By Brian Carnell

Friday, March 28, 2003

Columbia University assistant professor of anthropology Nicholas De Genova earned himself a well-deserved headache after making comments to an anti-war gathering earlier this week that fellow speaker Eric Foner later characterized as "idiotic."

Arguing that the U.S. war against Iraq is illegal, De Genova told the crowd at an anti-war teach in,

The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military. I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus.

"A million Mogadishus," of course, referring to the incident in Somalia during which 18 U.S. military personnel were killed.

But De Genova wasn't about to stop there. According to New York Newsday, the good professor earned applause from the audience when he said,

If we really believe that this war is criminal ... then we have to believe in the victory of the Iraqi people and the defeat of the U.S. war machine.

De Genova also told the crowd that people who consider themselves patriots are white supremacists, which also brought a rebuke from Foner.

By contrast history professor Barbara J. Fields was left to offer a more moderate taken on the Leftist view of the war, offering the obligatory reference comparing the Bush administration to Nazi Germany adding that,

The 'good Germans' of the Nazi era were the few who said, 'No.'

Source:

Radicals Speak Out At Columbia 'Teach-In'. Ron Howell, New York Newday, March 27, 2003.

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