Trinity Debate War on Terror
Chaired by Senator David Norris, the Trinity Hist society played host last night to a debate which questioned whether the War on Terror can ever truly be won. What turned out to be an insipid affair was only rescued by the chair's closing speech. In Fact, Ah was disappointed by the lack of substance that characterised the Trinity students' orations. They lacked the spirit and passion that one would normally expect to hear in the grandiose debating chamber of the Graduates Memorial building. Full of rhetoric and low on fact, the majority of them pussyfooted around what the war on terror actually meant.
One of the more interesting speeches came from Richard Waghorne of the Freedom Institute. Like what he stands for or loathe it, Waghorne has presence. His style of delivery is credible and you could almost fall for what he tells you.
My hearing isn't what is never was so I unfortunately missed the names of the two other guest speakers. One was an aspiring toff who kept going off on a tangent about some linkage between the class system and the War on Terror. This was met by much guffawing on the part of the Trinners wannabe toffs.
Another speaker who had written some book or other came and went without leaving any sort of impression.
The larger-than-life John McGuirk of the Freedom Institute took to the floor and flapped about for five minutes as he told the story of his friend from Virginia being stationed in Iraq. He bizarrely and embarrassingly wrapped up by telling us how his friend received eye drops from home. Somebody had replaced the eye drops with bleach in the container that was sent to him. The relevance to the debate? Your guess is as good as mine.
Finally, the chair had his say. Norris was one of the few people in the room to have ever visited Iraq. Himself an anti-war proponent, the Senator was almost spitting as he described in real terms the cruel and unjust war that is being waged on the citizens of Iraq. Perhaps one of the more memorable moments of the night came when he shouted "unscrupulous liars" while pointing in the direction of Richard Waghorne.
Published by Colm.
One of the more interesting speeches came from Richard Waghorne of the Freedom Institute. Like what he stands for or loathe it, Waghorne has presence. His style of delivery is credible and you could almost fall for what he tells you.
My hearing isn't what is never was so I unfortunately missed the names of the two other guest speakers. One was an aspiring toff who kept going off on a tangent about some linkage between the class system and the War on Terror. This was met by much guffawing on the part of the Trinners wannabe toffs.
Another speaker who had written some book or other came and went without leaving any sort of impression.
The larger-than-life John McGuirk of the Freedom Institute took to the floor and flapped about for five minutes as he told the story of his friend from Virginia being stationed in Iraq. He bizarrely and embarrassingly wrapped up by telling us how his friend received eye drops from home. Somebody had replaced the eye drops with bleach in the container that was sent to him. The relevance to the debate? Your guess is as good as mine.
Finally, the chair had his say. Norris was one of the few people in the room to have ever visited Iraq. Himself an anti-war proponent, the Senator was almost spitting as he described in real terms the cruel and unjust war that is being waged on the citizens of Iraq. Perhaps one of the more memorable moments of the night came when he shouted "unscrupulous liars" while pointing in the direction of Richard Waghorne.
Published by Colm.
|