Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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It feels good to be so right when they ’re so wrong ELIZABETH CATANESE GAMECOCKVIEWPOINTS@HOTMAIL.COM Now we know Bush lied about Iraq’s weapons Along with countless Columbians, I spent last semester with a bullhorn and a protest sign, condemning the impending war in Iraq. Though Bush claimed "irrefutable intelligence" that Saddam Hussein had opera tional weapons of mass destruc tion in his grubby paws, and ties to the ubiquitous al Qaeda, France, the UN, and I remained unconvinced. Peaceniks called for renewed inspections. Iraq coop erated. We invaded. Six months later, the where abouts of these WMD remain, like Atlantis, undiscovered. Though Bush claimed the US and other countries held "irrefutable evi dence" that Saddam clutched WMD to his breast, contradicto ry statements have surfaced. Most notably, the former head of the CIA, Richard Kerr, admitted on July 3 that they might not have existed in the first place. Though he told reporters that "It would have been very hard to conclude those [WMD] programs were not continuing", he also admits that the CIA had no evidence Iraq suc ceeded in manufacturing those weapons. Bush, he says, pres sured the CIA for information to the contrary. Kerr also asserts that the CIA had no intelligence that Iraq was in bed with al Qaeda. In short: Bush, Powell, Ashcroft, Fox News and that dead man we call the vice president lied. Saddam didn't have the weapons or the al Qaeda ties. The Country-Who-Shall-Not-Be Named, even as a prefix to our fa vorite McDonald’s treat, was right. Kofi Annan, the Dixie Chicks, the Carolina Peace Resource Network and the entire country of Germany were right. Some might argue that it does n’t matter if Saddam didn't have the goods, we still liberated a peo ple from a demonic dictator with a penchant for torture. However, Ariel Sharon is a convicted war criminal, but America isn't car pet-bombing Israel. Israel's our friend, and what’s a little UN vio lation among friends? (By the way, the US is as guilty as Iraq about ignoring the UN). Genocide is flourishing across the world; Ethiopia teeters on the brink of a famine dwarfing the one that spawned the Live Aid Concerts, and Saudi Arabia still publicly stones alleged adulterers. America doesn't care; we're after Iraq. So why did we go to war, if there are no weapons and no links to terrorism? Talk to Haliburton, ExxonMobil and Texaco. We don't unleash hell for crass idealism. That's so 1945. The first world craves oil, and the third world dic tator had it. Now we have it, since our vastly superior military car pet-bombed his country. America, under the auspices of Kenneth Starr, impeached Clinton for lying about oral sex. Dubya shanghaied us into a war under false pretexts, sacrificed billions of dollars and thousands of lives, and Fox News won't even give it air time. The exposition of his lies doesn't merit front-page headlines. Maybe Haliburton's CEO will take pity on Bush and buy him some ethics. They come so cheap in America today. Elizabeth Catanese is a graduate student studying the fine arts. IN YOUR OPINION Kudos to Catanese’s homophobia column I really appreciated the col umn you-wrote on the homopho bia billboard and gay and lesbian equality. Thank you for a great article on tolerance, equality, and jus tice. I hope that USC leadership was reading and, more impor tantly, listening to voice of the student leadership on campus, the voice of leaders like you. Your assessment of the status equal protection from job dis crimination at USC offered a good analysis of the issues thus far. I would like to offer one more per spective on this issue: recruiting the best talent to our campus. South Carolina does come with some baggage when we try to at tract good talent to USC — stu dents, faculty, and staff alike. We need to be able to show that our campus is a leader in our com munity. However, that is diffi cult when folks visit our campus and learn about the statements by trustees and elected officials about gay people, and when they then drive past the state house and see the confederate flag. For many, the non-discrimination policy is a litmus test on the gen eral diversity and community leadership of a university. We fail that test. Any gay or lesbian person vis iting our campus has to think about what our policy means. So does any person, gay or straight, who wants to raise children in a community where a child might not be fully accepted for who they are, based on fear or prejudice. Again, thank you for your elo quent column. BERT EASTER STAFF. NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER. use PRESIDENT. SOUTH CAROLINA GAY AND LESBIAN PRIDE MOVEMENT VICE-CHAIR. SOUTH CAROLINA PROGRESSIVE NETWORK Submission Policy Letters to the editor should be less than 300 words and include name, phone number, professional title or year and major, if a student. E-mail letters to gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. Letters will be edited. Anonymous letters will not be published. Call the newsroom at 777-7726 for more information. Winners and Sinners FIVE POINTS IMPROVEMENTS The beautification plan makes our favorite hangout look very nice--without raising taxes. OLYMPIA MILLS RENOVATION A great future for an important historical site finally gets P started. BUDGET CUTS The state passed the buck to localities, and now we’re paying for it. PATRIOT ACT The Founding Fathers thought ■ due process was a good thing, but Bush and W Ashcroft don’t. JERRY SPRINGER FOR SENATE Ohio Democrats could certainly pick someone better than this character. Gamecock Quotables “To impose order without a commitment to law is little better than vigilantism.” PETER SEDERBERG DEAN OF THE HONORS COLLEGE DURING A FIRST AMENDMENT DEMONSTRATION LAST SATURDAY AT FIVE POINTS “We got the electrical vehicles to make people pay attention to our efforts to make the university more environmentally responsible.” MIKE KOMAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MANAGER FOR UNIVERSITY HOUSING ON HOW USC'S ELECTRICAL VEHICLES ARE MAINLY AN ATTENTION-GRABBER GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at gamecockviewpoints@hotmail.com. ONLINE This week’s question Should USC have a “drunk bus” to carry, students to and from the bars and clubs? Vote at www.dai lygamecock.com. IN THEIR WORDS “Whose fault is it? It's McDonald's. If they hadn't made their food so delicious, we wouldn't all be fat.” MICHAEL REGULA THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY LANTERN "Incidentally, according to the U.S. Code, Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8,"(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard.” JOHN KING BALL STATE UNIVERSITY DAILY NEWS