U.S. Attacks Draw Support of Students

U.S. attacks on Afghanistan have sparked a range of responses among the Harvard community.

Many on Harvard’s campus have expressed support for the joint American and British military strikes in Afghanistan that began Sunday, although some question whether the U.S. is doing enough to protect innocent civilians in Afghanistan.

The attacks have also prompted the Harvard Islamic Society to join the Society of Arab Students and the Friends of the Red Cross to launch a fundraising drive for the Afghan aid effort.

U.S. retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon came Sunday as forces led by the U.S. government struck 31 targets at three major sites, according to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfield and Air Force General Richard Myers, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The attacks on these targets, which included early warning radars, surface-to-air missile sites, airfields, aircraft, military command-and-control installations and terrorists camps, were meant to disrupt air defenses for further military strikes and air drops of humanitarian aide, according to Pentagon officials.

“I understand the inevitability of this sort of conflict,” said Vijay Ganesh ’04, an American-born upstate New Yorker. “Retaliation is necessary [for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks].”

Alongside the attacks, the Bush administration has ordered 37,500 packages of food and medicine dropped each day, even though some officials have expressed fear that the packages will fall into the hands of the enemy.

Despite this commitment, some in the Harvard community fear not enough is being done for the civilian population.

“Personally, I’m glad the government is doing something,” said Tawfiq Ali ’03, an active member of the Harvard Islamic community. “But, I don’t think the air drops are going to be enough.”

The Bush administration announced last Thursday that it would seek $320 million in humanitarian aide for the people of Afghanistan, many of whom are fleeing the country hoping to escape the attacks. A summer drought has already contributed to the hardships the population faces.

The joint groups of the Islamic Society, the Society of Arab Students and the Friends of the Red Cross will be tabling in Harvard’s Houses and at the Science Center until Friday to add to international aid.

“More needs to be done,” said Harvard Islamic Society President Saif Shah Mohammed ’02. “Civil society in America and the rest of the world should step up its efforts at alleviating the suffering of these innocent people.”

The military strikes have also created some uneasiness in the Jewish community at Harvard. A released speech by bin Laden, broadcast on Sunday morning, faulted Israel for the current hardships that Afghanistan is facing.

“Everyone here is a little nervous that Israel has gotten center stage because they might be blamed,” said Benjamin Z. Galper ’02, the chair of the coordinating council, Hillel’s governing body. “Israel can’t control what Osama bin Laden says or does. He unfairly put the blame on Israel in his video statement.”

Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, Hillel stepped up its security by placing a Harvard police officer outside the entrance. It was done as a “purely precautionary measure,” Galper said, and not because of any specific threats.

—Wire reports were used in the compilation of this story.