by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Don Fotheringham says it is important not to confuse politics with patriotism.
Fotheringham, who spoke to an audience of 23 people at the SUB on Wednesday night, asked the audience to compare three events: the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
He said these events created shock and outrage, put America on a foot to war and caused severe restrictions for American citizens.
When Germany torpedoed the Lusitania, America's resolve to stay out of World War I went down with the ship. Fotheringham said the United States had no threat to its security at the time and was therefore tricked into war.
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Then he moved onto World War II, saying the White House did its best to provoke an attack from Japan. He cited secret conversations between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt while they met on the Atlantic Ocean in 1941 to write the Atlantic Charter, which provided the criteria for a second war.
"They cut off trade with Japan, which is dependant on all trade," he said. "They froze Japanese bank accounts in the U.S."
He said he was not excusing the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He wanted the audience to realize it was provoked, he said.
"Of course, Pearl Harbor accomplished its purpose," he said. "Its purpose was to bring us into a war of unprecedented proportions."
"What I'm telling you - it was on the History Channel three nights ago," he said. "I guess it's OK to talk about it 64 years later."
UNM sophomore Natalie Solano said she did not make the same connections. She said there was too much conspiracy talk.
"I have a hard time believing that the United States wants to give up all its power to the U.N.," she said. "Especially with the Iraq War, I don't know why we'd create a situation to give power to the U.N. only to go back and not listen to their prescriptions."
Fotheringham said he arranged a talk with FBI agent Robert Wright after Sept. 11. At first Wright agreed to talk, but later he would not give any information.
He quoted Wright as saying he was muzzled under court order and would go to prison if he talked.
Fotheringham said there is so much information available, especially on the Internet, and it's hard to know what to believe.
"Watch your young reporters, watch your new material," he said. "These people have no evil design. They just want to report what they see."
Michael Ames, also a UNM student, thought Fotheringham had oversimplified some of the information. He said most historians debunk that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor before it happened.
The Reagan Freedom Society and the American Patriot Society arranged the event.
