Letters to the Editor

Real violations To the Editor: On behalf of Penn Faculty and Staff Against War on Iraq, I must challenge the accuracy and fairness of your coverage of our Teach-In ("An antiwar evening in Huntsman," DP, 9/21/06). The opening line "Penn faculty revived a protest technique" carelessly omitted the staff who played a critical role in organizing this event. This is not a minor point: Too often, the vital contributions made by Penn staff go unnoted. Another inaccuracy followed: The Dreams of Sparrows is not a "fictionalized account of Iraq during the American invasion" but a gritty documentary. We also question a number of disturbing editorial choices made. Why no quotes from enthusiastic student-attendees? Why a photograph that suggested no young people even attended? And why put educate in inverted commas? The U.S. government has lied repeatedly and, aided by a largely compliant media, has succeeded in keeping many Americans ignorant as to the true causes and costs of this war. We sought to replace fiction with fact, to explore the grim realities masked by "patriotic" rhetoric. If this is not education, we wonder what is. Finally, we reject your statement that our panelists discussed "perceived" human-rights violations in Iraq. This pre-emptive invasion violated international law. It has killed as many as 100,000 Iraqi civilians and left countless more injured and homeless. Iraqi prisoners have been tortured and held without charge. Five U.S. soldiers currently await trial for gang-raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her, her parents and her 5-year-old sister. For whom, we ask, are such violations merely "perceived?"

Felicity Paxton The author is a fellow in the Women's Studies and Critical Writing programs University support To the Editor: Participants in Penn Faculty and Staff Against War on Iraq's recent "Teach-In" ("An antiwar evening in Huntsman," DP, 9/21/06) argue that the goal of a teach-in is to "educate" and provide a forum for "moral leadership." In the same way, it is the University's civic responsibility to more actively strive for a diverse political philosophy within its student body and faculty. While the University may not have financially or politically backed this event, the administration must be held accountable for passively sanctioning only one side of this argument. Through their participation, Penn professors demonstrate their belief in the educational value of political discourse, but they should also agree then that the greatest intellectual benefits of their teach-in cannot be achieved if the community is not supplied with an active and strong opposing perspective. The University administration should be committed to actively recruiting politically diverse advocates to counter what has become an obvious trend in political forums on campus. As a body that holds incalculable influence on this nation's youth, this community must accept responsibility for attracting a more politically diverse faculty and student body, which will not only sponsor an anti-war teach-in, but also support the Iraq war. Sadly, we have not seen this responsibility taken seriously from the administration. We hope in the future that the University responds to partisan 'teach-ins' with efforts to expose the student body to more diversified viewpoints.

Isa Kenyon College sophomore The author is a College Republicans vice president

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