My study abroad experience is limited to a half-hour visit to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, so it’s easy for me to feel unqualified to analyze international stories such as the war on terrorism.
For most of the quarter, I left the complex stories to professional columnists at top newspapers such as The New York Times. A high-level political squabble last week reversed my outlook.
Marking a subtle but significant departure in strategy, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat from South Dakota, said that despite the war’s early victories, “the jury’s still out about future success.” Previously, Daschle had not openly criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the war on terrorism.
The Republican response was extremely harsh. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, Republican from Texas, described Daschle’s remarks as “disgusting.” You would think Daschle had said something radical, such as “George W. Bush wouldn’t be half the president Dick Cheney is.”
The reprimands didn’t stop with DeLay. Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, a Republican from Mississippi, said, “How dare Sen. Daschle criticize President Bush while we are fighting our war on terrorism, especially when we have troops in the field? He should not be trying to divide our country while we are united.”
Republican leadership and Cabinet officials have adopted Bush’s “I am a uniter, not a divider” campaign theme as a mantra to discourage any disagreement with the president after Sept. 11.
Most chilling was Attorney General John Ashcroft’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Dec. 6. He said, “To those who would pit Americans against immigrants and citizens against non-citizens, to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve.”
Ashcroft was responding to those questioning the Justice Department’s policies regarding detainees, which includes a refusal to release basic information such as the names of citizens being held. He should read his department’s mission statement, which promises to “ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” That Ashcroft would equate critical inquiries with aiding terrorism is illogical and entirely anti-democratic.
These subtle attempts to silence dissent convince me that we should not rely upon elitist newspapers like The Times for coverage of the war on terrorism. The Daily and other small publications are the rightful birthplaces of a reasonable debate by the public and for the public about civil liberty and the execution of an ominously undefined war.
Don’t wait to speak. Write letters to newspapers that are eager to print them. Call in to talk-radio shows. Start a Web site. Apply to be a Forum columnist next quarter and write for editors who will provide guidance, but will allow you independence in your writing.
Ask your Congressmen why they fled the Capitol in fear of while postal workers remained on duty and untested for anthrax. If the politicians can’t give you an honest answer, send them home for permanent vacations when you vote on March 19. Demand to know the names of the detainees. By doing so you will inform Bush and Co. that neither terrorists nor politicians will intimidate you into submission.
