The problems of forming coalitions
By Keith Helsabeck
Student Columnist

The pain of our nation with its great losses is severe. Furthermore, it is necessary that we maintain international respect and support, but not at the loss of our ethics. America is currently fighting its so-called “war on terrorism” with the help of several nations that have unsavory records and ulterior motives for joining our coalition.

One example of this is our negotiations with Russia. In recent surveys Russia has shown to be considered favorable by most Americans, but I believe that most Americans favor Russia because they don’t know enough about its government. Russia wants to help us in our war, but they have more than just good will as motives for doing so.

Russia is currently fighting a war on terrorism of its own. Its war on terrorism is akin to England’s war against the American revolutionary terrorists such as George Washington. The Russian government, by participating, hopes to obtain international support for saying that its war is somehow similar to America’s current campaign in the Middle East. Russia is in a campaign to keep down an independence movement by ethnic Chechens that want freedom from a country that they have many historical and cultural reasons for not wanting to be a part of. Russia hopes to capitalize on Americans’ naiveté relating to the situation and Americans’ inability to tell one group of Muslims from another in times of jingoistic fervor to obtain support for their war to oppress an ethnic minority.

There is, however, a big difference between fighting terrorists and committing torture and genocide against innocent people. Russia also hopes to paint the Chechens as the kind of people that terrorize innocent civilians with little reason. The truth of the matter, however, is that ethnic Chechens – even women, children and old people – are stopped at the border from leaving during bombing campaigns; white Russians, meanwhile, are allowed through. Russian military officials set up detention camps in which they extract information from the so-called “terrorists” using such humane and decent tactics as beatings with rubber sticks and rape.

In another instance, evidence has been presented that may tie Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, to the terrorist bombings that he has been using to justify fighting his war against Chechnya in the first place. You would not hear about any of these facts on the state media monopoly in Russia though, and since the government harasses the small private media corporations until they go out of business, soon state media will be all that is left.

Another ally with dubious intentions is China, which disturbingly enough not everyone feels uncomfortable with. As a result of movies like Rush Hour portraying China in a positive light, and America’s lack of interest in foreign policy, some people are unaware of the problems that exist within the Chinese government. Some Americans can’t even find China on the map; I have met some already at this university.

China has an authoritarian and communist government. It is true that since the government was first taken over by the pragmatic communist leader Deng Xaoping, it has incorporated many aspects of free market capitalism into its economic system. Though this has improved Chinese quality of life, it has not kept China from threatening Taiwan, holding the independent territory of Tibet hostage and also keeping American hostages from the plane flight that they ran a fighter jet into while trying to intimidate us. China keeps dissenters and members of non-governmental organizations that it considers threatening to their Communist Party of China domination – such as Falun Gong – in labor camps.

To say that China has made a few mistakes, has a poor human rights record, or has become largely democratic would be more than just hyperbole. China is still a very undesirable ally to have. A government that maintains its power by terrorizing its own people is not a respectable ally to have in a war against terrorism to say the least. Don’t get me wrong; I do not advocate isolationism or wish to employ unilateralist rhetoric in the way that President George W. Bush or Pat Buchanan do. There has been good coming from our relations with these types of countries, such as an improvement in the quality of life over a great deal of time. This does not mean that we should ally ourselves with them in spite of the risk that we may appear to be unethical, or pigeonholing ourselves into approving of their actions.

Just like Mom used to say, if you hang out with the wrong crowd then it’ll make you look bad. Well, it applies to international relations as well, and if we are going to get involved ostensibly in war between the civilized world and those that kill civilians without any cause, then we must be very careful of the people on our side. We must not only be careful about whom we pick as enemies, but also about whom we pick as allies.