Let’s not dwell too much on the nuances of newspaper misquotes, but as I am cleaning up some of the issues surrounding a free speech lawsuit in which I prevailed, I thought it important enough to ensure that the record was made clear.
Search “Cal Poly and Saudi Arabia” and you will read what the story was really about. It was concerning a large public concern by many – including me – that Cal Poly was planning to do the business of setting up engineering classes in Saudi Arabia. It seems rather clear — at least to me — that only certain people would be invited to teach and others would be systematically excluded. Would women be allowed to teach? I think not.
I asked a military officer where all the ‘foreign fighters’ ( our media loves to use words that shows they don’t take sides) were originating? In the early days, so many were coming from Saudi Arabia, but this torrent has since been reduced to a trickle … it seems that volunteers are now getting hard to find. Now-a-days, I understand many ‘foreign fighters’ are coming from north Africa.
So given what I just said, my question to Cal Poly was a simple one: was there a chance that we would be providing certain Saudis with skills that could be used against us? So I asked in my blog: (is) “Cal Poly … training tomorrow’s terrorists?”
Free speech may have died in England and is crippled in Europe … but for now, if we are vigilant, the right of free speech will continue to help us ask those tough questions which will help us find American solutions to the problems of our day.
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