Mehrzad Boroujerdi began a lecture Wednesday night by suggesting the audience consider the possibility that “The Simpsons” character Krusty the Klown was right when he said Saddam Hussein should be named “So damn insane.”

Boroujerdi said he was watching the show with his son when the 10-year-old asked him if it was true. Boroujerdi said he took the easy way out and said yes.

The insane portrait of Hussein is the way the average Joe looks at Hussein but does not show an accurate picture of the Iraqi president, he added.

Hussein’s invasions of two of his neighbors in a 10-year period is not a sign of craziness but a miscalculation on his part, Boroujerdi said.

The discussion began his lecture on Iraqi history from the 1980s to the present as part of a six-part forum series about the issues surrounding a possible war with Iraq, Wednesday night in Studio A of Newhouse I. The forum consisted of a lecture about the history of Iraq from biblical times to the early 1990s by international relations professor, and former U.S. ambassador, Goodwin Cooke followed by Boroujerdi’s lecture and concluded with questions from the audience.

Syracuse University Vice Chancellor Deborah Freund said, with thousands of allied soldiers heading to the Middle East to join thousands more already there, it is important to understand the political, economic and religious aspects that makes this situation so difficult to understand at times.

“With so many lives and resources at stake, we owe it to the world and to ourselves to understand issues and to act responsibly,” she said.

Rev. Thomas Wolfe, dean of Hendricks Chapel and moderator for the evening’s event, provided some perspective to the evening when he spoke before the two panelists. He said the bombing of Baghdad that began the Persian Gulf War began 12 years ago today and the United States finds itself currently in a similar situation.

Cooke began with a discussion of the history of the region going back to biblical times but also addressed Hussein coming to power in 1978. Cooke said Hussein is willey, ruthless, tough and courageous.

“He is a thug,” he said.

Once the floor was opened up to questions, Horace Campbell, a professor of African-American studies, raised some criticism about the forum itself. Behind the two panelists was a poster with a picture of Hussein as well as fighter jets flying. Campbell said this and the title of the forum, “War in Iraq”, suggest the university supports military action.

An important aspect like the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians was not discussed in the forum either, Campbell said.

The money that would go to waging a war on Iraq should instead go to creating jobs, education and heath care, he said.

Wolfe said the forum was not designed to take a political position but instead should be considered as reflections on the situation.

At the end of the forum, Wolfe said dissent is welcome and encouraged because it is sometimes difficult for a person who loves his country to come forward with differing opinions.

One of the major topics that Cooke covered was the great variations of people in Iraq. The Iraqi population consists mainly of three groups of people — the Kurds, mountain dwellers of Turkish decent, in the North, Sunni muslims in the middle of the country and Shiite muslims in the South — Cooke said.

“This is not an easy place to govern and we are trying to govern it,” Cooke said. “I don’t envy General Tommy Franks when he becomes supreme allied commander.”

Boroujerdi said the tensions in the region deal with different ways of thinking, oil and access to water. These problems led to a bloody eight-year war with Iran in 1980 which left Iraq needing to rebuild, he said. Iraq then approached Kuwait asking that loans be forgiven and new loans granted which the Kuwaitis did not agree too, Hussein also felt Kuwait was stealing oil from an oil field that existed mostly on Iraqi soil, he said.

These situations led to the first conflict in the Persian Gulf, Boroujerdi said.

Both Cooke and Boroujerdi said there is not easy solution to the current problems in Iraq.

Boroujerdi said there are problems with Iraq with or without an invasion.

“We have an administration that uses scare tactics,” he said. “It says you are either with us or against us, it is very sophomoric.”

He said if a freshman in one of his classes suggested something like this, his student would get an F.

Emily Ngo, a sophomore international relations and public relations major, said she learned a lot about the history of the situation.

“History is a good start,” she said.

Published on January 15, 2003 at 12:00 pm