Mississippi State University’s Simrall Auditorium will hold a
student forum on Iraq on March 4, 2003 from 6:30 p.m. to 8
p.m..
The event, organized by the Muslim Students’ Association, the
College Democrats, the MSU Speech and Debate Association and the
Green Party will be a debate about whether the United States’ role
in war or peace in the Middle East.
The debate will consist of two to three people from both sides
of the argument giving speeches. The MSA intends to have only
students on the panel since it is a “student forum.”
“In a democracy it is always essential for people to voice their
opinion,” one of the organizers for the Muslim Students’
Association, Fazal Saiyed, said.
“This is a sign of a good democracy. Recently the issue of Iraq
has gained a lot of importance, largely due to the American media.
The MSA wants to bring forth the views of the MSU students on this
issue,” Saiyed said.
“It doesn’t matter what side you support, but you should be able
to express your opinion. After all, the youth of today are the
future of the country,” Saiyed said.
“Another reason is the importance of this issue to people around
the world other than the United States. MSU’s international student
population is made of students from more than 100 countries around
the world.
“This forum will be a good chance for these students to show the
Americans what their views are, especially views of the people from
countries surrounding Iraq. Because we should not forget these
countries have been in conflict with Iraq in the past,” Saiyed
stated on why the MSA is organizing the forum.
“It should be clear that no Muslim has ever supported Saddam
Hussein and his regime in the past nor will it be in the future.
This is quite contrary to the current situation where countries in
the West have directly or indirectly supported Saddam Hussein in
the past,” Saiyed said.
“The current child death rate in Iraq is 131 per 1,000 births.
This is a 345 percent increase as compared to 38 deaths per 1,000
births in 1989. According to the United Nations, there has been an
increase of 700 percent of cancer deaths in Iraq between 1991-1994.
Figures like these only prove the harm that the Gulf War and the UN
sanctions have done on the innocent Iraqi civilians,” Saiyed said.
According to Saiyed, the forum is to give Mississippi State
students an option to participate in discussions about
controversial and conflicting opinions.