EDITORIAL BOARD Editor in
Chief  Timothy Kudo
Managing Editor
 Michael Falcone
Viewpoint Editor
 Cuauhtemoc Ortega
Staff Representatives
 Amanda Fletcher
 Kelly Rayburn
 Marcelle Richards
 Vytas Mazeika
 Corey McEleney
 Linh Tat
Editorial Board Assistants
 Maegan Carberry
 Edward Chiao
  Unsigned editorials represent a majority opinion of
the Daily Bruin Editorial Board. All other columns, letters and
artwork represent the opinions of their authors. Â Â All
submitted material must bear the author’s name, address, telephone
number, registration number, or affiliation with UCLA. Names will
not be withheld except in extreme cases. Â Â The Bruin
complies with the Communication Board’s policy prohibiting the
publication of articles that perpetuate derogatory cultural or
ethnic stereotypes. Â Â When multiple authors submit
material, some names may be kept on file rather than published with
the material. The Bruin reserves the right to edit submitted
material and to determine its placement in the paper. All
submissions become the property of The Bruin. The Communications
Board has a media grievance procedure for resolving complaints
against any of its publications. For a copy of the complete
procedure, contact the Publications office at 118 Kerckhoff Hall.
Daily Bruin 118 Kerckhoff Hall 308 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles, CA
90024 (310) 825-9898
During a holy month intended to strengthen family and community
ties in Afghanistan and other Muslim nations, the United States
must decide whether to keep dropping bombs.
But the choice needn’t be difficult: continue the military
operations.
If the United States halts its bombing campaign in observance of
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ““ which begins on Nov. 17
““ it runs the risk of losing the military progress it has
made in Afghanistan so far.
Though we do not support military action against Afghanistan,
America has committed itself to a complicated war, and it must try
to end it as soon as possible.
Delaying military operations for a month would prolong the war
and do more harm than good to the Afghan people. Stopping the war
to observe Ramadan means the U.S. would have to start from scratch
in searching for Osama bin Laden, the suspected terrorist in the
Sept. 11 attacks, and Taliban leaders. This, in turn, would elicit
an even harsher attack on Afghanistan as the United States tries to
recapture lost momentum.
But the United States needs to realize that carrying out a
bombing campaign through Islam’s holiest time of the year
will not help its almost irreparably tarnished image in the Middle
East. In countries such as Pakistan, where support for the U.S. is
a nationally divisive issue, a decision to continue bombing
Afghanistan could mean not only losing Pakistani support, but
making the country domestically unstable. The country would further
plunge into conflict between those who support their
country’s partial allegiance to the United States and those
who don’t.
The key for the United States in making its decision about
whether to continue bombing is to remember its objective. Our
purpose is not to wage war against the Afghan people ““ or the
rest of the Muslim world ““ but to dismantle the al-Qaeda
terrorist network. This objective should be pursued independently
of religious holidays.
The terrorists acted under extremist interpretations of Islam in
carrying out their assault ““ they claim the attacks were part
of a holy war on the United States.
This is not a holy war.
If the United States stops its military campaign because of
Ramadan, it’s giving into the notion that the United States
is in direct conflict with Muslims. This would only legitimize the
claims of bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network.