Opinion
Thursday, September 1, 1994
Page 4
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
..Editor. 472- / 766
.Opinion Page Editor
.Managing Editor
.Associate News Editor
.Columnist/Associate News Editor
.Photography Director
.Copy Desk Chief
.. Cartoonist
I l>l loRI \l
Blood bath
Haiti invasion would cost too many lives
A U.S.-led invasion of Haiti appears imminent, and a blood
bath certainly will be the result.
More than 10,000 troops would have to ferret guerrilla forces
out of a tropical, mountainous jungle, where the population
density is 608 people per square mile. Besides exposing American
men and women to unacceptable danger, the invasion would cost
thousands of Haitian lives.
JeJfZeleny.
Kara Morrison.
Angie Brunkow.
Jeffrey Robb ...
Rainbow Rowell
Kiley Christian.
Mike Lewis....
James Mehsling
Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras has called U.S. bluffs since 1991, when
he wrested control of Haiti from President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Cedras has said he will not leave Haiti. He has refused to negoti
ate with U.N. delegates. He has vowed to fight to the death,
although he certainly means everyone’s death but his own.
U.S. officials have pointed out that Cedras and his army have
remained unaffected by an economic embargo, while Haitian
citizens slowly have starved. Cedras’ forces haven’t suffered
because the embargo has no teeth. Goods have been moving into
Haiti via the Dominican Republic, a U.N. member.
This pipeline has allowed Cedras to maintain control of Haiti
since the coup. If that flow of goods were cut off, Cedras would
run out of anything to offer his army members. They remain loyal
to Cedras because they live better than ordinary Haitians.
Had the embargo been strictly enforced when Cedras took '
power, the playing field would be level today. Cedras’ forces
would have a lot less for which to fight.
Before the United States makes an expensive maneuver in
terms of money and lives, the Haiti-Dominican Republic border
should be fortified by U.N.-member countries.
The Caribbean nations that have agreed to participate in the
invasion should offer asylum to the persecuted Haitians.
Other U.N. nations that have agreed to be “observers” on the
Haitian border could provide humanitarian aid to the exiled
Haitians.
The price of military intervention traditionally has been highest
for those least responsible for war. The Hmong people were
persecuted in Vietnam, and the Iraqis slaughtered their Kurds.
Ultimately, the blood spilled by an invasion of Haiti will be that
of families who pick coffee beans on the slopes.
The administration intends to stay in Haiti long enough to
stabilize the government. Haitians have had some form of military
dictatorship since they won their independence from France in
1804. They have known nearly two centuries of oppression,
terrorism and extreme poverty. Plenty of despots arc waiting to
hoard what little wealth the country possesses.
An invasion of Haiti would not guarantee government stability.
It would not create a foundation for democracy. It would
devestate a small island nation and take the lives of Haitian
people.
Ml l< »KI \) l'< >1 l< \
SUIT editorials represent the official policy of the Fall 1994 Daily Nebraskan. Policy is act by
the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board Editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the
university, its employees, the students or the NU Board of Regents. Editorial columns represent
the opinion of the author. The regents publish the Daily Nebraskan. They establish the UNL
Publications board to supervise the daily production of the paper. According to policy set by
the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of
its students.
I i ink l’< h i< \
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Woodstock
I would like to seize the opportu
nity to respond to Jamie Karl’s
column (DN, Aug. 26, 1994).
I’m afraid that Mr. Karl severely
misconstrued and stretched the
ideals the Woodstock generation
upheld to fit his hyperconservative
tirade.
He blamed the hippies for urban
decay because they “rejected
traditional values such as work,
family, faith and individual account
ability, while toying with the
admiration of the underclass.” And
later added, “the impoverished and
working classes were stuck with
their ‘fad’ lifestyle.”
It is exactly the type of attitude
demonstrated in that statement that
is to blame for the decay of the inner
cities he holds the hippies account
able for. _
Today’s drug problem and other
social ills are mostly a result of
white, overconscrvativc males, such
as Mr. Karl, pointing fingers at the
defenseless and doing nothing to fix
the problem.
The notion that the “underclass”
is in trouble because they are too
busy sleeping around and partying
too much is chiefly stupid and very
perverse.
The hippies held the idea of
community precious. Perhaps if
these notions of love and nurturing
were universal, we wouldn’t have
urban decay to worry about To
illustrate this philosophy, the ’69
Woodstock turned into a free show,
and they dropped food and dry
clothes from helicopters. This
greatly contrasts to the ’94 show’s
capitalism.
Mr. Karl then went on to share
that the hippies dismantled the
traditional American values of
baseball, apple pie and Donna Reed.
I must point out that these values
were only paramount during the
1950s.
Does Jamie remember reading
about the 1950s? Is it that time
period that marched us into the
atrocity of the Vietnam War?
Just because a group’s morality
differs from your own, Karl, does
not mean it is wrong or deserves to
be assaulted in a sad and meandering
column.
In conclusion, I suggest that Mr.
Karl should grow the hair out a little,
quit watching Rush Limbaugh every
night, listen to some Bob Dylan ana,
most importantly, CHILL OUT and
join his generation.
Stephanie Arbaugh
sophomore
fine arts
Brel GottschaH/DN
Deterrent
When Debi Schneider and Sheila
Whitmore wrote in about how the
planned execution of Harold Lamont
Otey would actually be a murder
and that if we didn’t stop it wc
would be the murderers (DN, Aug.
30,1994), they were completely
wrong.
Otey committed a crime back in
1977, had a fair trial and was found
guilty. He was then given a sen
tence, and that sentence should have
been carried out. For the past 17
years, Otey has had his lawyers use
every legal loophole they could find
to delay that sentence.
1 know some people don’t
support the death penalty and think
it is a “barbaric” form of vengeance,
but in reality, the death penalty was
first put forth not as revenge upon
the criminal but as a way of deter
ring other people from committing
the same crime.
It is sad to say that in our nation
today the only thing keeping a lot of
people from committing crimes is
the fear of being caught and pun
ished with as serious apunishmcnt
as the death penalty. That is why I
think the death penalty is needed. If
the death penalty was softened into
something like life without parole, it
wouldn’t be a strong enough
deterrent to would-be murderers.
Think of it this way: If someone
was contemplating committing a
murder, which would be more likely
to stop them? Life without parole in
free living accommodations with
free meals and better conditions than
they are currently enjoying for the
rest of their life, or the threat of
being sent to the electric chair and
executed? The death penalty is there
to make everyone’s life safer—
Philip Paider
freshman
civil engineering
PC
This is in reply to Shane Tucker’s
column (DN, Aug. 30,1994)
concerning the University Program
Council and those individuals on
campus with views similar to his: It
is better to be both liberal and PC
(politically correct) than it is to be
both conservative and prejudiced!
Michelle Jensen
senior
secondary education
Pro-choice
Lori Lyn Arthur wrote (DN, Aug.
30, 1994) on how she is pro-choice.
Well, I am too, but this is as far as
we agree. I believe in the whole
abortion thing that our first choice is
whether or not to have sex. If we
choose abstinence, there is no
unwanted pregnancy. If we choose
to have sex, we can then choose
whether to use birth control. This is
where our choices end.
Once pregnant, it is time to grow
up and accept responsibility for our
actions. Sure, it may be a rough
blow and bad timing, but so are
deaths of close friends and relatives
and personal ills.
To me, the whole thing compares
to a potential criminal. The potential
criminal has the choice to commit or
not commit the crime. Once the
crime has been committed it is too
late. The criminal will be impris
oned. The criminal cannot just say “I
changed my mind. It was an
accident — it all happened so fast
that I didn’t realize what I was doing
until it was too late. It is a bad time
in my life to go to prison.” No! It
doesn’t work that way.
In our society, a drunk driver can
face charges of double homicide for
causing tne death of a pregnant
mother and ter unborn baby. The
same mother could have an abortion
at the same time in ter pregnancy,
and our laws say it is Ok.
Something is a little wrong here,
don’t you think?
Kerry Maline
junior
agribusiness
