CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Majid Tehranian, a professor of international communication,
shared some thoughts with the audience at yesterday's forum
on terrorism at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Forum calls for
peaceful reply
to terrorists

Participants say that justice,
not retribution, is more appropriate

---

By Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.com

Unleashing military might against the suspected terrorists in the Sept. 11 attacks is not only misguided, it will fuel more hatred, a University of Hawaii professor said yesterday.

"An eye for an eye will leave us all blind," said Carolyn Stephenson, an associate professor of political science.

U.S. foreign policy since 1945 has emphasized the use of force, but that "doesn't work -- it breeds war," Stephenson said.

Speaking at a terrorism forum sponsored by the Matsunaga Institute for Peace, Stephenson said the appropriate action should be punishment, not retribution.

"It's key to separate those out," she said. "This is not a fistfight. This is a state which has been violated and needs to prosecute for a crime against humanity."

She said the response should also be multilateral, involving groups such as the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly.

Stephenson and political science professor Manfred Henningsen agreed that the attacks' perpetrators should face the International Criminal Court, a body created in 1998 to deal with crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. The court, however, does not yet exist. Although the treaty has been ratified by 38 countries, it has been criticized by the Bush administration, Henningsen said.

"To kill these men in a military expedition would deprive humanity of an exceptional opportunity," Henningsen said. "Bringing them before an international court of justice would allow the world to recognize that (Osama) bin Laden and his likes are not charismatic saviors, but criminals of the worst kind, criminals with a deadly apocalyptic vision against humanity."

A man in the audience said the attacks were not merely criminal, they were an atrocity and deserve retaliation.

"It's obvious the only way to go after these people is to look them in the eye and bang them," said the man, who was one of about 35 audience members.

Another audience member, Jerry Chang of Humanity United Globally, said he supports the use of courts and multilateral forces, but added that the United States should also fund prevention programs, which are usually unpopular because the effects are hard to pinpoint.

A series of panel discussions on terrorism will be held Tuesdays for the next three weeks at Bilger Hall Room 150.