Friday, March 21, 2008
[The author of what follows, professor of law Ed Gaffney, Jr., is, as some MOJ readers know, co-author with Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., of Religous Freedom: History, Cases and Other Materials on the Interaction of Religion and Government (Foundation Press 2001).]
University Community
Marks Fifth Anniversary of Iraq War
Edward McGlynn
Gaffney, Jr.
Professor of Law
On Tuesday, March 18, the
Iraq War turned five years old. That is longer than the Civil War, longer than
the American involvement in World War I, and longer than the American
involvement in World War II. And far more costly to taxpayers than the
expenditures for all three of these wars combined: more than a trillion
dollars. It was not an early Church Father, but President Dwight David
Eisenhower – former commander of the Allied forces in Europe in World War II –
who called military expenditures on this scale “a theft from the poor.”
Members of the faculty,
staff and student body of Valparaiso University observed the fifth anniversary
of the Iraq War with a panel discussion at Christ College in the afternoon. In
the evening, the Chapel of the Resurrection was the venue for a solemn
commemoration of the dead, the wounded, and those who have suffered from this
war.
The afternoon program
had the feel of a Vietnam-era “teach-in.” The most notable difference was the
graying of those in attendance. Chaired by Professor Sy Moskowitz of the School
of Law, a panel of professors gave differing perspectives on the war.
Professor Beth Gingerich
of the Business College suggested that – no matter who is elected to succeed
President George W. Bush next January – it will probably take much more time to
achieve full troop withdrawal than the 60 days bandied about in the current
presidential campaign.
Professor Gus Sponberg,
Chair of the American Studies Department, offered a parodic way out of the
current chaotic condition: America should offer to airlift millions of Iraqis
to our country and to provide them all with resettlement in a portion of the
country suffering from a drop in population: the Plains states from the Dakotas
in the north to Texas and Louisiana in the south. Sponberg’s “modest proposal” was quickly
dubbed the “Fallouja to Fargo” plan. Its
total cost, Sponberg noted, would be a small fraction of the enormous cost of
the war in its first five years.
Noting that the price of
a barrel of oil climbed past $110 per barrel recently, Professor Chuck
Schaefer, Chair of the History Department, gave an introduction to the history
of Western – first British and then American – interests in the oil resources
of Iraq as a major signifier in this war.
Professor Brent
Whitefield, another VU historian, offered a contrasting view. He urged
restraint on withdrawal of troops from Iraq, on the view that the orderly
transfer of authority matters more than a “cut and run” policy like the policy
adopted by the Clinton administration in Somalia. He suggested that the
American occupation of Japan offers a model for producing an amicable
partnership that has endured long after the Allies forced Japan to abandon its
conquest of the Pacific rim.
“We set out to illustrate diverse perspectives
on this war,” Moskowitz stated, “and we achieved this goal.”
In the evening gathering
at the Chapel of the Resurrection, the focus was more on the human costs of the
war: less on the expenditure of our treasure and more on the shedding of our
blood and loss of life by almost 4,000 of our own soldiers and by a vast number
of Iraqi dead (at least 60,000 and perhaps as many as a half million), with at
least two million displaced and homeless refugees.
The civic event featured
Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders. Pastor Joseph Cunningham, Dean of the
Chapel, welcomed all the participants to the gathering. Rabbi Shoshana Feferman
of Temple Israel in Valparaiso, and Imam Mongy El-Quesny of the Islamic Center
in Merrillville offered a reflection from their traditions. Dr. Fred Niedner,
Chair of the Theology Department, read a poem by Wendell Barry that the farmer-poet
wrote during the Vietnam War, but that could have been written yesterday about
the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The names of all of the
American soldiers and pilots, sailors and marines, who have died in Iraq were
constantly being flashed up on the north wall of the Chapel, casting an eerie
light on the sanctuary’s red bricks. Several members of the faculty and staff
and local civic leaders – Jane Bello-Brunson, Lorri Cornett, Mary Ann and Joe
Crayton, Stacy Hoult and Dan Saros, Tim Malchow, Carlos Miguel-Pueyo, and Tim Taylor – pronounced slowly and reverently the name of
each member of our armed forces from Indiana who was killed in Iraq.
Professor Lorraine
Brugh, Director of Chapel Music, led the Kantorei in an acapella rendition of a
blessing from the Book of Numbers, “The Lord bless thee and keep thee.”
After hearing a brief
part of John Donne’s famous 1623 sermon (“Nunc Lento Sonitu Dicunt, Morieris”)
– “Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” – the
respectful crowd listened to the tolling of the Chapel bells for five full
minutes that seemed an eternity.
Then we went silently
into the night, as moist rain fell softly over the living and the dead.
The Volokh Conspiracy's Todd Zywicki (George Mason) and I made a friendly wager (here and here) on last night's basketball game between George Mason and Notre Dame. As Stewie Griffin would say, "victory is mine." Go Irish. And, to paraphrase Fr. Ted Hesburgh, "God does not care who wins the game. But, His mother does."
One of the reasons I'm looking forward to Pope Benedict's upcoming visit to the U.S. is the hope that I can comfortably watch the evening news with my seven-year old daughter again. That's not been possible lately, between Spitzer, his gubenatorial successor, and Rev. Wright. John Allen's latest column is a handy "One-Stop-Shopping Guide" to the Pope's visit.
New York Times
March 21, 2008
During Visit, Pelosi Offers Support to Dalai Lama
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
DHARAMSALA, India — As far as visits by American politicians go, it would be hard to stage a warmer reception.
Buddhist nuns waved American flags and the Dalai Lama ordered his followers to offer a standing ovation Friday morning as Nancy Pelosi,
the speaker of the House of Representatives, came to Dharamsala, the
emotionally charged headquarters of Tibetan exiles, and seized the
opportunity to stick a finger in the eye of China.
“If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China’s oppression in China and Tibet,
we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights
anywhere in the world,” Ms. Pelosi, Democrat of California, told an
overwhelmingly Tibetan audience of around 2,000 people in the courtyard
of the town’s main temple, Tsulakhang.
The visit by Ms. Pelosi, accompanied by nine other members of
Congress, most of them Democrats, was arranged some time ago as part of
a visit to India. As it happened, though, it came on the heels of the
largest protests in Tibet in nearly two decades, followed by a broad
crackdown by China, and almost nonstop demonstrations in solidarity in
this city, where the Tibetan government in exile has its base.
The timing could not have been better, at least for the Americans.
It was unclear what the visit would yield for Tibetans or even for the
Dalai Lama, other than a symbolic boost. Certainly Ms. Pelosi’s visit
received more coverage from the news media than it might otherwise
have; the protests in Tibet have brought reporters from around the
world to this small Indian hill town.
On Friday morning, Ms. Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi,
descended the stairs of the temple to huge applause, with the Dalai
Lama sandwiched between them, holding their hands.
“We are here at this time to join you in shedding bright light on what is happening inside Tibet,” Ms. Pelosi said.
Throughout her speech, which lasted less than 10 minutes, the Dalai
Lama sat in a stuffed chair, clasping his hands, rocking side to side,
a smile on his lips.
“Little did we know we would be coming at such a very sad time,”
she continued. “Perhaps it is our karma, perhaps it is our fate we be
with you at this time.”
The prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile, Samdhong
Rinpoche, said just before Ms. Pelosi arrived that his administration
had no specific requests of the American politicians. “That she will
suggest,” he said.
The winding road to the temple was lined with flags — of the United States, India, and the Tibetan government in exile.
One man in the audience held up a homemade placard that read “Thank you for recognizing nonviolent struggle.”
A 38-year-old monk who spent four years in a Chinese prison for
participating in protests in Tibet in 1988 said he hoped Ms. Pelosi
would use her visit to put concrete pressure on the Chinese government,
including encouraging dialogue with Beijing and a push for
international humanitarian agencies to aid those injured.
“If she doesn’t do anything and just come here, then nothing,” said the monk, who gave his name as Bagdro.
The American delegation was first accompanied by the Dalai Lama to
the main prayer hall of Tsulakhang Temple. They were scheduled to have
lunch at the Dalai Lama’s residence, followed by a visit to a Tibetan
school and crafts center nearby.
The Dalai Lama has long enjoyed American support.
Last fall in Washington, he received the Congressional Gold Medal.
Ms. Pelosi noted then that when the Dalai Lama was young, he received a
gold watch from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which he carried with him when fleeing Tibet in 1959.
Her first message to the audience on Friday was to acknowledge their gift to her country.
“Thank you for your warm welcome and thank you especially for
flying the American flag today,” she told them. “This is more than we
could have ever dreamed of.”
