Carolinian

Issue date: 11/7/06 Section: Campus News

Media Credit: JOHN READ/THE CAROLINIAN A panel of UNCG professors and activists spoke about the state of the Iraq War and views of democracy during a presentation by the UNCG College Libertarians on Monday, Oct. 27.

Last Monday, Oct. 30, the UNCG College Libertarians held a teach-in for club members and students interested in raising their personal awareness of the anti-war movement.

A panel of anti-war advocates - a UNCG professor, editor of antiwar.com, and organizer for The World Can't Wait - presented and debated the War in Iraq and how it is affecting Americans. Their differences in opinion reflect contingencies in the traditional backdrop of the anti-war movement.

Discussions began with the reasoning of the Bush administration for entering Iraq, which they listed as besides weapons of mass destruction and removal of Saddam Hussein from power, oil and to promote democracy.

The talks centered around democracy's effect on other nations, and in particular how views of this form of government are relative to different cultural view, with examples including Russia's feelings about democracy in the 1990s. They describe a possible Iraqi view of democracy as U.S. propaganda forced on them.

"We hear the word everyday from powers that be…Democracy is relative and means two different things to different people."

In one instance, people may view democracy in terms of economic as well as political rights, they explained.

Speakers went on to cite current problems with democracy even on U.S. grounds - "In a democracy we should be able to marry whomever the hell we want." Another example was how campaign money would be viewed in other countries as bribes.

In conclusion, Justin Raimondo, chief editor and columnist for Antiwar.com argued that a single-goal coalition is necessary to achieve anything for an anti-war party in Washington D.C., stating other advocacy goals merely detract from the larger issue at hand.

With the movement's entire force placed behind one goal, according to Raimondo, the coalition is much more likely to achieve its goal: immediate and complete removal of US presence in Iraq.

They finished by citing Iraqis may have been "better off" before the war, with Hussein. They measure this quantitatively, by examining the number of deaths today as compared with before U.S. intervention. The panel predicted that this course of action may ultimately be creating more terrorists.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools