Universities have often been home to mindless anti-American blather. Sophomore Galen Thompson’s op-ed in the Stanford Daily, “The truth about Nicaragua,” is based on little fact and much distortion—and, in an academic setting such as Stanford, faulty “thinking” should be exposed, errors refuted, and the record righted.

First, Thompson contends that the Sandinistas “overthrew and expelled the Somoza regime” backed by the US. In reality, Somoza resigned as part of a concerted effort with the Carter administration. His resignation paved the way for the enforcement of a resolution passed by the Organization of American States supposedly guaranteeing free elections “as soon as possible” and “respect for human rights of all Nicaraguans without exception.” Further, the US had already suspended military and much economic aid to his regime before he resigned.

Second, the Contras weren’t “illegally funded by the CIA against the will of the U.S. Congress,” as Thompson asserts. Congress, in fact, approved $140 million in military aid from 1982-1984 and in 1987, on top of $150 million in other aid from 1985 onward.

Third, Thompson praises the Sandinistas for making “healthcare and education completely free and widely accessible.” That this education was used to brainwash young Nicaraguans is unimportant, apparently, as are the 40 Indian villages that were burned, the thousands of political opponents unjustly imprisoned, and the tens of thousands relocated from their homes and many sent to labor camps. But, of course, Thompson shouldn’t let the facts get in the way of his argument.

Fourth, the United States is not responsible for the non-stop fighting in Nicaragua. The Sandinistas began building up their military immediately after they came to power in July 1979 and they didn’t hold elections until 1984. They also aggressively undermined neighboring countries, by supporting rebels in El Salvador and Costa Rica, and even invading Honduras.

Thompson fails to grasp the larger geopolitical situation when he chastises the US for intervening in Nicaragua’s affairs. Apparently, it was perfectly fine for the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc, and Cuba to supply the Sandinistas with helicopters, tanks, missiles, and small arms to export communism throughout the region.

By subscribing to a delusional version of history, Thompson adopts a view of the US that is infantile in its simplicity and abhorrent in its prevalence among academics. No matter the problem, no matter the facts, Blame America First. To call it “the truth” would be the height of intellectual insanity.

This article is a response to an op-ed titled “The Truth About Nicaragua” published by Galen Thompson in the April 12 edition of the Stanford Daily.