Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Peace Professor is Dangerous

David Horowitz knows the political left, because he was one of the founders of the "New Left" in the 1960s. He was an editor of influential Ramparts magazine, wrote and spoke; he was a leader. But he didn't like what he was seeing, had a change of heart and mind and turned to the right. He tells his story in Radical Son. His web site is ground zero in watching for bias on college campuses - FrontPageMag.com His most recent book is "The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America"
David Horowitz reveals a shocking and perverse culture of academics who are poisoning the minds of today's college students. The Professors is a wake-up call to all those who assume that a college education is sans hatred of America and the American military and support for America's terrorist enemies
Today the Seattle Times is amused that a University of Washington professor is on Horowitz's list. David Barash teaches animal behavior and evolutionary psychology... and peace studies. Peace studies by all appearances is training in leftist propaganda. So any purveyor of it is causing damage to our students. And doesn't it require some historical and economic analysis to make expert comments about the causes of war and peace? How is a biologist in the psychology department qualified to teach on this complex topic? Barash jokes that he was too young and insignificant to make President Nixon's enemies list. David Horowitz was on John Carlson's radio program today and responded "The people on Nixon's enemies list are the ones who undercut and ended the US support for South Vietnam. Because of them millions of people died when the Communists overran Viet Nam and Cambodia." (paraphrasing)
Horowitz said he included Barash because of a book Barash co-wrote called "Peace and Conflict Studies." Horowitz said the book defends violent revolution and incorrectly points to Cuba as a place where people's lives have been improved through such violence.
Barash makes a serious charge against Horowitz in the Seattle Times article:
Barash said his profile in the book is full of misrepresentations and inaccuracies. For instance, it claims he blames the Cuban missile crisis on the psychology of President Kennedy — when in fact his book mentions many factors, including the Soviet Union's missile buildup. "It's just a lie. He either didn't read the book or look it up," Barash said. "The whole thing is just a cartoon."
Horowitz says No, Barash blames the psychology of the American public for the missile crisis stand off, not the Soviets for placing missiles 90 miles from south Florida. And he says he quotes Barash's section of several paragraphs about the Cuban situation. I want to resolve this by checking the original source, but it won't be easy. Peace and Conflict Studies costs $80. And the King County Library doesn't have a single copy!

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