To the Editor:

As one of the named “apathetic” Yalies (“Students rally for peace; wear white armbands,” 10/10), I can assert that I did not attend the peace rally not because of my mindless devotion to pleasurable pursuits like soccer, but because, having given the situation careful consideration, I support the military action taking place at the moment.

Over the last few weeks, I have spent countless hours scouring various news and analysis sources, ranging from the African weekly “Jeune Afrique” to the Houston-based Stratfor.com Web site, in a desperate search for more information than is available in the national media.

Based on what I learned, I have concluded that the course of action upon which the United States and its allies seem to have embarked is in fact the best of a number of rather unappealing options. While I don’t have the space to explain my rationale in detail, let me say this: It is the result of a long and ongoing effort to analyze the situation, not of apathetic acquiescence.

Finally, while I believe that a vocal anti-war movement is crucial in terms of pushing a government to reassess constantly its actions, this same deliberation necessitates a whole range of opinions founded on intelligent, informed analysis. Fundamental to this process is the acknowledgement that other perspectives may be just as valid and carefully thought-out as one’s own.

Those who characterize others as ignorant are effectively claiming their conclusions to be the only possible result of an informed analysis, which simply demonstrates their support for a position rests not on its perceived relative merits, but rather on a dogmatic, intellectually intolerant ideology. Yalies are not apathetic. They just think in different ways.

Nicolas Dragojlovic ’03

OCTOBER 10, 2001