I support this petition and I struggle against US imperialism anywhere is props up including here at University of Texas in Austin. Currently IVAW is only officially opposed to the war in Iraq but I'm committed to changing that.
Carl Webb
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)
I support this petition and am disturbed by the celebration and legitmization of warmongers in the academy.
Associate Professor
University of California,
Davis
There should at least be a fair and balanced University hearing on this issue, given Rep. Wilson's controversial history.
Associate Professor, ECE
Director, Wireless Networking and Communications Group
It's a slap in the face to all of South Asia to name a Pakistan studies department after a man who viewed the region as America's personal backyard. It will be a travesty if this is allowed to happen.
I support this petition.
I believe its high time Pakistan itself and the rest of the World stop identifying Pakistan as the an American Pawn of the Cold War era.
Ijaz Khan Ph.D
Department of International Relations, University of Peshawar, Pakhtunkhwa
The absurd proposal to create a chair of Pakistan Studies in Charlie Wilson's name underscores the great divide between those who mistook Hollywood's "Charlie Wilson's War" for a documentary and the area specialists who know better.
I support this petition. Such naming will further strengthen the external as well as the self view of Pakistan as a Cold War pawn for whose real rulers the cold war continues in accordance with thier peculiar mind set. This is precisely the problem with Pakistan and is hindering democratization there and furthering violence in and around it.
Ijaz Khan Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Department of International Relations, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
I support this petition. Wilson was very tight with General Zia. Even though Wilson recognized very late that his support for Afghan fundamentalists and terrorists the CIA trained through Pakistan was a mistake, he went on to become a well-paid lobbyist for Pakistan. He is a prime example of FLAWED vision as well as deeply flawed character. A chair named for him would be a dark blot on U Texas. Support Pakistan studies without this historical baggage.
We need, more than anything else, a humanist approach to the study of Pakistan, and not just rely upon an old cold war logic to our shared and complex world. Given UTAustin's reputation for the study of South Asia, this move would be sadly regressive, just when we need critical and creative rethinking the most.
Visiting Faculty, Social Sciences Dept., Lahore University of Management Sciences. I fully support this petition. Should we expect a chair in the name of Zia-ul Haq or Gulbuddin Hekmatyar afterwards?
As a graduate student and staff member at the University of Texas, I find the prospect of naming a chair in Pakistan Studies after Charlie Wilson profoundly insulting. His legacy is an affront to scholars across the disciplinary spectrum whose work critically engages America's role in the politics of South Asia. This chair is bad for South Asia Studies and bad for the University of Texas.
