The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 25, 1991, Page 2, Image 2
Victory I
United States becomes savior,
President Bush gets re-elected
Saturday, the United States began the ground war in earnest,
and early indications are that this is the greatest U.S. military victory
since the Battle of Inchon in the Korean War. Whether or not
one supported the Gulf War to begin with, we should all be happy
that the offensive has been such an outstanding success, with low
Allied casualties and a rapid advance into Kuwait.
Going on these early successes, Kuwait will be freed within the
week. This is not overly optimistic. Americans should now turn
their attention from the justification of the war to what we are
going to do after we get it over with.
Here are some long- and short-range consequences:
President Bush, like it or not, is a wartime hero. He will be '
president for another four years. The Democrats could run Mother .
Theresa against him in '92 and still lose 49 states.
Kuwait will move toward democracy, as the Allies will not
want to be seen as putting a monarchy back on the throne.
Israel has new credibility by not responding to dozens of
Scud attacks. Israel can look forward to American rewards for
years to come, no matter how bad they treat the Palestinians.
Yassir Arafat is totally discredited for his embracing of the
big loser, Saddam Hussein. His early peace initiatives will be for- ,
gotten. Once again the Palestinians are the big losers.
The United States will enjoy its best relations ever with most I
Middle Eastern countries. Ironically, a war against an Arab country
improved relations with the Gulf States, Egypt, Syria and even |
Iran.
Saddam Hussein, if he survives, will have all the prestige of
Idi Amin. He probably will not be running Iraq six months from
now.
An all-volunteer military has been proven extremely competent.
Look for increased calls for the disbanding of the Selective
Service network that has done nothing but waste money since
ViMrmm
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These predictions are based on the assumption of a quick
American victory, which is rapidly becoming a reality. It is not
war-mongering to be glad America is winning this conflict. If the
above predictions do hold true, anti-war protesters will lose all
remaining credibility.
The Gamecock
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Business Manager
Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should
be, at maximum, 250 to 300 words long. The writer must include full name, professional
title if a USC employee or South Carolina resident, or year and major if
a student. An address and phone number are required with all letters sent. The
Gamecock reserves the right to edit letters for style, possible libel or in case of
space limitations. The newspaper will not withhold names under any
circumstance.
I [ mok...v
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\ W<mwi
5Af, 6m
Puerto Ri
Watch out! The flag you're flying
become obsolete. No, those wavi
aren't going anywhere, but the star*
could be.
What, who's seceding from the 1
ask. No one. It's even more bizarn
years, with a great round number lik
and they want to add another.
President Bush recently made the
ing announcement that he wants Pue
become the 51st state.
rsui wan, oeiore everyone sians
that I hate Puerto Ricans, please re
One of my close friends is in fact Pu
and my objection to their statehood
lutely nothing to do with anyone
ethnicity.
I fail to see any substantial gain f
as a whole or for Puerto Rico in t
full-fledged state. Although it wc
islanders to participate in election*
them seats in Congress, it will in~n(
IFTTFR^T
law law I I law I 1 I
Iraq intended
civilian strikes
To the editor:
The following letter was in this
past week's Atlanta Journal, but it
is the perfect counter to those who
accuse the United States of "practicing
genocide on the Iraqi
people."
While Saddam continues to exploit
Iraqi civilian casualties for all
the propaganda advantage they are
worth, keep two points in mind:
1. Saddam has yet to aim even a
single Scud attack at a military
target. Every missile he has fired
has been a civilian target and most
of them against a non-belligerent
nation.
2. Saddam has called for worldwide
terrorism against the civilians
as well as the military personnel
of the U.N. coalition
nations.
No civilian death is anything
less than tragic, but Iraq is the
only country in this war that has
made its policy, and indeed virtually
its sole practice, to attack
civilians.
Stephen Edwards
History sophomore
War needed
fnr frpprlnm
M Vf JL MM VVVf-VAMA
To the editor:
I do not believe the editorial
page was intended as a forum for
windbags to repeatedly trounce
each other for weeks on end. It
should be a one-time letting off
steam, UNLESS someone like AD/
PR freshman Kipp Shives replies
to your letter with such naivete,
narrow-mindedness and misinterpreted
information.
I never once in my letter insulted
the Arab nations of the
Middle East. Similar to the peaceful
people of Europe during the
1930s and '40s, the Arab world is
being trounced upon by a tyrannical
despot who will not stop until
he is perched proudly upon the
The Blind Men a
a/ AHA! A i-APOE, '
g jr
co would
could soon .? dfvfah
Lng stripes
' very we" sh
Union, you
Over 30
e 50 states,
dishearten- denly bring them the y
dishearten ing Jn fa(^ u wm do
r o ico o -ng a commonweait}1 jj
some economic piece i
screaming
ad further. regress*
lerto Rican, The primary reason
1 has abso- other inevitability in lil
's race or on the heels of death. 1
As a commonwealth
or the U.S. to exemption from fe<
>ecoming a only does this leave mc
>uld allow household piggybank,
5 and give apply to businesses ant
) way sud- the island. Many of the
O THE ED1TC
throne of an emnire. It is a traeedv
of immeasureable proportions.
Similarly, however, just as the
Europeans saw American GIs with
admiration and respect for their
liberating sacrifices, many Arabs,
Jews and almost the entire United
Nations Security Council sees
American efforts as valiant. Little
Arab boys are getting autographs
from our troops, while Hussein's
thugs rape and molest and rob and
beat the citizenry of Kuwait.
Furthermore, don't forget to
point your "quick to point" finger
at Mr. Hussein. The man relocated
his military operations into
schools, hospitals and sanctuaries.
He has let it be known that he will
use human shields. That, Mr.
Shives, is the crime!
The fact that some American
boys have died is a tragedy, to say
the least But once again, the military,
which is volunteer, does entail
some hostilities sometimes.
And unfortunate as it may be, despite
our wonderful technologies,
there is no guarantee that you will
not die in your service to your
country. I am pretty certain soldiers
know this when they enlist,
Mr. Shives.
Your comparison of Hussein to
Noriega clearly demonstrates your
inability to synthesize and evaluate
world politics and how they all
hinge so delicately upon one
anotner. It took an overnight task
force to remove Noriega. Mr.
Shives, we have about half a million
soldiers in the Persian Gulf.
Your analysis is a bit off to say the
least,
Again, your reference to the fact
that a cutoff of Middle Eastern oil
would only affect Americans at the
pump clearly demonstrates your
ignorance in world affairs. Might I
suggest a brief discussion with Dr.
Akhavi, a Middle East expert in
the GINT department, or Professor
Heffner in the economics department
They would be happy to enlighten
you.
WUUIU U1C UllllOU OUUCi UC 111
the Persian Gulf if Kuwait's chief
export were broccoli? In a word,
YES, if the very means of production
and transportation around the
civilized world relied on broccoli.
not benefil
1 tax breaks r
and withou
mH _ close down
IELLEY MAGEE tos WOU
nomic growl
zens out of
Rico is ther
American standard of liv- y!mflcrirwh '
just the opposite by maktat
is just starting to gain p [ *
Df mind stagnate or even Qn top d
cultural prol
for this backfire is that rich in herit
fe that comes along right as a way of
'AXES. state with 1
, Puerto Rico is entitled Neither side
ieral income taxes. Not and understa
>re money in the average So if Bus
but those shelters also star on the
i industries operating on through? Be
jm are there because the they ask for
)R
Finally, Mr. Shives, I am sitting
idle upon my rear because I am
earning a degree, and the U.S.
government has not called upon
me for service. However, if I were
needed or my country called me, I
would be one of the first ones on
that C-131 headed for Riyhad,
while people like you and Dennis
Shealy and Miss Peebles are the
first ones to slither under the Canadian
border fence and disgust
those Americans who fight every
day for your liberties.
Scott R. Saunders
Public relations senior
People wrong
about conflict
To the editor:
In response to the extremely liberal
interpretation of the Persian
Gulf crisis as reported by The
Gamecock's Dennis Shealy in his
column, "War should not be
fought by any person," I can only
say that this reporter writes with
an opinion that is both overwhelmingly
incorrect and unpopular.
Mr. Shealy, the world is not
made up of ideology, but of hard
economic and political truths. Our
place as peacemaker in the Middle
East is one that is justified through
many points.
The most important and uniting
force behind the coalition endeavor
is the fact that the nations involved
have all agreed to enforce the United
Nations charter, and more importantly
the right for Kuwaiti selfdetermination.
In case you forget,
our people once fought for that
same right, and we, as members of
the United Nations, must stand
firm in guaranteeing the same to
the people of Kuwait.
A second justification to our involvement
is that we must work to
provide a new stability to the region.
As you may remember, many
nations of the coalition have
sought to begin discussions to
bring peace between the Palestinians
and the Israelis, and if people
such as Saddam Hussein and
his good buddies like Yassir Arafat
and the PLO continue to rile up
; as state
tiake their island location profitable,
t the tax advantages, they would
their Puerto Rican branches,
ild not only hurt the island's ccoth,
but put a huge number of its citiwork.
And, like dominoes, if Puerto
i a state, where will the money for
ates of unemployment come from?
dent it would help create in an alrious
system to put all qualifying
is on welfare and unemployment
these economic horrors, there is a
Mem. I cannot imagine a place so
age and language to adopt English
life. Yet, how can the U.S. allow a
;he official language of Spanish?
will want to budge on that issue,
ndably so.
;h is gung-ho about putting a new
flag, has he really thought this
fore Congress votes on it, I hope
a few, explanations.
the people of the region, how may
we ever achieve stability?
Saddam Hussein's reasoning for
the Kuwaiti invasion are purely
economic, and the people of the
West Bank and the religion of
Islam are the farthest things from
his mind.
A third and final point is that of
economics. Despite what the liberals,
peaceniks and flower children
wannahp.s sav. dollar-a-crallnn aac
is not the reason for our involvement.
True, economics is a reason
for our armed presence, but rightfully
so.
If Saddam were to somehow
take control of the Kuwaiti reserves,
he could not only take the
American economy hostage, but 1
quite feasibly the world's. The
price of gas would not be the only ;
thing affected, but just about every
industry imaginable would feel de- vastating
effects.
With the dramatic effects of increased
gas prices, industries such
as oil, steel, ore, rubber, auto manufacturing,
plastics, glass, transit,
as well as just about everybody i
else would be plunged into economic
disaster.
Think of the millions of people ;
put out of work by just one man.
No taxes could be paid, govern- '
ment spending would go through ;
the roof just to support these people
and no goods could be af- ;
forded to be bought or sold. De- ;
vastating to say the least, but en- I
tirely possible had we not ;*
intervened. *
The United States and her allies *
are jusitified for their actions, and .
minions upon minions stand nrm
with their decision. We, as Americans,
must put aside our partisan
views and support our president
and our troops.
The liberal faction is delivering
an inane and incoherent message,
and its rhetoric is becoming increasingly
more and more ignored
by the American public. Mr. Shealy,
you stand in the minority, but
alas you still do not face any danger
of the draft. I, as others who
support our country, will be glad
to take your place should a draft
ever become implemented.
Christian Stegmaier
Political science freshman