Talk to address life after attacks

U.S. military planes launched bombing raids on Taliban targets in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Wednesday while the Taliban militia responded with their own anti-aircraft weapons.\nPresident George W. Bush called the new war on terrorism the first war of the 21st century. IU students will be among many people of their generation to determine the outcome of the new war and help shape the events of this century. \nTo help students understand the events of Sept. 11 and the current bombing raids in Afghanistan, Union Board sponsored a lecture, "The World After 9/11/01" by anti-war activist and journalist Rahul Mahajan Tuesday in the Fine Arts Auditorium.\nMahajan, a doctoral student from the University of Texas and member of the National Board of Peace Action, gave an overview of events since the beginning of America's new war, a brief history of the situation in Afghanistan and alternatives for military action against countries harboring terrorist groups. \n"We are not getting a lot of information from the U.S. mainstream press about what's really going on," Mahajan said. "In addition to reporting the events, we need some system of analysis."\nSome disinformation has been leaked from the press and the pentagon for public relations purposes, which is an important reason for personal research and investigation of the new war on terrorism, Mahajan said. \n"Official information released on the day of the terrorist attacks that Air Force One was one of the targets is false," Mahajan said. "The White House released that information to cause more outrage among Americans after the collapse of the World Trade Center."\nMahajan encouraged students to constantly be on the watch for more disinformation from the mainstream press and to become fully aware of different viewpoints on the war by reading a variety of news sources and independent political newsletters.\n"The American media is not enough for us to completely understand what is going on in the world," said sophomore Mike Soleta, member of the UB lectures committee and a member of Student Political Action Group.\nMahajan writes for a non-profit progressive newsletter, Common Dreams News Center and is a member of the anti-war activist group, Nowar Collective. \nEven though he is an anti-war activist, he realizes that pacifism is probably of no interest to any American as a response to the terrorist attacks, Mahajan said. But he believes a pacifist reaction can mean putting your life on the line by being able to stand against the actions of the U.S. government while keeping in mind the innocent lives lost during the terrorist attacks and from the bombings in Afghanistan.\nThe U.S. military forces in Afghanistan are only creating more resentment among Afghans and other countries who disagree with U.S. foreign policy, Mahajan said.\n"We need to eliminate their sources of grievance," Mahajan said. "We need to pull the teeth of the terrorists and stop them at the root by taking away the support of the terrorists. Once they lose their base of support, they will be powerless." \nAmericans will be less vulnerable once the U.S. no longer acts as one unilateral body or superpower and will gain support of the world once they try to understand the views of other significant groups, especially in the Middle East, Mahajan said.\n"This war has the potential for Armageddon," Mahajan said. "It's a scary time to be alive and the only way to stay sane is to do anything we can to keep Armageddon from happening."\nBush has encouraged all Americans to go on with their normal lives. Mahajan suggested students also take an activist role in fighting terrorism by researching the events of the past and educating themselves about the current war on terrorism to help shape a better future.\n"We have been told to go back to our normal lives, yet our normal lives were oblivious to what was going on with other parts of the world," said freshman Daniel Mark, a member of Students for a Better Future.