Wednesday, September 19, 2001

Panelists talk about politics, terrorism
By John-Mark Day
Staff Reporter

The panelists on the “Understanding the Attack on America: Politics and Terrorism” forum Tuesday afternoon in the Student Center lounge told students, faculty and staff the importance of civil liberties which may decrease after last Tuesday’s terrorist attack.

“One of the things that makes America unique is civil liberties,” said Ronald Flowers, religion professor. “We cannot prohibit the things that really make our society distinct.”

Flowers took part in Tuesday’s forum along with Ralph Carter, a political science professor and Carol Thompson, a sociology and criminal justice professor. The Leadership Council and Student Government Association sponsored the forum, which addressed the future of civil liberties, the possibility of war and the best response to terrorism.

Thompson said civil liberties will be affected by the attack and any retaliation by the United States.

“You can expect in societies with a fear of terrorism that people will be willing to accept the erosion of civil liberties,” she said.

Carter said a form of war against Afghanistan was likely, but not a large ground war.

“If this is war, it’s not the United States and another nation-state, it’s the United States and a group of people who share a similar idea,” Carter said. “It’s about a group of people who appear very narrow-minded.”

Carter said if the United States did declare war, Afghanistan would have little support.

“I can’t imagine at this point in the current climate of world opinion any country supporting Afghanistan,” he said.

Afghanistan’s most likely support would have come from Pakistan, which has been cooperative with the United States, Carter said. He said support for Afghanistan would likely come from individuals or small groups in other countries supporting a holy war.

Thompson said confronting the cause for the attack would be better than a military war.

“We have to think of strategies that are non-militaristic,” she said. “The way to prevent terrorism is to create a unity and alliance between people that makes it unthinkable to hurt another person.”

Carter said the attack and the resentment other poverty-stricken countries feel for America is partially because Americans have enjoyed a posh existence.

“A lot of people have tended to equate American culture and American government,” he said.

Thompson said other countries are often exposed to the worst of America.

“It’s not often the best of America that most of the people get,” she said. “They don’t see hard working people, they see ‘Baywatch.’”

Carter said people associated with the attacks are likely still in the country, and more terrorist attacks will be possible unless America becomes a police state.

Thompson said she did not expect any further acts of terrorism to have the same effect.

“This has been a very successful act of terrorism,” she said. “I don’t know that subsequent attacks would have the impact in terms of shock value.”

Leadership Council Chair Ceci Burton, a senior business management major, said the forum presented an educated perspective to the student body.

“We felt like there were a lot of students with questions about where this (attack) came from,” Burton said.

The SGA and Leadership Council will sponsor a second forum tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 on Religion and Terrorism in the Student Center Ballroom.

John-Mark Day
j.m.day2@student.tcu.edu