An appalling act of vandalism at the University of Iowa has resulted in a change of uniform for ROTC cadets.

The desecration occurred on the night of March 20, during the school's spring break, when an unknown person or persons smashed two glass doors at the Reserve Officer Training Corps office in the campus's South Quadrangle building. The vandals drove their point home by spray-painting anti-war slogans on four other buildings on the UI campus. The graffiti included such exhortations as "Stop U.S. military research," "Freedom dies when bombs fall," and "F- all wars."

Following this despicable incident, one of the ROTC commanders, Lt. Col. Carol St. John, also a professor of military science, dropped the requirement that states that ROTC cadets must wear their green-and-black camouflage uniforms to field-training class. The decision to wear uniforms is now at the individual cadet's discretion. "I am not concerned for the safety of the cadets, but I worry that their uniforms may provoke attention from a person who is looking to aim his anti-war sentiments at someone," said St. John, explaining her decision. She added that the U.S. Army Cadet Command has advised campus military leaders to be mindful of their surroundings and to attempt to avoid public confrontation.

Over a thousand miles away, at the University of California-Davis, the efforts of a group of patriotic students to show support for our troops was stymied when, on the night of April 3, unknown vandals tore down yellow ribbons that students had affixed to trees and lampposts across the Davis campus. Yellow ribbons are known nationwide as a symbol of support for the men and women of the U.S. military who are currently fighting to liberate Iraq.

"This is an absolute travesty," commented Young Americans for Freedom Chairman Kyle Rohling, who had helped to organize the ribbon campaign. "We put up those ribbons to show our support for the troops. Now we know that there are truly un-American, traitorous people are here at UC-Davis."

"I am truly appalled at the level of hatred these people possess towards our country and the men and women in uniform who are currently in harm's way," added Davis College Republicans member Igor Birman. "It is one thing to disagree with our foreign policy, but such overt support for the enemy has no place on our campus nor anywhere else in this country."

These contemptible crimes, over a thousand miles apart, demonstrate the hypocrisy of some involved in the radical anti-war left. Too fearful to air their views in the light of day, the culprits launched their cowardly attacks in the dead of night. Instead of holding a rally where they might be forced to justify their opinions on foreign policy, they tried to make a point with crude slurs, absent ribbons, and broken glass. And by resorting to criminal actions instead of speech, these individuals tar the name of the entire anti-war movement.