This past Monday concerned students filled Frank Dining Hall’s Blue Room to hear the fourth weekly panel discussion on the events and repercussions of September 11. This week’s panel consisted of Professor of Politics David Arase, Professor of Politics David Menefee-Libey, Professor of Religious Studies William Whedbee, Professor of Religious Studies Zayn Kassam, Professor of Religious Studies Jerry Irish, and Professor of Philosophy Thiekle. David Brown ’02 mediated the discussion.

Surprisingly, the panel did not discuss the United States’ military campaign against Afghanistan, which began on Sunday.

Discussion focused instead on whether the U.S. has an obligation to "break the cycle of violence" and what means we have of doing so. Arase described the mechanisms that produce cycles of violence and emphasized the United States’ contribution to these cycles.

The Bush Administration is focusing military attention on the ruling Afghani Taliban in an attempt to force them to extradite Osama Bin Laden and other leaders of Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization that Bin Laden commands. This entails using military force (as we are already beginning to see) and recruiting neighboring countries such as Pakistan into a U.S.-led coalition against terrorism, through such carrot and stick tactics as leveraging sanctions.

According to the panel, if U.S. presence increases, unrest within these Central Asian countries is likely to escalate, creating further grounds for terrorists to organize.

Kassam elaborated on the danger of America’s dealings with the Northern Alliance and the likelihood that it will worsen tensions within Afghanistan and further the violence already occurring.

Commenting on the ethical aspects of the "cycle of violence," Whedbee mentioned the need to take greater advantage of the ethical ideals of compassion and generosity common to Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Irish reminded the audience that there is no peace as long as there is injustice; the U.S. cannot create a new situation of injustice in Afghanistan to generate peace in America. Reiterating Whedbee’s point, Irish stressed the fact that the foundations of all religious traditions stem from the same source and honor the same God.

Arase pointed out that the food and medicine drop to Afghanistan being highlighted in the news is actually nothing more than a cosmetic move by the U.S. So far, 37,000 rations of food have been delivered, while an estimated 2 million Afghanis are on the move and hungry.

"Be American. Be skeptical. Pay attention. Dig up information yourself and don’t believe anything you are being told. And disbelieve everything I just said," said Menefee-Libey.

Irish listed the three Christian criteria for a just war: war must be used only as a last resort, it must achieve the desired ends and it must result in more good than evil if it is successful. "This war fails on all three accounts," Irish told students. He then described the need for students to "think critically" as individuals and to learn how to "be peace" themselves.

"We have to learn to use courage for peace instead of war," said Irish, drawing applause from the audience.

The panel discussions in the Frank Blue Room will continue next Monday, offering students a place to ask questions and gain a better understanding of the current world situation.