I had an interesting
experience the other day in the offices of The Appalachian.
A young man, presumably a student, came in and was questioning the
practices of this paper.
He demanded that we do things to try to stop the war on Iraq, such
as publishing addresses to the U.S. Senators from North Carolina,
Jesse Helms and John Edwards.
What disturbed me about this was, when he was told this paper focused
on campus issues, and the war on Iraq was not yet a campus issue,
he became irate and questioned the knowledge of those staff members
in the room.
Think about it for a second, what could The Appalachian possibly
write or uncover about the war on Iraq that has not been written
or uncovered by every daily paper in the country?
That event represents what is going on all over campus—the
bleeding-heart liberals are out in full-force against this war,
which still may not happen.
What concerns me about this is, this side is uninformed about a
lot of key issues.
They claim that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will allow the U.N.
Weapons Inspectors in. This is true, but he has stated publicly
that they could not search through schools or hospitals, which is
where he’s building his weapons.
Saddam is a conniving guy, and he knows our government will not
purposely bomb schools or hospitals, so building his weapons of
mass destruction in the basements of those buildings is foolproof.
The liberals also are ignorant enough to believe they have all the
information President Bush does.
Wrong!
We, as a nation, probably have about 10 percent of all the information
at our fingertips. The information we have has been declassified
already and is of little importance.
The folders saying “Top Secret” in big red rubber-stamp
letters, just like in old movies, is what a war will be decided
over.
This country affords us the rights to do a great amount of things.
I can stand out on Sanford Mall and scream to abolish the government
until I lose my voice.
While I am doing that, I can wear a shirt that makes fun of racial
groups, shave off every hair on my body, or grow it all out to ungodly
lengths.
I can declare Christianity to be wrong, or I can stand out and preach
the “Good Word.”
I can go to the grocery store and pick out what I need and want,
and not have to worry about milk or bread being gone already.
I am given all those rights and will never be hassled by Boone Police
while doing so, at least if I am peaceful in my protest.
When my government needs me, I should say yes. It only makes sense.
They have given me something; now I should give them something.
If that something is my life, then I will know that I died serving
the country that allowed my ancestors, my friends and me the ability
to lead the best lives possible.
Do not get me wrong; questioning the government is a good thing.
Doing that keeps this country how we want it.
However, there is a line between questioning our government and
believing this is your generation’s Vietnam.
I am reminded of last year’s protest on Sanford Mall, in which
the protestors covered their faces and screamed of the coming war
on terror.
Now, they have the right to protest all they want, but to cover
the faces and their identities only proved, to me at least, they
were not that concerned with the issue at hand. If they were, they
would have taken whatever slurs thrown at them, because they believed
they were right.
Since then, I have seen numerous protests around campus.
Students have written around campus, in chalk, phrases like “Stop
the war,” “Bush is wrong,” and the always popular
“Make peace, not war.”
It brought a smile to my face to see someone else write, underneath
the original authors, “This message brought to you by people
who are too scared to fight for the country that gives them the
right to write this.” I could not have said it any better myself,
or at least not as succinctly.
Perhaps the worst thing happening on campus is professors and faculty
using their positions to force their ideas on to the student body.
While most of us are old enough and mature enough to separate the
truth from what our professor believes, some freshmen do not have
the capability yet to read through the B.S.
What is different about professors imposing their beliefs onto a
group of 40 students and the leaders of this nation telling us they
want to go to war? There is no distinction to be made, which means
that the men these professors attack in the classrooms are guilty
of the same crime the professors themselves are violating.
I have not yet decided if I support the war.
Most likely, it will come down to what the U.N. Weapons Inspectors
are allowed to do while in Iraq, if they are allowed in. If we can
take apart the weapons of mass destruction through U.N. actions,
then so be it.
However, if Saddam refuses to relinquish said weapons, war is the
only option in which we can find peace. |
