A big thanks to UWF senior Journalism student CYNTHIA MUNOZ for videotaping and editing this segment, which she did as a class assignment for Professor Gary Ghioto!
Former Fla.Governor Shares Views on World Affairs
ASHLEY FAULKNER, news reporter Nov. 29, 2007, reprinted from UWF student newspaper, The Voyager:
http://media.www.thevoyager.net/media/storage/paper977/news/2007/11/29/News/Bob-Graham.Visits.Uwf-3128292.shtml
It was just another busy day at work Wednesday at the University of West Florida for former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. Graham, a two-term Florida governor who maintained his work ethic made popular during his reign as governor in the '70s with a flurry of meetings and news conferences held in the UWF Conference Center.
Graham's day started at 8:30 a.m. in the Nautilus Chamber with the Department of Government faculty to discuss ideas from his yet to be published book, tentatively titled "What Every Citizen Needs to Know to Make Democracy Work." Later on during his series of meetings and speeches, he jokingly asked if anyone could think of a better, cleverer title, to please let him know.
From the discussion with faculty, Graham moved down the hall to the World Affairs Forum Event. Graham spoke to the campus community about democracy and world affairs, and spent almost half the lecture discussing national security.
During the forum, Graham used his 2004 book entitled "Intelligence Matters" to help answer questions from students about American intelligence in the Middle East, 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Graham maintained that one of the many reasons America went to war with Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11 was because "In September 2002, the drumbeats for war were really loud."
A problem with this, he said, was that American intelligence agencies were not prepared and not armed with adequate knowledge of the people being fought and their culture. He said that America just had "no one competent enough" to go and check out what Afghans and Iraqi's had, like possible weapons of mass destruction, ahead of time in order to better prepare for war.
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BELOW:Former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham talks to event coordinator Chat Sue after speaking to Sue's freshman seminar class on November 28. Graham visited UWF to promote his soon to be published new book on citizenship and political participation.
Graham also talked about possible exit strategies for the war in Iraq, alluding to a slow and "honorable withdrawal" from a situation that requires more resources than the United States can commit to win.
"We can't afford to lose, but we have been distracted (by Iraq) for the last five years, so we are tottering on the verge of defeat," Graham said.
Strategically, he said, Afghanistan is where the focus of the war should have been; all the military can do in Iraq is maintain a habitat that is hospitable for the leaders of that country to try to construct a workable government.
"One country can not impose its political views on another culture," he emphasized.
Although the bulk of the questioning involved the war in Iraq, Graham also got a chance to answer questions about immigration in the United States, where he proposed his idea of "earned status." In this process, he explained, an immigrant could legally stay in the United States by fulfilling certain expectations, such as learning the English language and demonstrating a commitment to working in order to be self-sufficient.
Another big topic at the news conference later in the afternoon was education in the state of Florida. Graham is very invested in promoting institutes of higher learning in Florida, and praised UWF for its growth since his last visit in Dec. 1966.
"The dream of the University of West Florida has become such a handsome reality," Graham said, during a brief history lesson on how the 1960s provided a boom in higher learning institutions for Florida.
Graham enthusiastically made the correlation between a thriving state economy and its commitment to its universities, referring to the successes of California and North Carolina's relationship between legislation and university systems.
"I think that's what we should be doing here in Florida," he said. "Universities provide future leaders that will make businesses successful."
Graham briefly added that this could be current Florida Governor Charlie Crist's big chance to cement his place historically as a worthy leader, if Crist were to take such initiatives.
Graham concluded his visit at a forum with UWF academic advisor and instructor Chat Sue's freshman seminar class, and said that his future travel plans will take him to a speaking engagement at the University of Miami. He said that he is trying to visit as many of the universities in Florida as possible while trying to procure endowments for the Bob Graham Center for Public Service based at the University of Florida.
