Dear Miami students,
The United States is facing an assault on our democracy, and some would say we are now under “one-man rule.” Here’s the question, “What are the students at Miami University going to do about it?” Send an aggressively worded text? Make a poignant social media post? How about something a little more noteworthy?
Those of us who served in both the FBI and USAID/Office of Inspector General are uniquely positioned to see what President Donald Trump is doing to our democracy and our status as the leader of the free world. For example, Trump instructed the Department of Justice to drop a criminal case against New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, based on nothing more than his personal desire to do so.
It is clear that Mr. Adams took approximately $100,000 in personal gratuities from the Turkish government and likely would have been convicted of bribery. Instructing the Department of Justice to drop a legitimate criminal investigation is the action of a dictator, not a democratically elected president.
For those who don’t know, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provides non-military aid throughout the developing world. Like defense spending for Ukraine, these programs are administered by U.S. companies and thus provide U.S. jobs. Arbitrarily stopping all USAID payments meant an end to programs such as those fighting malaria (500,000 children under the age of five die each year – approximately 1 per minute), water projects, agricultural projects, democracy projects, anti-diarrhea projects (diarrhea kills a lot of children), food relief and education projects to name a few.
Additionally, funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief will also be reduced or eliminated. It has saved an estimated 25 million lives in the last 21 years. These USAID programs are how the United States projects soft power. The Chinese and the Russians will gladly fill the void.
In the 1960s, students were in the streets protesting the Vietnam War. Over the last 200 years, almost every revolution worldwide has started on university campuses. Maybe it’s time for Miami students to set an example for universities throughout the country, and take to the streets in lawful, peaceful protest; or, alternatively, take some decisive action that will bring notice to the unprecedented happenings in our democracy.
Respectfully,
Scott Nichols - Miami University, 1979
FBI & USAID/Office of the Inspector General - retired
239-672-3277
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