The Crimson Misinterpreted Speech

To the Editors of The Crimson:

The Crimson reporter who covered the lecture given by Clovis Maksoud, the Arab League ambassador to the United Nations, on "The Arabs and the New World Order," made two errors in his article in the December 7 issue of The Crimson which misinterpret Maksoud's views and discussion of the Middle East.

First, Maksoud said that the Iraqi "invasion [of Kuwait] was a clear violation of the Arab state system, and it was a distortion of Arab unity," while the reporter writes that "it was done under the guise of Arab unity." Second, when Maksoud said that "we are not to be put in a position where we have to choose between Iraq and Kuwait," he meant that the Arabs should not be put in such a position and not, as the reporter interpreted it, that policymakers should not be put in this position.

Indeed, this seeming necessity of choosing between Iraq and Kuwait is advocated mainly by Western policymakers who were and still are frustrating Arab efforts for a peaceful solution of the crisis. Samia Mora '92