From: hau4@ellis.uchicago.edu (sven  hauptfeld)
Subject: Re: Letter to Bush
Reply-To: hau4@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 06:16:52 GMT

In article <1992Dec22.152146.18798@nntpd.lkg.dec.com> seltzer@ics.enet.dec.com (Richard Seltzer) writes:
>
>
>
>I'm puzzled by the response of this newsgroup to Fischer's
>indictment.  Yes, he makes outrageous statements.  Yes, his
>opinions are obnoxious and even morally repugnant.  But what
>kind of precedent is it to do nothing, to not even raise
>a voice of protest while a public figure is persecuted and 
>effectively exiled for his opinions?

He is neither persecuted nor exiled and the indictment has nothing to do
with his opinions, but with his violating the law by which the US is enforcing
a UN resolution.

He was indicted for doing business with a country that is under strict embargo
because of the war crimes comitted under its government's orders.

>Even though I'm not a political animal, and even though I 
>realize it's probably futile, I would feel guilty if I didn't 
>at least write a letter to the President.

It is certainly your right to do so.

But let me ask you: did you write to the President asking him to stop the
Serbian crimes against the innocent people of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia?
Did you write and ask him to stop the human rights abuses in Kosovo?

If you have not, that is your right, too. But I appeal to you to think again:
is the `right' of Mr. Fischer to conduct his business anywhere he wants (while
he could have done it at just about any _legitimate_ place in the world as
well) more important than the rights of Bosnian children to live, of Bosnian
women not to be raped, of Bosnian and Croatian people not to have bombs falling
upon them or armed men expel them from their homes...?

>******************************************************************
>
>
>                                  December 22, 1992
>
>Dear President Bush,
>
>I am writing in hopes that you will reverse your decision to 
>indict Bobby Fischer.

It was not the President who indicted Fischer. The President does not have
judical power (except to pardon).

>The greatest chess player in history, who for years was the 
>Cold-War symbol of American brain power and feisty independence, 

I must say that this sounds totalitarian to me.

>is now a political exile.  His crime:  playing chess and 
>expressing his opinions.

As I said, that is not why he was indicted.

>[...]
>And regardless of the technicalities, did Fischer's action in any 
>way violate the intent of your executive order?  Did he provide 
>any material support to Serbia?  Or did he, rather, remove from 
>that country millions of dollars in hard currency?  

He has provided Serbia (`Yugoslavia') with far more than $5M worth of
propaganda and undermining of the UN sanctions. How far-reaching the
effects are, shows, among others, the fact that you wrote this letter.

>[...]
>The record of your term in office is a brilliant one.

If this is honest, then I probably shouldn't even attempt to argue with
you. Bush's record on protecting freedom and human rights (as, contrary to
the popular opinion among the netters, IS his duty, as a head of a state 
which has signed the UN Charter) is dismal. He woke up - too little, too
late - only in the last few months.

>Surely, that isn't your intent.  Surely, this decision should be 
>reviewed and revised in the spirit, and not just the letter, of 
>American democracy.
>
The spirit of democracy is that every citizen is equally responsible for their
actions. Nobody is exempt, not even Fischer.

	Sven

Newsgroups: rec.games.chess