Teaching peace

Deirdre Newman

The main message of a slew of speakers at the Teach-In Against War

in Iraq at Orange Coast College on Wednesday was simple:

A potential war against Iraq is just an excuse to gain control of

a vast amount of the world’s oil resources and spread U.S.

imperialism.

Sponsored by the student-run anti-war coalition, the teach-in

tried to disseminate information from an anti-war perspective to

provoke action.

“This is what builds a movement against war,” co-organizer

Federico Moreno, 19, said. “It lets people who feel this way know

they’re not alone and they can make a difference, like they did in

the ‘60s.”

All the speakers made it clear that their anti-war sentiments did

not imply support of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship or the human

rights violations he has perpetrated against his own people.

During his speech, Moreno attempted to deflate the justifications

the United States has laid out in its stance against Iraq.

First off, Moreno said, Hussein does not pose a threat to the

United States or the Persian Gulf.

“Saddam Hussein knows that attacking anyone would mean a hasty end

to his regime,” Moreno said.

He also said that the United States is being hypocritical, wanting

to disarm Hussein’s stockpile of chemical weapons, when the U.S. has

the world’s largest supply of weapons of mass destruction and is the

only country to have used nuclear weapons.

Speaker Khawer Khan, 21, of the Muslim Student Assn., ratcheted up

the criticism of President Bush, comparing him to Julius Caesar and

Adolf Hitler as he accused Bush of being an imperialist and of

curtailing civil liberties in the hunt for suspected terrorists.

Khan reiterated the opinion that oil is the reason for the threats

of war and also charged that it provides a convenient distraction

from the economic problems of the country.

He sparked the most controversy when he referred to everyone in

the audience as a terrorist just for taking part in the

demonstration, based on his interpretation of the USA PATRIOT Act

passed in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

“Our rights in this country are going to be continuously eroded,”

Khan said.

Aliah Aboul-Nasr, a UC Irvine student representing the Free Iraq

Foundation, gave the most emotional speech, touching on the moral and

legal implications of a war.

“This war defies international law,” Aboul-Nasr said. “You can’t

go to war based on weapons of mass destruction. Are we going to war

with North Korea, too?”

Aboul-Nasr focused on the deleterious effect of the sanctions

against Iraq that resulted from its invasion of Kuwait.

“We’ve been at war with Iraq for the past 11 years,” Aboul-Nasr

said. “Sanctions are war. They’re not killing the government or

Saddam Hussein. They’re killing children.”

Many of the students who came to hear the speakers said they felt

empowered by their passion.

“The thing I got was unity for a common cause,” Tiffany Soto, 18,

said. “It was good. I’m glad I came.”

Students with opposing views said they were not swayed by the

anti-war rhetoric.

“I don’t think anybody here knew what they were talking about,”

Dave Sprandel, 25, said. “I was in the Persian Gulf for seven months

[in the Marines] and I think the reason the U.S. is going to war is

to take Saddam out and to disarm the chemical weapons.”

After the speakers finished, OCC sociology professor Terry Timmons

suggested another way students could protest a war in Iraq if they

believe control of oil is a prime motivation.

Timmons suggested giving up driving one day every week to reduce

dependency on foreign oil.

“If Martin Luther King and Gandhi can do it, then we can boycott

[oil],” Timmons said. “We can have a drive-out day and take our

government back and get back to a democratic society.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.