• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

History Professor Gabriel Piterberg is against the war in Iraq. He participated in the March 5, 2003 walkout and has spoken against the U.S. occupation at a number of teach-ins and events. The Daily Bruin sat down with him to ask how he feels about the Iraq conflict one year later.

•••

Daily Bruin: Have your views on the war changed since last year?

Gabriel Piterberg: No, they’ve just been confirmed and have become stronger. Obviously I think this is a political and moral disaster.

DB: Is the situation in Iraq any better than it was under Saddam Hussein?

GP: No, no. Just that (Iraqi resistance) happened quicker than I thought it would. Anyone who knows the history of colonial occupation should have been aware of this. It’s horrendous in the sense that the health, social life, economic life of Iraqis are no better. I don’t think they have more democracy than they had under Hussein.

DB: Do you think the constitution that was drafted will provide any immediate stability for the people?

GP: It’s just for public relations. I don’t think it has much legitimacy in the eyes of the Iraqis. As soon as that society can, it will revolt.

DB: How important is the November presidential election to the situation in Iraq?

GP: I’m not sure. I don’t see huge differences between the two (political parties) in terms of foreign policy. At the same time, it is different in certain ways, and there’s probably logic to the phrase, “Any Democrat is better than Bush.”

DB: What do you think about Spain’s declaration to withdraw its troops by this summer? Will it affect U.S. policy?

GP: Obviously I think at the symbolic level it does, in terms of conveying the message that Western Europe is opposed to this war and to the Bush foreign policy.

DB: Does your role as an educator, as a historian and as somebody who is very much in the eye of students, influence how vocal you are against the war?

GP: I’m not saying my concept is the only one, but I think as scholars we have a sort of public commitment. Of course something like the war gives you more opportunities because there are more teach-ins, there are more requests to explain, to talk. So in a way the quantity increases, but it’s not as if the way in which I understand my vocation changes.

DB: How do you see this war looking in the history books?

GP: We still don’t have enough perspective on it. In the end, in conventional terms of success or failure it will depend on how long they stay and in what state of affairs they will pull out.

DB: Where do you see Iraq going from here?

GP: I think the resistance will not stop and I think the brutality and ruthlessness of the American response will be intensified as well. This is one thing that will happen in the very near future. We will see.

Interview compiled by Shaun Bishop, Daily Bruin news reporter.