btw here's what the man has to say about the matter himself. http://www.colorado.edu/EthnicStudies/press_releases/ward_churchill_013105.html
Press Release - Ward Churchill January 31, 2005 Printer-friendly version (.doc) In the last few days there has been widespread and grossly inaccurate media coverage concerning my analysis of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, coverage that has resulted in defamation of my character and threats against my life. What I actually said has been lost, indeed turned into the opposite of itself, and I hope the following facts will be reported at least to the same extent that the fabrications have been. * The piece circulating on the internet was developed into a book, On the Justice of Roosting Chickens. Most of the book is a detailed chronology of U.S. military interventions since 1776 and U.S. violations of international law since World War II. My point is that we cannot allow the U.S. government, acting in our name, to engage in massive violations of international law and fundamental human rights and not expect to reap the consequences. * I am not a "defender"of the September 11 attacks, but simply pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned. I have never said that people "should" engage in armed attacks on the United States , but that such attacks are a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. policy. As Martin Luther King, quoting Robert F. Kennedy, said, "Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable." * This is not to say that I advocate violence; as a U.S. soldier in Vietnam I witnessed and participated in more violence than I ever wish to see. What I am saying is that if we want an end to violence, especially that perpetrated against civilians, we must take the responsibility for halting the slaughter perpetrated by the United States around the world. My feelings are reflected in Dr. King's April 1967 Riverside speech, where, when asked about the wave of urban rebellions in U.S. cities, he said, "I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed . . . without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today – my own government." * In 1996 Madeleine Albright, then Ambassador to the UN and soon to be U.S. Secretary of State, did not dispute that 500,000 Iraqi children had died as a result of economic sanctions, but stated on national television that "we" had decided it was "worth the cost." I mourn the victims of the September 11 attacks, just as I mourn the deaths of those Iraqi children, the more than 3 million people killed in the war in Indochina, those who died in the U.S. invasions of Grenada, Panama and elsewhere in Central America, the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, and the indigenous peoples still subjected to genocidal policies. If we respond with callous disregard to the deaths of others, we can only expect equal callousness to American deaths. * Finally, I have never characterized all the September 11 victims as "Nazis." What I said was that the "technocrats of empire" working in the World Trade Center were the equivalent of "little Eichmanns." Adolf Eichmann was not charged with direct killing but with ensuring the smooth running of the infrastructure that enabled the Nazi genocide. Similarly, German industrialists were legitimately targeted by the Allies. * It is not disputed that the Pentagon was a military target, or that a CIA office was situated in the World Trade Center . Following the logic by which U.S. Defense Department spokespersons have consistently sought to justify target selection in places like Baghdad , this placement of an element of the American "command and control infrastructure" in an ostensibly civilian facility converted the Trade Center itself into a "legitimate" target. Again following U.S. military doctrine, as announced in briefing after briefing, those who did not work for the CIA but were nonetheless killed in the attack amounted to "collateral damage." If the U.S. public is prepared to accept these "standards" when the are routinely applied to other people, they should be not be surprised when the same standards are applied to them. * It should be emphasized that I applied the "little Eichmanns" characterization only to those described as "technicians." Thus, it was obviously not directed to the children, janitors, food service workers, firemen and random passers-by killed in the 9-1-1 attack. According to Pentagon logic, were simply part of the collateral damage. Ugly? Yes. Hurtful? Yes. And that's my point. It's no less ugly, painful or dehumanizing a description when applied to Iraqis, Palestinians, or anyone else. If we ourselves do not want to be treated in this fashion, we must refuse to allow others to be similarly devalued and dehumanized in our name. * The bottom line of my argument is that the best and perhaps only way to prevent 9-1-1-style attacks on the U.S. is for American citizens to compel their government to comply with the rule of law. The lesson of Nuremberg is that this is not only our right, but our obligation. To the extent we shirk this responsibility, we, like the "Good Germans" of the 1930s and '40s, are complicit in its actions and have no legitimate basis for complaint when we suffer the consequences. This, of course, includes me, personally, as well as my family, no less than anyone else. * These points are clearly stated and documented in my book, On the Justice of Roosting Chickens , which recently won Honorary Mention for the Gustavus Myer Human Rights Award. for best writing on human rights. Some people will, of course, disagree with my analysis, but it presents questions that must be addressed in academic and public debate if we are to find a real solution to the violence that pervades today's world. The gross distortions of what I actually said can only be viewed as an attempt to distract the public from the real issues at hand and to further stifle freedom of speech and academic debate in this country. These are the views of Ward Churchill, not the University of Colorado . On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 21:42:09 -0700, Dana <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Oh let's get all hot and bothered about something else for a while. > Sam, I am saying this as a friend, take two Valium first. But.... > > On another list we're having sort of a stupid argument. Check it out. > Read the article. Then read the link and tell me how many times he > uses the word Nazi and what he is referring to. > > Thanks > Dana > > > Families want college to cancel speaker > > > > By WILLIAM KATES > > Associated Press Writer > > > > January 28, 2005, 4:55 PM EST > > > > SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Families of victims of the World > > Trade Center attacks want an upstate New York college > > to cancel the speaking appearance of a controversial > > professor who has compared the victims to Nazis and > > said they got what they deserved. > > > > "This is not free speech. Free speech requires an > > element of responsibility," Cynthia Brennan said in a > > protest letter she sent to Hamilton College trustees > > upon learning the school had invited Indian activist > > Ward Churchill to speak on campus as part of a Feb. 3 > > panel discussion titled "The Limits of Dissent." > > > > Brennan's brother-in-law, Joseph Coppo, was killed in > > the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Coppo's son Matthew _ > > Brennan's nephew _ is one of the 1,750 students who > > attend the small liberal arts college in Clinton, 40 > > miles east of Syracuse. > > > > "A university is ... a marketplace of ideas founded on > > legitimacy, not on vile characterizations of victims > > as a means of engaging in cheap self-promotion," said > > Elliott Scheinberg, whose wife Angela died in the > > attacks. He also protested to the school. > > > > Thomas J. Meehan of Carteret, N.J., who lost his > > 26-year-old daughter in the attacks, said Churchill > > uses "dangerous" words that "bring out the evil in > > mankind." > > > > "By his own words, he exceeds the `Limits of > > Dissent,"' Meehan wrote in a letter to college > > officials. > > > > Hamilton College spokesman Michael DeBraggio said > > Friday the school has received a "significant" number > > of e-mails, letters and telephone calls from angry > > families but said no one was counting them. > > > > The school has no plans to withdraw its invitation to > > Churchill, an expert on indigenous issues and chairman > > of the ethnic studies program at the University of > > Colorado in Boulder, DeBraggio said. > > > > DeBraggio said administrators "sympathize" with the > > families and agree that Churchill's views are > > "repugnant and disparaging" to many people. He > > repeated, however, that the school is committed to the > > free exchange of ideas and diverse opinions and > > believes it is an appropriate part of the liberal arts > > education process. > > > > Meanwhile, Hamilton College President Joan Hinde > > Stewart has appointed a panel of five faculty members > > to review the Kirkland Project for the Study of > > Gender, Society and Culture, which is sponsoring the > > panel. In December, Kirkland Project coordinator Nancy > > Rabinowitz created more controversy by inviting 1960s > > Weather Underground radical Susan Rosenberg to campus > > to teach a short writing course. Rosenberg withdrew > > following weeks of protests and debate. > > > > Asked if the protest over Churchill's appearance > > prompted the review, DeBraggio responded: "The program > > has had the same director for eight years. She is > > going on sabbatical next year. It was good timing." > > > > The panel will make its recommendations by the end of > > May, he said. > > > > In Colorado, where Churchill also has come under > > renewed criticism, Colorado University officials said > > his views don't represent the opinions of anyone > > affiliated with the university but that he had a right > > to express them. On Thursday, two Colorado congressmen > > called on Churchill to apologize. > > > > Following the Sept. 11 attacks, Churchill wrote an > > essay, "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of > > Roosting Chickens," that hailed the "gallant > > sacrifices" of the "combat teams" that struck America. > > > > He said the World Trade Center victims deserved to die > > because they were a willing part of "the mighty engine > > of profit." > > > > "True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But > > innocent? Gimme a break," Churchill wrote. > > > > Churchill went on to describe the World Trade Center > > victims as "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf > > Eichmann, who organized Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's > > plan to exterminate Europe's Jews during World War II. > > > > ___ > > > > On the Net: > > > > Churchill's essay: > > http://passionbomb.com/words/push_roost.htm > > > > > -- ...they did not stop to think they died instead then shall the voice of liberty be mute?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how to get a fax number that sends and receives faxes using your current email address http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=64 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:146208 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
