Thursday, November 4, 1993
by Paul Lorio
Collegian Columnist
"Shades of grey are all that I
find when I look to the enemy
lines. Black and white were so
easy for me but shades of grey
are the colors I see." (Billy Joel)
One of my passions is in
regard to the military. I’ll be the
first one to admit to being a
“dove" when it comes to war. I
have never seen the “point” of
war besides in cases which the
United States is directly being,
attacked like during the War of
1812 and World War 11.
If that was ever the case, I
would be one of the first people
to grab a rifle and fight.
What I’m trying to say is that
I can’t see the rationale in
building more defense weapons
when we have enough to destroy
all the living organisms on the
planet at least nine times over.
Call me crazy, but I think one
time will be plenty, two at the
most!!
I also feel that the United
States no longer has an enemy
capable of invading its shores.
The nuclear threat with the
Soviet Union has almost been
completely dissolved and even
then, what could we have done
in that situation?
It would have been a no-win
situation with the victor having
the least human mutations when
the war ended. All the airplanes
and troops would have meant
nothing if the bombs ever left
their silos.
Thanks to the technology that
we already possess we were able
to destroy the fourth largest
army on this planet in less than
a week!! We have brought war
to the level of Ms. Pac Man
with the majority of the war
fought with buttons and knobs
instead of blood and sweat, like
Vietnam was fought.
The soldiers of today arc the
young technically advanced
people who shouldn’t be wasting
their time (and lives) on war, but
rather spending it on trying to
find a lasting peace. Better yet,
maybe they should teach others
what they have learned to help
belter the lives of everyone in
this country, instead of finding
new ways to kill the “enemy."
This might be just the “dove”
in me speaking again, but who
is the enemy? In the eighties
the Soviet Union was the “Evil
Empire” and as the nineties came
around the evil empire fell.
Thank god Iraq came around to
fill the void for us. We had the
Gulf War to get Saddam Hussein
and teach those Iraqis a lesson.
This was the war we all got to
see in the comfort of our living
rooms. Tlianks to the
technology we have, the losses
on our side were minimal (but
still too many) while on the
other side the losses were great.
At that time in my life,
everything was in black and
white. They were the enemy and
wc were the good guys (like in
all the movies). Today
everything is just shades of grey.
The mission of the Gulf War
was to liberate Kuwait (which
wc accomplished with great case)
and to put Saddam’s reign to an
end. Two years later, Saddam is
still in power but we have a lot
of dead Iraqis.
Looking at everything now,
those soliders and civilians who
were killed could have very
easily been us. We are not
much different than those people
who were fighting for their
country. To them it was just
part of their lives and it was
their duty to serve in Iraq’s
military, eyen a requirement.
I bet many of them had wives,
girlfriends, and mothers like our
soliders do.
The only difference between
them and us is that wc were
more powerful than they.
Do we really need to have the
power to determine the fate of
other people who aren’t even on
our side of the hemisphere? The
only connection we have with
that area of the world is the oil
under their land. Is a flammable
liquid really worth the lives of
others? Who are we to decide?
I believe it was Abraham
Lincoln who said, “This country
will never be invaded by an
outside foe, its destruction will
be from within its own borders."
Isn’t that the same thing that
happened to the indestructible
Roman Empire too?
Coming from the fourth
largest city in this country,
(Philadelphia) I have seen the foe
from within. Social problems
are running rampant
Crime, drugs and other forms
of social turmoil are everywhere.
Children bom with drug
addictions, women raped almost
every minute, and murders are in
every paper daily.
Don’t we need to try to solve
these problems instead of having
another bomb made to kill
others in some distant land?
Look at Japan. It’s safe to
walk down the streets at night
and drugs arc an unheard of
issue. How is this possible you
ask? One reason is because of
their culture, but another reason
is because they have a military
for their own protection, instead
of the world's protection.
I’m not saying to cut back
dramaticly, but rather just stop
the growth in the industry and
funnel the money into a different
direction. A direction of future
and peace instead of one like the
Roman Empire (destruction).
I’ll leave you with the words of
one of the great, visionaries of
our time:
"Imagine there’s no countries.
It isn’t hard to do. Nothing to
kill or die for, and no religion
too. Imagine all the people
living life in peace." (John
Lennon)
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by John Rossomando
Collegian Columnist
The Cold War may be over,
and the Soviet Empire has
fallen, but tensions have
increased.
The Middle East is as volatile
as ever with continued terrorist
attacks.
Iran is building nuclear
weapons and is undertaking a
fast paced aims buildup, and Iraq
has begun to rearm.
Elsewhere, such as in the
Commonwealth of Independent
States, instability reigns. We
have seen the infighting going
"onin "Russia between Yeltsin’s
forces and communist and fascist
diehards. The military came to
Yeltsin’s aid only after intensive
bargaining.
Russia is a nation which has
been ruled by often repressive
despots and it lacks a democratic
tradition. Nationalists and
communists offer Russians
“stability,” power, and glory,
and accuse Yeltsin's government
of squandering Russia’s status as
a great power. Russia is heading
toward facism.
The situation in Russia today
is roughly equivalent to that of
Weimar Germany prior to
Hitler’s rise to power. In
Weimar Germany inflation was
around 1000%, unemployment
was around 50%. Both Russia
and Germany had a proud
imperial tradition and were
vanquished in war.
If history proves correct, we
will be in big trouble. We w il
see a nuclear armcgl dictator who
has no respect for logic as had
the communists (this is why we
never went to war). As a rule,
fascists are boldly nationalistic
and run solely by their
emotions, so a Russian fascist
would most likely not hesitate
to use nuclear weapons should it
decide to make war.
Do not forget that the
Russians still have 20,000
nuclear warheads pointed at the
United States, and if Yeltsin
falls, we could be pushed back
into the potential nuclear
nightmare.
Many of you think the Cold
War is over so now we do not
need to have a strong military.
The last few times when we
have not had a battle-ready
military, our forces were badly
defeated. The main reason we
were able to destroy the Iraqi
army was that our armed forces
were combat ready, and they
were the best equipped armed
force ever fielded by the United
States.
Mr. Clinton seems to think
that weakening out military
power will solve our problems.
Well all it will do is
compromise the training and
equipping of our military. The
military must be ready to go to
war and win at a moment’s
notice.
The last time this was tried
was by good 'ole Jimmy Carter.
As a result, our soldiers were ill
equipped and active duty combat
units hardly had enough
ammunition to arm themselves.
Should the Warsaw Pact have
decided then and there that they
wanted to invade Central Europe,
our troops would not have been
able to resist. Furthermore,
there were not enough spare
parts and mechanics to maintain
helicopters, planes and other
vehicles.
The result was the botched
hostage rescue attempt in 1980,
which resulted in the crash of a
chopper and a transport plane.
We have already seen what
happens when troops lack the
equipment that they need as a
result of Mr. Clinton’s plan.
Namely, when the Rangers and
Delta Force, both elite units of
the U.S. army, got mauled by
Somali rabble.
Clinton said he loathed the
military. It is quite obvious he
and his Left-Wing administration
are getting their wish at the
expense of young Gls. If these
cuts continue, the U.S. will not
be able to handle these problems
should they arise and war breaks
out.
For those of you who think
that the entire deficit is
accountable to President
Reagan’s build up of defense
weapons, you are wrong. Only
20-25% of the deficit incurred
under Ronald Reagan was out of
the defense budget. The rest
came out of social spending.
If it were not for Mr. Reagan,
American troops would not have
been able to win as easily as
they did in the Persian Gulf.
Just because we beat Saddam
Hussein’s rabble army at a time
when we were still well
equipped, doesn't mean we could
do so again with fewer less
trained and equipped troops.
There is an old saying, "never
underestimate your enemy or
delight in fate you shall." Don’t
think that no one can beat us. If
Mr. Clinton continues to have
his way, our military will not be
able to take the field of battle
and be victorious.
We must be prepared to fight
should war break out and our
strategic interests be threatened.
I do not feel the U.S. should
involve itself militarily in areas
in which it does not hold a vital
interest (Bosnia and Somalia).
Face it, this planet throughout
history has been ruled by armed
force, and unfortunately always
will. Man is a creature who by
nature is aggresive and brutal.
Since 3000 B.C. there have only
been 256 years which there has
not been any war, and since
1945 we have only seen 26 days
of peace (source: "International
Relations and World Affairs,"
1992).
So don't think if we love our
enemies they will share our
affection. There was a saying
back in the '6os: "Love your
enemies don't shoot them." Your
enemies do not love you and
now you are dead
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