YETIV'S OP-ED TAKES ON USA TODAY

Steve Yetiv, an associate professor of political science at Old Dominion and an expert in Middle Eastern relations, advocates support of President Bush's request for self-imposed censorship by the media in this time of crisis.

A counterpoint to USA Today's editorial on the topic, Yetiv's essay, "Censorship Makes Sense," can be viewed online at http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/2001-10-16-ncoppf.htm.

Among the points he makes is that airing videos made by Osama bin Laden and his supporters aids their cause.

"Such videos provide little information that cannot be had otherwise. They do not advance informed debate. And they promote the misplaced hate and misconceptions that spawn and sustain terrorism. Showing them is a terrorist's dream come true," Yetiv states in the article.

Regularly interviewed by the national media on American foreign policy, the Persian Gulf and the Arab-Israeli conflict, Yetiv has traveled widely in the Middle East and has published more than 225 editorial pieces.