The following letter to the editor appeared in The Daily Orange, “the independent campus newspaper of Syracuse, New York,” March 31.
Madeleine Albright, former U.S. secretary of state under the Clinton administration delivering the Tanner Lecture on Ethics, Citizenship and Public Responsibility in Hendricks Chapel on April 5 mocks and contradicts the meaning of ethics. All the people of Syracuse should oppose her presence. During her tenure as the United States’ representative to the United Nations and as U.S. secretary of state from 1997 to 2001 she oversaw the economic sanctions of Iraq which created the conditions for millions to die, and the NATO bombing of Kosovo which killed 2,000 civilians, including 80 children.
In an interview with 60 minutes in May of 1996, Albright stated that the “price was worth it” that 500,000 Iraqi babies died from U.N. economic sanctions. Although she did not initiate the sanctions, she played a major role in maintaining them in her position within the U.N.
In regards to NATO’s war and bombing of former Yugoslavia, Albright was such a strong proponent of the bombing that it was often termed by many as “Madeleine’s War.” Albright profited immensely from NATO’s airstrikes on Kosovo. Her company, Albright Capital Management sought to buy up Kosovo’s highly prosperous state telecommunications industry. Recently during a book signing event in Prague she called protesters “disgusting Serbs.” Before the attacks on Yugoslavia, the country was a shining example of multinational unity. The bombing encouraged nationalist and ethnic divisions and hatred in the region.
The Tanner Lecture on Ethics, Citizenship, and Public Responsibility is organized by Syracuse University’s Campbell Public Affairs Institute. What does the invitation for Albright to come speak say about this institute, about the Maxwell School, and Syracuse University in general? Does the university support the systematic killing of 500,000 Iraqi babies that was a consequence of U.S./U.N. sanctions supported and perpetuated by Albright? The bombing of Kosovo which destroyed hospitals and schools? The irony of her being invited to speak is real.
Having Albright speak on campus gives Syracuse University a bad name. It says that the University supports war criminals! There will be a rally/ protest outside Hendricks Chapel at 2:30 p.m. on the day of her speech, organized by the Syracuse chapter of the ANSWER Coalition, and other student-led organizations to say that war criminals, imperialists and racists are not welcome to Syracuse. If you think Albright’s speech is an absurd insult to the concepts of “ethics” and “public citizenship,” Join us!
Collin Chambers
Syracuse ANSWER Coalition
