Dissenting Opinions: Letters to the Editor

Published November 27, 2007

Sometimes reading The Water Tower inspires out readers to get naked and fight the power. But most of the time, they just send e-mails.

In striving to be “idealists devoted to rationalism”, writers of The Water Tower are responsible for a certain degree of journalistic integrity. The recent cover article released in the November 13 issue titled, “ Iraq the Land of Rainbows and Unicorns” contains numerous inaccuracies and exaggerations. It is understood that the writers of The Water Tower “employ satire” in order to make arguments more convincing. Was this article intended to be taken as a joke or satire? If it was, it was certainly not clear to everyone that this was the case.

In the article there were countless fallacies and loaded statements (that lack substantial evidence) that could be easily accepted as truth by readers. The first blunder was made in regard to American soldiers’opinions of the war. Being an avid reader of the daily news, I would be curious to find out where the information saying that “the vast majority of American troops have been demanding an end to this debacle since 2005″ was obtained. Although encountering several polls indicating that the American population as a whole is opposed to continuing the war in Iraq, I have not encountered anything showing that the majority of troops are opposed to the war.

Another blunder was made when the author stated, “All of the rest of the world with no exceptions or exaggeration think we’re so full of shit our eyes….” This is a broad and improvable statement. It is easy to promote the idea that all Americans are hated by everyone and everything outside of the country, but in reality feelings are much more mixed. By saying there are absolutely no exceptions or exaggerations, the statement made in the article immediately becomes an exaggeration itself. The United States provides a massive amount of foreign aid and assistance to other countries creating at least limited forms of support. In regard to the war on Iraq one cannot simply skip over other members of the coalition. Britain,Poland, Japan and other countries have provided substantial support to the United States’ war effort.

The Iraq War is a very complicated issue that cannot be wholly summarized in a brief article. It is the responsibility of commentators to present both sides of the issue. I implore authors of The Water Tower to uphold their ideals and strive for the “rationalism” trumpeted in the opening clause of every issue.

Regards,
Concerned Students,
Jess and Phill

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