This will be based on a memo written by White House Counsel Al Gonzales regarding the Geneva Convention strictures. Gonzales wrote the memo just after the 9-11-01 attacks and said "this new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions" according to this report. The hullabaloo will be pure rubbish: the Geneva Convention on interrogating prisoners of war does not apply to al-Qaeda and does not even apply to most of the Abu Ghraib prisoners because they are not prisoners of war. Instead, the al-Qaedans fighting for the Taliban and the riffraff fighting for al-Sadr in Iraq are illegal combatants under the laws of war and can be summarily executed.
For some Geneva Convention information, including how the anti-war fringe will mislead the public, see this article on Opinion Journal.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Notsogood
Umm, how to say this . . .
When it comes to looks, John Kerry's daughter ain't exactly in the Gore-daughter league. Evidently, the Kerryette (Alexandra, the elder daughter) believes that because she hangs with the Hollywood crowd at the Cannes film festival, she should dress like them (link to it through Drudge if you want). Her dress turned transparent under the flashes and the results indicate that she's not the next Halle Berry. When Cameron Diaz and Angelina Jolie are dressed more conservatively than you, that means you've gone a step too far.
As for other considerations: she's the daughter of the Democrats' nominee-to-be for president of the US, put some f'ing clothes on!
When it comes to looks, John Kerry's daughter ain't exactly in the Gore-daughter league. Evidently, the Kerryette (Alexandra, the elder daughter) believes that because she hangs with the Hollywood crowd at the Cannes film festival, she should dress like them (link to it through Drudge if you want). Her dress turned transparent under the flashes and the results indicate that she's not the next Halle Berry. When Cameron Diaz and Angelina Jolie are dressed more conservatively than you, that means you've gone a step too far.
As for other considerations: she's the daughter of the Democrats' nominee-to-be for president of the US, put some f'ing clothes on!
Media bias, pt. 1
Check out this excerpt from the Media Research Center report on the coverage of the Abu Ghraib abuse story:
To illustrate a fraction of the bias problem, we counted the number of prisoner-abuse stories on NBC’s evening and morning news programs (NBC Nightly News and Today) from April 29, when the story emerged, through May 11. There were 58 morning and evening stories. Using the Nexis news-data retrieval system, we counted the number of stories on mass graves found in Iraq from the reign of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and 2004. The number of evening and morning news stories on those grim discoveries? Five.
To illustrate a fraction of the bias problem, we counted the number of prisoner-abuse stories on NBC’s evening and morning news programs (NBC Nightly News and Today) from April 29, when the story emerged, through May 11. There were 58 morning and evening stories. Using the Nexis news-data retrieval system, we counted the number of stories on mass graves found in Iraq from the reign of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and 2004. The number of evening and morning news stories on those grim discoveries? Five.
More proof
We had plenty of proof that Iraq had WMDs, now some of the hidden agents are surfacing in insurgent's improvised explosives, according to this report. Most notable in the article, Gazi George (an Iraqi scientist) said other such WMDs were buried or transported to Syria. Here's more of his take:
"Saddam is the type who will not store those materials in a military warehouse. He's gonna store them either underground, or, as I said, lots of them have gone west to Syria and are being brought back with the insurgencies," George told Fox News. "It is difficult to look in areas that are not obvious to the military's eyes.
"I'm sure they're going to find more once time passes," he continued, saying one year is not enough for the survey group or the military to find the weapons.
Simple concept here: the WMD agents Saddam had could kill millions but could fit in an average two-car garage. Think about stuffing your garage with standard-sized bags of popcorn, then hiding those bags throughout the state of Texas. How long would it take someone to find the bags? That's what Saddam essentially did.
"Saddam is the type who will not store those materials in a military warehouse. He's gonna store them either underground, or, as I said, lots of them have gone west to Syria and are being brought back with the insurgencies," George told Fox News. "It is difficult to look in areas that are not obvious to the military's eyes.
"I'm sure they're going to find more once time passes," he continued, saying one year is not enough for the survey group or the military to find the weapons.
Simple concept here: the WMD agents Saddam had could kill millions but could fit in an average two-car garage. Think about stuffing your garage with standard-sized bags of popcorn, then hiding those bags throughout the state of Texas. How long would it take someone to find the bags? That's what Saddam essentially did.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Sports dope
OK, it's official, John Kruk is an idiot. Today he said Jarrod Washburn is his pick to date for the Cy Young Award in the AL because he has seven wins.
Washburn is 7-1, his ERA is 4.68, he has 3 quality starts (6+ IP and no more than 3 ER) and failed to even go six innings in each of his first three wins. Washburn won his last start and pitched well, but a Cy Young candidate? No.
Washburn is 7-1, his ERA is 4.68, he has 3 quality starts (6+ IP and no more than 3 ER) and failed to even go six innings in each of his first three wins. Washburn won his last start and pitched well, but a Cy Young candidate? No.
More nonsense
According to Drudge, Sy Hersh is now claiming that Rumsfeld initiated a policy that resulted in, and approved of, the conditions that led to the Abu Ghraib abuse. This whole notion is pure rubbish but it is getting traction in the press because (1) the press hates Pres. Bush; (2) the press hates the military; (3) the Democrats would rather have a victory over Pres. Bush than a victory in Iraq or a victory against the Islamofascists. Evidence of the first point: Sy Hersh himself and vast majority of the US media reports that have failed to discuss the Nick Berg murder but have incessantly played the Abu Ghraib story; see here for more. Evidence of the second point: the [UK] Daily Mirror's pictures of British military prisoner abuse were proven false but the editor still insisted they were accurate; he had to be forcibly removed from Daily Mirror offices. Evidence of the third point = just listen to the Democrats, they are ridiculousness on stilts.
Hat-tips to Andrew Sullivan.
Hat-tips to Andrew Sullivan.
Friday, May 14, 2004
Someone gets it
Joe Lieberman, good man and one of the few Democrats who has not gone over to the McGovern-Carter-TedKennedy side of the foreign policy debate, has penned an editorial on why Rumsfeld must stay. Key points:
We cannot allow the prison scandal in Iraq to diminish our own American sense of national honor and purpose, or further erode support for our just and necessary cause in Iraq. American opponents of the war may try to do the latter, while foreign critics and enemies of the United States will try to do the former. The misdeeds of a few do not alter the character of our nation or the honor of the many who serve in our defense--and the world's--every day. Winning the war we are now fighting in Iraq against Saddam loyalists and jihadist terrorists remains critical to the security of the American people, the freedom of the Iraqi people, and the hopes of all the Middle East for stability and peace.
* * *
Unless there is clear evidence connecting him to the wrongdoing, it is neither sensible nor fair to force the resignation of the secretary of defense, who clearly retains the confidence of the commander in chief, in the midst of a war. I have yet to see such evidence. Secretary Rumsfeld's removal would delight foreign and domestic opponents of America's presence in Iraq.
We cannot allow the prison scandal in Iraq to diminish our own American sense of national honor and purpose, or further erode support for our just and necessary cause in Iraq. American opponents of the war may try to do the latter, while foreign critics and enemies of the United States will try to do the former. The misdeeds of a few do not alter the character of our nation or the honor of the many who serve in our defense--and the world's--every day. Winning the war we are now fighting in Iraq against Saddam loyalists and jihadist terrorists remains critical to the security of the American people, the freedom of the Iraqi people, and the hopes of all the Middle East for stability and peace.
* * *
Unless there is clear evidence connecting him to the wrongdoing, it is neither sensible nor fair to force the resignation of the secretary of defense, who clearly retains the confidence of the commander in chief, in the midst of a war. I have yet to see such evidence. Secretary Rumsfeld's removal would delight foreign and domestic opponents of America's presence in Iraq.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Just not right
There's something that stinks about the Nicholas Berg case. Berg is the poor bugger who was beheaded by Al-Zarqawi, an al-Qaeda leader who is directing attacks against US and coalition forces. But some things don't add up.
First, check this out from an AP article:
Berg's body was found Saturday in Baghdad. Two e-mails he sent to his family and friends show he traveled widely and unguarded throughout Iraq, an unsafe practice rarely done by Westerners.
Shortly before Berg's disappearance, he was warned by the FBI that Iraq was too volatile a place for unprotected American civilians and that he could be harmed, a senior FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday.
On April 10, four days after Berg was released from an Iraqi prison, an American diplomat offered to put him on a flight to Jordan, State Department spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said.
But Berg told the diplomat he "planned to travel overland to Kuwait and would call (his) family from there," Shannon said.
Now, this statement from Berg's father in the same article:
Berg's father, Michael Berg, said that although his son wanted to leave Iraq, he refused the flight offer because he thought the travel to the airport would be too dangerous. Attacks had taken place in the areas his son would need to drive through, Michael Berg said.
Now add that up: Berg traveled all over Iraq -- a dangerous thing for anyone to do -- but would not accept a ride to the airport to get out.
Plus, there's this:
Nicholas Berg, the American businessman executed by Islamic extremists in Iraq, may have had contact with accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
Now that story continues to say that the FBI believes that the Moussaoui-Berg connection is coincidental, but that does not smell right either. Coincidences of Moussaoui connected with Berg in Norman, Oklahoma (using the same email address) and Berg wandering Iraq just do not add up properly.
Add to that the unrelenting misinformation campaign that Berg's parents have run in the press and their screechy blame of Pres. Bush and Rumsfeld and the whole situation stinks.
Berg is currently a tragic figure and I hope that is all there is to his story. But there are too many hints of something nefarious behind the whole situation and that is extremely disturbing.
First, check this out from an AP article:
Berg's body was found Saturday in Baghdad. Two e-mails he sent to his family and friends show he traveled widely and unguarded throughout Iraq, an unsafe practice rarely done by Westerners.
Shortly before Berg's disappearance, he was warned by the FBI that Iraq was too volatile a place for unprotected American civilians and that he could be harmed, a senior FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday.
On April 10, four days after Berg was released from an Iraqi prison, an American diplomat offered to put him on a flight to Jordan, State Department spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said.
But Berg told the diplomat he "planned to travel overland to Kuwait and would call (his) family from there," Shannon said.
Now, this statement from Berg's father in the same article:
Berg's father, Michael Berg, said that although his son wanted to leave Iraq, he refused the flight offer because he thought the travel to the airport would be too dangerous. Attacks had taken place in the areas his son would need to drive through, Michael Berg said.
Now add that up: Berg traveled all over Iraq -- a dangerous thing for anyone to do -- but would not accept a ride to the airport to get out.
Plus, there's this:
Nicholas Berg, the American businessman executed by Islamic extremists in Iraq, may have had contact with accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.
Now that story continues to say that the FBI believes that the Moussaoui-Berg connection is coincidental, but that does not smell right either. Coincidences of Moussaoui connected with Berg in Norman, Oklahoma (using the same email address) and Berg wandering Iraq just do not add up properly.
Add to that the unrelenting misinformation campaign that Berg's parents have run in the press and their screechy blame of Pres. Bush and Rumsfeld and the whole situation stinks.
Berg is currently a tragic figure and I hope that is all there is to his story. But there are too many hints of something nefarious behind the whole situation and that is extremely disturbing.
Sports shorts
Two quick hits.
First, the NBA rule allowing a team to call timeout in the last few minutes and advance the ball across halfcourt is stupid. Now, instead of having to craft a play that covers the whole court in the final seconds, the trailing team only needs to run a set out-of-bounds play. This penalizes the team with the lead, especially if the team with the lead just hit a late shot to go ahead. This rule bit the Spurs in the rear tonight and led directly to the Lakers' miracle win. Time for a rule change.
Second, the Yankees are actually in first place (for now). That's the Jeter/Williams/Sheffield/Vazquez/Mussina/Arod haven't hit their strides Yankees.
First, the NBA rule allowing a team to call timeout in the last few minutes and advance the ball across halfcourt is stupid. Now, instead of having to craft a play that covers the whole court in the final seconds, the trailing team only needs to run a set out-of-bounds play. This penalizes the team with the lead, especially if the team with the lead just hit a late shot to go ahead. This rule bit the Spurs in the rear tonight and led directly to the Lakers' miracle win. Time for a rule change.
Second, the Yankees are actually in first place (for now). That's the Jeter/Williams/Sheffield/Vazquez/Mussina/Arod haven't hit their strides Yankees.
In the yard
Javier Vazquez is the Yankees' NEXT pitching cornerstone. A direct replacement for Andy Pettitte, Vazquez will be 28 in July and is a hard-throwing righty who eats up innings. But, he gives up homers and lots of them. So far, nine in 48+ innings. Vazquez usually hits the 230 inning mark so his pace is 43-45 homers. Then again, throw out his first game (8 IP, 0 HR), and he's coughed up 9 HR in 40+ innings -- a 51-53 HR pace for 230-235 IP.
The record for homers allowed is 50 by Bert Blyleven in 1986; second-highest is Blyleven and Robin Roberts' 46 in 1987 and 1956, respectively. Curt Schilling gave up 37 HR in 2001 and went 22-6, 2.93 ERA. That's not bad company considering that Roberts is in the Hall of Fame, Blyleven should be and Schilling would be if not for his numerous injuries.
But Roberts pitched almost 300 innings in '56, the Phils played in hitter-friendly Shive Park and Blyleven pitched in the Homerdome in Minneapolis and threw 271 and 267 innings (totals that will not be reached in 2004). No matter how you slice it, the Stadium is actually NOT hitter-friendly (check out the stats at Baseball Reference [link on right column]). Yankees pitchers have routinely been among the stingiest in the league in giving up homers since Torre took over in 1996. Whatever magic Torre and Stottlemyre have, they need it to work on Vazquez.
The record for homers allowed is 50 by Bert Blyleven in 1986; second-highest is Blyleven and Robin Roberts' 46 in 1987 and 1956, respectively. Curt Schilling gave up 37 HR in 2001 and went 22-6, 2.93 ERA. That's not bad company considering that Roberts is in the Hall of Fame, Blyleven should be and Schilling would be if not for his numerous injuries.
But Roberts pitched almost 300 innings in '56, the Phils played in hitter-friendly Shive Park and Blyleven pitched in the Homerdome in Minneapolis and threw 271 and 267 innings (totals that will not be reached in 2004). No matter how you slice it, the Stadium is actually NOT hitter-friendly (check out the stats at Baseball Reference [link on right column]). Yankees pitchers have routinely been among the stingiest in the league in giving up homers since Torre took over in 1996. Whatever magic Torre and Stottlemyre have, they need it to work on Vazquez.
No problem
I have no problem with "harsh methods" of interrogating Al-Qaeda members. So the NY Times story does not faze me in the least. There's a difference between routinized abuse of Iraqi prisoners and intensive interrogation of terrorists. Prisoners likely have rights under the Geneva Convention (although this is potentially questionable); Al-Qaeda detainees are terrorists and, even under the Geneva Convention, can be shot on sight.
Here's Article 4 of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War (full convention at this link):
Article 4
A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy:
1. Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.
2. Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfil the following conditions:
(a) That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
(b) That of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;
(c) That of carrying arms openly;
(d) That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
3. Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.
4. Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being members thereof, such as civilian members of military aircraft crews, war correspondents, supply contractors, members of labour units or of services responsible for the welfare of the armed forces, provided that they have received authorization from the armed forces which they accompany, who shall provide them for that purpose with an identity card similar to the annexed model.
5. Members of crews, including masters, pilots and apprentices, of the merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft of the Parties to the conflict, who do not benefit by more favourable treatment under any other provisions of international law.
6. Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.
B. The following shall likewise be treated as prisoners of war under the present Convention:
1. Persons belonging, or having belonged, to the armed forces of the occupied country, if the occupying Power considers it necessary by reason of such allegiance to intern them, even though it has originally liberated them while hostilities were going on outside the territory it occupies, in particular where such persons have made an unsuccessful attempt to rejoin the armed forces to which they belong and which are engaged in combat, or where they fail to comply with a summons made to them with a view to internment.
2. The persons belonging to one of the categories enumerated in the present Article, who have been received by neutral or non-belligerent Powers on their territory and whom these Powers are required to intern under international law, without prejudice to any more favourable treatment which these Powers may choose to give and with the exception of Articles 8, 10, 15, 30, fifth paragraph, 58-67, 92, 126 and, where diplomatic relations exist between the Parties to the conflict and the neutral or non-belligerent Power concerned, those Articles concerning the Protecting Power. Where such diplomatic relations exist, the Parties to a conflict on whom these persons depend shall be allowed to perform towards them the functions of a Protecting Power as provided in the present Convention, without prejudice to the functions which these Parties normally exercise in conformity with diplomatic and consular usage and treaties.
C. This Article shall in no way affect the status of medical personnel and chaplains as provided for in Article 33 of the present Convention.
Some background on the Geneva Convention issues from Peter Robinson, former aide to Pres. Reagan, from The Corner on National Review. Robinson posted this late Monday, May 10.
Regarding POWs and the Geneva Convention, I received a couple of emails today accusing me of quoting the Convention, in my posting, below, in an intentionally misleading manner.
. . . let me post a reply by John Yoo, one of the nation’s leading scholars on the law of war. Now a professor at Boalt Hall, the law school at U.C. Berkeley, John spent the first couple years of the Bush administration in the Department of Justice. John writes:
There is a lot of commentary that makes clear that to be a member of an "armed force" under 4(a)(1) or 4(a)(3), you must still meet the four criteria in 4(a)(2). The idea of 4(a)(2) was to give irregular forces, such as militias, POW treatment if they conducted themselves according to the standards of normal armed forces, hence the listing of the four criteria. This has been the historical understanding from before even the Geneva Conventions.
Also, an alternate reading makes no sense, because it would allow units of an armed force to systematically engage in the most outrageous, brutal war crimes, to fight by hiding among civilians, to not wear uniforms, etc., etc., and still retain their POW status while militias and volunteer corp had to fight according to a higher standard. Makes no sense because the Geneva Conventions were trying to encourage these irregular forces to operate according to the higher, "armed force" standard by promising POW treatment in exchange..
Anyone who would like to pursue John’s thinking at greater length (and savor the pleasures of truly lucid legal writing) can take a look at John’s comprehensive treatment of POWs and the Geneva Convention in the Virginia Journal of International Law.
Here's Article 4 of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War (full convention at this link):
Article 4
A. Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy:
1. Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.
2. Members of other militias and members of other volunteer corps, including those of organized resistance movements, belonging to a Party to the conflict and operating in or outside their own territory, even if this territory is occupied, provided that such militias or volunteer corps, including such organized resistance movements, fulfil the following conditions:
(a) That of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates;
(b) That of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance;
(c) That of carrying arms openly;
(d) That of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
3. Members of regular armed forces who profess allegiance to a government or an authority not recognized by the Detaining Power.
4. Persons who accompany the armed forces without actually being members thereof, such as civilian members of military aircraft crews, war correspondents, supply contractors, members of labour units or of services responsible for the welfare of the armed forces, provided that they have received authorization from the armed forces which they accompany, who shall provide them for that purpose with an identity card similar to the annexed model.
5. Members of crews, including masters, pilots and apprentices, of the merchant marine and the crews of civil aircraft of the Parties to the conflict, who do not benefit by more favourable treatment under any other provisions of international law.
6. Inhabitants of a non-occupied territory, who on the approach of the enemy spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces, without having had time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war.
B. The following shall likewise be treated as prisoners of war under the present Convention:
1. Persons belonging, or having belonged, to the armed forces of the occupied country, if the occupying Power considers it necessary by reason of such allegiance to intern them, even though it has originally liberated them while hostilities were going on outside the territory it occupies, in particular where such persons have made an unsuccessful attempt to rejoin the armed forces to which they belong and which are engaged in combat, or where they fail to comply with a summons made to them with a view to internment.
2. The persons belonging to one of the categories enumerated in the present Article, who have been received by neutral or non-belligerent Powers on their territory and whom these Powers are required to intern under international law, without prejudice to any more favourable treatment which these Powers may choose to give and with the exception of Articles 8, 10, 15, 30, fifth paragraph, 58-67, 92, 126 and, where diplomatic relations exist between the Parties to the conflict and the neutral or non-belligerent Power concerned, those Articles concerning the Protecting Power. Where such diplomatic relations exist, the Parties to a conflict on whom these persons depend shall be allowed to perform towards them the functions of a Protecting Power as provided in the present Convention, without prejudice to the functions which these Parties normally exercise in conformity with diplomatic and consular usage and treaties.
C. This Article shall in no way affect the status of medical personnel and chaplains as provided for in Article 33 of the present Convention.
Some background on the Geneva Convention issues from Peter Robinson, former aide to Pres. Reagan, from The Corner on National Review. Robinson posted this late Monday, May 10.
Regarding POWs and the Geneva Convention, I received a couple of emails today accusing me of quoting the Convention, in my posting, below, in an intentionally misleading manner.
. . . let me post a reply by John Yoo, one of the nation’s leading scholars on the law of war. Now a professor at Boalt Hall, the law school at U.C. Berkeley, John spent the first couple years of the Bush administration in the Department of Justice. John writes:
There is a lot of commentary that makes clear that to be a member of an "armed force" under 4(a)(1) or 4(a)(3), you must still meet the four criteria in 4(a)(2). The idea of 4(a)(2) was to give irregular forces, such as militias, POW treatment if they conducted themselves according to the standards of normal armed forces, hence the listing of the four criteria. This has been the historical understanding from before even the Geneva Conventions.
Also, an alternate reading makes no sense, because it would allow units of an armed force to systematically engage in the most outrageous, brutal war crimes, to fight by hiding among civilians, to not wear uniforms, etc., etc., and still retain their POW status while militias and volunteer corp had to fight according to a higher standard. Makes no sense because the Geneva Conventions were trying to encourage these irregular forces to operate according to the higher, "armed force" standard by promising POW treatment in exchange..
Anyone who would like to pursue John’s thinking at greater length (and savor the pleasures of truly lucid legal writing) can take a look at John’s comprehensive treatment of POWs and the Geneva Convention in the Virginia Journal of International Law.
Kerry problems?
If this polling is accurate, Kerry is in trouble. Remember, Gore didn't HAVE to spend a nickel in California to get its 50+ electoral votes, but SurveyUSA says Kerry is only up 1 percentage point over Pres. Bush.
Reading assignment #2
This entry on the IraqtheModel blog. The blog is written by Iraqis living in Iraq, not ex-pats. Very interesting and actual GOOD NEWS that the networks really do not show. Ali is the pseudonymous poster on this entry and Ali's uncle now has disposable income ($400/month, up from $7/month under Saddam) and can afford to buy things for his kids, like clothes, food, and luxury items and is saving up to buy his eldest son a car.
The best part: the conclusion by "Ali":
Please, all those who care about the poor Iraqis and want to save them from the brutality of the American invaders and who want to prevent the Americans from stealing our fortune; meaning Bin laden, Zagrawi and their followers, Arab and Muslim tyrants, our good friend monsieur Dominique de Villepin, all the pacifists of the world, the major media, and in short, all those who hate America and obviously love Iraq: Get your s**t together and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT or else one or two years from now Iraq will be…a prosperous country, and then we will never forgive you for letting us down when we needed you!
Besides, how would you face us if my cousin got a car and had an accident?!
The best part: the conclusion by "Ali":
Please, all those who care about the poor Iraqis and want to save them from the brutality of the American invaders and who want to prevent the Americans from stealing our fortune; meaning Bin laden, Zagrawi and their followers, Arab and Muslim tyrants, our good friend monsieur Dominique de Villepin, all the pacifists of the world, the major media, and in short, all those who hate America and obviously love Iraq: Get your s**t together and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT or else one or two years from now Iraq will be…a prosperous country, and then we will never forgive you for letting us down when we needed you!
Besides, how would you face us if my cousin got a car and had an accident?!
Reading assignment #1
Start off your day with Andrew McCarthy. Here he discusses the politically correct labeling of the war the US is fighting.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Big Stein, big heart
George Steinbrenner supports the military and gives freely to those who serve. Read about a recent gesture here.
Sense
Neal Boortz hits the nail on the head in comparing and contrasting the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib with the cold-blooded beheading of Nick Berg ON TAPE:
Suddenly the pictures of what happened in the Abu Ghraib prison don't seem to be quite so horrific, do they? The victims of abuse at the hands of U.S. soldiers will be compensated by United States taxpayers. Nick Berg will be buried ... in two pieces.
Compare the two cultures. While America is investigating the abuse of Iraqi prisoners ... while America is preparing to punish those responsible ... while America is apologizing to the families of the prisoners and their countrymen for the actions of a few soldiers, and preparing to pay these families large sums of money .. while America is trying to do the right thing, Arab Muslims are slaughtering an innocent American civilian who's [sic] only crime was he was looking for a job trying to improve the Iraqi communications infrastructure.
This was a terrorist attack. It was an attack by Islamic terrorists, only this time it took five men to kill one American. One American civilian, or 3000 ... it's terrorism all the same.
Will this finally convince you that we are in the midst of a war? It's a World War. A war being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, on Manhattan Island and the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. It's a war being fought in former Soviet republics; a war is being fought on the island of Bali and in the Philippines. This is World War IV -- a war against fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists and terrorists. These are the people we are fighting. They are vicious relentless [ ] animals who will not stop killing innocent Americans and who will not abandon their dream of a world dominated by Islam until they are utterly and completely destroyed. These are people without a conscious [sic] who believe that the way to redeem their honor is to brutally slaughter innocent human beings, and this they do in the name of their god.
Boortz is harsh in his tone and language, but the sentiment is right. The Berg murder is disgusting. Remember, the US self-flagellates when confronted by isolated acts of wrongdoing; the Islamist fundamentalists celebrate when they do worse.
Suddenly the pictures of what happened in the Abu Ghraib prison don't seem to be quite so horrific, do they? The victims of abuse at the hands of U.S. soldiers will be compensated by United States taxpayers. Nick Berg will be buried ... in two pieces.
Compare the two cultures. While America is investigating the abuse of Iraqi prisoners ... while America is preparing to punish those responsible ... while America is apologizing to the families of the prisoners and their countrymen for the actions of a few soldiers, and preparing to pay these families large sums of money .. while America is trying to do the right thing, Arab Muslims are slaughtering an innocent American civilian who's [sic] only crime was he was looking for a job trying to improve the Iraqi communications infrastructure.
This was a terrorist attack. It was an attack by Islamic terrorists, only this time it took five men to kill one American. One American civilian, or 3000 ... it's terrorism all the same.
Will this finally convince you that we are in the midst of a war? It's a World War. A war being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, on Manhattan Island and the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. It's a war being fought in former Soviet republics; a war is being fought on the island of Bali and in the Philippines. This is World War IV -- a war against fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists and terrorists. These are the people we are fighting. They are vicious relentless [ ] animals who will not stop killing innocent Americans and who will not abandon their dream of a world dominated by Islam until they are utterly and completely destroyed. These are people without a conscious [sic] who believe that the way to redeem their honor is to brutally slaughter innocent human beings, and this they do in the name of their god.
Boortz is harsh in his tone and language, but the sentiment is right. The Berg murder is disgusting. Remember, the US self-flagellates when confronted by isolated acts of wrongdoing; the Islamist fundamentalists celebrate when they do worse.
When you're right, you're wrong
Welcome to the everyone's-a-victim and we-love-multicultural-rot society. My two cents: don't apologize, Gov. Ehrlich, for saying that multiculturalism is crap and bunk. Here's the article in the WaPo regarding the firestorm surrounding the Maryland Governor's remarks.
Here's Ehrlich's defense:
"The words stand on their own," Ehrlich (R) replied. "It's a common culture, and the last message we want to send out is for people to separate themselves. We should celebrate the common American culture, the common American values and the common American language. I think that's common sense."
hat-tip: John Miller at National Review Online.
Here's Ehrlich's defense:
"The words stand on their own," Ehrlich (R) replied. "It's a common culture, and the last message we want to send out is for people to separate themselves. We should celebrate the common American culture, the common American values and the common American language. I think that's common sense."
hat-tip: John Miller at National Review Online.
First things first
Sports allows and enables fans to experience moment-to-moment excitement that other pursuits and hobbies do not. Baseball allows that on an almost daily basis.
Case in point: yesterday's Yankees-Angels game at the Stadium. Two of the best bullpens in baseball, the best players not named Bonds (Arod and Vlady) and two very good managers. Result? After long rain delays, we get action and lots of it: the Yanks come back against the Angels pen, the Angels take a lead into the eighth and turn it over to Frankie (K-Rod) Rodriguez. Result? K-Rod blows the save and the Yanks score two to take a 6-5 lead. Top ninth = Rivera gives up his first lead and first dinger of the year (to Bengie Molina, of all folks), Angels lead 7-6. Bottom ninth = Sierra whacks a game-tying single against Percival. Bottom 10 = Sheffield smacks a two-out double to score Arod and Yanks win 8-7.
Key notes: three blown saves by the two 'pens; first by Rivera; first earned run against K-Rod; first Angels loss when leading after 6; five run-scoring hits with runners in scoring position by the Yanks; Sierra started the rally off K-Rod and tied the game off Percival; Vlady ends up a triple short of the cycle. Serious stuff for early in the season.
Case in point: yesterday's Yankees-Angels game at the Stadium. Two of the best bullpens in baseball, the best players not named Bonds (Arod and Vlady) and two very good managers. Result? After long rain delays, we get action and lots of it: the Yanks come back against the Angels pen, the Angels take a lead into the eighth and turn it over to Frankie (K-Rod) Rodriguez. Result? K-Rod blows the save and the Yanks score two to take a 6-5 lead. Top ninth = Rivera gives up his first lead and first dinger of the year (to Bengie Molina, of all folks), Angels lead 7-6. Bottom ninth = Sierra whacks a game-tying single against Percival. Bottom 10 = Sheffield smacks a two-out double to score Arod and Yanks win 8-7.
Key notes: three blown saves by the two 'pens; first by Rivera; first earned run against K-Rod; first Angels loss when leading after 6; five run-scoring hits with runners in scoring position by the Yanks; Sierra started the rally off K-Rod and tied the game off Percival; Vlady ends up a triple short of the cycle. Serious stuff for early in the season.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Trying to set an agenda
Robert Novak is a conservative columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and nationally syndicated. He often has the absolute best inside information in Washington. He is not uniformly friendly with the Bush administration and he is openly anti-Israel. He also opposed the invasion of Iraq. Today his column noted that Rumsfeld had few friends in the Department of Defense or among the Republican powerbrokers in DC.
Of course, if Rumsfeld has few friends in the DoD, there are certainly a lot of folks who appreciate him, as the standing ovation he received today at a DoD meeting indicates.
Of course, if Rumsfeld has few friends in the DoD, there are certainly a lot of folks who appreciate him, as the standing ovation he received today at a DoD meeting indicates.
If my real name was Fortney, I'd be perpetually grumpy too
Liberal congressman Fortney ("Pete") Stark of California is combative and confrontational. Check out this column on Stark's phone message to a returning veteran, and Stark constituent, who wrote Stark a letter decrying one of Stark's recent votes. Details, with links to both Stark's phone call and the letter that sparked it, are in the article.
The real comparison
With all the self-flagellation that the press is inflicting upon American society, and which it wishes the Bush Administration would inflict upon itself, it is imperative to remember that the US Army investigated the Abu Ghraib prison conditions and that it performed a thorough investigation (including some rolling heads) BEFORE the press even took a look at the situation (after all, the photos were leaked to CBS and the Taguba report was leaked to anti-war journalist Sy Hersh of the New Yorker).
And just so everyone keeps things in perspective, remember that any state from Morocco to China that considers criticizing the US is full of it, as Ralph Peters demonstrates. Here's the key 'graf:
As an American, I want my country to be held to higher standards - we can live up to them. Proudly. But we don't need any more hypocritical charges from states with no standards at all.
Well said.
And just so everyone keeps things in perspective, remember that any state from Morocco to China that considers criticizing the US is full of it, as Ralph Peters demonstrates. Here's the key 'graf:
As an American, I want my country to be held to higher standards - we can live up to them. Proudly. But we don't need any more hypocritical charges from states with no standards at all.
Well said.
Debate losing
Andrew Sullivan is going wobbly. Yesterday he said that after the Abu Ghraib fiasco and in consideration of the problems the US is having with Iraqi reconstruction, the invasion of Iraq is "just barely" worthwhile. This late-inning defeatism is disgusting. Sullivan used to be a strong supporter of the invasion and with good reason: (1) everyone knew that Saddam had WMDs before the war = France, Germany, Britain, the US (under Clinton and Bush), Saddam himself (and the Israeli information that Iraq trucked biohazardous material to Syria just before the US attacks supports what "everyone knew"; (2) 300,000 buried in mass graves; (3) rape rooms; (4) mass slaughters of Kurds and Shi'ites; (5) sponsoring terrorism (unquestioned is the Saddam bounty to Palestinian suicide bombers; Stephen Hayes covered the Saddam-Al Qaeda connections in the Weekly Standard [click link at right]).
Well, Sullivan's readers called him on going wobbly so now he's spinning and weaving and dodging and thinking on his computer.
Here's a thought: some stupid MPs with an awful general presided over a shoddily run prison and were discovered and outed by an honest unit member whose revelations triggered a massive internal investigation that thoroughly revealed the wrongdoing and the President of the United States has vowed they will be brought to justice. Think that would happen ANYWHERE else other than Britain?
Well, Sullivan's readers called him on going wobbly so now he's spinning and weaving and dodging and thinking on his computer.
Here's a thought: some stupid MPs with an awful general presided over a shoddily run prison and were discovered and outed by an honest unit member whose revelations triggered a massive internal investigation that thoroughly revealed the wrongdoing and the President of the United States has vowed they will be brought to justice. Think that would happen ANYWHERE else other than Britain?
Monday, May 10, 2004
Unified in a bad way
My fiancee and I went to Budapest and Prague about a year ago. In our trip, we saw evidence of and talked to folks about the horrors of essentially being subjects of the USSR. The lessons we learned then prompted the fiancee to recently ask, why would any country want to be part of the EU after being freed from communism?
The ideologies underlying the USSR and the EU are completely opposed. Nonetheless, the practical implementation and effects of both systems will be shockingly (although nowhere near completely) similar. How? First, corruption -- it was rampant in the USSR and is rampant in the EU. Second, orthodoxy -- in the USSR, citizens had to adhere to the policies of the Communist Party and there would be no dissent; in the EU, only Europhiles are acceptable, those who question the EU Parliament, structure or policies are heretics. Read this piece from a British member of the European Parliament for details. Next up, a command-and-control economy.
The ideologies underlying the USSR and the EU are completely opposed. Nonetheless, the practical implementation and effects of both systems will be shockingly (although nowhere near completely) similar. How? First, corruption -- it was rampant in the USSR and is rampant in the EU. Second, orthodoxy -- in the USSR, citizens had to adhere to the policies of the Communist Party and there would be no dissent; in the EU, only Europhiles are acceptable, those who question the EU Parliament, structure or policies are heretics. Read this piece from a British member of the European Parliament for details. Next up, a command-and-control economy.
Our enemies
This is disgusting, but it's what our enemies, the Islamic fundamentalists who wish to impose a new fascism through theology, are about. Read this article about Islamic extremists poisoning schoolgirls in Afghanistan. Why? They dared to GO TO SCHOOL.
This is sick
A major Oregon politico, Neil Goldschmitt, is an admitted pedophile. In the mid-1970s, he was in his 30s and had a sexual relationship with a 13-14 year old girl. Her life has been a train wreck. Goldschmitt was later the Transportation Secretary under Jimmy Carter and the governor of Oregon.
Must reads
Opinion Journal, the Wall Street Journal's free opinion page, has a bevy of good pieces today. First, Michael Mukasky's column on the Patriot Act.
Second, Victor Davis Hanson's essay on the straight line from Jimmy Carter's appeasement policy to the September 11 attacks.
Third, John Fund on how Teddy Kennedy may be an albatross around John Kerry's neck.
Second, Victor Davis Hanson's essay on the straight line from Jimmy Carter's appeasement policy to the September 11 attacks.
Third, John Fund on how Teddy Kennedy may be an albatross around John Kerry's neck.
All Yankees, all the time
Quick hits on this past week -- something I can do every Monday until July because the Yankees don't have a Monday game until then (not even on Memorial Day).
The Yanks went 4-2 in Oakland and Seattle. By any measure, that's good. What makes it better: twice the Yanks won after being down by 6 runs (yesterday and last Tuesday), once the Yanks won against the other team's closer (last Wednesday); Arod whacked three homers; Giambi looks sharper than he did last year; Moooooooose pitched 8 scoreless against the Mariners; Rivera and Gordon have done quite nicely, thanks very much. Concerns? Consistency of starting pitching and the weak hitting (still) of Jeter and Williams.
No, I'm not employed by the YES Network.
The Yanks went 4-2 in Oakland and Seattle. By any measure, that's good. What makes it better: twice the Yanks won after being down by 6 runs (yesterday and last Tuesday), once the Yanks won against the other team's closer (last Wednesday); Arod whacked three homers; Giambi looks sharper than he did last year; Moooooooose pitched 8 scoreless against the Mariners; Rivera and Gordon have done quite nicely, thanks very much. Concerns? Consistency of starting pitching and the weak hitting (still) of Jeter and Williams.
No, I'm not employed by the YES Network.
Friday, May 07, 2004
Must Read of the Day
One of my favorite stories involves Stalinologist Robert Conquest. In 1968, Conquest wrote a detailed history (The Great Terror) of the Stalin purges of the 1930s demonstrating the mass murders and terror state that Stalin created based on the sources available. Conquest was pilloried by academia. In the early 1990s, Russia made available KGB/OGPU/NKVD documents from the Soviet era and other government information -- more than 2,000,000 pages of stuff. Conquest used it to update The Great Terror, and the information not only confirmed the thesis of his book, but showed that he understated the death count and the situation. When asked by his publisher what he would use for a new title, Conquest said, "how about I Told You So, You F*cking Fools?"
[N.B. -- I edited Conquest's quote, he didn't self-censor]
Left-wing academics and apologia for Communism go hand in hand, even today after the USSR files have been accessible for more than a decade. A great analysis and take-down is in the book, In Denial: Historians, Communism and Espionage, by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, which is discussed here in a great article.
[N.B. -- I edited Conquest's quote, he didn't self-censor]
Left-wing academics and apologia for Communism go hand in hand, even today after the USSR files have been accessible for more than a decade. A great analysis and take-down is in the book, In Denial: Historians, Communism and Espionage, by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, which is discussed here in a great article.
Karpinski = See No Evil
Next time you see Gen. Janis Karpinski spinning like an out of control gyroscope on some morning news show, remember this recommendation and the basis for it from the Taguba Report:
That BG Janis L. Karpinski, Commander, 800th MP Brigade be Relieved from Command and given a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand for the following acts which have been previously referred to in the aforementioned findings:
--Failing to ensure that MP Soldiers at theater-level detention facilities throughout Iraq had appropriate SOPs for dealing with detainees and that Commanders and Soldiers had read, understood, and would adhere to these SOPs.
--Failing to ensure that MP Soldiers in the 800th MP Brigade knew, understood, and adhered to the protections afforded to detainees in the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
--Making material misrepresentations to the Investigation Team as to the frequency of her visits to her subordinate commands.
Failing to obey an order from the CFLCC Commander, LTG McKiernan, regarding the withholding of disciplinary authority for Officer and Senior Noncommissioned Officer misconduct.
--Failing to take appropriate action regarding the ineffectiveness of a subordinate Commander, LTC (P) Jerry Phillabaum.
--Failing to take appropriate action regarding the ineffectiveness of numerous members of her Brigade Staff including her XO, S-1, S-3, and S-4.
--Failing to properly ensure the results and recommendations of the AARs and numerous 15-6 Investigation reports on escapes and shootings (over a period of several months) were properly disseminated to, and understood by, subordinate commanders.
--Failing to ensure and enforce basic Soldier standards throughout her command.
--Failing to establish a Brigade METL.
--Failing to establish basic proficiency in assigned tasks for Soldiers throughout the 800th MP Brigade.
--Failing to ensure that numerous and reported accountability lapses at detention facilities throughout Iraq were corrected.
That BG Janis L. Karpinski, Commander, 800th MP Brigade be Relieved from Command and given a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand for the following acts which have been previously referred to in the aforementioned findings:
--Failing to ensure that MP Soldiers at theater-level detention facilities throughout Iraq had appropriate SOPs for dealing with detainees and that Commanders and Soldiers had read, understood, and would adhere to these SOPs.
--Failing to ensure that MP Soldiers in the 800th MP Brigade knew, understood, and adhered to the protections afforded to detainees in the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
--Making material misrepresentations to the Investigation Team as to the frequency of her visits to her subordinate commands.
Failing to obey an order from the CFLCC Commander, LTG McKiernan, regarding the withholding of disciplinary authority for Officer and Senior Noncommissioned Officer misconduct.
--Failing to take appropriate action regarding the ineffectiveness of a subordinate Commander, LTC (P) Jerry Phillabaum.
--Failing to take appropriate action regarding the ineffectiveness of numerous members of her Brigade Staff including her XO, S-1, S-3, and S-4.
--Failing to properly ensure the results and recommendations of the AARs and numerous 15-6 Investigation reports on escapes and shootings (over a period of several months) were properly disseminated to, and understood by, subordinate commanders.
--Failing to ensure and enforce basic Soldier standards throughout her command.
--Failing to establish a Brigade METL.
--Failing to establish basic proficiency in assigned tasks for Soldiers throughout the 800th MP Brigade.
--Failing to ensure that numerous and reported accountability lapses at detention facilities throughout Iraq were corrected.
Taguba
Maj. General (that's the 2-star variety) Taguba's full investigative report of the Abu Ghraib prison operations is available on MSNBC. He's been investigating the prison since JANUARY, therefore any notion that CBS uncovered abuses in their late APRIL 60 Minutes report is pure hooey. Note that Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, who was in charge of the unit running Abu Ghraib and who has been relieved, comes out very badly (see Findings and Recommendations, part 3, excerpts below). Here are some of Maj. Gen. Taguba's findings:
[From Findings and Recommendations, pt. 1] 1. (U) The US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), led by COL Jerry Mocello, and a team of highly trained professional agents have done a superb job of investigating several complex and extremely disturbing incidents of detainee abuse at the Abu Ghraib Prison. They conducted over 50 interviews of witnesses, potential criminal suspects, and detainees. They also uncovered numerous photos and videos portraying in graphic detail detainee abuse by Military Police personnel on numerous occasions from October to December 2003 . . .
5. (S) That between October and December 2003, at the Abu Ghraib Confinement Facility (BCCF), numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees. This systemic and illegal abuse of detainees was intentionally perpetrated by several members of the military police guard force (372nd Military Police Company, 320thMilitary Police Battalion, 800th MP Brigade), in Tier (section) 1-A of the Abu Ghraib Prison (BCCF). The allegations of abuse were substantiated by detailed witness statements . . . and the discovery of extremely graphic photographic evidence . . .
12. (U) I find that prior to its deployment to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 320th MP Battalion and the 372nd MP Company had received no training in detention/internee operations. I also find that very little instruction or training was provided to MP personnel on the applicable rules of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, FM 27-10, AR 190-8, or FM 3-19.40. Moreover, I find that few, if any, copies of the Geneva Conventions were ever made available to MP personnel or detainees.
13.(U) Another obvious example of the Brigade Leadership not communicating with its Soldiers or ensuring their tactical proficiency concerns the incident of detainee abuse that occurred at Camp Bucca, Iraq, on May 12, 2003 . . .
14. (U) . . . Despite this documented abuse, there is no evidence that BG Karpinski ever attempted to remind 800th MP Soldiers of the requirements of the Geneva Conventions regarding detainee treatment or took any steps to ensure that such abuse was not repeated.
[From Findings and Recommendations, pt. 2]: 12. (U) There was a severe lapse in the accountability of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison Complex. The 320th MP Battalion used a self-created “change sheet” to document the transfer of a detainee from one location to another. For proper accountability, it is imperative that these change sheets be processed and the detainee manifest be updated within 24 hours of movement. At Abu Ghraib, this process would often take as long as 4 days to complete . . .
13. (U) The 320th Battalion TACSOP requires detainee accountability at least 4 times daily at Abu Ghraib. However, a detailed review of their operational journals revealed that these accounts were often not done or not documented by the unit . . .
15. (U) FM 3-19.40 outlines the need for 2 roll calls (100% ISN band checks) per day. The 320th MP Battalion did this check only 2 times per week . . .
17. (U) Operational journals at the various compounds and the 320th Battalion TOC contained numerous unprofessional entries and flippant comments, which highlighted the lack of discipline within the unit. There was no indication that the journals were ever reviewed by anyone in their chain of command . . .
25. (U) After Action Reviews (AARs) are not routinely being conducted after an escape or other serious incident. No lessons learned seem to have been disseminated to subordinate units to enable corrective action at the lowest level.
26. (U) Lessons learned (i.e. Findings and Recommendations from various 15-6 Investigations concerning escapes and accountability lapses) were rubber stamped as approved and ordered implemented by BG Karpinski. There is no evidence that the majority of her orders directing the implementation of substantive changes were ever acted upon. Additionally, there was no follow-up by the command to verify the corrective actions were taken. Had the findings and recommendations contained within their own investigations been analyzed and actually implemented by BG Karpinski, many of the subsequent escapes, accountability lapses, and cases of abuse may have been prevented.
[From Findings part 3]: 14. (U) During the course of this investigation I conducted a lengthy interview with BG Karpinski that lasted over four hours, and is included verbatim in the investigation Annexes. BG Karpinski was extremely emotional during much of her testimony. What I found particularly disturbing in her testimony was her complete unwillingness to either understand or accept that many of the problems inherent in the 800th MP Brigade were caused or exacerbated by poor leadership and the refusal of her command to both establish and enforce basic standards and principles among its soldiers.
15. (U) BG Karpinski alleged that she received no help from the Civil Affairs Command, specifically, no assistance from either BG John Kern or COL Tim Regan. She blames much of the abuse that occurred in Abu Ghraib (BCCF) on MI personnel and stated that MI personnel had given the MPs “ideas” that led to detainee abuse. In addition, she blamed the 372nd Company Platoon Sergeant, SFC Snider, the Company Commander, CPT Reese, and the First Sergeant, MSG Lipinski, for the abuse. She argued that problems in Abu Ghraib were the fault of COL Pappas and LTC Jordan because COL Pappas was in charge of FOB Abu Ghraib. (ANNEX 45)
16. (U) BG Karpinski also implied during her testimony that the criminal abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) might have been caused by the ultimate disposition of the detainee abuse cases that originally occurred at Camp Bucca in May 2003. She stated that “about the same time those incidents were taking place out of Baghdad Central, the decisions were made to give the guilty people at Bucca plea bargains. So, the system communicated to the soldiers, the worst that’s gonna happen is, you’re gonna go home.” I think it important to point out that almost every witness testified that the serious criminal abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) occurred in late October and early November 2003. The photographs and statements clearly support that the abuses occurred during this time period. The Bucca cases were set for trial in January 2004 and were not finally disposed of until 29 December 2003. There is entirely no evidence that the decision of numerous MP personnel to intentionally abuse detainees at Abu Ghrabid (BCCF) was influenced in any respect by the Camp Bucca cases.
21. As I have documented in other parts of this investigation, I find that there was no clear emphasis by BG Karpinski to ensure that the 800th MP Brigade Staff, Commanders, and Soldiers were trained to standard in detainee operations and proficiency or that serious accountability lapses that occurred over a significant period of time, particularly at Abu Ghraib (BCCF), were corrected. AR 15-6 Investigations regarding detainee escapes were not acted upon, followed up with corrective action, or disseminated to subordinate commanders or Soldiers. Brigade and unit SOPs for dealing with detainees if they existed at all, were not read or understood by MP Soldiers assigned the difficult mission of detainee operations. Following the abuse of several detainees at Camp Bucca in May 2003, I could find no evidence that BG Karpinski ever directed corrective training for her soldiers or ensured that MP Soldiers throughout Iraq clearly understood the requirements of the Geneva Conventions relating to the treatment of detainees.
[From Findings and Recommendations, pt. 1] 1. (U) The US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID), led by COL Jerry Mocello, and a team of highly trained professional agents have done a superb job of investigating several complex and extremely disturbing incidents of detainee abuse at the Abu Ghraib Prison. They conducted over 50 interviews of witnesses, potential criminal suspects, and detainees. They also uncovered numerous photos and videos portraying in graphic detail detainee abuse by Military Police personnel on numerous occasions from October to December 2003 . . .
5. (S) That between October and December 2003, at the Abu Ghraib Confinement Facility (BCCF), numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees. This systemic and illegal abuse of detainees was intentionally perpetrated by several members of the military police guard force (372nd Military Police Company, 320thMilitary Police Battalion, 800th MP Brigade), in Tier (section) 1-A of the Abu Ghraib Prison (BCCF). The allegations of abuse were substantiated by detailed witness statements . . . and the discovery of extremely graphic photographic evidence . . .
12. (U) I find that prior to its deployment to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 320th MP Battalion and the 372nd MP Company had received no training in detention/internee operations. I also find that very little instruction or training was provided to MP personnel on the applicable rules of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, FM 27-10, AR 190-8, or FM 3-19.40. Moreover, I find that few, if any, copies of the Geneva Conventions were ever made available to MP personnel or detainees.
13.(U) Another obvious example of the Brigade Leadership not communicating with its Soldiers or ensuring their tactical proficiency concerns the incident of detainee abuse that occurred at Camp Bucca, Iraq, on May 12, 2003 . . .
14. (U) . . . Despite this documented abuse, there is no evidence that BG Karpinski ever attempted to remind 800th MP Soldiers of the requirements of the Geneva Conventions regarding detainee treatment or took any steps to ensure that such abuse was not repeated.
[From Findings and Recommendations, pt. 2]: 12. (U) There was a severe lapse in the accountability of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison Complex. The 320th MP Battalion used a self-created “change sheet” to document the transfer of a detainee from one location to another. For proper accountability, it is imperative that these change sheets be processed and the detainee manifest be updated within 24 hours of movement. At Abu Ghraib, this process would often take as long as 4 days to complete . . .
13. (U) The 320th Battalion TACSOP requires detainee accountability at least 4 times daily at Abu Ghraib. However, a detailed review of their operational journals revealed that these accounts were often not done or not documented by the unit . . .
15. (U) FM 3-19.40 outlines the need for 2 roll calls (100% ISN band checks) per day. The 320th MP Battalion did this check only 2 times per week . . .
17. (U) Operational journals at the various compounds and the 320th Battalion TOC contained numerous unprofessional entries and flippant comments, which highlighted the lack of discipline within the unit. There was no indication that the journals were ever reviewed by anyone in their chain of command . . .
25. (U) After Action Reviews (AARs) are not routinely being conducted after an escape or other serious incident. No lessons learned seem to have been disseminated to subordinate units to enable corrective action at the lowest level.
26. (U) Lessons learned (i.e. Findings and Recommendations from various 15-6 Investigations concerning escapes and accountability lapses) were rubber stamped as approved and ordered implemented by BG Karpinski. There is no evidence that the majority of her orders directing the implementation of substantive changes were ever acted upon. Additionally, there was no follow-up by the command to verify the corrective actions were taken. Had the findings and recommendations contained within their own investigations been analyzed and actually implemented by BG Karpinski, many of the subsequent escapes, accountability lapses, and cases of abuse may have been prevented.
[From Findings part 3]: 14. (U) During the course of this investigation I conducted a lengthy interview with BG Karpinski that lasted over four hours, and is included verbatim in the investigation Annexes. BG Karpinski was extremely emotional during much of her testimony. What I found particularly disturbing in her testimony was her complete unwillingness to either understand or accept that many of the problems inherent in the 800th MP Brigade were caused or exacerbated by poor leadership and the refusal of her command to both establish and enforce basic standards and principles among its soldiers.
15. (U) BG Karpinski alleged that she received no help from the Civil Affairs Command, specifically, no assistance from either BG John Kern or COL Tim Regan. She blames much of the abuse that occurred in Abu Ghraib (BCCF) on MI personnel and stated that MI personnel had given the MPs “ideas” that led to detainee abuse. In addition, she blamed the 372nd Company Platoon Sergeant, SFC Snider, the Company Commander, CPT Reese, and the First Sergeant, MSG Lipinski, for the abuse. She argued that problems in Abu Ghraib were the fault of COL Pappas and LTC Jordan because COL Pappas was in charge of FOB Abu Ghraib. (ANNEX 45)
16. (U) BG Karpinski also implied during her testimony that the criminal abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) might have been caused by the ultimate disposition of the detainee abuse cases that originally occurred at Camp Bucca in May 2003. She stated that “about the same time those incidents were taking place out of Baghdad Central, the decisions were made to give the guilty people at Bucca plea bargains. So, the system communicated to the soldiers, the worst that’s gonna happen is, you’re gonna go home.” I think it important to point out that almost every witness testified that the serious criminal abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) occurred in late October and early November 2003. The photographs and statements clearly support that the abuses occurred during this time period. The Bucca cases were set for trial in January 2004 and were not finally disposed of until 29 December 2003. There is entirely no evidence that the decision of numerous MP personnel to intentionally abuse detainees at Abu Ghrabid (BCCF) was influenced in any respect by the Camp Bucca cases.
21. As I have documented in other parts of this investigation, I find that there was no clear emphasis by BG Karpinski to ensure that the 800th MP Brigade Staff, Commanders, and Soldiers were trained to standard in detainee operations and proficiency or that serious accountability lapses that occurred over a significant period of time, particularly at Abu Ghraib (BCCF), were corrected. AR 15-6 Investigations regarding detainee escapes were not acted upon, followed up with corrective action, or disseminated to subordinate commanders or Soldiers. Brigade and unit SOPs for dealing with detainees if they existed at all, were not read or understood by MP Soldiers assigned the difficult mission of detainee operations. Following the abuse of several detainees at Camp Bucca in May 2003, I could find no evidence that BG Karpinski ever directed corrective training for her soldiers or ensured that MP Soldiers throughout Iraq clearly understood the requirements of the Geneva Conventions relating to the treatment of detainees.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Reliable votes?
For some unidentifiable reason, Jews tend to vote Democrat. This is as true today as it was 55 years ago when Truman recognized Israel against the advice of his State Department. This is also true despite the unrelenting hostility of Carter toward Israel, the bailout Nixon delivered in the Yom Kippur War, 8 years of Reagan (although four years of Bush I tempered that relationship), and 8 years of Clinton when the most frequent foreign guest to the White House was Arafat.
Now Jewish voters are presented with a choice between a president who has been one of the best friends Israel has ever had and John Kerry, who believes anti-Israel figures like Carter and James Baker III are good choices to negotiate peace in the Middle East. The New Republic calls this Kerry's Jewish Problem. Then again, as that TNR piece shows, Kerry claims he only suggested Carter as an envoy because his speechwriters put that in his speech and never took it out. Huh?
Here's Mickey Kaus, a liberal who's no fan of Kerry for many reasons, including the ones here:
[I]s that how the Kerry presidency will work? I always thought speechwriters had power!... But wait a minute: If Kerry instructed his aides to remove Carter's name as a possible envoy from the speech, then why did he go ahead and meet with Carter just because the to-be-corrected draft of the speech said he'd met with him? ... That's where his story falls completely to the ground!
Read the whole Kausfile on this.
Now Jewish voters are presented with a choice between a president who has been one of the best friends Israel has ever had and John Kerry, who believes anti-Israel figures like Carter and James Baker III are good choices to negotiate peace in the Middle East. The New Republic calls this Kerry's Jewish Problem. Then again, as that TNR piece shows, Kerry claims he only suggested Carter as an envoy because his speechwriters put that in his speech and never took it out. Huh?
Here's Mickey Kaus, a liberal who's no fan of Kerry for many reasons, including the ones here:
[I]s that how the Kerry presidency will work? I always thought speechwriters had power!... But wait a minute: If Kerry instructed his aides to remove Carter's name as a possible envoy from the speech, then why did he go ahead and meet with Carter just because the to-be-corrected draft of the speech said he'd met with him? ... That's where his story falls completely to the ground!
Read the whole Kausfile on this.
Civilization and its enemies
Meryl Yourish is a blogger (blogress?) and penned this entry in response to the Palestinian slaughter of a Jewish family in Gaza. She says it all.
Meirav was two
This is Rebecca [Yourish's daughter, photo on her site]. She is two years old. I see her frequently, usually every Thursday. Sarah and the twins and I run errands in the morning and have lunch in the afternoon. This picture was taken at one of our favorite spots in the West End of Richmond. There are a few more pictures of Rebecca sprinkled throughout this weblog.
Meirav was two. She and Rebecca have something in common. They're both Jewish. Meirav lived in a town in the Gaza Strip with her three sisters. Rebecca lives here in central Virginia with her three brothers. Rebecca giggles a lot, and dances a lot. I'll bet that Meirav giggled and danced, too.
Meirav was two. She was killed by palestinian terrorists while strapped in her carseat in the back of her mother's car. Meirav's body was riddled with bullets. The terrorists shot Meirav, her nine-months-pregnant mother, and her three sisters at close range. Then they ran up to the car and shot each of them in the head—to make certain they were dead.
Meirav was two. She is dead because she was a Jew who dared to live in "palestinian land." Amnesty International has condemned the murders. The United Nations has not. This lukewarm statement by the president of the EU sounds like it was written by Yasser Arafat's speechwriter.
"The killing of children does not serve any legitimate cause and degrades any purpose which it purports to advance," said Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, speaking for the 25-nation bloc.
Meirav was two. Her father has lost his wife, four daughters, and the son he and his wife were going to welcome this month.
When Hatuel heard of the attack, he left the school and headed for home. When he arrived at the Yad Mordechai junction, his father-in-law, Shlomo Malka, stopped him and told him the horrible news. Hatuel was unable to speak since he heard of the attack, and the grandfather kept crying, "Tehila, Hadar, Roni, Meirav, where are you?”
Meirav was two. PA radio hailed her murderers as "heroic martyrs."
Meirav was two. The palestinians celebrated throughout Gaza and the West Bank. Worse still, the murderers brought a video camera and recorded the deaths of the mother and children.
This is why I loathe them. This is why I don't believe they want peace. This is why I have slowly but surely lost any sympathy I once had for the palestinians.
Rebecca is two. She is Jewish. If she were living in Gaza or the West Bank, she would be considered a legitimate target by the palestinians.
Meirav was two.
I have no sympathy for the palestinians and never did. In 1947 the UN partitioned the Palestine Mandate to provide for a Jewish state and a Palestinian state (Transjordan). The Jews were expelled by the Arabs from the palestinian side, just as they were later (and had been, depending on the country) expelled from the Arab countries; the palestinian Arabs were allowed to live in peace in the Jewish area. In 1948, Israel became a state and on the date of its statehood was attacked by Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Transjordan. The Arab countries told the palestinian Arabs they could leave their homes, let the Arab armies rout the Jews and the palestinians would then return to rule all of the Palestine Mandate. Israel won the war. The Arab countries now had hundreds of thousands of refugees that they REFUSED to settle and repatriate as Egyptians, Iraqis, etc. Instead, the palestinian refugees are bargaining chips in the ongoing state of war between Araby and Israel and Jordan has refused to repatriate palestinians in the state that was ORIGINALLY SET ASIDE as the nation of palestinian Arabs (Jordan's population is > 60% palestinian but the country is ruled by the Hashemite dynasty). For more information, see the Palestine Facts website.
Meirav was two
This is Rebecca [Yourish's daughter, photo on her site]. She is two years old. I see her frequently, usually every Thursday. Sarah and the twins and I run errands in the morning and have lunch in the afternoon. This picture was taken at one of our favorite spots in the West End of Richmond. There are a few more pictures of Rebecca sprinkled throughout this weblog.
Meirav was two. She and Rebecca have something in common. They're both Jewish. Meirav lived in a town in the Gaza Strip with her three sisters. Rebecca lives here in central Virginia with her three brothers. Rebecca giggles a lot, and dances a lot. I'll bet that Meirav giggled and danced, too.
Meirav was two. She was killed by palestinian terrorists while strapped in her carseat in the back of her mother's car. Meirav's body was riddled with bullets. The terrorists shot Meirav, her nine-months-pregnant mother, and her three sisters at close range. Then they ran up to the car and shot each of them in the head—to make certain they were dead.
Meirav was two. She is dead because she was a Jew who dared to live in "palestinian land." Amnesty International has condemned the murders. The United Nations has not. This lukewarm statement by the president of the EU sounds like it was written by Yasser Arafat's speechwriter.
"The killing of children does not serve any legitimate cause and degrades any purpose which it purports to advance," said Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, speaking for the 25-nation bloc.
Meirav was two. Her father has lost his wife, four daughters, and the son he and his wife were going to welcome this month.
When Hatuel heard of the attack, he left the school and headed for home. When he arrived at the Yad Mordechai junction, his father-in-law, Shlomo Malka, stopped him and told him the horrible news. Hatuel was unable to speak since he heard of the attack, and the grandfather kept crying, "Tehila, Hadar, Roni, Meirav, where are you?”
Meirav was two. PA radio hailed her murderers as "heroic martyrs."
Meirav was two. The palestinians celebrated throughout Gaza and the West Bank. Worse still, the murderers brought a video camera and recorded the deaths of the mother and children.
This is why I loathe them. This is why I don't believe they want peace. This is why I have slowly but surely lost any sympathy I once had for the palestinians.
Rebecca is two. She is Jewish. If she were living in Gaza or the West Bank, she would be considered a legitimate target by the palestinians.
Meirav was two.
I have no sympathy for the palestinians and never did. In 1947 the UN partitioned the Palestine Mandate to provide for a Jewish state and a Palestinian state (Transjordan). The Jews were expelled by the Arabs from the palestinian side, just as they were later (and had been, depending on the country) expelled from the Arab countries; the palestinian Arabs were allowed to live in peace in the Jewish area. In 1948, Israel became a state and on the date of its statehood was attacked by Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Transjordan. The Arab countries told the palestinian Arabs they could leave their homes, let the Arab armies rout the Jews and the palestinians would then return to rule all of the Palestine Mandate. Israel won the war. The Arab countries now had hundreds of thousands of refugees that they REFUSED to settle and repatriate as Egyptians, Iraqis, etc. Instead, the palestinian refugees are bargaining chips in the ongoing state of war between Araby and Israel and Jordan has refused to repatriate palestinians in the state that was ORIGINALLY SET ASIDE as the nation of palestinian Arabs (Jordan's population is > 60% palestinian but the country is ruled by the Hashemite dynasty). For more information, see the Palestine Facts website.
U.N. disgrace
Fox News calls this article an exclusive, but Claudia Rosett had this info yesterday in Opinion Journal and the Wall Street Journal. Nonetheless, it's disgraceful -- an organized U.N. cover-up of how Oil-for-Saddam-Money program worked.
Just sick
There's just something wrong with the mindset of gaolers who think mistreating prisoners is right. Check out the pics on the Drudge Report (although they may be switched by the time you jump there, Drudge updates frequently). Simply stated, disciplining prisoners is appropriate, debasement is not. Rush Limbaugh got this one wrong -- this is not just fraternity hazing quality stuff.
Stupid
Someone will get hurt over this: North Miami removing the requirement that its police officers know how to swim. It doesn't matter why, any lowering of standards in a necessary public service (policing, firefighting) is a recipe for disaster. And in the Miami area, with all its semi-swamp and wetlands, etc., you need to know how to swim.
Tale of two closers
Down 3-2, top 9 = Arod bangs a huge homer on the first pitch from Arthur Rhodes to tie the game, the Yanks scratch out another off an iffy Rhodes. Up 4-3, bottom 9, Rivera not hitting his spots -- he gives up line-drive singles to the first two hitters but makes a huge defensive play on a not-so-bad bunt attempt to keep runners at first and second. A grounder and popup and the Yanks win again. Rivera is the best one-speed pitcher since Sandy Koufax in game seven of the '65 World Series.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
The new Nuze
I like Neal Boortz's daily riff in Neal's Nuze. He's a talk radio guy and more libertarian than full-on right-wing nutter. Here's one of his "intemperate thoughts" from today:
Yesterday ... once again ... I asked my listeners to tell me one thing that The Poodle [that would be John Kerry -- TKM ] has ever done in his entire life -- just one thing -- that shows him to be qualified to be president of the United States. The only thing that people can mention .. and I do mean the only thing .. is his service in Vietnam. His accomplishments there, like his three paper-cut purple hearts, are open to some question ... and he hasn't done a damned thing since then?
But then there are people who say that any man who can arrange to be kept by two different women -- not one, but two -- who have hundred-million-dollar net worths certainly shows some extraordinary ability. How that would transfer to the presidency, I don't know. Do you think The Poodle might be able to get foreign countries to send us foreign aid? Maybe he can get the UN to start writing us checks!
I'm not disputing Kerry's heroism or his purple hearts. I didn't serve, I won't dump on the controversy surrounding one of the three purple hearts he received. But Kerry lacks two things: any significant personal political achievement since Vietnam (and getting elected Senator doesn't count -- he has 99 equals and 48 of them on his side of the aisle); and any connection between his basic premise and the conclusion he wants the electorate to reach -- that is, the Vietnam-hero as qualification for the Presidency is pure rubbish.
Instead, the despairing fact of military service is that it does not specifically prepare veterans for civilian life. This is why over 1/2 of homeless are military veterans and more than 1/2 the military-vet homeless are Vietnam vets.
I worked with homeless and indigent vets in my first year of law school at the Veterans Legal Services Project, which is now part of the Shelter Legal Services Foundation. I saw how the veterans had enormous difficulty adjusting to civilian life once they had been discharged. To say that military heroism, of itself, qualifies you for the office that makes you the Leader of the Free World is fantasy.
By the way, the Shelter Legal Services Foundation is a great organization and I hope anyone who reads this will click the link, wander around their website and donate. My work for them is still the best thing I've done in my legal career.
Yesterday ... once again ... I asked my listeners to tell me one thing that The Poodle [that would be John Kerry -- TKM ] has ever done in his entire life -- just one thing -- that shows him to be qualified to be president of the United States. The only thing that people can mention .. and I do mean the only thing .. is his service in Vietnam. His accomplishments there, like his three paper-cut purple hearts, are open to some question ... and he hasn't done a damned thing since then?
But then there are people who say that any man who can arrange to be kept by two different women -- not one, but two -- who have hundred-million-dollar net worths certainly shows some extraordinary ability. How that would transfer to the presidency, I don't know. Do you think The Poodle might be able to get foreign countries to send us foreign aid? Maybe he can get the UN to start writing us checks!
I'm not disputing Kerry's heroism or his purple hearts. I didn't serve, I won't dump on the controversy surrounding one of the three purple hearts he received. But Kerry lacks two things: any significant personal political achievement since Vietnam (and getting elected Senator doesn't count -- he has 99 equals and 48 of them on his side of the aisle); and any connection between his basic premise and the conclusion he wants the electorate to reach -- that is, the Vietnam-hero as qualification for the Presidency is pure rubbish.
Instead, the despairing fact of military service is that it does not specifically prepare veterans for civilian life. This is why over 1/2 of homeless are military veterans and more than 1/2 the military-vet homeless are Vietnam vets.
I worked with homeless and indigent vets in my first year of law school at the Veterans Legal Services Project, which is now part of the Shelter Legal Services Foundation. I saw how the veterans had enormous difficulty adjusting to civilian life once they had been discharged. To say that military heroism, of itself, qualifies you for the office that makes you the Leader of the Free World is fantasy.
By the way, the Shelter Legal Services Foundation is a great organization and I hope anyone who reads this will click the link, wander around their website and donate. My work for them is still the best thing I've done in my legal career.
I knew this was gonna happen
The fiancee and I went to Greece in 2001 and spent a couple of nights in Athens. Athens is the host for the 2004 Summer Olympics and those are looking like a disaster. Recall: in 1990, the International Olympic Committee rejected Athens' Olympic bid to host the centennial Olympics (first "modern" Olympics = 1896 Athens). But the Greeks didn't get the message and in 1994, the IOC rejected Athens' bid in favor of Sydney -- a highly successful Olympics (unlike the commercialized mess in Atlanta). In 1998, partially out of obligation, the IOC awarded Athens the 2004 Olympics. But in the intervening 5.5 years, the IOC has repeatedly admonished the Greeks to get their collective act together and make demonstrable progress in getting the city ready. Simply stated, we knew when we were in Athens that the Greeks with their statist, Socialist, and disorganized economic system would be in deep trouble. It is. Athens has had to cut projects and is far behind schedule on the main Olympic stadium. This will be a disaster.
Correction: This article by S.L. Price says that the IOC granted Athens the 2004 Summer Olympics in 1997.
Correction: This article by S.L. Price says that the IOC granted Athens the 2004 Summer Olympics in 1997.
Deja vu all over?
Somehow the Yankees smacked 13 hits against Mark Mulder and overcame another pathetic start by Jose Contreras with a 6-run seventh to turn a 7-1 deficit into a 10-8 win. At this point, the Yanks should just skip the formality of having Contreras start and install Donovan Osborne as the starter in his spot -- after all, Osborne (as the long reliever) has been virtually assured of getting some playing time in Contreras' previous starts and pitched 4 innings of one-run ball tonight.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Say what?
If John Kerry went to Israel under the auspices of the ADL -- that is, the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League (a Jewish organization) -- why did he read the sermon on the mount to his assembled party of ADL types? Check it out.
Wrong woman, wrong time
Lisa Guerrero was fired by ABC yesterday from the Monday Night Football sideline, according to the Internet Movie Database. That's good because Guerrero was awful.
Here's what ABC got for unceremoniously dumping the capable (and still attractive) Lesley Visser from MNF because it wanted to get someone younger (read: a hottie) on the sidelines: First, Melissa Stark comes aboard with Eric Dickerson as dual sideline reporters. Stark is good (not Visser-level, but still acceptable); Dickerson is horrendous. ABC sacks Dickerson. Next season -- just Missy Stark. But Stark and her S.O. become "in the family way" and she quits. So ABC hires Guerrero -- the weather updater from Fox's idiot's playground "The Best Damn Sports Show Period." Guerrero had no real experience, just a nice face (although five years older than Stark) and heckuva boob job. She's ridiculously bad by any standards -- bad questions, useless info and READING NOTES ON CAMERA (no-no #1 in the TV world).
Now, ABC has hired Michele Tafoya. Tafoya's been all over and worked with everyone -- CBS, TNT, ESPN, etc. She's primarily been a Twin Cities-based sports anchor and reporter who has done other gigs for networks, etc. What Tafoya is: sharp, capable, lucid and a decent replacement for Visser; what she isn't = a young hottie (she's your everyday pleasant-looking woman). Lesson here: ABC went from the pioneer of the sideline reporter (and one of the few decent ones) to her potential heir to a pretty twit to an old pro. In other words, competency now counts again at ABC.
Serves ABC right. But now who'll take the real leap and go with Shelley Smith on the network sidelines? Smith is pretty, knowledgeable, and has hard-news capability (perhaps too much for just sideline reporting) but she's not a small little woman (like Bonnie Bernstein or Andrea Kremer). I'm hoping she's overqualified for the sideline dope job and that's why she doesn't get one.
Two corrections/clarifications: Stark was with ABC on MNF for three years and she is married (I fudged that one b/c I didn't want to guess).
Here's what ABC got for unceremoniously dumping the capable (and still attractive) Lesley Visser from MNF because it wanted to get someone younger (read: a hottie) on the sidelines: First, Melissa Stark comes aboard with Eric Dickerson as dual sideline reporters. Stark is good (not Visser-level, but still acceptable); Dickerson is horrendous. ABC sacks Dickerson. Next season -- just Missy Stark. But Stark and her S.O. become "in the family way" and she quits. So ABC hires Guerrero -- the weather updater from Fox's idiot's playground "The Best Damn Sports Show Period." Guerrero had no real experience, just a nice face (although five years older than Stark) and heckuva boob job. She's ridiculously bad by any standards -- bad questions, useless info and READING NOTES ON CAMERA (no-no #1 in the TV world).
Now, ABC has hired Michele Tafoya. Tafoya's been all over and worked with everyone -- CBS, TNT, ESPN, etc. She's primarily been a Twin Cities-based sports anchor and reporter who has done other gigs for networks, etc. What Tafoya is: sharp, capable, lucid and a decent replacement for Visser; what she isn't = a young hottie (she's your everyday pleasant-looking woman). Lesson here: ABC went from the pioneer of the sideline reporter (and one of the few decent ones) to her potential heir to a pretty twit to an old pro. In other words, competency now counts again at ABC.
Serves ABC right. But now who'll take the real leap and go with Shelley Smith on the network sidelines? Smith is pretty, knowledgeable, and has hard-news capability (perhaps too much for just sideline reporting) but she's not a small little woman (like Bonnie Bernstein or Andrea Kremer). I'm hoping she's overqualified for the sideline dope job and that's why she doesn't get one.
Two corrections/clarifications: Stark was with ABC on MNF for three years and she is married (I fudged that one b/c I didn't want to guess).
Tiresome
One complaint that is neither novel, intelligent, nor based in reality is the unending criticism of pharmaceutical manufacturers and their profits. Without drug companies, there would be no AIDS cocktail, no Avastin that shrinks cancerous colon tumors, no antibiotics that fight the infections that were once fatal (remember, in the Civil War more men died of battlefield wounds after battles than during battles), etc. But every populist dope complains about drug companies and their profits.
It's simple: drug companies must make large profits because they need to be able to bankroll the research they perform. The cost of developing new pharmaceuticals from concept through the FDA approval process is staggering, and drug companies are bearing that burden in the HOPE that the new pharmaceutical will be approved. Read Doug Bandow's column. Some facts he cites: pharmaceutical manufacturers test 5-10K compounds for each one that gets FDA approval and 70% of approved drugs are money-losers. Bashing drug makers, calling those companies "genocidal" and expecting cheap pharmaceuticals as a matter of right is simply disgraceful.
It's simple: drug companies must make large profits because they need to be able to bankroll the research they perform. The cost of developing new pharmaceuticals from concept through the FDA approval process is staggering, and drug companies are bearing that burden in the HOPE that the new pharmaceutical will be approved. Read Doug Bandow's column. Some facts he cites: pharmaceutical manufacturers test 5-10K compounds for each one that gets FDA approval and 70% of approved drugs are money-losers. Bashing drug makers, calling those companies "genocidal" and expecting cheap pharmaceuticals as a matter of right is simply disgraceful.
Torture response
A friend of mine asked, what will the restless electorate do in response to the accusations that US servicemen tortured Iraqi prisoners?
I think the restless electorate appreciates and respects what the US Armed Forces do and will chalk this up to a few poor representatives of the whole, especially after Bush's unrelenting condemnation of the actors.
Of course, my condemnation would be: This is wholly unacceptable. Our servicemen and servicewomen are held to the highest individual standards of decency and integrity and any deviation from those standards is contrary to what the United States and its people stand for. The actions of these soldiers, if true, are criminal and contrary to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the UCMJ. The United States and the Coalition entered Iraq and freed 22 million people from one of the worst tyrants of the 20th century -- a tyrant who gassed his own citizens, used WMDs against the Kurds and the Marsh Arabs, used rape and torture as political weapons, jailed citizens on a whim and murdered his citizens at a rate that would make Stalin proud; our servicepeople must serve as a positive example, and not act in ways that could remind the Iraqi people of the horrors
they suffered for the past 24 years.
I'd expect our military to exercise better judgment -- there are and will be US prisoners of foreign conflicts. Our enemies need little motivation to mistreat our servicepeople.
I think the restless electorate appreciates and respects what the US Armed Forces do and will chalk this up to a few poor representatives of the whole, especially after Bush's unrelenting condemnation of the actors.
Of course, my condemnation would be: This is wholly unacceptable. Our servicemen and servicewomen are held to the highest individual standards of decency and integrity and any deviation from those standards is contrary to what the United States and its people stand for. The actions of these soldiers, if true, are criminal and contrary to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the UCMJ. The United States and the Coalition entered Iraq and freed 22 million people from one of the worst tyrants of the 20th century -- a tyrant who gassed his own citizens, used WMDs against the Kurds and the Marsh Arabs, used rape and torture as political weapons, jailed citizens on a whim and murdered his citizens at a rate that would make Stalin proud; our servicepeople must serve as a positive example, and not act in ways that could remind the Iraqi people of the horrors
they suffered for the past 24 years.
I'd expect our military to exercise better judgment -- there are and will be US prisoners of foreign conflicts. Our enemies need little motivation to mistreat our servicepeople.
Rising tide alert
Seems that tax revenues can increase when tax rates are lowered. How does that work? Oh yeah, the economy is not static, and when more people make more money than they had been making, they pay more taxes even if their marginal rates are lower under Pres. Bush than they were under Clinton. Read about it here.
Hat tip -- NRO's The Corner.
Hat tip -- NRO's The Corner.
Monday, May 03, 2004
Today's sign of the apocalypse
Kofi Annan getting blasted for his corruption and inaction by the former deputy PM of Sweden.
Mind Vitamin of the morning
The Wall Street Journal discusses not only the Gorelick memo from March 1995, but the protests from US Attorney Mary Jo White -- whose office prosecuted the 1993 WTC bombing (all quotes from the editorial are in red.
White worried that "Our experience has been that the FBI labels of an investigation as intelligence or law enforcement can be quite arbitrary depending upon the personnel involved and that the most effective way to combat terrorism is with as few labels and walls as possible so that wherever permissible, the right and left hands are communicating" (emphases added).
Thus, White recommended a number of modifications, which were rejected by Gorelick's subordinate (and she concurred). More pithily:
[T]o sum up the exchange: The principal U.S. terrorism prosecutor was trying to tell her boss that she foresaw a real problem with the new and "not legally required" wall policy, but Ms. Reno--again delegating that policy to Ms. Gorelick--largely rebuffed her concerns.
The result? This:
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald summed up the core issue last October in testimony to Congress: "I was on a prosecution team in New York that began a criminal investigation of Osama bin Laden in early 1996. . . . We could talk to local police officers. We could talk to other U.S. government agencies. We could talk to foreign police officers. Even foreign intelligence personnel. . . . But there was one group of people we were not permitted to talk to. Who? The FBI agents across the street from us in lower Manhattan assigned to a parallel intelligence investigation of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. We could not learn what information they had gathered. That was 'the wall.' "
The 9-11 Commission is a joke.
White worried that "Our experience has been that the FBI labels of an investigation as intelligence or law enforcement can be quite arbitrary depending upon the personnel involved and that the most effective way to combat terrorism is with as few labels and walls as possible so that wherever permissible, the right and left hands are communicating" (emphases added).
Thus, White recommended a number of modifications, which were rejected by Gorelick's subordinate (and she concurred). More pithily:
[T]o sum up the exchange: The principal U.S. terrorism prosecutor was trying to tell her boss that she foresaw a real problem with the new and "not legally required" wall policy, but Ms. Reno--again delegating that policy to Ms. Gorelick--largely rebuffed her concerns.
The result? This:
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald summed up the core issue last October in testimony to Congress: "I was on a prosecution team in New York that began a criminal investigation of Osama bin Laden in early 1996. . . . We could talk to local police officers. We could talk to other U.S. government agencies. We could talk to foreign police officers. Even foreign intelligence personnel. . . . But there was one group of people we were not permitted to talk to. Who? The FBI agents across the street from us in lower Manhattan assigned to a parallel intelligence investigation of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. We could not learn what information they had gathered. That was 'the wall.' "
The 9-11 Commission is a joke.
No kidding
Something I've long known -- first confirmed by Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist -- is that environmental groups distort data and exaggerate doomsday scenarios to drum up donations. Now, Oxford University has has caught on.
More sports thoughts
I'm tired of hearing how well Jose Mesa is doing for the Pirates. Every time the ESPN dopes talk about him, it's as if they think the Phills should regret letting him go -- a preposterous notion.
I'm also tired of uninformed commentary. John Kruk blathered some rubbish about how Mussina is now like Glavine and Maddux in that he needs to battle and can't rely on 10-12 Ks per game and cannot blow hitters away. But Mooooose has never been a power pitcher because he's never had the 95 mph fastball -- he's topped out at around 93. If he's consistently at 90-93, he's fine. Today, from the few highlights I saw, he was able to crack the 90s on his fastball. Once he does that consistently and has his location in decent shape, he'll be fine.
Lastly, for now, I'm tired of hearing about NBA basketball. The quality is so poor, it's sad.
I'm also tired of uninformed commentary. John Kruk blathered some rubbish about how Mussina is now like Glavine and Maddux in that he needs to battle and can't rely on 10-12 Ks per game and cannot blow hitters away. But Mooooose has never been a power pitcher because he's never had the 95 mph fastball -- he's topped out at around 93. If he's consistently at 90-93, he's fine. Today, from the few highlights I saw, he was able to crack the 90s on his fastball. Once he does that consistently and has his location in decent shape, he'll be fine.
Lastly, for now, I'm tired of hearing about NBA basketball. The quality is so poor, it's sad.
What if . . .
I told you at the beginning of the baseball season that as of May 3, the Yankees would have lost six of seven to the Red Sux, Mike Mussina would have four losses and an ERA near 6, no regular player would have a .300 average, Arod would have 7 RBI in 25 games (a sub-50 RBI pace), Jeter and Williams would be hitting <.190, Contreras would have an ERA over 7 and Rivera would have 7 BB in 14+ innings -- would you predict the Yanks would be 14-11? Neither would I. Considering that almost everything about the Yankees can improve (especially on offense), they have a good chance to not suck. Obstacle: three weeks of games (18 total) against the AL West and 18 of their remaining 24 this month on the road.
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