October 25, 2006
Torture, Moral Values, and Leadership of the Free World (Kafka Era Studies, No. 3)
By Edward S. Herman
It is striking and chilling to see the leader of the Free World, George W. Bush, the Decider, seeking and gaining legislative approval for his government's now widespread use of torture, and exemption of himself and his top level associates for any earlier applications of torture. It has been pointed out that such ex-post exemptions have been sought by the most notorious state terrorists such as Augusto Pinochet and the Argentinian generals, whose ranks the Decider aims to join. This quest contradicts the earlier claims that the torture in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere was being carried out at their own initiative by "rotten apples" at the bottom of the military barrel; it makes it clear that if there were real prosecutions for those criminal acts they would focus on the rotten apples at the top, who created the moral environment within which the lower level cadres worked and which the leadership is now institutionalizing as lawful.
October 24, 2006
Firefox 2.0
When EP launched in January this year a little more than half of you were using Macs. As traffic grew that percentage fell consistently, though now it's rising again, slightly—16.3% as of yesterday—while overall traffic continues to grow. I don't know whether that may mean there's some switching to Mac going on, or if it's just noise. Anyhow, a large number of you have always, regardless of platform, been using Firefox, which also happens to be my favorite browser. Again, as of yesterday, that'd be 31.9%, with 44.3% using Internet Explorer and 6.8% using Safari. Later today, Mozilla officially comes out with Firefox 2.0, which actually became available via FTP server yesterday. It's a nice upgrade, I'm genuinely enthused, and for all of you who aren't using Firefox I urge you to give it a try. On my windows box, btw, I'm using the newly released Internet Explorer 7, which will be Firefox 2.0's direct competition and, trying to overlook my bias of having always thought Firefox better, from using the two I think Firefox still maintains its edge.
October 23, 2006
Missing (Hundreds of) Millions
As reported by the BBC and CBS's "60 Minutes", upwards of $800 million has been stolen from Iraq's military budget. The BBC goes on to report that, according to Iraqi officials who've investigated, the US and the British have shown little interest in following up because, "too many people in positions of power and authority in the new Iraq have been, in one way or another, found with their hands inside the cookie jar." I would suggest that there's another important reason: a lot of that loot may well have been recycled into American politics, funding all manner of Republican misdeeds. It's an area where the Democrats could have a field day with hearings if they gain one or both houses come the election.
October 20, 2006
The Evening of Empire
By Werther*
When the admirable Tiberius upon becoming emperor, received a message from the Senate in which the conscript fathers assured him that whatever legislation he wanted would be automatically passed by them, he sent back word that this was outrageous. "Suppose the emperor is ill or mad or incompetent?" He returned their message. They sent it again. His response: "How eager you are to be slaves."
— Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Amid the onrush of Caligulan sex scandals, suspension of the Constitution, depressing bulletins from the Babylonian front, and all manner of bogus "events," a recent news item has passed with remarkably little public stir, despite being featured above the fold on the front page of The Washington Post, a bulletin board as eagerly read by the capital city's strivers as Pravda in its day by the fellow-traveler, or Osservatore Romano by the untramontanist Catholic.
October 19, 2006
Funerary Foibles
A correction: When the story about Iraq's new mortality estimate came out I was going to write something up, but then I saw the marvelous essay by Paul Craig Roberts and I knew I couldn't do as good a job, so I asked Craig if I could publish his here, which he very kindly gave permission to do. I agree 100% with Craig's sentiments but I have begun to have some sneaking doubts about that mortality estimate (which, I don't think, affects in any major way what Craig's saying). As some of you may know, I had an (in)famous article about mortality rates in Bosnia ("The Bosnia Calculation", New York Times Magazine, April 23, 1995). I took a lot of flack for that—a huge amount of flack—yet eventually my substantially lower, conservative estimate was proved much more accurate than the standard boilerplate tossed about by politicos and newshounds during and after the war. Let me make a similar argument here.
October 18, 2006
More Kudos to Frontline
Proving that PBS has not totally gone down the tubes, Frontline has an outstanding documentary out, "The Lost Year in Iraq," which details the serial stupidity of US officials from mid-2003 to mid-2004. Follow the link, btw, to view online. My only complaint/caveat, as always, is that I think it rather more likely the people making decisions (as opposed to high level types carrying them out) fully understood all along that Iraq would be a catastrophic mess and wanted it that way. I did, however, modify my views on this in one particular after watching TLY—it may well be that Rummy both wanted chaos and the option of walking away, but was somewhat surprised to discover the latter impossible.
And Would You Like Some Mini-Nukes With That Hat?
Following the North Korea nuclear saga gets kind of confusing. What we know is that the explosion was relatively small, powered by plutonium instead of uranium (thus putting more of the blame on the Tyrant than on Clinton), and that the testing seems to have a ways yet to go. Most reports have scoffed at the small yield, many described it as a dud, some even (early on) suggesting the North Koreans might have just blown up a pile of dynamite to scare everybody. Considering, though, that the North Koreans had access to A. Q. Khan for a significant period, that Koreans are not idiots and probably learned a thing or two, and that blowing up a dump truck sized device in a mine is a fairly useless exercise as far as deterrence is concerned, it makes sense to wonder whether what the North Koreans have done is to miniaturize a bomb sufficiently to fit it on one of their missiles. If and as further testing occurs we'll learn more. Once the testing is complete and the dust settles we'll have a better idea whether I'm right that classic nuclear deterrence will work perfectly well on the Korean peninsula. For now, though, we can be quite sure that there's no way to prevent the North Koreans from finishing what they've started.
A "Vital Tool" Is Back
It puzzles me why it took so long for the Tyrant to sign his hall pass on torture—there's probably an interesting story in that but I haven't even seen any comments re the delay on the web. It didn't take long, however, for Snow to indicate, via non-answer, that the Tyrant's "vital tool" of secret prisons are working again. If this is indeed the case we can be pretty sure that researchers will again track the torture planes and track down the torture chambers. A revived international brouhaha over torture could not come at a worse time from Condi's perspective, having the potential to sour relations across the board. And I continue to believe that one or more European states, eventually, will move to indict the Tyrant and his gang à la Pinochet.
October 16, 2006
My Country Right Or Wrong
When the AP laid out the Tyrant's shifting explanations for why we attacked and are occupying Iraq you'd think the White House would leave well enough alone. The best way to sink a negative story about you (particularly a complicated one) often is to ignore it. But, no, the White House feels it must 'prove' that it is right—thus this 'Setting the Record Straight' page. To be honest, I have trouble understanding the points they're trying to make. Perhaps to a Republican true believer it all makes sense but it seems to me a gibberish concatenation of quotes. What is clear, however, is how strongly the Tyrant and his apparatus feel about squelching dissent. Well, lots of luck to that...
October 15, 2006
Inundated by Ostriches
Perfectly in conformity with an NIE that can't mention Israel when assessing conflict in the Middle East, this time we have additional received wisdom from Washington, on Iraq, that somehow neglects to consider the effect of the US presence on Iraqi politics. One can't ignore Dennis Ross (much as one might like to) because he epitomizes the scrofulous class of senior diplomats who specialize in chewing over priorities until they become unrecognizable. Nevertheless, problem number one remains, as Sir Richard noted, that the occupation—by the mere fact of its existence—generates violent resistance. The solution is not to ignore that in favor of playing constitutional chess, but to remove the irritant. Ross, unfortunately, is a fairly reliable signal that Washington elites have a long way to go and many disappointments in store before they eventually get it.
October 14, 2006
Gillo Pontecorvo, RIP
The "Red Hand", coincidentally the Irish family motto on my mother's side, was the secret denomination of a faction of the FLN in Algeria, active in terrorist efforts to expel the French. On September 30, 1956, either the "Red Hand" or a similar group exploded a bomb in Algiers' chic Milk Bar, killing a few Europeans and wounding many. It's remembered as Bloody Sunday. Late that morning, in Algiers, I was born, and my parents, who accompanied me to the hospital, but who otherwise were in the habit of going to the Milk Bar on Sundays, were saved. As was I. It's an interesting story which has the added benefit of being true. Thus I note the death of Gillo Pontecorvo, the Italian director, who in his classic movie "The Battle of Algiers" memorialized this struggle.
October 12, 2006
Onward, Legion of Doom!
Well, now the head of the British army, Sir Richard Dannatt, has spilled the beans: the presence of UK armed forces in Iraq "exacerbates the security problems." Presumably what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Why should the presence of US forces result in any other effect? It's just crystal clear—the longer the 'coalition' stays in Iraq the worse things will be for all concerned. Sir Richard adds, the British should "get out some time soon." Right, because the last to leave, e.g., the Americans, are likely going to be heloed out of the Green Zone, if they're lucky.
When Does "Collateral Damage" So Dwarf Combatant Deaths That War Becomes Genocide?
By Paul Craig Roberts
Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq has cost 655,000 Iraqis their lives. That is the conclusion of a study financed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies and conducted by physicians under the direction of Johns Hopkins University epidemiologists. These are deaths over and above the pre-invasion mortality rate. Bush's illegal invasion raised Iraq's mortality rate from 5.5 deaths per 1,000 people per year to 13.3 deaths per 1,000 people per year. The study is published by the distinguished British medical journal, The Lancet, and is available on the journal's Web site [.pdf].
October 9, 2006
To Catch A Sideways Drift
Senator John Warner may be most famous in the DC area for his brief marriage to the long-suffering star, Elizabeth Taylor (1976-1982). Indeed, her star power probably pushed him over the top in his first Senate race. Over the years, however, Virginia's Warner has gradually moved past all that, acquiring a kind of bizarre dignity and reputation as a non-loopy Republican, mainly through diligent work on the Armed Service Committee, which he now chairs. So although it didn't spark much comment outside the Beltway, Warner's comments following his recent trip to Iraq have reverberated into Washington's foundations: Iraq, he says, is "drifting sideways," such that if things don't change in a month or two (read, after the November election) some policy adjustments will be necessary.
Deterrence 101
OK, the North Koreans now possess the two necessary ingredients for nuclear deterrence: bombs and delivery vehicles. The downside of this is that it may push the South Koreans and Japanese to develop their own bombs—the latter prospect a serious worry to China. On the other hand, the North Koreans may well now calm down appreciably and the Tyrant's cabal (big tail, no tooth) may actually give the gutless wonders at Foggy Bottom a chance to engage again in diplomacy. And I doubt sanctions talk will go anywhere because if the North were really cut off they'd have some incentives to put a bomb on the black market. No, it's deal-making time in a new, junior balance of terror. All things considered, this is a very positive development. (Many thanks to an alert editor for correcting an earlier mistake regarding dates here.)
October 7, 2006
Amish Americans
They live surrounded by predators—the "English" they call them—yet they manage to survive. The Amish have their own problems, too, but they cope with these as well. By forgiving the terrorist who attacked them, by going to his funeral and offering assistance to his widow and family, the Amish set an example of what's best about America. What if they'd decided to go to war with the English? Some in Washington may scoff at these naive, museum relics. And they are naive about some things, but that's OK. They have access to a state of Grace most in Washington will never know, and they're living proof of a pragmatic realism the rest of us (Christian or not) would do well to emulate.
October 6, 2006
A Dog's Tale
If you're like me and have a dog you've probably read a bunch of books on dog training, all of which—without exception—base all or most of their understanding of dog psychology on what we know about wolves, on the assumption that dogs are domesticated wolves. Pack behavior, alpha leaders, etc. And if you're like me you may have found that all those training books really didn't help you understand your dog but that somehow the two of you (or three, or whatever) managed to reach some kind of unspoken bargain about the Rules. Yesterday I had an epiphany of sorts about this, reading my favorite zoological blog, "Tetrapod Zoology" by Darren Naish, an eccentric British Ph.D. biologist. Naish lays out the case that dogs may not be descended from wolves at all, but from some as yet unknown and now extinct doggie ancestor. Which would explain a lot, I think, about the minds of dogs, currently dogmatically misunderstood.
October 5, 2006
Long-Term Forecast: Drought
This is an amazing forecast for extreme drought around the world within 100 years which, if true, almost certainly means that millions of people will die from famine and war. Either that or planning for coping with drought should start now. An EP podcast program note: I have a guest scheduled to talk about water, if everything goes as planned, in a few weeks.
Limbo Passes Away
Though it's been awhile since I read it, my favorite by far of Dante's The Divine Comedy is Purgatory. The Inferno is too dark and scary; Paradise kind of boring—more a rote performance of what's to be expected. But Purgatory charms: it delights in things non-Christian folded into some vague mezzo-sphere of the Christian cosmology. To my way of thinking Purgatory is a practical necessity if Christianity wishes to recognize the messiness of non-Christian experiences. Thus it is a pity and a loss that the Pope has decided to officially erase Limbo, a related place that doesn't exist, in order to rationalize and homogenize his vision of what the world should be. I fear that Purgatory may be next on his list.
October 4, 2006
Forgers Forge Forgeries
OK, it stands to reason that the Iranians are sending equipment to their friends in Iraq. And so we've been told for several years. Yet when the Brits decided to go live out in the desert near the border recently, and check for themselves, they found nothing. Of course you can't prove a negative. On the other hand, if significant shipments were crossing the border my hunch is the Brits would've spotted (and interdicted) them. Proving once again that intelligence based on at-a-distance analysis may have significant shortcomings, not to mention its susceptibility to hyperbolic claims.
October 2, 2006
The Last Straw?
This Foley story just makes me sick. I suppose I agree in part that the Democrats should cast the issue in terms of the Republican leadership covering up for Foley and not Foley himself—if they wanted to play it safe. But as the NYT points out, a prosecutor inclined to pursue Foley could probably throw the book at him, and why not? Shouldn't members of Congress be held to a higher standard when it comes to pedophilia? And, yes, Hastert (who has faced questions in the past about his own conduct towards boys) should take some heat or perhaps even resign. But Foley could, and perhaps should, be made an example of for a different kind of reason as well: the Congress has a disproportionate number of closeted gay Republicans, members and staff, and it would be perfectly fair to out them, arguing what hypocrites they are on social issues. In any case, I agree with Joe Scarborough: this scandal may well break the Republican majority.
