Thursday, August 07, 2003
TIME TO RE-TOOL
8/7
What's Happening, Iraq:
Time for re-tooling the policy. As today's NY Times (Michael R. Gordon) reported, we've alienated too many Iraqis with our 'search and capture/destroy' tactics and are making more enemies than capturing Saddamites. This development belies the steady stream of reassuring news releases from the Pentagon as to "progress" in winning the heart and minds of the Iraqis, and responds to such dispatches as from the Mercury News (Drew Brown, BayArea):
Nearly four months after the defeat of Saddam Hussein's regime, the euphoria most Iraqis expressed over their leader's ouster largely has evaporated, replaced by growing resentment of the American presence.The discontent suggests that, even as U.S. officials claim they are closing on in the deposed dictator with a $25 million bounty on his head, capturing or killing Saddam won't help restore order in the country the way some U.S. leaders have suggested.
Many Iraqis increasingly view American troops as foreign occupiers. And as attacks against U.S. troops continue, the low-level guerrilla war that American military officials say is being waged by former regime loyalists, foreign terrorists and criminals threatens to escalate into a wider nationalist struggle. The unelected Iraqi Governing Council is widely distrusted.
Iraqi Scientist Held: I've previously referred to Mahdi Obeidi, the Iraqi nuclear scientist who had buried parts of a gas centrifuge for uranium enrichment in his backyard. According to Josh Marshall at talkingpointsmemo.org, he's being held on house arrest, as he doesn't provide information that confirms the existence of a wmd program.
Casualties: Julian Borger in the Guardian (UK) reports that US military casualties from the occupation of Iraq have been more than twice the number most Americans have been led to believe because of an extraordinarily high number of accidents, suicides, and other non-combat deaths in the ranks that have gone largely unreported in the media. Iraqbodycount.org notes that civilian casualties range between 6087 and 7798. The Gordon NY Times piece noted that attacks on American servicemen average 12 a day, now admitting they have been that high or higher for the past 10-12 weeks.
Blix Strikes Back: Hans Blix, the former chief weapons inspector, waxes and wanes in his condemnation of the US invasion. Lately he's been waxing. A CBS/AP report notes Former chief weapons inspector Hans Blix gave his sharpest critique yet Wednesday of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which he said violated international law.
Speaking on Swedish Radio, Blix questioned whether Saddam Hussein posed an immediate threat to his neighbors or to the United States, and said the Bush administration had other reasons to invade besides destroying alleged weapons of mass destruction. He said the U.S. also needed to show what he calls "striking power" following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Lieberman: What to say. The former leading contender is slipping and desperate to be the anti-Dean. You must've seen the quote, from his National Press Club speech:
Most of the other Democratic candidates are threatening the change that Bill Clinton and Al Gore brought on the Democratic Party and threatening to take us back into the political wilderness. I'm not going to stand back and let this party be taken over by people who would take us into the political wilderness again.
Chutzpah! Jon Stewart on The Daily Show handled this well, asking, 'Now, let's see, who lead us into this political wilderness?', as a picture of the Gore-Lieberman ticket appeared.
9/11: Joe Conason in a NY Observer piece asks some tough questions about the Administration excising the 28 pages re Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 Report.
After all, if they reveal damaging information about the Saudis, what might the Saudis reveal about them?
For more than three decades, Saudi Arabia has sought to influence American politicians, often through investment in American business. While they have occasionally sought out Democrats, they are far more comfortable with Republicans—and in particular, with Bush Republicans. At the moment, for example, the kingdom’s defense attorney in a lawsuit brought by families of 9/11 victims happens to be James Baker, that ultimate Bushie whose résumé includes stints as Secretary of State and Treasury. (Mr. Baker’s last big court case was Bush v. Gore.)
Commercial connections between the Saudis and the Bushes extend from limited-partner investments in George W.’s failed oil ventures more than 20 years ago to the Carlyle Group, a mighty merchant bank that currently employs Mr. Baker, former President George Herbert Walker Bush and a host of lesser family vassals. Saudi money has also figured in several of the most significant political scandals of the postwar era, notably the Iran-contra affair and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International blowup. Whatever the Saudis might say about any of those matters is probably better left unsaid—not only to protect state secrets, but also for the sake of Bush senior, the former C.I.A. director and suspected Iran-contra conspirator.
The U.S. government knows many unflattering stories about the Saudi rulers. Unfortunately, they know many and perhaps worse about ours. The preference for silence and secrecy is understandably mutual.
Liberia et al: There is a bit of an intervention happening, leading to quotes from locals that 'At least it's better today than it's been'. But mediatenor.com(Germany) notes that much else is going on that is habitually not reported in that continent. They choose Ethiopia, noting that "extreme drought continues to plague Ethiopia. Agriculture accounts for 90% of exports and 80% of employment. The impact has been that over 11 million people in the region face the risk of starvation. Presently, it is estimated that the total number of people in need of food assistance in Ethiopia is 13.1 million. Among them are thousands of children who are already suffering from malnutrition. Two-thirds of all children in Ethiopia have some kind of deficiency as a result of chronic malnutrition."
Homeless people being targeted. The National Coalition of Homelessness (nationalhomeless.org) released a report detailing the increasing number of laws that target homeless people. Examples: a Church in Milwaukee was cited as a public nuisance for feeding and sheltering homeless people and in Gainsville, FL, police threatened students with arrest unless they ceased serving meals to homeless people in a public park.
Boston was not cited as one of the so-called "meanest cities". Las Vegas, San Francisco and New York were cited as the worst offenders.
The Rove hand is everywhere. We know the White House has politicized all, and has its hands in many a local issue. Credit the NY Times editorial board with a strong rebut of Rove's intervention in Oregon (Rove's Water Policy, below); credit the Wall Street Journal with reporting on the issue.
The Times: It's hardly news that Karl Rove, President Bush's political strategist, keeps a hawklike eye on domestic policies emerging from the executive branch, the better to make sure that everything meshes with his boss's political interests and those of the Republican Party. Yet rarely have Mr. Rove's efforts to bend policy to politics been more transparent than his intervention in a seemingly remote dispute involving water rights in Oregon's Klamath River basin. ... Mr. Rove has worked almost obsessively behind the scenes to ensure that the outcome satisfies the party's agricultural base at the expense of conservationists and Indian tribes.
At issue is a long-simmering dispute over water flows in the Klamath River, which runs through southern Oregon and Northern California. Even in good years these flows can barely satisfy rival claims. Farmers want water for irrigation, while conservationists and Indian tribes want it for endangered fish species, including downriver salmon. The farmers have prevailed at almost every step of the way.
EPA Integrity: Guy Gugliotta at the Washington Post reports on whether the EPA had misled the public as to water quality. Apparently, agency audits have found that the claim that 94% of the nation's water supply met "all health-based standards" was overstated. Instead it seems that only between 79 and 84% have safe water, meaning that an additional 30 million Americans are at risk.
It Wasn't Me: I received some emails wondering where my "usual Wednesday blog" was. Well, I had some business to take care of, but I must clarify- here and now- that I was not out-of-town, that I'm not the mastermind, the destructive organizer, behind this activity, reported by the AP:
Vandals Hit Several Starbucks in SF
Police are investigating a coordinated attack on at least 17 Starbucks outlets in downtown San Francisco. The vandals spread glue and posted official-looking "For Lease'' and "Closed'' signs on store windows.
-R
What's Happening, Iraq:
Time for re-tooling the policy. As today's NY Times (Michael R. Gordon) reported, we've alienated too many Iraqis with our 'search and capture/destroy' tactics and are making more enemies than capturing Saddamites. This development belies the steady stream of reassuring news releases from the Pentagon as to "progress" in winning the heart and minds of the Iraqis, and responds to such dispatches as from the Mercury News (Drew Brown, BayArea):
Nearly four months after the defeat of Saddam Hussein's regime, the euphoria most Iraqis expressed over their leader's ouster largely has evaporated, replaced by growing resentment of the American presence.The discontent suggests that, even as U.S. officials claim they are closing on in the deposed dictator with a $25 million bounty on his head, capturing or killing Saddam won't help restore order in the country the way some U.S. leaders have suggested.
Many Iraqis increasingly view American troops as foreign occupiers. And as attacks against U.S. troops continue, the low-level guerrilla war that American military officials say is being waged by former regime loyalists, foreign terrorists and criminals threatens to escalate into a wider nationalist struggle. The unelected Iraqi Governing Council is widely distrusted.
Iraqi Scientist Held: I've previously referred to Mahdi Obeidi, the Iraqi nuclear scientist who had buried parts of a gas centrifuge for uranium enrichment in his backyard. According to Josh Marshall at talkingpointsmemo.org, he's being held on house arrest, as he doesn't provide information that confirms the existence of a wmd program.
Casualties: Julian Borger in the Guardian (UK) reports that US military casualties from the occupation of Iraq have been more than twice the number most Americans have been led to believe because of an extraordinarily high number of accidents, suicides, and other non-combat deaths in the ranks that have gone largely unreported in the media. Iraqbodycount.org notes that civilian casualties range between 6087 and 7798. The Gordon NY Times piece noted that attacks on American servicemen average 12 a day, now admitting they have been that high or higher for the past 10-12 weeks.
Blix Strikes Back: Hans Blix, the former chief weapons inspector, waxes and wanes in his condemnation of the US invasion. Lately he's been waxing. A CBS/AP report notes Former chief weapons inspector Hans Blix gave his sharpest critique yet Wednesday of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which he said violated international law.
Speaking on Swedish Radio, Blix questioned whether Saddam Hussein posed an immediate threat to his neighbors or to the United States, and said the Bush administration had other reasons to invade besides destroying alleged weapons of mass destruction. He said the U.S. also needed to show what he calls "striking power" following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Lieberman: What to say. The former leading contender is slipping and desperate to be the anti-Dean. You must've seen the quote, from his National Press Club speech:
Most of the other Democratic candidates are threatening the change that Bill Clinton and Al Gore brought on the Democratic Party and threatening to take us back into the political wilderness. I'm not going to stand back and let this party be taken over by people who would take us into the political wilderness again.
Chutzpah! Jon Stewart on The Daily Show handled this well, asking, 'Now, let's see, who lead us into this political wilderness?', as a picture of the Gore-Lieberman ticket appeared.
9/11: Joe Conason in a NY Observer piece asks some tough questions about the Administration excising the 28 pages re Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 Report.
After all, if they reveal damaging information about the Saudis, what might the Saudis reveal about them?
For more than three decades, Saudi Arabia has sought to influence American politicians, often through investment in American business. While they have occasionally sought out Democrats, they are far more comfortable with Republicans—and in particular, with Bush Republicans. At the moment, for example, the kingdom’s defense attorney in a lawsuit brought by families of 9/11 victims happens to be James Baker, that ultimate Bushie whose résumé includes stints as Secretary of State and Treasury. (Mr. Baker’s last big court case was Bush v. Gore.)
Commercial connections between the Saudis and the Bushes extend from limited-partner investments in George W.’s failed oil ventures more than 20 years ago to the Carlyle Group, a mighty merchant bank that currently employs Mr. Baker, former President George Herbert Walker Bush and a host of lesser family vassals. Saudi money has also figured in several of the most significant political scandals of the postwar era, notably the Iran-contra affair and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International blowup. Whatever the Saudis might say about any of those matters is probably better left unsaid—not only to protect state secrets, but also for the sake of Bush senior, the former C.I.A. director and suspected Iran-contra conspirator.
The U.S. government knows many unflattering stories about the Saudi rulers. Unfortunately, they know many and perhaps worse about ours. The preference for silence and secrecy is understandably mutual.
Liberia et al: There is a bit of an intervention happening, leading to quotes from locals that 'At least it's better today than it's been'. But mediatenor.com(Germany) notes that much else is going on that is habitually not reported in that continent. They choose Ethiopia, noting that "extreme drought continues to plague Ethiopia. Agriculture accounts for 90% of exports and 80% of employment. The impact has been that over 11 million people in the region face the risk of starvation. Presently, it is estimated that the total number of people in need of food assistance in Ethiopia is 13.1 million. Among them are thousands of children who are already suffering from malnutrition. Two-thirds of all children in Ethiopia have some kind of deficiency as a result of chronic malnutrition."
Homeless people being targeted. The National Coalition of Homelessness (nationalhomeless.org) released a report detailing the increasing number of laws that target homeless people. Examples: a Church in Milwaukee was cited as a public nuisance for feeding and sheltering homeless people and in Gainsville, FL, police threatened students with arrest unless they ceased serving meals to homeless people in a public park.
Boston was not cited as one of the so-called "meanest cities". Las Vegas, San Francisco and New York were cited as the worst offenders.
The Rove hand is everywhere. We know the White House has politicized all, and has its hands in many a local issue. Credit the NY Times editorial board with a strong rebut of Rove's intervention in Oregon (Rove's Water Policy, below); credit the Wall Street Journal with reporting on the issue.
The Times: It's hardly news that Karl Rove, President Bush's political strategist, keeps a hawklike eye on domestic policies emerging from the executive branch, the better to make sure that everything meshes with his boss's political interests and those of the Republican Party. Yet rarely have Mr. Rove's efforts to bend policy to politics been more transparent than his intervention in a seemingly remote dispute involving water rights in Oregon's Klamath River basin. ... Mr. Rove has worked almost obsessively behind the scenes to ensure that the outcome satisfies the party's agricultural base at the expense of conservationists and Indian tribes.
At issue is a long-simmering dispute over water flows in the Klamath River, which runs through southern Oregon and Northern California. Even in good years these flows can barely satisfy rival claims. Farmers want water for irrigation, while conservationists and Indian tribes want it for endangered fish species, including downriver salmon. The farmers have prevailed at almost every step of the way.
EPA Integrity: Guy Gugliotta at the Washington Post reports on whether the EPA had misled the public as to water quality. Apparently, agency audits have found that the claim that 94% of the nation's water supply met "all health-based standards" was overstated. Instead it seems that only between 79 and 84% have safe water, meaning that an additional 30 million Americans are at risk.
It Wasn't Me: I received some emails wondering where my "usual Wednesday blog" was. Well, I had some business to take care of, but I must clarify- here and now- that I was not out-of-town, that I'm not the mastermind, the destructive organizer, behind this activity, reported by the AP:
Vandals Hit Several Starbucks in SF
Police are investigating a coordinated attack on at least 17 Starbucks outlets in downtown San Francisco. The vandals spread glue and posted official-looking "For Lease'' and "Closed'' signs on store windows.
-R
