Government should rethink foreign policies

The inexcusable, heinous terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 are related to our government's policies in the Middle East. We unconditionally support one side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at least financially. Our economic policies toward Iraq have been devastating for its people, and have only strengthened Saddam's grip. We have supported all sorts of folks over the years, including the Shah, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, while at the same time saying that we believe in democracy and freedom. We have for many years stationed our troops, planes and warships throughout the Middle East, which has been annoying to citizens of that region (though not necessarily their governing regimes). We do all this in the name of "regional stability," but in reality we're simply there to maintain a steady supply of cheap oil for ourselves.

By attacking the terrorist networks and increasing U.S. security, our administration may have some success in suppressing terrorist activity in the short run. However, the only way to eliminate terrorism in the long run is for our government to rethink our policies toward the Middle East. Until that happens, terrorist attacks will continue to be the price we pay for getting cheap oil. We need to ask ourselves if that's a tradeoff we're willing to make.

Jeff Reimer

Graduate Student

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