LAUREN PUTNOCKY -- The Flat Hat The Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and former Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley addressed students yesterday at a "Meet the Press"-style forum.

Former ambassador speaks at forum

By Stephen Carley
Flat Hat Asst. News Editor

Former Speaker of the House and former Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley addressed students in a "Meet the Press"-style forum in the University Center's Commonwealth Auditorium yesterday afternoon. Foley is the Hunter B. Andrews Fellow for 2003 and was introduced by President of the College Timothy J. Sullivan. Government professor Clay Clemens served as a mediator in the discussion, directing the question and answer session following Foley's speech.

Foley was elected 15 times as a democratic member of the House of Representatives from Washington starting in 1965. After becoming Speaker of the House in 1988, Foley retired in 1994 and in 1997 was appointed Ambassador of Japan, a position he held until 2001.

During his speech, Foley addressed major foreign policy issues, including the war in Iraq.

"To show that our motive for military action in Iraq is not oil, the most important thing is to include the U.N. and the Iraqi people in the process of reconstruction," he said.

Continuing his topic of foreign policy, Foley also addressed the situation in North Korea, which he said was a country that was a larger threat than Iraq. He said that he did not think the development of nuclear weapons for use in geopolitics was necessarily a direct threat, but that doing so for other reasons could be far more dangerous.

"I think the North Korean regime has decided that, in order to survive, they must construct nuclear weapons, and I think that poses a major problem for the United States," Foley said.

In addition to North Korea, Foley devoted a large portion of his time to talking about the war on terror and its effects on foreign policy.

"Even though, early in the Bush administration, the United States has, at least in tone, disregarded the feelings of some of our allies in Europe, allied involvement in the war on terror is essential to protect the American homeland," he said.

Foley then finished his prepared speech to the audience and thanked the College for the opportunity to speak. In his conclusion, he said that it is very important for college students to become involved in the political process.

Clemens then introduced four government underclassmen who proceeded to ask Foley a set of prepared questions.

Since Foley was Speaker of the House during the first Gulf war, many of the initial questions focused on the differences he perceived between that conflict and the current war with Iraq.

"During the first conflict, the United States had much greater international support, Iraqi troops were not as enthusiastic about defending their land, and this conflict will be much bigger with a much longer period of reconstruction," Foley said.

When asked why he believed that North Korea was a greater threat, Foley stressed the growing change in sentiment of the South Koreans.

"Because the new administration in Seoul has no direct memory of the Korean war, they have no expectation of aggression on the part of Kim Jong Il," he said.

Foley went on to say that the top officials in the South Korean government are "actually mainly critical of the United States for causing unrest in the region, more so than previous administrations."

Foley was also asked about the domestic and economic future of Japan, campaign costs and the political future for President George W. Bush. After the conclusion of the panel questions, Foley took questions from the audience.

Audience members were anxious to raise an assortment of issues with Foley, and he answered questions on a wide range of subjects, including the weakening of Congress vs. the strengthening of the White House, the effectiveness of the United Nations, and liberal bias in the media.

Foley took questions for more than 20 minutes, and closed by saying that it was "a great honor to serve as an ambassador" and that he would look back upon his trip to the College with great pleasure.

Following the question and answer session, Foley was available for additional questions on an individual basis.

"I found his ideas fascinating, and he answered every direct and difficult question posed to him," Sullivan said in praise of Foley's presentation.

Foley spent yesterday visiting various government classes in Morton Hall and he was scheduled to give a talk at the business school before returning to Washington later today.

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