Socialist students: Don't let 'war criminal' Condoleezza Rice speak

A socialist student group at the University of Buffalo is calling out the school administration for hosting “war criminal” Condoleezza Rice as a “distinguished speaker.”

The former U.S. Secretary of State and special assistant to President George W. Bush for national security is scheduled to speak Wednesday as part of a distinguished speaker series hosted by the Graduate Student Association. 

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“UB YDSA emphatically supports freedom of speech, including the right to protest, and welcomes a variety of viewpoints to campus...,” the Young Democratic Socialists of America statement reads, claiming that “as National Security Advisor in the Bush Administration, [Rice] personally approved the CIA’s use of waterboarding on prisoners. She lied about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and used that as justification to wage a war of aggression that directly caused the violent deaths of nearly 500,000 people.”

The YDSA chapter offered a further explanation of its grievance in a statement to Campus Reform. 

[RELATED: Rutgers hires war-crime ‘apologist’ to teach international law]

“While we don’t think an event recognizing Condoleezza Rice as a ‘Distinguished Speaker’ should take place, we recognize that it is unlikely that the University will cancel the event at this point,” the chapter told Campus Reform. “We hope that they refrain from honoring war criminals in the future. We will be protesting outside of the event in an effort to make the audience aware of her crimes.”

A University of Buffalo spokesman also commented to Campus Reform, saying in part that “the university does not take a position on the views expressed by those who visit our campus.”

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