A member of President Bush's administration teleconferenced with UW-Madison and 10 other college campuses around the country Wednesday night, addressing issues in the post-Sept. 11 world.
Marc Grossman, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, answered the questions of students and community members through interactive video from Washington, D.C.
Visiting UW-Madison professor and former Swiss Ambassador to the United States Alfred Defago served as moderator.
Sponsors for the event, titled \A National Electronic Town Meeting,"" included the U.S. State Department, the UW-Madison International Institute, the UW System Institute for Global Studies and the World Affairs Councils of America.
Grossman began by expressing his satisfaction with the event's turnout. Approximately 30 people attended the teleconference on the UW-Madison campus.
""I think one of the most untrue things about the United States is Americans are not interested in foreign affairs,"" he said. ""This conversation is proof we are interested.""
UW-Madison's first question was whether there would be changes in U.S. relations and policy with the Middle East.
Grossman said the U.S. government was not currently focusing on the Middle East as a whole.
""We are fully engaged in what we are doing in Afghanistan,"" he said.
The second question addressed how and if the United States will redefine its fight against terrorism.
Grossman said U.S. foreign policy will aim to share democratic values with other countries.
""We want to focus on what has worked in the United States, what is important to us and the values we hold,"" he said.
He also commented on Sept. 11 in general.
""I'm not interested in [the terrorists'] motivation,"" he said, ""I am interested in the fact that they committed mass murder in the United States.""
Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Edward Peck replaced Grossman when he had to leave for a prior engagement.
Peck opposed Grossman's viewpoint during a discussion between the sites. Peck said the United States is not prepared to address the Sept. 11 attacks logically, given the emotions involved.
""The problem of the American government and America as a people is the failure to look at the causes of terrorism,"" he said. ""They don't hate us because Britney Spears has a belly button. They hate us because they don't like our policies.\
