Gabriel McDonald’s column about an Iranian war rests on the bleeding edge of deja-vu.Recall the history, cite Hitler (always), play up the rhetoric, dump the naysayers and take aim.
Rather familiar, save our military strain in two battlefronts (tic-tac-toe geography!), damaged politics in Congress and the shattering of international support.
Ahmadinejad – an unusually rational leader – apparently continued the pursuit for biological and chemical production while flaunting international protocol, though it is advantageous to display a drive towards such things. His nuclear threat is unknown, as was Iraq’s, and the speeches only go so far. CIA intelligence in 1992 proposed nuclear capabilities by 2000. In 2005, Seymour Hersh covered their memo of the Persians lacking a solid weapons program. Spies, diplomats and the game of credibility would serve better.
Our current calls for necessity, though, will probably lead to war, and here is where we agree.

Colter McWhorter
Junior, Cumming
International Affairs / Pre-Med

I’m an exchange student at the UGA and I would like to react to McDonald’s article published on Tuesday, January 23rd.
J.K. Galbraith said, “When common people mind about politics, they reach an underated way of thinking and use rationales they would oppose and judge as childish if the same kind of argument was made in their area of interest, speciality or work.”
Tuesday’s R&B published an article by Douglas McDonald about a possible war against Iran. I was amazed to notice that Mr McDouglas is majoring in finance. I am majoring in International Affairs and wouldn’t dare, even for all the gold on earth, give my opinion about finance, economics or business.
Why? Simply because I know nothing about it.
Mr. McDouglas starts his analysis of the Iranian problem with a wonderful analogy with Hitler and the late 30s because “It is said that history repeats itself.”
If we accept this point of view, we all are living in a sad world. That would imply that there’s no future, no past and no time.
Some events are recurrent, for sure. Meanwhile, one can’t objectively admit that today’s world looks like the late 30s or early 40s. Thanks God we’re not living in the same context.
Then, Mr. McDouglas goes on with an analysis of Ahmadinedjad’s speeches.
There is no word strong enough to condemn the way the Iranian president speaks out about the Shoah. Still, this provocative attitude is less threatening than the damages that could be done to the Middle-East if a war broke out between Iran and the United States.
For sure, the negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis would reach a stalemate, Lebanon would experience a blood bath (Iran has strong ties with the Hezbollah which is the most powerful opposition party at the moment), and Iraq would bleed more and more. Why? Just simply because an attack agaisnt Iran would be seen as an aggression against a Middle Eastern sovereign country.
Moreover, as the Study Group on Iraq stressed, sectarian violences would be harsher. Thus, waging war isn’t simple as it seems.
Even if Iran seeks nuclear weapons, I ask, is the U.S. ready and does it have a window of opportunity to intervene?
In my point of view, diplomacy remains the only way to deal with Ahmadinedjad because the consequences in the Middle East, and in America, would be significant.
America? I’m thinking about the lobbyists in Washington that are pushing the Congress in the wrong way, depossessing Americans from their liberty.
Mind about it two seconds. What makes the value of a democracy? Freedom and the people’s right to vote for their representatives.
What occurs when these are devoided from their job by businesses? It’s called a fake republic.
I’m proud of studying here, even if I am the common folk, the guy that comes from another country. I’m disappointed when I realize that Mr. McDouglas makes us look like short-minded people because he wrote an article about something he misunderstands.
If McDonald wants to come to one of our international affairs classes, he is welcomed. Openeness is always profitable.

Mathieu Riondet
Senior, Lyon, France
International Affairs

If UGA student Gabriel McDonald is so hot to go to war with Iran, then I hope he is a military veteran. If not, then he should join the military
and volunteer for duty in the Middle East. So many students at UGA seem to support war as long as they don’t have to go. To those little armchair
Pattons, I simply say, “Sign up or shut up.”

Ed Tant
Columnist
The Athens Banner-Herald

On Wednesday I attempted to vote in the SGA election. I was quite proud of my decision to vote and my support for the candidate…None of the above.
(Thank you “Bruster’s Millions”).
Of course voting for Disbandment is like voting for Ralph Nader, and the Greek system most likely won’t let it happen. Regardless, as an alumnus I was unable to vote and apparently cannot care about my Alma Mater or its students now that I walked through the arch.
I wouldn’t feel so bad but one month earlier the Alumni Association stood on stage at my graduation panhandling for donations before I could throw my cap in the air.
This leaves me wondering why I should support a school that begs for my money – because apparently they haven’t taken enough of it – yet refuses to let me voice an opinion in its matters.

Mark Stoffel
Alumni, Rochester, NY
Economics

There are so many things wrong with Gabriel McDonald’s war with Iran article that I don’t know where to begin.
A war with Iran? On Israel’s behalf? Does Israel not have it’s own very powerful army?
When are we going to realize that Arab anti-Americanism is directly related to our blind and unwavering support of Israel; a nation that continues to commit horrible human rights violations against Palestinians.
The sooner we treat all of the players of the Middle East equally, the sooner the tension in that part of the world will begin to ease.
Ahmadinejad is an extremist and his comments concerning the Holocaust are disgusting, but let’s be careful not to overcompensate for the despicable crimes of the Holocaust by allowing Israel to get a free pass in their own
human rights violations.

James O’Connell
Junior, Decatur
History

As a University freshman, I don’t feel like SGA has done much for me. It has never made any grand gesture to reach out to me, and God knows I have never had any urge to participate in it whatsoever. I think the current SGA is ineffective, and I should have every reason to not care whether the group lives or dies.
But I do care. And here’s why.
Though it rarely seems to help, SGA is always there for us, and we should understand that it’s the best way to reach out if we have to.
Sure, there are other outlets for expressing student opinion on campus (this letter in The Red & Black is a good example), but SGA is our representative body. If the student body is so upset about what SGA does or does not, then the logical plan of action is to replace those who run it, not eliminate the institution.
We run it, we decide who is in it and we should have to fix it, instead of just getting rid of the problem.
The argument can be made that by abolishing SGA now, students can “fix it” by setting up a brand new organization in the future.
This is an intriguing idea, but what happens in the meantime? If SGA opponents say that the administration does what it wants with the organization, imagine what Adams and his cronies will be free to do without a representative student body.
I’ve got another three and a half years here, and I don’t want to be stuck with an unchallenged administration even for that short amount of time.
We should stop undermining our own voice. SGA is ours, and we should heal it, not kill it.
One last note – I doubt any student has as great a voice in this debate as Red & Black stringer Josh Weiss, who last week wrote a compelling argument advocating the abolishment of SGA. Though I disagree with his ideas, Weiss appears to be as or more passionate than many SGA activists, and is just the kind of advocate students are looking for. Should his campaign to eliminate SGA fail, then I propose something new for him – a campaign for SGA president.

Louis Elrod
Freshman, Mount Airy
Political Science