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Friday, March 11, 2005Who's responsible for the Carla Sgrena incident? Al-Qaeda, duh.Someone has doubtless made this point, but I haven't run across it so I'll make it here: The other day, an Italian journalist was freed after being taken hostage in Iraq. In returning from her release, her car was fired on and her driver killed. There has been lots of chitchat as to whether the U.S. was at fault for firing too fast, or Italy for not working closely enough with the Americans in arranging the transport of the journalist, cooperation at the checkpoint, etc. But here's the real question: Why would a bunch of soldiers fire on what was obviously a civilian vehicle? Because there's no such thing as an obviously civilian vehicle in Iraq. I haven't seen statistics, but I'm guessing from the news reports that far more people have been killed by obviously civilian vehicles that turned out to be car bombs than have been killed by tanks, which obviously aren't civilian vehicles. Al-Qaeda, in its use of suicide bombers posing as civilians and civilian drivers, violates most of the rules of civilized warfare in a deliberate effort not only to blend in among innocents but also to make innocent civilians appear to be potential "soldiers". As guerrilla strategy, it's an okay tactic if your only aim is to maximize death. But if your aim is to assert by force your legitimate claim on specific territory, it's out of bounds. For Al-Qaeda, nothing is out of bounds since their aims have nothing to do with actually claiming and holding territory and everything to do with assuring that the physical landscapes they inhabit are as barren as the intellectual landscape of their movement. Bottom line: The novelty in this case is that it was Westerners, not ordinary Iraqis, who paid for Al-Qaeda's willingness to make murderers and civilians appear interchangeable. It was Al-Qaeda whose rash of suicide bombers had well-meaning soldiers on edge when a freed hostage's car approached their checkpoint. It is Al-Qaeda that decided to fight the war in such a way that giving ordinary seeming citizens the benefit of the doubt was an invitation to death. It is Al-Qaeda that ultimately bears responsibility for this incident and the many others like it of which we never hear because they involve not showboating journalists with a great new angle on their storyline but mere Iraqi families that must struggle on though loved ones have been lost. 
posted by gbarto at 10:59 PM Thursday, March 10, 2005Is the Bolton nomination headed for trouble? Hewitt wonders.
posted by gbarto at 8:18 PM Not what the net is for: Ugh. A Dog's Life notes a particularly disturbed individual who live-streamed himself having sex with a three-year old. He is, thankfully, behind bars. No word on his relationship to the child, but I'm guessing a family member since kidnapping wasn't in the list of charges. Hate to think of those therapy bills.
posted by gbarto at 8:09 PM Sappy thought for the day: Labels do not generally serve to identify us, but to circumscribe us. Republican, Democrat... Black, White... Muslim, Christian, Jew... Recovering Alcoholic, Drunkard, Clean... The effect of these labels - and we all use them - is not to give a clear picture of who we are, but to define in opposition all the things that we are not. The ultimate effect of this shorthand is to provide our ultimate circumscription: As a being insufficiently unique and interesting to be worth knowing on one's own terms.
posted by gbarto at 8:01 PM Lebanon and Trust What's most striking about the pro-Syrian demonstrations of late is the amazing lack of social trust they indicate. You have to ask yourself, what do the Hezbollah protesters know that we don't? They are said to be the most powerful force in Lebanese politics. They turned out fantastic numbers for the demonstrations... And yet, looking to the left and looking to the right and seeing none but partisans to their cause, the official response of the demonstrators was: We need outsiders to be in charge. To read the Times and others, you'd get the impression that the Hezbollah demonstrators were a major force and that the pro-democracy demonstrations paled in comparison... So why doesn't Hezbollah wish to put it to an open vote? Why do they feel that Syria needs to set the agenda for a country that they supposedly dominate? The pro-democracy demonstrators exhibibited a tremendous amount of trust. They trusted that what they were doing was worth the risk to life, limb and everything they had. Hama rules, of which everyone is talking, were not going to be used against the pro-Syrian Hezbollah sponsored march - there was no risk. But the pro-democracy protests had to trust that their voice was too powerful to suppress, that either the Syrians would be cowed or that their deaths would matter. While the pro-democracy protesters trust that truth, justice and history are on their side, Hezbollah would rather trust the Assad family than its fellow citizens. Again, I ask, if they're so powerful, why don't they trust in their place in a free and independent Lebanon? What do they know that we don't? The lack of trust is the reason why ultimately Hezbollah and the pro-Syrian movement will fall. People note how the economic burdens brought down Soviet communism. But communism also fell because it cost too much to enforce. When even the most powerful man in the Soviet Union had to wake up in the morning knowing that a coterie of his "camrades" might that day declare him a traitor to the cause, setting in motion his burial first in the ground and then in the archives, it was too much. The system couldn't last because people were too busy protecting themselves to nourish it. The same lack of trust characterizes the pro-Syrian element. Every serious member of this movement, to judge by its actions and its statements, lives in fear that his own country will reject him if Syria isn't there to back him up. How embarassing to need an eye doctor to watch your back in what is supposedly your own neighborhood. The Lebanese people deserve better. Even the Hezbollah supporters among them. Here, by the way, is Friedman's take; as usual for these matters, it's pretty good.
posted by gbarto at 7:46 PM According to Opinion Journal: Borowitz said our Iraq exit strategy was through Iran on Feb. 9. He's irritated that the Onion did the same bit Mar. 9. Big deal. An Iranian-American friend of mine (no names, he still has family there) made the same suggestion less than an hour after our tanks crossed the Iraqi border.
posted by gbarto at 7:38 PM Curiously, the splendid bankruptcy bill that continues the move toward a "responsibility society" doesn't seem to be getting lavish praise at NRO. In fact, I can't find any mention at all. Maybe I'm missing it. Cicero can now start crowing about what the Bushies have foisted upon us. One interesting thing I did find at NRO - on TKS: There’s been a lot of discussion of Hillary running for president in 2008 – has she figured out if she’s running as a Democrat or as a Republican yet?In either case, I'm voting against her. Unless she's running against McCain. In which case I'm voting for the Socialists on the grounds that I don't understand politics anymore.
posted by gbarto at 7:26 PM For the record: Friend of the People John McCain, lately of Campaign Finance Reform, was unsurprisingly among those who voted the other day (the 8th) to end procedural delays in the Senate's move to put the screws to those in financial trouble on behalf of their friends in the credit card industry. Not a single Republican, for the record, thought that multibillion dollar international lending agencies should be obliged to show as much discretion in issuing credit as consumers should be in accepting it. To their credit, some Democrats, including McCain's co-conspirator on CFR said no. They are: Akaka, Hawaii; Baucus, Mont.; Bayh, Ind.; Bingaman, N.M.; Boxer, Calif.; Cantwell, Wash.; Clinton, N.Y.; Corzine, N.J.; Dayton, Minn.; Dodd, Conn.; Dorgan, N.D.; Durbin, Ill.; Feingold, Wis.; Feinstein, Calif.; Harkin, Iowa; Inouye, Hawaii; Kennedy, Mass.; Kerry, Mass.; Lautenberg, N.J.; Leahy, Vt.; Levin, Mich.; Mikulski, Md.; Murray, Wash.; Obama, Ill.; Reed, R.I.; Reid, Nev.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; Sarbanes, Md.; Schumer, N.Y.; Wyden, Ore. We can mark this down as one of about three times the TurkeyBlog has been pleased by his California Senators' stands. To his credit, McCain did help squash the Minimum Wage Hike. Some see this as another opportunity to screw the poor. Having worked at McDonald's in college, I know it's just a clever way to make machines more cost-effective than people, eliminating the need for managers to fuss with the least able among us. Back to the bankruptcy bill - yes, the execrable thing passed, 74-25, and is expected to pass the House. And yes, Mr. Bush is expected to sign it. This is one place where he lost his "compassionate conservative" notes. Damn shame, inasmuch as he a) should do better and b) could really use the moment to assert that he's not just in the tank for big business. Except that in this regard he is. Too bad the Dems couldn't nominate a real candidate last fall. So we get the thaw in the Middle East, a marvel to behold. But we have to take this dreck in tradeoff. Just to give my perspective on the matter.
posted by gbarto at 7:17 PM Wednesday, March 09, 2005Did I miss something here?From today's NYT write-up on pro-Syrian demonstrations in Beirut: But Hezbollah, which the State Department classifies as a terrorist group, is now Lebanon's best organized political party and maintains a militia of some 20,000 men. [my emphasis]Perhaps this is part of the reason the pro-Syrians are being taken for the backward hicks they are. If your strength is not the greatness of ideas, but your capacity to kill, you can wreck a society but you can't build one. The appropriate response of the anti-Syrian demonstrators should be to carry pictures of the West Bank with the slogan, "Hezbollah, what it did for the Palestinians it can do for you!"
posted by gbarto at 4:27 PM Tuesday, March 08, 2005Didja know...that googling " little bunny fufu" gets you 3,540 hits? Don't ask.
posted by gbarto at 10:58 PM Bad day north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. 80 or 90 car pileup on 131 near Rockford. Photos here from WZZM 13. Quite incredible to see - looks like deer hunters getting together till you see the shape the cars are in. One person killed, unfortunately, though it could have been much worse. State Police and eyewitnesses (along with weather radar reports) suggest that two storm fronts met at the spot, causing a massive drop of snow. Massive in that there were nearly instant whiteouts over a more than half-mile stretch. Not much to do in those circumstances but hit the brakes in case there's someone in front of you and hope that anyone behind you does the same.
posted by gbarto at 10:38 PM "I am Shiva, destroyer of worlds." Instapundit has a look at the question of whether terrorists, with their propensity for destruction and inability to build anything are like Shiva. However, the quote above that is at the base of the whole thing goes with Shiva and then J. Robert Oppenheimer. I don't know much about Shiva, but Oppenheimer was a massively creative individual, one of the first to perceive the inner workings of our world, and he was astonished and terrified by the forces he'd found himself able to command. As Glenn says, "It all depends on what, and why." I think a modern day Shiva would be the goddess of undertakers, civil engineers and garbagemen, methodically clearing away the physical detritus of the past in order to make room for the detritus of the future. Very useful, that. We'd be in a helluva mess without it. The Islamists best analogue is found in a much more recent cosmology, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For those who don't remember, the people of Krikkit, on first experiencing contact with the outside world, were first appalled, then frightened, then angered that an outside world had the temerity to exist, and lest it challenge their worldview, they decided to destroy it. Fits the Islamists to a tee.
posted by gbarto at 10:27 AM Monday, March 07, 2005Cicero is cynical about our enthusiasm about events in the Middle East. He makes a fair point, I suppose, but I think the larger point holds: things are happening over there that weren't supposed to happen, the same way the Berlin Wall was never going to come down. In such a climate, one wants to feel optimistic because if things turn out, another major swath of the globe will in time enjoy that which Americans most cherish, the Rights of Englishmen. Sic venit gloria in mundum.
posted by gbarto at 5:01 PM Roger Clegg (writing at the Corner) has thought on the disenfranchisement/reinfranchisement of felons released from prison. I think he's on to something: Felons shouldn’t have the right to vote restored on the day they walk out of prison; there should be an evaluation period of at least a year or two; and the restoration should depend on the felon’s good and bad deeds during that period, as well as on what crimes had been committed (murderers and traitors should have to wait longer than forgers and shoplifters), how many, and how recently. In sum, if a felon stays clean for some period of time after getting out of prison, and starts to give something back to his community, he could earn back the franchise, which could be formally restored at a courtroom ceremony similar to the naturalization of immigrants.What Roger may miss is how damn affirming this sounds. Ordinarily, mention of special ceremonies marking a released felon's progress would be met with scorn at NRO (I think; maybe they're as touchy-feely as I am and I missed the vibe). I think Roger's right about delaying reinfranchisement and tying it to a return to the community. Doing your time is important, but rejoining society is equally so. But how? One of the big problems with our penal system and social approach in general is that there are a lot of guys out there with the equivalent of Jean Valjean's yellow papers (read Les Miz yourself if you're curious). When they fill out forms, etc, ya know they done wrong. But it's harder to find out what they've done right, if anything. This would create an incentive for the truly penitent to work extra hard at staying clean. Imagine giving the guy who screwed up at an earlier time a chance to mark for the world that he was more or less fully a member of upright society again. And to note on the job app that yes he has a record but that he's doing much better now, thank you. Sounds like a good idea, not for the withholding of trust to someone who hasn't yet earned it, but for the restoring of trust to someone who has.
posted by gbarto at 4:43 PM I feel the same way about some hunters... Hunter Mark Smith welcomes wild birds on to his property, but if he sees a cat, he thinks the "invasive" animal should be considered fair game.I understand it's great sport and all that, but I'm not really going to be impressed by a deer hunter until he slays a deer by strapping antlers to his head and winning the head butting contest. Or at least lunges on it and severes a critical artery with his teeth, à la mountain lions. Shooting an animal and dragging it home proves first and foremost the superiority of a human race that figured out gunpowder and combustion engines, and only second the skill and cunning of the hunter. I don't wish to degrade hunters. But there are some hunters in need of degrading, starting with those like this man whose primary intent seems not to experience what it is to be a human locked in the cycles of nature but merely to kill things he doesn't like. I grew up in a pretty rural area and every fall the local McDonald's filled for a month with guys in orange "camouflage." An alien observing the phenomenon might well have determined that deer were not the entity most in need of thinning out. Having grown up around in a rural area, I've known lots of good guys (and gals!) who were hunters. Kudos to Smith for dragging them down and confirming the biases of anyone who doesn't like hunters. Maybe he's angling to be the new posterboy for the gun control lobby. (Found at the Corner)
posted by gbarto at 4:24 PM Instapundit points out a post from logicalmeme about the prevalence of Lebanese hotties in news coverage about events in the Middle East. Just to do our part:  Kinda makes you wonder what's up with the guys who want to keep 'em in burqas. I still think there's something funny going on with the more misogynistic element to Islamism. An unseemly preference for manly company, if ya know what I mean.
posted by gbarto at 12:27 AM Sunday, March 06, 2005Another sharp column from Friedman, this one suggesting that Europe can enjoy its role as a superpower only when it takes as much responsiblity for its own security as the U.S. does.
posted by gbarto at 1:49 PM Just read a bit here and there on Campaign Finance Reform, etc. Just one thought: Isn't it funny how John McCain, supposedly the great populist, is so much at the center of the move to shut up the people? While protecting the powerful media interests? Don't give me BS about how well he interacted with reporters, how candid he was, yada yada yada. The press loved John McCain because they knew they were with someone who had their interests at heart.
posted by gbarto at 1:25 PM Best of luck to Moldova Instapundit mentions upcoming elections in Moldova and that country's turn toward Europe. Let's hope it's successful. About five years ago, one of my cousins was in Moldova for the Peace Corps. One night, a drunk broke into her house and claimed to be the husband of the woman with whom she was staying. He turned violent and they called the police. The response? It was the word of a man against that of a woman, and while the officer was sympathetic, there was nothing he could do. While we spend a fair amount of time scorning Europe, it did at one time set a decent bar for civilization. One hopes that Europe will crack down on the abuses it's allowed in the name of tolerance for Islam and set a standard that Moldova, the Ukraine and others will be well served in aiming for. And that those nations will subsequently know a better future for their efforts to join the West.
posted by gbarto at 1:02 PM |
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