Ward Churchill and The Short History of Why We're Not Imperialists

Governor Bill Owens of Colorado has written a letter saying that Professor Ward Churchill should resign his position at the University of Colorado for saying this:

"The most that can honestly be said of those involved on Sept. 11 is that they finally responded in kind to some of what this country has dispensed to their people as a matter of course."

This:

"As for those in the World Trade Center...well, really, let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break."

And this:

"When you kill 500,000 children in order to impose your will on other countries, then you shouldn't be surprised when somebody responds in kind."

The essay goes on to describe the victims as "little Eichmanns," referring to Adolph Eichmann, who executed Adolph Hitler's plan to exterminate Jews during World War II.

Gov. Owens has stated in his letter:

"No one wants to infringe on Mr. Churchill's right to express himself. But we are not compelled to accept his pro-terrorist views at state taxpayer subsidy nor under the banner of the University of Colorado. Ward Churchill besmirches the University and the excellent teaching, writing and research of its faculty.

Ideas have consequences, and words have meaning. If there is one lesson that we hope that all Coloradans take from this sad case - and especially our students - it is that civility and appropriate conduct are important. Mr. Churchill's views are not simply anti-American. They are at odds with simple decency, and antagonistic to the beliefs and conduct of civilized people around the world. His views are far outside the mainstream of civil discourse and useful academic work."

Indeed.

I do not believe Ward Churchill should be fired in defiance of "Freedom of Speech", but rather I believe he should be fire for gross incompetence. As a professional you owe it to yourself and the profession to conduct yourself with class and integrity. As a social worker I cannot go into my clients house and say, "You know, your problems would all be solved if only you'd act less black." I'd be fired faster than I could say "Freedom of Speech" and rightly so. I owe it to my clients to present information and services with a degree of sensitivity. That is Ward Churchill’s failing here, his cataclysmic lack of sensitivity for the victims of 9/11.

It is so easy to be hateful. The Democrat Party seems to live on hate exclusively. Though one has the right to be hateful in this country, you cannot then cry when you suffer the consequences of said hatred. Those whom are the targets of said hatred also have the right to respond in kind, sans violence.

If the views of Ward Churchill are so popular and he, "changes so many minds," as one misguided student said, then I guess he doesn't need his professorship. If he is in such high demand then let him put his wares on the open market that he loathes so and make a living that way. Take your message to the folks and go on tour. Two punk rock icons, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys and Henry Rollins of The Rollins Band and formerly of Black Flag both go on spoken word tours. The general public has to pay their own money when they choose to listen to both men. That's the difference here. The students at the University of Colorado are at an unfair advantage having to take classes by a man who obviously leaves no room for rational debate. Again, that to me is grounds for firing due to gross incompetence.

Lastly, some perspective is needed here. Churchill is from the "blame America first" crowd that insists our treatment of third world nations around the world are directly responsible for the events on 9/11. Well, let's look at the immediate events that led to 9/11 by examining Afghanistan. The overwhelming theme since the end of World War II was the threat of Communism both worldwide and domestically and every decision we made was centered on that. We made both good and bad decisions and there was a ton of collateral damage incurred during that time and it was unfortunately unavoidable. It was war after all.

One strategy we employed was to drag the Soviets into a war that they most likely wouldn’t win in Afghanistan. That war lasted from 1979 to 1988 and it is the single most important event in modern history. Just as the Soviets were at war with the US by proxy in Vietnam, so were we at war by proxy with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. We did indeed help train and arm jihadists like Osama Bin Laden because at the time we did not feel the bigger threat was the spread of Islamic fundamentalism. It was a gamble and in the short run it paid off. The Soviets were defeated and the Mujahideen thought themselves to be something like the Highlander. They had defeated a world Super Power and in doing thought it made them a worldwide force of the same distinction. It is this hubris and ego on the part of Islamic fundamentalists that is driving the war we are currently embroiled in.

Now here's the tricky part; the Soviets were out of Afghanistan and a year or so later on November 9th, 1989 the Berlin Wall would come tumbling down marking the end of the Cold War and the subsequent proxy wars in SE Asia, Central Asia and South/Central America. At that time, the United States of America, the country liberals love to call "imperialist", took our crap and went home. That's right, we left Afghanistan. We could have stayed and conquered the place if we had wanted to. We could have left an American presence there on the premise of "nation building" but to really, "plant our imperialist flag" but instead we left the free people of Afghanistan to their own devices. The chaos that followed in the absence of strong leadership led to the Taliban taking control in 1995. The Taliban would be sympathetic to Islamic fundamentalism and Osama Bin Laden right up until the day they were overthrown by the US military 6 years later. It is these events, more so than any other that led to 9/11.

Now what would you have done if you had been president? On the one hand, you're an imperialist, the other grossly negligent. That's some choice. My point is, whatever your political leanings are, one must understand the full complexity of a situation before running off at the mouth willy-nilly proclaiming that everyone in sight is an "imperialist pig" and deserves to burned alive in the fiery wreckage of an airplane turned missile. That is Ward Churchills sin in my mind. He's reduced the last 50 + years of Cold War history to a few meandering and elitist sentences that have no bearing on reality. That more than anything else makes him a bad teacher and he should be fired.

Class dismissed.