Controversial University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill says he does not advocate "fragging" U.S. military officers in spite of how recent comments he made have been portrayed.
"Conscientious objection removes a given piece of the cannon fodder from the fray," he said. "Fragging an officer has a much more impactful effect."
| I heard the audio on Fox, and that's exactly what he was saying in that wooden, stick-up-his-butt delivery. |
His remarks were posted Sunday on the Pirate Ballerina blog site, which carries mostly anti-Churchill content. On Wednesday, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly played a tape of the remarks.
Reached at his home in Boulder County on Wednesday night, Churchill said the comments were made merely to spark discussion and not to take a position on fragging, which is the killing or injuring of an officer in combat by a subordinate.
He's not taking a position? Sure. And nightingales can't carry tunes.
He said that his remarks were being taken out of context and sensationalized in an effort to drive him from his job as a CU professor. "I neither advocated nor suggested to anyone, anything," Churchill said. "I asked them to think about where they stood on things."
According to the tape, Churchill, while speaking about being a conscientious objector, asked his audience: "Would you render the same support to someone who hadn't conscientiously objected, but rather instead rolled a grenade under their line officer in order to neutralize the combat capacity of their unit?"
When one of the forum's attendees said that the impact such a fragging might have on the officer's family should be considered, Churchill replied, "How do you feel about Adolf Eichmann's family?"
Eichmann, Eichmann, this beauzeau IS a one-note samba. Apologies to any sheet music that got offended.
Churchill said Wednesday night that he found it "interesting" that he spoke for more than two hours that night and that a few remarks were "spun out of context." What he meant by the remarks, he said, was: "Think about what you're talking about and what you're doing. Think, in other words. ... If we can all take a deep breath, I'm not talking to a roomful of troops. Nobody in that room is going to frag an officer. ... I didn't tell anyone in that room to do a damn thing except think."
There have been calls for Churchill's removal as a tenured professor at the state school, and the university has launched an investigation into his academic activities.
One slap on the wrist, coming up.
Churchill has been accused of plagiarism, academic fraud and misrepresenting his Native American heritage. He is under investigation by the school's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct. CU interim chancellor Phil DiStefano could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
| He's in his office banging his head on his desk. |
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