Wednesday, October 23, 1033
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Afghanistan, a Soviet "satellite," wa Invaded by
the Soviet Union in 1G7D when its puppet dictator
began to stretch the strings which bound him to
Moscow. - .
The Soviets, with the aid of the Afghani army,
overran the country and installed a new dictator,
one more responds to their demands.
The United States raised a great hue and cry
about the invasion by the evil Soviet Empire and
slapped an embargo on American grain shipments
to the Soviet Union. The U.S. government attacked
the Soviets for expansionism and intervention into
the affairs of another nation.
Early Tuesday morning 1,900 American soldiers
and a handful of soldiers from member countries of
the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
invaded the Carribean island of Grenada, the site of
a military coup last week which replaced one Marx
ist leader with another. The forces took control of
Grenada's two airports and attacked the camps of
Cuban construction workers, killing several Cubans
and taking prisoner an undetermined number of
the workers.
Two questions are immediately brought to mind
by the American invasion. First, how does it differ
from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and
second, what does the United States hope to gain
from it?
A quick response to the first question miht be
that they asked us to come. Who are they? Not the'
people of Grenada, or even the estimated 1,000
Americans living there. "They" are the members of
OECS, a group of nations sympathetic to the United
States. ,
Another response, of course, could be that the
Soviet invasion was an act of aggression by a Com
munist nation bent on world domination, while the
American invasion is an act by an altruistic free
country which has the best interest of the people of
Grenada and the entire Free World at heart.
But American support of totalitarian regimes like
Anastazio Somoza's in Nicaragua, the Shah's in Iran,
and the current El Salvadoran government indi
cates just whose interest the United States has at
heart.
It appears that the Soviet and American inva-'
sions are quite similar. In both cases, a superpower
perceived that a relatively weak nation positioned
near their borders was a potential threat to their
interests, and responded with military occupation
of that nation. The Soviets told the world it wa3 for
Afghanistan's own good, and it is predictable that
the United States will tell the world it's for Grenada's
own good as well Both invasions violated the rights
of those nations to determine for themselves what is
their own good.
TWnnd the Question of ethics of the UJS. invasion
lies a query which may be even more difficult to
answer. What is the American mission there?
If the American citizens in Grenada want (or
need) to be rescued, if our liarincs rescue them and
leave the island, the invasion possibly could be justi
fied as an act undertaken only to protect American
citizens, although it would be very difficult to prove
that such action was ncccesery.
Perhaps the United States will employ the catch
phrase it has been using to excuse military interven
tion in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Lebanon
"checking Soviet expanicnbin." True, Grenada has
ideological ties to the Soviet Union and was host to
30 Soviet and 60 Cuban military advisers.
But El Salvador is host of a large number of U.S.
military advisers. Would the Soviets be justified in a
military occupation of that country aimed at
"checking capitalist expansionism?" Of course not,
they Ye Communists.
The people of Grenada are no better off under
American military rule today than they were under
Grenadan martial law Monday. U.3. military inter
vention b not serving the people of Grenada, and it
is highly questionable whether the intervention
truly will serve anyone else especially the United
States.
Anger Paging epidemic'
that has everyone upset
I don't know if you've noticed it, but
everyone seems to be on the verge of
blowing up these days. People are
walking around in a constant state of
being ticked off.
You can see it as you're walking
down the street' men and women have
iheir jaws clenched. Their faces are
purpl&Yoi ivbiildri'f be surprised" cT
see steam start coming out of their
ears. At a traffic light, you can actually
see drivers' complexions change colors 1
as they become more and more frus
trated by the wait.
Bob
is. Greene
It turns out that the anger floating
around our streets has become so
widespread that one family counselor
has even started to specialize in ana
lyzing and treating it. He's a fellow
named Mitchell Messer, and he con
ducts weekly meetings called Anger
Clinics. Messer seemed like as good a
person as any to ask about the pent-up
fury among our friends and neighbors.
"It's an epidemic, there's no doubt
about that," said Messer, 52. "None of
us were here in previous centuries, so
there's no way to say if things today are
the worst they've ever been. But it's
hard for me to imagine them being any
worse."
Messer said you don't have to be a
psychiatrist or a psychologist to notice
the increasing signs of everyday anger.
"I see people walking down the
streets talking to themselves, mutter
ing under their breath," he said. "I see
poeple pushing other people on the
subway. I see people walking into a
department store and yelling at the
salesclerk, and the salesclerk yelling
back.
"Somebody says something we don't
like, a motorist cuts us off, we miss an
elevator by one second things that
small eet the anger oft We ignite. When
we mic3 that elevator, we dont think
about why a tiny thing like that should
make us so angry. We perceive mining
the elevator as a sign cf being victim-
me.' We to think the world b
. unfair." .
- What's behind thb, !: :r crid, b
- the feet that Arr;cr:er."3 hr.ve treii
tsozir! fciw wi iw 3 o fcv-dl
thing to be an;y.
to be nice at" rll tlv:.:zr
1
r;e are tau'ht
be angry arid if we are angry, we
should never let it show. The ideal was
for all of us to behave as if we were in a
Norman Rockwell painting. No one
ever got angry in a Norman Rockwell
painting. j
"As a result, you have a whole nation
of people walking erc-urid with 3Qy?.EP.i
of anger built up inside of them. All of
the anger from the third, fourth; fifth,
and sixth grade is still in there. When
people are very young, they learn from
their parents that if they get angry,
they'll be sent to their room They're
taught that being angry is unpleasant
that it's unacceptable in polite
society. And they never forget that les
son." Blowing up is riot the answer to this,
Messer said. Blowing up does not "let
off steam-" instead, it often makes
things worse. "People think that by
slamming a door or kicking the dog,
they will release some of their anger,"
he said. "It doesnt help. It just adds
more anger. The next day, the same
thing happens again.
"Those kinds of responses are inap
propriate responses to anger. Holler
ing and screaming, taking out the anger
you feel toward your superior at work
on your wife and kids, sarcasm, cruelty
those are all inappropriate re
sponses to anger. Vindictiveness, bit
terness, sulking and pouting more
; inappropriate responses."
So how should a person who's walk
ing around red-faced and muttering
respond to his inner anger? One of the
simplest and most effective methods,
Messer said, b to simply confess the
anger to the person one b angry at.
"Think about it," Messer said. "People
almost never directly admit their
anger. They say they're 'hurt' or upset'
or a thousand other code words. But'it
helps tremendously to go up to the
person who has made ycji angry, and
to say: 'I am angry at you. Here's why.' .
"People are reluctant to 1 that.
They don't like to let ether people have
the satisfaction: cf Lr.oring 1 they've
gotten to them. So they carry the ar.ger
around inside and never admit it out
loud.- : 1 ; . 1 ;
"I also recommend writing an 'angry
letter.' Sitting down and putting down
on psper, fci a letter to the persen who
has made you angry, just why ycu feel
so angry. It doesn't even matter if the
perecn b stl alive. The pereen could
: write, 'Dear Horn I'm very tryy at
.' what happened CD years Even if .
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1V1 L
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re
Grenada intervention' - sesn ; '
as governmental intervention
More than anything ebe, I feel de
ceived. . " '
I feel deceived because my govern
ment, when it should have been
mourning the loss of hundreds of UJS.
Marines, instead was secretly plotting
to rbk the lives of hundreds more in
combat in Grenada. .
1 ' ' .
mm-
cnt icr t:.e c
cnywey. It's izr the vritcr"!
I feel deceived because I felt indig
nant when the Soviets shot down (ac
cidently, our government belatedly
has admitted) a Korean airliner. Yet, I
now find myself a citizen of a country
that engages in similar barbaric
tactics. . ' ".
I feel deceived because I stCl dont
believe we are being told the truth by
. cur president and hb administration.
They have told U3 the incursion into
Grenada has to rcetcre peace; bstead
ithas caueed war. They tcld us the -aetiin
cicd to pretest Ameri
czns fci Grenada; fcrtcad, it hn en
t..: -i :zx If cur r i tn.'jwn to
r.r,..t.;2-Ar:e:::-;.j c'thrt Vir l
7' l.i-.g tLi h:?
- v. e murt havs h- d ceme ether r-th
yet the. prceier.t h ur.wnng' todij-
I f;:l deceived fcccaiics after the
1::r.-;.m .War, I believed car govern-'
ment would never act o militarily
irre:- encible cgia Yet, v.-e row find
Arr.rriean tlarir.cs ctaif-sed in no less
than three trouble reta (CI Salvador,
Grenada and Ix:r:;nen). Supposedly,
they ere "peacekeepers," yet wherever
they go, death and vieler.ee tseem to
follow closely behind. And there b no
sign that any of then are clout to go
home.
I feel deceived became this adminb
tratien assured us that thii generation
would be one cf peree. And said it
would never be mvclved ti cnr.ed con
flict unless absolutely neeceeary. Yet,
men my age, men r. ho e:e!u ted from
hih eehocl the ear e ye :r I did, are
dring o Grenada cr.d ti Le'rir.cn. . .
I feel deceived and I !ert know
what to do about it. C : errir a draft
b ju;t around the cerr. r. .Iter all, if
Air.eriean trccj ere t::.-: ce remitted
arcur.d the world, t re teo leng they
vili need to be re-:::.' !;::!. And it b
our c::eratier. v.'I-.'za rrll b& drafted
Ir.to cenlee. I !e:i"t lz':: hew I feel
Czzt ftL-g fer - -".r riit .
r.ew. Leet veer. !"-tt . c -,..1 yes-
tcrcry,iTrcu!JI.ivj:.
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