A New Mexico military industry watchdog group is sponsoring a forum tonight at the UNM Continuing Education Center on national security and retaliation in the aftermath of this week's terrorist attacks.
The Los Alamos Research Group is sponsoring the forum, part of a three-city series Wednesday through Friday. Group spokesman Blake Trask said the organization contacted potential speakers from UNM, local churches and government officials, but as of Wednesday, he wasn't yet sure who would participate in the forum, which will be open to the public.
"We're hoping to provide a counterbalance to press coverage," Blake said. "We're trying, at least at a local level, to provide for community discussion of the national media response."
He said one of the main topics of the meeting is finding alternatives to what he called an outright war in retribution for the hijacking of four airliners and subsequent crashes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon. According to a press release, the forum, "Security in the Wake of Violence: Where Do We Go From Here?," will explore the possible consequences of reprisal, as well as potential effects to civil liberty resulting from increased national security measures.
"We feel this really needs to be answered with alternative analysis, rather than a rash attack," he said.
He said he expects between five and seven speakers will respond to audience members' questions asked by a mediator. After some discussion, participants may divide into groups and work with individual speakers to brainstorm security and retaliation options.
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UNM law professor Tim Canova said he will be one of the speakers at tonight's forum. Canova lectures on international trade and business, and has published articles on international monetary law, he said.
He wasn't exactly sure why he was invited, but said, "Certainly there are a lot of economic causes to competition and hostility in the world today."
Canova said the Los Alamos Research Group also contacted another law professor who is a former member of the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as a local rabbi. He said he expects much of the discussion to focus on potential changes to civil liberty as new security measures are enacted in the coming days and months, as well as retaliation.
The forum is at 7 p.m. in Room C of the Continuing Education Building, at 1634 University Blvd. NE. For more information, call the Los Alamos Research Group at (505) 982-7747.
