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Volume CXXXII, Number 19 |
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Professors lead community in dialogue on
war in Iraq
BRIAN DUNN
ORIENT STAFF
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| Government Professor Dov Waxman (left) was a panelist Wednesday evening. (Hans Law, Bowdoin Orient) |
For the first time since the commencement of military action in the Persian Gulf, members of the Bowdoin community gathered together to discuss the merits of war in Iraq and its possible consequences on Wednesday evening in Morrell Lounge, Smith Union.
Organized by Professor Allen Springer of the government department, the forum featured Professor Jonathan White of the sociology department, Adams-Catlin Professor of Economics, David Vail and Professor Dov Waxman of the government department, who all led the discussion.
The intent of the evening was to provide the Bowdoin community with a forum for voicing their concerns about the military conflict in Iraq. Professor Waxman said, "Our first goal was essentially to stimulate student conversation about the war. We wanted to make sure that the discussion continued after the break."
With approximately 200 students packing the floor of Morrell Lounge, there were plenty of opportunities for discussion as multiple members of the community asked questions to each other and the professor panel during the two hour event.
Concerns raised by the members of the panel and the community included the linkages to Iraq and terror, the question of U.S. motives for military action, humanitarian relief during and after the war, and the role of the United Nations.
The professor panel, in an effort to spur discussion, drafted a two-page document with numerous political, economic, and humanitarian questions.
Professor White, in response to a student question about the involvement of the U.N. said "The United Nations is better suited to handle this situation. It is filled with people from Iraq and the Middle East who understand their cultural values."
After the event, Dan Schuberth '06, a member of BSG, said "It's an issue of national security. Iraq has proven time and time again to ignore the U.N., it's good that the United States has taken the initiative to defend the resolutions that the U.N. has drawn up in the past."
The second half of the event focused primarily on war-time Iraq and the consequences of war on the country and its population.
Professor Waxman, citing the dangers of military intervention said, "essentially don't trust the United States even if it calls on civilians to leave an area."
After the event, Sam Cohan '05, concerned about the precedent the United States is setting said, "Invading Iraq just because they might have weapons of mass destruction is like arresting an innocent minority just because they're more apt to commit a crime in an urban neighborhood; it's not fair."
The general consensus after the event remained very positive about the opportunity that the discussion granted to members of the community. Professor White said, "I think that Wednesday night was an excellent beginning of the conversation and I felt some energy in the room toward organizing further events."
However, some felt that the forum was not conducive to a real discussion about the war in Iraq due to its one-sided nature. Rebecca Gundelsberger '03 said, "I think we could have found a conservative professor on campus to help lead the discussion as opposed to two leftists and a moderate leftist."
A friend of Gundelsberger's, Sarah Edgecomb '03 echoed her friend's concerns about the forum and its openness to differing opinions about the war. "I felt like there was a lot of eye-rolling and snickering. People don't take the conservative viewpoint seriously at all."
Other concerns about the forum in terms of the depth of the discussion came from professors and students alike. Some felt that the discussion simply did not delve deep enough into the topics and that the forum simply skimmed the surface of some key issues.
Professor Waxman said the forum was "successful in that it got the community to discuss the war, but it could have used more independent and critical thought." He also said, "this is a multi-faceted and complex issue which is grossly simplified by slogans which reduce it to a war for oil or a war for Iraqi freedom. It's just that sometimes the level of discussion lost a lot of the nuances and became a course of condemnation against the Bush administration."
Nonetheless, the BSG has plans in the coming weeks for a number of different discussions which will be focused on a specific issue about the war-tentative plans call for professor panels in the coming discussions as well.
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