 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
Author of the New York Times best selling book, "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror," Stephen Kinzer will be speaking Tuesday March 4, from 12:40 p.m. until 2 p.m. in the MUB Theatre II.
Kinzer, a former foreign correspondent for more than 20 years with the New York Times, will discuss the United States' current relations with Iran in his speech entitled, "The Folly of Attacking Iran: A Discussion with Stephen Kinzer." The speech is sponsored by the UNH Peace and Justice League and the New Hampshire Peace Action.
In his speech, Kinzer will address major topics of foreign affairs in Iran, and express his views on why the United States should not attack the eastern neighbor of Iraq.
"Despite the fact that the U.S. is still mired in Iraq, and the conclusion of the recent National Intelligence Estimate that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapons program, the prospect of an American attack on Iran during the next months is still real. Such an attack would have terrible consequences," said Kinzer.
Kinzer believes that these consequences would include turning the large pro-American population against us, strengthening the repressive government of the Iranian President and sparking a considerable number of additional problems in the Middle East.
Matt Henry, junior and Peace and Justice League (PJL) member, thinks the campus, as well as the general public, should be informed about issues surrounding the potential war with Iran. Henry said that Kinzer is extremely well-versed on the topic and that the league jumped on the chance to include Kinzer on the MUB's bill of events. The message of anti-war fits perfectly with the Peace and Justice League's mission statement.
"It's an important issue. [Kinzer] has written for The New York Times and has been all over the world. He knows what he's talking about," said Henry.
On attacking Iran, Kinzer also believes it "would trigger a new wave of anti-Americanism around the world," and might give Iran "an incentive to cooperate with terrorists and other anti-American militants."
Kinzer blames the United States for these troubles, noting that in 1953 the country overthrew the only truly democratic government that has ever existed in Iran, believes it is time to right the ship.
"It's time for us to break out of this paradigm of hostility and open direct, comprehensive and unconditional negotiations with Iran," said Kinzer.
Amidst a 22-city tour, Kinzer believes that the U.S. hostility toward Iran worsens our situation in Iraq because it hinders Iran's ability to help stabilize its neighbor.
Noting that Iran has already begun to help stabilize the country, Kinzer warns that they may not continue.
"Iran has no incentive to help finish the job and try to bring real peace to Iraq because it fears that once Iraq is stable the US will use it as a base to attack Iran," said Kinzer.
Through addressing these fears, Kinzer believes that Iran's help will greatly benefit the United States while being mired in an extremely costly war. He believes that by making it clear that the country does not wish to use Iraq as a base, Iran can stabilize the country allowing the United States to withdraw its troops without worrying about further Middle Eastern violence.
Acknowledging that he can not predict the future, Kinzer believes that negotiations with Iran "might succeed in producing a new security architecture for the Middle East that could help calm the entire region."
Even if negotiations do not work out, Kinzer insists that there is no reason not to make the attempt.
"This is a very low-cost option," he said. "The Middle East will never be stable as long as Iran feels isolated and threatened."
Kinzer, whose tour stops at many college campuses including the universities of Adelphi, Hofstra, Columbia, Northwestern, and Missouri, notes the importance of speaking to students about these Middle Eastern problems.
"Students can play a great role in energizing the general population and the political class. They are also the people who will be paying the price for bad decisions that we make today," he said.
The league is aimed to give students a chance at making right political decisions today with right information.
"We felt as a group that it was an important issue because Bush and Cheney were trying to drum up support for a war with Iran late last year, with many top generals threatening to resign if they declared war. We hope to give students a chance to learn more about the rocky history of Iran-American foreign relations," said Derek Price, a PJL member.
Jackie Lewis, a sophomore philosophy and political science major, is attending the presentation in order to learn more about the current situation in the Middle East. She thinks that the most of the student population on campus is not very knowledgeable about bigger issues surrounding war and political crisis.
"The campus is not very aware. I'm involved with Darfur activism… People shut down because they don't like thinking about it; it's hard to relate [the war] to the present moment and their lives right now," said Lewis.
She thinks that Kinzer might attract a good number of students and that this could be the first step in many to deflect a war. She attended a similar presentation last spring and was informed on issues the media and general information sources failed to tell her about. When analyzing the past political process that was responsible for the United States' war with Iraq, she thinks that the country leapt to an ill-thought out conclusion, the Iraq war, due to lack of information. Without adequate information getting out to the public, Lewis fears a war with Iran could be the next big headline.
"It's good to pay attention. There was so much support for the Iraq war. People were afraid and didn't know the facts or what was going on. It would be unfortunate if [a war] happened again," said Lewis.
Kinzer plans to include an opportunity for students to ask questions before he concludes his speech and heads to Concord High School for a 7 p.m. encore.
Box: Extra Info
For more information about Stephen Kinzer and his speech, visit
www.follyofattackingiran.org.
Who is the Peace and Justice League?
The Peace and Justice League is a student activist group on campus
that is committed to promoting peace in the local and international
community. We bring in speakers, put on workshops, put on a
fortnightly peace vigil, and address issues ranging from Fair Trade
to ending the war in Iraq and other causes. We do not have any
hierarchy in our group because we want to empower all our members as
leaders. Thus, we jokingly dub every member of the Peace and Justice
League a 'Chancellor of Peace'. We meet on Mondays at 7pm MUB room
116 for our main meeting, and for our casual 'Knit and chat' meeting,
we meet on Wednesdays at 7pm MUB 116. All are welcome!
Be the first to comment on this article!