Erik Gustafson to Speak on Iraq War
When the left-leaning student group JUSTICE brought in Fr. Simon Harak, S.J. last week, we were far from impressed. We just got an e-mail from Greg St. Arnold, co-Chair of the group, announcing another speaker.
This particular speaker is billed as more moderate than Harak. JUSTICE tells me that as a matter of policy that they won’t sponsor a speaker who supports the Iraq war, but perhaps this fellow is moderate enough to engage in a useful dialogue. Far more valuable, however, would be an outright debate where both sides are heard.
Someone should challenge him on his opposition to sanctions used against Saddam’s regime. The only alternatives to sanctions were (1.) do nothing, and (2.) go to war. Since Gustafson sppears to have opposed going to war, one must assume he would have preferred to do nothing.
It’s also the case that the damage that sanctions supposedly did to innocent women and children was the result of Saddam’s policy of using his “Oil for Food” money to build palaces, and to bribe French, Russian and UN officials. The anti-sanctions people are blaming the west for what Saddam did.
The e-mail, with the details, follows:
This particular speaker is billed as more moderate than Harak. JUSTICE tells me that as a matter of policy that they won’t sponsor a speaker who supports the Iraq war, but perhaps this fellow is moderate enough to engage in a useful dialogue. Far more valuable, however, would be an outright debate where both sides are heard.
Someone should challenge him on his opposition to sanctions used against Saddam’s regime. The only alternatives to sanctions were (1.) do nothing, and (2.) go to war. Since Gustafson sppears to have opposed going to war, one must assume he would have preferred to do nothing.
It’s also the case that the damage that sanctions supposedly did to innocent women and children was the result of Saddam’s policy of using his “Oil for Food” money to build palaces, and to bribe French, Russian and UN officials. The anti-sanctions people are blaming the west for what Saddam did.
The e-mail, with the details, follows:
Erik Gustafson, executive director of the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, will be on campus to share his personal story as well as talk about the mission of EPIC (www.epic-usa.org). The title of his talk will be “The US Military, Postwar Iraq, and My Conversion to Catholicism".His talk will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in Cudahy Hall room 001.
Mr. Gustafson is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm who traveled to Iraq in 1998 to protest the UN sanctions against the country. He has appeared on several US media outlets to speak about the current situation in Iraq, including Fox News, NBC, NPR, and CBS. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Mr. Gustafson converted to Catholicism and has been practicing ever since. EPIC’s mission is to avoid divisive dialogue about the morality of the war in Iraq and instead discuss the nature of nation building and the role the United States can play.
Please join us this Thursday for Mr. Gustafson’s talk as well as refreshments. Please pass this along to anyone you know who may be interested. Email gregory.starnold@mu.edu with any questions.
In peace,
Greg St. Arnold
posted by John McAdams at 6:35 PM
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