March 29, 2003
LET A MILLION MOGADISHUS BLOOM:
Columbia professor's anti-U.S. military call (AP, 3/29/03)A Columbia University professor told an anti-war gathering that he would like to see "a million Mogadishus" -- referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that killed 18 American servicemen.At Wednesday night's "teach-in" on the Columbia campus, Nicholas De Genova also called for the defeat of U.S. forces in Iraq and said, "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military." And he asserted that Americans who call themselves "patriots" are white supremacists.
De Genova's comments about defeating the United States in Iraq were cheered by the crowd of 3,000, Newsday reported. But his mention of the Somali ambush -- "I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus" -- was largely met with silence.
I agree with Mr. De Genova. This is a war of Western (therefore largely, but certainly not exclusively, white) supremacy over primitivism and we should keep it up for as many Mogadishus as it takes. Mogadishu after all was not a tactical loss--though the deaths of 18 American men is always a terrible thing, they did complete their mission and killed thousands of Somalis--but a strategic one--because we then bolted the country rather than face another such incident. By the end of a million Mogadishus there'd hopefully be no one left to fight and any question about our willingness to vindicate Western Civilization would be laid to rest. Of course we'd mourn the loss of 18 million Americans, but folks are always hailing the sacrifices of the Soviets in WWII, who spent 20 million lives to fend off Hitler. If the war on terror requires something similar of us are we unwilling to win it? Posted by Orrin Judd at March 29, 2003 8:32 AM
As someone else on the web pointed out (I forget who), about 700 Somali's died in the "Black Hawk Down" incident. A million Mogadishus would, therefore, decisively solve our middle Eastern problems, but I'm a little surprised that Prof. De Genova took such a bloodthirsty stance.
Posted by: David Cohen at March 29, 2003 11:31 AMDavid:
Mark Bowden offered a significantly higher number, as I recall.
Bowden's was well over a thousand.
For de Genova, of course, the billion Muslim lives that would be lost in a "million Mogadishus" are irrelevant. For, to the left, as I've speculated before, there are really only three kinds of people in the world: virtuous Western leftists; evil Western rightists; and animals, who have the same moral status as cows and antelope, and deserve as little concern if they are killed. For de Genova, the deaths of 18 Americans presumed to be on the right is of far more significance than the deaths of 1000 Somalis. That is what he will remember, and that is why he regards Mogadishus as desirable.
He was very upset about losing the black hawks until he heard they were helicopters, not birds.
Posted by: oj at March 29, 2003 2:10 PMAnybody who has a little time on their hands and wants to vent to Mr. De Genova and other interested parties, can find the relevant email addresses at:
Little Green Footballs comment section
The discussion-ending remark, and forgive me
I forget who made it, was that Columbia U.
would no doubt not have reacted with such
complacency if De Genova had called for a
million Matthew Shepherds.
It would be nice if Columbia students refused
to be taught by Professor De Genova, if faculty
refused to stay in the same room with him etc.
I will be surprised if Columbia proves to be
that moral a place.