As hopeless as the situation in the Middle East may appear, peace is still possible in the region, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell of Maine told an audience at Hill Auditorium yesterday afternoon.
Mitchell, whose lecture was entitled, “Is World Peace an Impossible Dream?” was the architect of the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland, credited with ending most sectarian violence in the country while making way for a semi-autonomous national government.
Mitchell was also the chairman of an international fact-finding committee in the Middle East, which was established to find a way of ending violence and restoring confidence between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.
After warming up the crowd with humorous stories of his early days in the Senate, Mitchell quickly addressed the global response to the events of Sept. 11. Earlier in the day, Mitchell spent a half hour with students in a mini-course entitled, “Religion, Security, and Violence in Global Contexts.”
“We have always felt that the terrible things that happen in distant lands could never happen here,” he said. “No place is immune to terrorism.”
Mitchell emphasized that the 21st Century will be the second century when the United States is the leading world power, a circumstance Americans can use for either good or bad.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Mitchell said he asked numerous world leaders, “Do you believe the United States should withdraw its forces to its own territory? Without exception, the answer was immediate and emphatic – No.”
Mitchell said, while he did not believe all conflicts and disputes in the world would ever cease, there is a possibility of avoiding major conflicts and wars.
“I believe the direction of human history is more knowledge and more broadly-shared prosperity,” he said. “It took 75 years and a bloody war to extend the votes to all males in this country” and another 55 years to extend the vote to women, he said.
The United States should strive for “a world largely at peace with education and prosperity extending to more people in the world. To America that is our challenge, and as Americans, it is our destiny.”
Following his opening remarks, Mitchell opened himself up to questions from the audience.
In one instance Mitchell invited LSA junior Ahmad Kayali to climb onto the stage and ask his question from the podium so that the audience could hear.
Kayali questioned the United States’ policy supporting economic sanctions on Iraq and also asked whether the U.S. government is treating the Palestinians fairly in attempting to mediate the dispute.
Other audience members questioned whether the Israeli government, given that it has been using military forces to attempt to curb violence, should have received U.S. support. while saying there “is no military solution to violence,” Mitchell said he supported the United States’ “long-standing policy for Israel’s sovereignty and independence.” He also said he only supported a peacekeeping force in the region if both sides supported one.
After the event, Mitchell said he supported President Bush dispatching Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Mideast to help alleviate the conflict.
Mitchell, a Democrat and son of a janitor, was first appointed to the Senate in 1980 after serving as a U.S. attorney and later a federal judge. He remained in the Senate until 1995, serving first as the minority leader and later as majority leader.
To reduce the likelihood of conflicts arising, Mitchell said the United States should support programs that boost economic development in countries and thus give citizens the feeling of controlling their destiny.
“Where men and women don’t have opportunities, where there is despair, there are the ingredients of violence,” he said.
Kayali, the questioner who joined Mitchell on stage, said Mitchell did not answer his question.
“(Mitchell) cannot compare not condemning 500,000 deaths in Iraq (due to sanctions) to what Muslim leaders did in response to Sept. 11,” Kayali said.
LSA senior Jeremy Fischer, a candidate for a George Mitchell Scholarship, which provides students a year of study in Ireland, said he liked Mitchell’s lecture.
“He showed there’s two sides to the rhetoric that comes out,” Fischer said.
The Department of Public Safety estimated the crowd at 1,600, DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said.