Campus clash over patriotism

America's college campuses are being divided by an increasingly bitter debate about patriotism.

The question being asked is how far should the academic community go in expressing its patriotic support of the war against terrorism?

At Harvard University, there are complaints that students are being railroaded into a "my country right or wrong" endorsement of President Bush's open-ended military and covert campaign.

Elsewhere, support for the war in Afghanistan and tacit approval of military action in other countries such as Iraq and Somalia, is growing more vocal among students, who are often numerous enough to crush the smaller anti-war protests.

Reporters at a rally at the University of Texas in Austin were struck by the aggressive nature of the students who were singing patriotic songs and chanting "USA, USA, USA" to drown out the anti-war demonstrators shouting "Stop the bombing now, give peace a chance."