Iraq Expert at MPC

The steady stream of bombings, kidnappings and chaos in Iraq have not ceased to disturb war-weary Americans.

But what the public doesn’t know—what they’re not allowed to know, in fact—are all the good things happening.

So says Dr. Kalev I. Sepp, an assistant professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and an expert on US military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The American people deserve an explanation by their leaders about what the armed forces are doing over there,” says Sepp, who recently presented an in-depth military analysis for Gen. George Casey, commander of Iraqi military forces. “I’m on the inside and I know what they are doing and I’m baffled at why they’re not more forthcoming about it. What they’re doing is centrally irresistible and ultimately will be good for the Iraqi people. That has to be sold.”

Sepp will hit some of those selling points at a 1:30pm free lecture Dec. 7, at Monterey Peninsula College’s Lecture Forum Rm. 102.

Sepp says that while the initial commanders of the Iraq war botched opportunities and simply “didn’t get it,” lower-ranking soldiers are making important inroads with the Iraqi people.

“They protect Iraqis at the neighborhood level from the terror that insurgents inflict upon them,” says Sepp, who recently testified before Congress on the training of Iraqi military units. “At the same time, they work to restart local economies and make local government function.”

For more information, call Spence Myers at 484-1860. [RV]

Peacemakers at CSUMB

CSU-Monterey Bay students will read a collection of dramatic monologues created from interviews with “peacemakers” in Ireland, Israel, South Africa, Colombia, Peru, Monterey and Washington, DC at a free Dec. 7 event, from 6-8pm, at CSUMB’s Music Hall, on 6th Avenue.

“Voices of Peacemakers” is a product of collaboration between Frances Payne Adler’s social action writing students and Global Majority, a nonprofit organization that promotes non-violent conflict resolution. The class is one of CSUMB’s service learning courses, which link academic learning to service, social justice and civic engagement. This particular creative writing course requires students to conduct collaborative research and interviews in the community. They produce poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and visual representations of their writings.