Posted by Dan Ewert : 4/01/2003 11:29:00 PM (Archive Link)
You may recall hearing about the Columbia University professor who stated his wish that a million Mogadishu’s be visited upon American troops in Iraq. He’s taken a lot of heat for it, but has written a letter to the editor of the school newspaper in which he states that his comments were taken out of context. From his letter, it appears that the context was that the U.S. is an imperialistic, racist threat. Within that context, then, Iraq is fighting an anti-colonialist war and “[s]uch an anti-colonial struggle for self-determination might involve a million Mogadishus now but would ultimately have to become something more like another Vietnam. Vietnam was a stunning defeat for U.S. imperialism; as such, it was also a victory for the cause of human self-determination.” Right, well, that makes the whole Mogadishu comment sound so much better. He hopes that the U.S. will suffer mightily because he dislikes potential U.S. hegemony.

He also defends himself against the accusation that his remark stands against all that is American by saying that “America” refers to all of North and South America and not just the United States, “as imperial chauvinism would have it.” A truly weak dodge, and not one that is well backed-up. In his own egalitarian mind where the only bad guy is the U.S., America refers to all the Americas. However, if you go dang near anywhere else in the world and say you’re American, there won’t be much confusion as to whether you’re referring to the U.S. or Chile. The common usage the world-over for “American” pertains to the 50 states. So his dodge isn’t only weak, it’s ridiculous. What it all comes down to is that Dr. De Genova is another academic who fears all the wrong people.