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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2005)
ß* February 23, 2005 Commentât ^t^LACKAMAsPrìfl-t StudentPoll; libere is jour favorite placed study? WTF? No WMDs! Isaiah Creai Editor-in-Chief It has been said that true freedom is not the right to do what we want, but the want to do what is right; I would therefore be remiss as a jour nalist, nay a patriot, if I let the issue of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq pass with out comment. America’s stated purpose for involvement in Iraq has, from day one, been to keep weapons of mass destruc tion out of the hands of ter rorists. When U.N. weap ons inspectors were denied access to some of Saddam Hussein’s factories, America saw it as proof positive that somewhere amongst the sands there were nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. But soon after our troops set foot in Iraq, the focus of our efforts seemed to switch from eliminating leaders who hoarded WMDs to making Iraq a free nation and a safe haven for democracy. The only thing about our involvement in Iraq that has remained static is President Bush’s resolve to sustain an American presence therein. Under the guise of punish ing terrorists, who are said to still be in Afghanistan, U.S. troops have committed atro cious acts on Iraqi prison ers, .with minimal response or outrage from Americans and only one person involved facing serious charges. The American public seems to lose interest in things that make the United States appear, from a global standpoint, as bullies or hypocrites. I don’t know Mr. Bush as a person; I haven’t met him on the street, borrowed his lawn mower, or asked his daugh ter on a date. What I have deduced from watching his interviews and.staring into his eyes from thousands of miles away is that he has lied to us. It seems that the majority of Americans have forgotten just what put our soldiers (our brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors) into the line of fire. WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKING FOR NUKES! WHERE THE HELL ARE THE NUKES?!? zThe media demonized former President Clinton for screwing an intern and lying about it, but Bush’s lies screwed all of us. He pushed the issue by claiming that he was making America safe from nuclear terrorists; his decision resulted in the deaths of thou sands of American troops... and there were no weapons of mass destruction. His foreign policy has not only alienated Americans, but made us seem a country of hypocritical, apathetic twits. I’m no twit; are you? For some reason, many Americans think that Saddam Hussein was the one who felled the towers, and Bush doesn’t do much to dissuade this belief. People are more outraged in Britain over Bush misleading us than we are. I have no clue why we really went to Iraq. Was it for WMDs? Was it for terrorist leaders? Was it to liberate oppressed people? Was it for oil? Was it a personal ven detta? Was it Halliburton? I have no clue whatsoever, and honestly, it is more important to me that I be told the truth. What does matter to me is that I was misled. I thought that Iraq was chock full of chemical weapons. I thought that radiation from secret fac tories was leaking into the school lunches, and that ter rorists were saying “Ni!” to little old ladies. Incidentally, we actually have found many weapons of mass destruction. They’re hidden in silos across the United States. the library.” Michelle Isom because I do four things once!”. Kimberly Dodd Lack of technology leaves students wanting of time between classes and you want to grab a snack but only The Clackamas Print . have your debit card. You are then stuck between a rock and In the cafeteria on cam a hard place, and must choose pus, it has been brought to either going off-campus, at the my attention that there is a risk of being late to your significant problem that many next class, or going students, myself included, are on with the rest of faced with on a regular basis. your day without ade- And no, I’m not talking about quate nutrition. the quality of the food, but Now it might seem IM rather the fact that they do like I’m being extreme, i|B not accept anything othqr than but in order to evoke iH cash as payment. change, or even a sec- W This is quite an inconve ond thought, one must ■ nience in an era when plastic h be adamant about their a has almost completely replaced feelings. In a society 1 cash; often you find yourself where such great emphasis 1 without sufficient funds to pay has been placed on easy for your meal. All restaurants, access to your finances, and even most fast food joints,, thereby fueling our blatant now allow you to pay by other capitalist nature, one would methods of currency. think one could get away with It’s quite agitating when you using some plastic to charge have a short, specified amount for things on campus. Without MikeGuidlce this option at our disposal, it will end up hurting the school 1 more, in the long run, than the cost to install some card-swip- ing mechanism. By not having other means for payment it is discourag- ing students from purchasing items, which in turn stunts the income for the school and everyone involved. If the school is serious about wanting to accommo date the stu dents to the best of their ability they should start by looking into this glaring inconve nience. Installing new technology could greatly assist in the betterment of everyone’s on-campus experience and it is something that I believe should at least be taken into consid eration. Want to get published? Write letters to the editor: E-mail oped@clackamas.edu or drop by Roger Rook 135 to give us a hand written letter; letters received will be printed in the next issue after being edited for grammar and clarity. Jason McNamee “At home.” Kylie Osterhoudt “Upstairs in [Rook Hall]; I come up here and read Ryan Stanley This week’s poll compiled b)\ Pia^isi and Stephen EM
