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quesarahReposted from Salon.com
Students skewer Feith
Perhaps the Washington press corps can learn a thing or two from the student audience that grilled Pentagon official and Iraq war architect Doug Feith at the University of Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reports: "Facing a skeptical and sometimes sharp-tongued audience at the University of Chicago, [Feith] on Wednesday defended the war in Iraq as an essential part of the global struggle against terrorism. Feith ... said the invasion was a necessary response to the Sept. 11 attacks -- even if there is no direct evidence of Iraqi involvement in those attacks or that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed chemical or nuclear weapons."
"Feith's statements drew dissent -- and sometimes lengthy tongue-lashings -- from many students who lined up at a microphone for the chance to question him. ... One student who said he supported the war posed a question that came with a barb. Why not attack other nations that support terrorism, he asked, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran? Feith said different nations called for a different approach."
"Reaction was sharpest when a student asked how many people have died in the war on terrorism. When Feith did not directly answer, someone called out, 'He asked you how many people have died?'"
Students skewer Feith
Perhaps the Washington press corps can learn a thing or two from the student audience that grilled Pentagon official and Iraq war architect Doug Feith at the University of Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reports: "Facing a skeptical and sometimes sharp-tongued audience at the University of Chicago, [Feith] on Wednesday defended the war in Iraq as an essential part of the global struggle against terrorism. Feith ... said the invasion was a necessary response to the Sept. 11 attacks -- even if there is no direct evidence of Iraqi involvement in those attacks or that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed chemical or nuclear weapons."
"Feith's statements drew dissent -- and sometimes lengthy tongue-lashings -- from many students who lined up at a microphone for the chance to question him. ... One student who said he supported the war posed a question that came with a barb. Why not attack other nations that support terrorism, he asked, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran? Feith said different nations called for a different approach."
"Reaction was sharpest when a student asked how many people have died in the war on terrorism. When Feith did not directly answer, someone called out, 'He asked you how many people have died?'"
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Date: 2004-04-16 05:40 am (UTC)Can anyone join in? :-)
IF the Bush II or even the Clinton administration had been honest and said "we are going into Iraq to nation build, create democracy in a region that doesn't have it".
If they were honest, wouldn't they have said, "We're going in because we feel the need to deliver a good ass-kicking to someone and we don't much mind who it is"?
IF they had said "it will be bloody for all concerned, but in the end it will hopefully be better off for us and them". What would you have said?
I'd have said, "Nice thought. But however tempting, you can't build a nation for the Iraqi people. Nation-building happens from within, as Americans of all people should know."
anyone can play
Date: 2004-04-16 09:51 am (UTC)However it isn't to much of a stretch to say there are some dysfunctional societies in the mideast. We helped Iraq get to where it was in the first place. Saddam was our buddy because he didn't like Iran. The Shah of Iran was our buddy because he didn't like the Soviets. We invested in tyrants and it came back to bite us. We supported the Taliban in Afghanistan against the Russians. We don't deserve terrorist strikes against us. But a lot of people in the world think we do.
Are we paying the price of cleaning up our mess. Those societies are not going to modernize on their own?
Just some thoughts.