
set that the projections from DHS
proved to be so far off the mark.
Since Oregon has a citizen Legisla
ture that only meets in session about
180 days every two years, we must rely
on agencies to provide sound financial
information. As a member of the inter
im Joint Legislative Audit Committee
in the Senate, I will be asking the DHS
Director to explain how such a mistake
could have been made and not real
ized until now.
It is possible that this additional
money may be the direct result of few
er people receiving services. The Legis
lature changed the rules as to who
qualifies for such services, requiring a
higher co-pay from recipients. But it is
unacceptable that the agency did not
alert the Legislature to this major
change in its financial situation before
the Measure 30 election.
With the defeat of Measure 30
causing a shortfall in state revenues,
state agencies must be held to even
higher standards of accountability
than ever before. The Legislature
must increase its oversight of agen
cies' budgets and how the agencies
manage their resources. The Legisla
ture must ensure that every tax dollar
is properly spent on delivering essen
tial services to Oregonians.
If you have an issue involving a state
agency, please do not hesitate to call
me for assistance. I look forward to
serving you.
State Senator Floyd Prozanski
represents District 4.