Dye, Professors Condemn Bush’s War on Terror
By John Byrne

College President Nancy Dye and various professors offered a scathing critique of the Bush Administration’s approach to terrorism at Saturday’s All-Community Teach-In.
The teach-in, held Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. drew about 200 people, including many from the greater Oberlin community. It broached such issues as academic and personal freedom in an age of heightened surveillance, Israel, Palestine, Muslims, “the other” and foreign policy.
In her introductory remarks, Dye spoke of how her outlook on the world has changed since 9/11.
“I find myself thinking about why it is we have colleges and universities, and what role they have to play,” she said. “The ignorance of nations, and of each of us, can contribute to disaster.”
The boundaries of the modern Middle East can be traced to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Dye stated. Statesmen at Versailles divvied up the colonial spoils of the Arab nations.
“It was at the Paris Peace Conference that the modern Middle East was created,” she said.
Dye also asserted that British policymakers believed that the Jews were behind an array of despicable activities, including the financial backing of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution.
Today, we again exhibit such gross ignorance, she said.
“Remarkable, we say now, how incredibly ignorant people can be,” she remarked. “But we have to ask ourselves — what do we know, and are we really that different?”
She also expressed frustration with the government’s new powers of surveillance, and the stifling effect such surveillance can have on the often controversial discussions that are sheltered and encouraged by the umbrella of higher education.
“As Oberlin’s President, my first job is to protect this College as a free and open space,” she said.
After Congressman Brown’s speech, community members broke off into groups to discuss various specialized topics.
Associate Politics Professor Eve Sandberg and Dean of the College Clayton Koppes hosted a session on U.S. foreign and military policy. Sandberg posited that Bush’s policy of unilateralism was in part predicated on the principle that the U.S. military has little use for others’ involvement.
Noting that European allies have been cutting defense spending, Sandberg said, “The Bush Administration has then said we’re going it alone because you don’t have anything we need.”
Koppes reflected on the use of historical motifs in Bush’s speeches, specifically in terms of Hitler and the League of Nations. Bush, he said, has used veiled references to the failure of the League of Nations to stop Hitler’s advances in Europe as metaphors for the failure of the United Nations to stop Saddam Hussein.
“This is not new,” Koppes said. “The Hitler motif has been used a lot. It was a quiet motif, with a slightly different skew, in Vietnam.”
“It’s very seductive, and very slippery,” he added.
Koppes also spoke briefly about the role of oil in any Iraq war. Iraq, he said, has the ability to produce seven million gallons of oil per day, but is currently only pumping 1 million gallons. They’re sitting on massive reserves, he said.
“One thing this would do is stave off an increase in oil prices, which would have a distinct economic benefit,” Koppes said. “It would enable us to press the Saudis,” he added.
Politics Professor Ben Schiff and Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies Francis Hasso discussed the role of Israel and Palestine, and the dearth of strong leadership in the region.
“The feeling of relative hopelessness with leadership has been a
constant since the 1970’s,” Schiff said.
They also discussed the role of collaborators, who in the end are alienated from both groups.
Dye and Politics Professor Ronald Kahn held a session on academic freedom and civil liberties. Kahn suggested that giving the Central Intelligence Agency greater clandestine powers could make them a quasi-military operation.
“The real problem in the future is what I call the incorporation of civil-run agencies that are really quasi-military,” he said.
Other groups highlighted in the sessions were Arabs, Muslims and “others,” in a workshop offered by Assistant Professor of Religion Anna Gade and a leader from an Arab Community Center in Michigan, Karen Rigall. Arab Americans have become unfortunate targets of the war on terror, they said.
In an inteview with the Review, Dye expressed her personal fears about waging war with Iraq.
“I am more scared about the idea ... of the U.S. launching a preemptive attack on Iraq than I have ever been scared of anything as an American,” she said.
“It seems an incredibly ill-thought out and dangerous thing to do,” she added. “What’s the hurry? Why the rush to mix it up?”