No guts, no glory
UN. should fend for itself against Iraq
the United States would remain vigi
lant in its new war with terrorism.
Recall that he also said such air
strikes would become the weapon of
choice and would be used often to
combat perceived threats against
America or innocents abroad.
Forward to November.
The burning factories in Sudan
and the subsequent witch hunt for
Osama bin Laden are a memory now.
The farce that launched a pseudo
war provided just enough cover so
that America could make a triumphal
entrance into world affairs and front
an idea that this nation was going
after hard-line terrorists and dictators.
As a nation, we had done the right
thing, and we held fast to that idea.
We had revenged the deaths at our
embassies and sent a clear and delib
erate message to the world’s terrorist
factions. What was more, we weren’t
about to stop at Sudan and
Afghanistan.
But here we are, four months
later, slapped in the face by an old
enemy as he hands us an apology let
ter that the White House says is unac
ceptable.
Like most of America’s modem
foreign policy snafus, the United
States is going to knowingly fall for
this rotten ploy again. Saddam is
going to come back, and in another
four to six months, we’ll be back in
the White House press room with
angry words and red faces.
America will never get anything
accomplished in the way of harmony
and peace in the Middle East. The
United Nations can do all the
weapons inspection it wants - the end
result will always fall in the favor of
Saddam and Iraq.
The Middle East appears as a
breeding ground for the lunatic
fringe.
It is unfortunate that a few people
must speak for an entire region. While
warring Middle Easterners are
extremists for military action, there is
no doubt that peaceable Middle
Easterners are extremists for peace.
The Middle East is generally
viewed as a dangerous place led by
dangerous, conniving men who have
little to no regard for human life and
have less respect for institutions that
seek a more peaceful world for every
one.
Oil production in the Middle East
is the leverage they use to randomly
wreak havoc and toy with the more
powerful nations of the world.
While the United States must pro
tect its fuel interests, perhaps it is time
to allow a foundering United Nations
to step up to the forefront and become
more than just a symbolic keeper of
peace and unity.
The peaceful peoples of the
Middle East look to Western nations
to come to their aid, but nothing is
ever accomplished, because the
United Nations continues to give
men such as Saddam the benefit of
the doubt.
For Western nations such as the
United States and the United
Kingdom, the fight in Iraq may as
well have been over after die Gulf
War.
At that point, the United Nations
interceded, and all rights of the victors
were suspended while the United
Nations proceeded on an extensive
fact-finding mission of its own.
But that mission has uncovered
only a small part of the complex net
work that Saddam has constructed.
The hunt has been interrupted contin
ually by threats from the Iraqis, and
the United Nations refuses to stand up
to Saddam’s bully pulpit.
The United States and the United
Kingdom respect the stance of the
United Nations, but now, it’s about
time for the Western world to turn.
It’s time for the West to get out of
the Middle East. It’s time to let the
United Nations fend for itself in its
dealings with Iraq.
America, though it has definite
business in Iraq, should concede
power to the United Nations and
absolve itself from all following
crises in that region.
Essentially, if the United States
is not allowed to have a stronger
voice or act more sternly toward
Iraq, then we should drop our inter
ests altogether.
Already, too much blood has been
shed over the Middle East, too much
time and money have been wasted.
It’s frightening for the United
States and the rest of the world to put
trust in the United Nations, knowing
the passive history of the institution.
However, the time has come to wait
for a direct threat to motivate the
United States into an all-out fight in
the Middle East - not just a war on
terrorism, though that is Saddam’s
forte.
If America cannot have a more
active role in weapons inspection and
dealing with the ultimate fate of Iraq
and its murderous leader, then it’s
time to let the United Nations have
all the glory - if it can handle it.
ADAM KLINKER is a
sophomore English and
history major and a Daily
Nebraskan columnist.
The hot winds of war were blow
ing harder this week in the world’s
center of conflict - the Middle East.
Once again, as President Bill
Clinton noted, Saddam Hussein has
pushed the world to the brink of war,
only to retract with a paltry statement
of truce.
Once again, Saddam has made a
doormat of the United States. And
once again, the United Nations has
allowed Iraq to get away with it all.
Recall correctly that in August,
America launched cruise missiles at
suspected terrorist sites in Sudan and
Afghanistan.
Recall that President Clinton said
Bless the press
Have you hugged your favorite DN employee today?
TODD MUNSON is a
senior broadcasting major
and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
Two days ago, I purchased some
thing I hoped I would never have to.
(Don’t worry, Mom, it wasn’t a
home pregnancy kit or lice sham
poo.)
I bought a simple day planner.
That’s right, you silly little monkeys,
I bought a
day
planner
in hopes
of orga
nizing ^0*0
theclut- 1
tered mess my j
life has /
become. For I
years, I’d 1
thrown stones
from my plan
nerless glass
house at those
pitiful
souls
who
had to
jot down
every moment ot their lives m then
dumb books.
Until the aforementioned couple
days ago, I went by this philosophy:
If I can’t remember it, it must not be
important.
Weil, old age has been getting the
best of me, and to all those planner
toting folks I’ve ever mocked, poke
my mug shot’s eyes out right now.
I’m sure to the planner junkies
out there I bought the amateur model,
but it suits my needs just fine. Heck,
it even has all these odd holidays list
ed on the calendar. However, I
noticed two things wrong; November
is a lame holiday month except for
Turkey Day, and there is no holiday
honoring the student journalists who
publish the Daily Nebraskan.
It may sound terribly egotistical
to tout the virtues of the DN within
the confines of the DN, but if gas sta
tion attendants and phlebotomists can
get their day in the sun, then it’s only
fair for the next spot up in the job
food chain to get a fair shake.
Hear ye, hear ye, from now until
people forget, I now proclaim the
third Tuesday of November to be
known as Daily Nebraskan
Appreciation Day or D-NAD for
short.
Please __
keep in
mind that I pro- \
claimed today as D- >
NAD, not Worship
Todd Day. Although I
may be synonymous
with the DN, little
do you know I’m
rarely here. Granted, I
stop in for a couple minutes
each day to share my latest sex
ually explicit joke about the elderly,
but when added to the time spent
actually working, I’m at the DN for
just a few hours a week.
Also, as far a the hierarchy at the
DN goes, I’d put myself and all the
other columnists at the bottom.
Compared to the other employees of
die DN, I wouldn’t consider what we
do an actual job.
Allow me to give you a virtual
tour of the DN without the hassle of
those annoying goggles. Ready VR
Troopers? Then let’s go!
I’d like to say the DN is a magical
place, like the local cracker factory.
But it’s a very plain office, with one
glaring exception: Aside from a cou
ple of full-time employees, who sign
the paychecks, the DN is run entirely
by students.
From
j mycom
' puter, the
advertising
people are
across the hall
and do their own
K.
thing. I’d like to fill you in on what
exactly they do, but since I refuse to
sell my soul to join their ranks, I have
to observe from afar and can only
surmise that they do advertising stuff.
Hey ad reps: The DN needs more
Hooters ads, or so say the scantily
clad experts in the men’s sauna at the
rec-center.
On the other side of the hall are
the design and photo people. These
are the folks responsible for making
the paper look all neat and pretty. The
talent that’s confined in
that room blows
my mind, like
watching an
Olsen twins
movie.
(Quick pre
diction: By
their 19th
birthday,
Ashley and
mon for people to spend the better
part of a day working to make sure
their stories are complete and factual
ly sound. These student journalists
write the news that broadcasting stu
dents copy.
The copy editors also share this
space. They’re the vernacularly gifted
who make me seem like 1 know how
to spell and make sure the paper is
error-free.
I’d also like to mention that a sig
nificant portion of DN employees
usually finish their workday around 2
a.m. every school night - not too
conducive to an active social life.
Every day, your fellow students
publish a newspaper for your enjoy
ment for only a $ 1.15 a semester.
($ 1.15 for you, unless you apply for a
refund. DN employees make about
two bucks an hour, on the average.)
Come down here sometime and wit
ness firsthand the effort your peers
put into an edition of the
Mary ivaie win
make the move to
, soft pom. Mark my
words.)
I about foigot to
mention the art department also is
housed there, thus multiplying the
talent quotient by a power of four.
The art on the opinion page is better
than anything I ever write. Mad props
to y’all.
The final stop is the editorial
department, home of news, Web,
sports, opinion and arts and enter
tainment. This is where the stories are
made up by a team of specially
trained chimps. Not The effort the
DN’s reporters go through to write a
story is incredible. It’s not to uncom
DN. Guaranteed,
you’ll never complain about writing a
five-page term paper again. And
you’ll no longer feel compelled to
spout off to no one in particular ■
before class that the DN sucks.
When compared to other college
newspapers around the country, the
DN is like a broken vacuum — it does
n’t. In fact, it’s consistently one of the
nation’s top college newspapers.
So, to all my groupies out there, ■
please don’t said me any mail this
week. Instead, mail a letter of appre
ciation to the staff at the DN, minus
the nudie pics and perverted sexual
advances - just save those till next
week, Arthur.