Monologue
Grenada invasion logical
By Doug Vaughan
_______ Editor in Chief
_______
Many of them expressed their love for
America and felt that the mission had saved
their lives. It most likely did.
The invasion of Grenada, a 21-mile
iAk question that does linger in my mind
island with a population of 120,000, to insure
the security of 1,000 Americans seems ignorant
at the least, and, more importantly, on the
verge of danger.
Especially considering that the Grenadian
Revolutionary Military Council made a pledge
to the United States insuring the safety of the
American residents. In fact, the message was
reportedly received 24 hours before the inva
sion began.
But what always seems ignorant, often, is
not.
First of all, Grenada is not a peaceful
is; were the American residents in danger?
My answer: Why take chances? It is all
right to answer a question with a question,
right?
U.S. officials did not definitely know
where the information insuring the Americans’
safety originated. Better yet, why be ignorant
and believe them?
Once the “shoot on sight” curfew was en
acted, the medical students were restricted to
their campus, without guarantees of safety
from Grenadian forces. The students who
resided off campus have not been heard from
since the curfew was imposed.
Carribean island that the U.S. decided to try
out some new military procedures on. Nor the
place for a vacation at this time.
The little island has had internal problems
for the last month, and the security of the
Americans living on the island was endangered.
A “shoot on sight’’ curfew that was imposed
last Wednesday, and that is only one reason
they were endangered.
Grenada was under the rule of Maurice
Bishop, until his deputy, Benard Coard,
organized the extinction of Bishop and his
backers. Military leaders who are described as
“hardline Marxists” took over the country.
Since then, the threat of Marxism through the
region has brought conflict.
About half the 1,000 Americans on the
island are enrolled at St. George’s School of
Medicine, and they were the first ones to be
rescued and returned to the States.
.^^nother problem that stemmed from
the invasion was that democratic leaders on
Capitol Hill charged that the Reagan Ad
ministration violated the War Powers Act.
The Democrats in both houses of Congress
said they would push for legislation declaring
that the act would cover the Caribbean island.
If passed, Reagan would have to withdraw
troops within 60 days unless Congress
authorizes a longer stay.
Invasion does not quite go with the old
theme “baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie,” but
due to the threat on American lives, it was
needed. At first look, I frown on the United
States action, but this situation needs a se
cond look. That look opened my eyes to the
truth.
WOUL.P SOMEONE PLEASE INV£UT A CONDENSED
VERSION?
Letter to the editor
To the editor:
United States attack ‘face saving’ act
Tuesday the United States
invaded the tiny Caribbean na
tion of Grenada. The Oct. 12
coup that overthrew and then
executed Prime Minister
Maurice Bishop left a so-called
leadership vacuum that
threatened the security of
Americans living in Grenada.
Our leaders claim the invasion
was necessary to ensure our
citizens’ safety and to prevent
revolutionary chaos from
spreading throughout the
region.
In my opinion this action
was reckless, irresponsible,
and engineered as a type of na
tional enema for the beating
Uncle Sam has taken recently
on the international scene.
The prestige loss started
with the tragic downing of
KAL flight 007 and climaxed
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J
Page 2
with Sunday’s Beirut bomb
ing. Since the Sept. 1 airline
incident, pressures have
mounted for a U.S. show of
strength somewhere in the
world. The coup in Grenada
provided a great opportunity.
Last summer Prime
Minister Bishop visited the
United States desperately
seeking U.S. aid. His visit
and subsequent letters re
questing help Were com
pletely ignored by the
Reagan Administration.
Given this response it’s
easy to understand why
Bishop sought aid from the
Cubans and Soviets.
The Reagan Administra
tion has acted swiftly in con
demning the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan and its pressures
on Poland. He sees the long
arm of Moscow behind every
political struggle in the Third
World where the Left has a
chance of winning. The
Nicaraguan Sandinistas are
consistently portrayed as
nothing more than Soviet pup
pets.
But where are the voices
of condemnation when we
learn about atrocities in Hon
duras, the Phillipines, South
Africa or some other U.S. al
ly? Reagan has shown, that he
would rather cozy up to the
most despotic, reactionary dic
tator who remains friendly to
American interests, than
acknowledge that there are
legitimate socialist leaders in
the world committed to
creating economic justice in
their poverty-stricken coun
tries.
The rationale for in
vading Grenada to safeguard
the Americans living there is a
smokescreen. Americans live
in countries all over the world
that experience coups. Do we
land the Marines every time a
government is toppled
somewhere in thé world?
I am ' frightened by
Reagan’s increasingly ag
gressive foreign policy. His
saber-rattling rhetoric has
become real, and his apparent
success in Grenada has wider
applications. No doubt coun
tries throughout the Third
World are on special alert this
week.
John Hushagen
Clackamas Community College