 "Photo: Brian Jenkins, Staff Photographer")
The national debate over the war in Iraq recently spilled off of the op-ed page and onto San Diego State's campus.
Conservative political commentator Dinesh D'Souza addressed an audience in Montezuma Hall on Tuesday evening, discussing a wide range of controversial topics from America's "War on Terror" and moral responsibilities as a superpower, to what he views as the rising anti-American sentiment among the political left.
To provide additional commentary and critique, D'Souza was joined by the chairs of the San Diego State political science and history departments, Ronald King, who moderated the event, and Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, as well as political science professor.
The speaker criticized those who opposed the invasion of Iraq, suggesting that "(President) Bush is fighting a war with two fronts: one for Iraq, the other for the American public."
He also responded to recent accusations that the Bush administration manipulated evidence to build its case for the 2003 invasion.
"The statesman has to make a decision with information available at the time," D'Souza said. "The pundit has the benefit of hindsight."
After D'Souza was finished, the other three professors responded to some of D'Souza's points.
"What I am struck by is just how different an academic presentation is from a political presentation," King said, noting the breadth of topics covered by D'Souza during the talk. "(The points) went by so fast that I partly agreed and wasn't so sure on others."
The floor was then opened for a question and answer session, which quickly descended into a raucous debate.
Many of the audience members who were asking questions of D'Souza had to be cut short by King.
"I felt that Ron King allowed a cheap debate to ensue," President of the Aztec College Republicans Danica Lambert said.
D'Souza, who is conditioned to dealing with lively audiences, maintained his central argument that "statesmen do not have the luxury of hindsight" throughout the session.
"I thought his answers were extremely limited," political science graduate Arturo Jimenez said. "He had the same answer for everything."
D'Souza is originally from India and came to the United States when he was 17. He went on to work for the Reagan administration as a domestic policy analyst. He is the author of several controversial books, including "Illiberal Education: the Politics of Race and Sex on Campus" and his recent "What's So Great About America?"
The forum was organized and arranged by the Aztec College Republicans with funding from University President Stephen Weber.
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