Wide World Of Blogs!

Posted on May 27, 2006 by Mash

 

Wide World Of Blogs!

Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of the web…the thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat…the human drama of athletic blogging…this is Mash’s Wide World of Blogs!

Ok, so the Wide World Of Blogs did not die an ugly death last time. It’s back with another installment and getting stronger. Here are today’s worthy reads:

Bloggers Against Torture

I joined Bloggers Against Torture this week in support of Torture Awareness Month. Elendil of Rummy’s Diaries started this growing alliance of bloggers to help focus attention on one of mankind’s ugliest sides. This is a worthy endeavor that I ask all who visit to consider joining.

Grad Student Madness

I discovered this blog through Bloggers Against Torture. Apart from offering insights on Presocratic philosophers (that is, standup comedians), this blog offers some very well written and thought provoking posts. One post I would like to call attention to is a post that discusses the politics of torture. This post is a must read for anyone concerned about the state of affairs these days. I am certain that you will not only be rereading this post many times but you will be referring this post to others. It is a good place to start to spread Torture Awareness.

Goddamn I love America!!

On the other side of the torture debate is Jeremiah Bullfrog of Goddam I love America. Jeremiah loves George W Bush and he loves torture. He is also uniquely skilled in the way of the Ninja. He has declined an invitation from Elendil to join Bloggers Against Torture and has in fact labeled the alliance a bunch of terrorist lovers. He has strong opinions that he inherited from his daddy and he is not afraid of sharing them. He also has uncovered an insidious plot by suicide torturees that must be stopped at all costs. Jeremiah’s torturous ways extend to the (ab)use of the English language, but nonetheless he is worth a read.

Serious Golmal

"Golmal" means "trouble" in Bengali. This is another worthy blog from across the pond spiced with a South Asian accent. He has found what may very well be the secret weapon in the War on Terror – music. Not just any music but music from opposite sides of the religious/political divide. If these guys can rock than the rest of us should be able to roll. (Note, one of the songs is not in English, but I’m not sure it matters. The title of the song translates to "I’m busted" and he is singing among other things about his wandering eyes.)

Jon Swift

Yes, I know he was here last week too. But I can’t help it because this week Jon has whipped out the Race Card and he is not afraid to use it. I also should mention that before you read another book you should read Jon’s book reviews. I have stopped reading books since I started to read Jon’s book reviews and I am sure the reviews will have the same effect on you too.

Enjoy the journey!

Posted in Blog Reviews | 1 Comment

Karl Rove Gets His Headline

Posted on May 26, 2006 by Mash

Washington Post headline announcing Hayden ConfirmationThe United States Senate voted 78-15 to confirm General Michael Hayden as the new CIA Director. 25 Democrats joined 52 Republicans and 1 Independent in voting to confirm General Hayden. In doing so, the Democrats gave Karl Rove and the Bush Administration the headline they were hoping for when they nominated General Hayden.

The Washington Post website obligingly served up the following as its top news story:

Senate vote gives broad bipartisan endorsement to the architect of NSA’s domestic spying program.

The cowering Democratic response to the Hayden nomination has just needlessly inoculated the Republicans from the charge of violating Americans’ civil liberties by conducting warrantless domestic spying. This is a defeat for the American people and may result in defeat at the polls in November for the Democrats.

The Democrats now have 6 months in which they must grow a backbone. However, if today’s vote is any indication they are steadily digging themselves into the same safe yet futile hole that John Kerry climbed into during the 2004 Presidential elections. Republicans in the Congress and the White House must be doing cartwheels watching the latest act of Democratic Hara-kiri.

Posted in Constitution, Politics | 8 Comments

Bloodlust In Pakistan

Posted on May 26, 2006 by Mash

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has stayed the execution of Mirza Tahir Hussain originally scheduled for June 1st for one month. However, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reports that Hussain’s brother fears for Hussain’s safety and has asked the jail to protect his life:

 Family members of British national Mirza Tahir Hussain, a murder convict, have requested the administration of Adiala jail to take stringent security steps as they feared for his life.

The convict’s brother Mirza Amjad Hussain in an application to Superintendent of Adiala jail Tariq Babar said he received threats from the family of Jamshed Khan who was killed by Tahir in 1989.

He claimed that his brother (Tahir) might be killed or injured by his rivals in the jail. He requested the jail administration to provide security to Tahir.

In his application, Amjad requested the administration that they had not allowed anyone to meet Tahir, except his relatives.

Amjad told Dawn that “the threats are always there.”

He said his family had been receiving threats for the last 18 years. Amjad quoted the rivals as saying that “we are obligated by our tradition to kill our enemy, even if he gets rescued by courts”.

It is not clear whether the jail will protect Hussain from being killed. The comments of the Deputy Superintendent of the jail are not reassuring:

Deputy Superintendent of Jail, Malik Safdar told Dawn that necessary measures would be taken for the security of Tahir on the verbal request of his brother Amjad on Wednesday.

When asked as to what measures are likely to be adopted for Tahir’s security, the deputy superintendent said: “How is it possible to provide security to a man in an overcrowded jail.”

Another Pakistani newspaper, the Pakistan Observer, has published a chilling editorial about the Hussain case. The editorial appears to condone and advocate the murder of Hussain by family members. It makes no reference to the dubious conviction of Hussain by an Islamic Court after an acquittal by Pakistan’s High Court. If this editorial’s position is shared by those operating the jail and others in a position to harm Mirza Tahir Hussain, then his life is in grave danger. The Pakistan Government needs to assure his safety at this crucial juncture. The Pakistan Government must not allow this man to be murdered in jail days after Musharraf stayed his execution.

The entire bloodthirsty Pakistan Observer editorial is printed below:

Security for jailed UK convict

FAMILY members of British national Mirza Tahir Hussain, a murder convict, have requested the administration of Adiala Jail to take stringent security steps as they feared for his life.

It is quite evident that in case any harm is done to the man at this stage, it will expose the state of affairs in this and other prisons of the country. However, the very fact that the family members of the convict fear for his life in the jail indicates the sad security situation in our jails. It is quite understood that the decision of the President to defer conviction of the murderer for a month has caused resentment and indignation amongst family members and relatives of the poor taxi driver, who was killed by Mirza Tahir Hussain. He committed the horrendous crime in 1989 and the poor heirs of the murdered taxi driver had to wait for 18 long long years to get justice. In the first place, this unduly long period in itself amounts to denial of justice but now that the President has stayed his conviction for a month there are chances that ultimately he might get relief. It is because of this denial of justice that people take the law into their hands and shower bullets on the aggressor right before the trial courts. This shows that the aggrieved parties have no faith in the judicial system. One wonders what promoted the President to make up his mind to stay the execution. In our view, the President has the right to condone sentences but he is not expected to do so in clear disregard to the principles of justice. It is unfortunate that our system has succumbed to foreign pressure so much so that we are also dictated on execution of one individual. If the UK Government or for that matter the President of Pakistan have developed some sort of sympathy for the murderer, then they should also keep in mind the plight of those whose near and dear one was killed by him. [Emphasis added by me.]

 

Posted in Foreign Policy, Human Rights | 3 Comments

Defeat In Iraq

Posted on May 25, 2006 by Mash

White House Press Conference

May 25th, 2006 will be remembered as the day America acknowledged defeat in Iraq. In a press conference at the White House President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair signaled a humiliating end of the American and British intervention in Iraq that began on March 20, 2003. The pair were a picture of weariness as they repeated over and over again that, in spite of the setbacks, invading Iraq was the right thing to do and that we must "complete the mission." The phrase "complete the mission" has become code for "orderly withdrawal". The American and British mission is no longer about "winning" in Iraq, it is about not "losing" in Iraq.

This is a tragic day for the United States. American military might has been thwarted by a band of determined insurgents and a cabal of shrewd politicians. America has been used by the Islamists in Iraq to do their bidding and now the time has come to be shown the door. A tired Bush and Blair are quoted in The Washington Post as two defeated men:

"Despite setbacks and missteps, I strongly believe we did and are doing the right thing," Bush said Thursday evening in a White House news conference with Blair. "Not everything has turned out the way we hoped."

For his part, Blair declared that after a meeting earlier this week with Iraq’s new prime minister, "I came away thinking the challenge is still immense, but I also came away thinking more certain than ever that we should rise to it."

Bush and Blair were asked about mistakes they might have made that they regret now. President Bush acknowledged what the rest of the world has known ever since Bush came into office – that you should "walk softly and carry a big stick" and not the other way around:

In unusually introspective comments, Bush said he regrets his cowboy rhetoric the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks such as his "wanted dead or alive" description of Osama bin Laden and his taunting "bring ’em on" challenge to Iraqi insurgents.

"In certain pa[r]ts of the world, it was misinterpreted."

Mr. Blair for his part acknowledged what was obvious before the invasion:

Blair regretted the way in which Saddam Hussein’s political allies were purged from the Iraqi military and government soon after the fall of Baghdad. Critics have said the sudden purge left a security vacuum in Iraq and encouraged former regime loyalists to take up arms against the newly installed government.

Blair also said allies seriously underestimated the insurgency.

"It should have been very obvious to us" from the beginning, Blair said. [Emphasis added by me.]

Respectfully, Prime Minister, it was obvious from the beginning but the Administration chose to ignore the advice of its own experts in favor of wildly optimistic scenarios painted by Vice President Cheney and his merry band of neo-conservatives. Here is Vice President Cheney speaking 4 days before the Iraq invasion on March 16, 2003:

Now, I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.

From those carefree comments from Mr. Cheney to the confessions at today’s press conference, we have descended step by each humiliating step into defeat.

Today in Iraq sectarian violence claims the lives of about 30 innocent civilians every day. Bodies with drill holes in their heads are left on street corners like garbage to be picked up by the grim reaper. The islamist Dawa party slowly but steadily tightens its grip on the reigns of power in Iraq while their masters in Tehran rejoice in their good fortune. Ordinary Iraqis live in fear where the most mundane tasks of everyday life have become acts of fear and courage. Militias roam the streets and don the uniform of the Iraqi Police. Insurgents strike with impunity as their IEDs and suicide attacks continue to end lives and replenish the morgues. American soldiers retreat further into their barracks as it becomes increasingly more difficult to discern friend from foe.

There is nothing good in today’s news. The President of the most powerful nation in the world stood in front of the cameras today and looked for all the world to see to be a muddled schoolboy. Perhaps we have reached the bottom of the bucket of humiliation that is the American engagement in Iraq. Tomorrow promises to be the beginning of the American disengagement from Iraq. Tomorrow promises to also be the beginning of American abandonment of Iraq. American self-preservation will mean that Iraq will be left to suffer on its own for years to come.

Today is a milestone in an American and Global tragedy brought about by a President who fancied himself a cowboy. May the world see better days than this.

Posted in Foreign Policy, Iraq | 5 Comments

Bypassing The Hayden Maginot Line

Posted on May 25, 2006 by Mash

The Maginot LineWhen President Bush nominated General Michael Hayden for the position of Director of Central Intelligence he threw down a gauntlet to the Democrats. He dared the Democrats to do battle on this nomination. He dared the Democrats to vote against Hayden and he dared the Democrats to hold up the nomination. He dared the Democrats to leave vacant the CIA Director’s position while the United States is engaged in wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Predictably, the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee saw the gauntlet, turned tail, and fled.

With the notable exception of Senators Feingold, Wyden and Bayh, the remaining Democrats on the Committee voted to send Hayden’s nomination to the floor. By voting for the nomination the 4 Democratic Senators have fallen into the political trap set for them by the Administration. The Administration has put the Democrats in a vise. If Democrats vote against the nomination, the Administration can claim that the Democrats are obstructionist and weak on national security. If the Democrats vote for the nomination, the Administration is inoculated against charges that it overstepped its authority by conducting warrant-less surveillance. A vote for Hayden is in effect an acceptance of the Administration’s position on the NSA spying. Either way the Democrats vote they will be beat upon relentlessly in the run up to the November elections.

Democrats have rightly decided that blocking Hayden’s nomination will damage them politically going into the November elections. However, voting for the architect of the NSA spying program is an even worse option. A vote for Hayden, in addition to giving the Administration a green light on the NSA spying, will also alienate the Democratic base – and the base is crucial in the November elections where turnout will likely determine the outcome of many races. A vote for Hayden will damage the Democrats just like John Kerry’s Iraq votes damaged him in the 2004 Presidential elections. Here the Administration has figured out that they can have their cake and eat it too – they get the nominee through and they damage the Democrats politically.

I propose a third option for the Democrats. When the nomination comes up for a vote on the Senate floor, the Democrats should neither try to block it nor vote against the nomination. Instead the Democrats should abstain. Abstaining on the nomination vote blunts the Administration’s logic and outflanks them politically. The Democrats cannot be seen as obstructionists when they do not hold up the nomination. The Democrats cannot be seen as weak on national security when they do not vote against the nominee. The Bush Administration will also fail in their gambit to inoculate themselves from charges that the NSA spying is illegal. The Democrats can say that they stood on principle and could not vote for a nominee who has a questionable record on protecting American civil liberties, and on the other hand, the Democrats can say that they could not vote against the President’s nominee for the crucial position of Director of Central Intelligence in a time of war. 

When the Bush Administration picked General Hayden, no doubt they believed they had a horse on which they could win multiple political points ahead of the elections. They counted on the Democrats to cower at the prospect of a nomination fight. They counted on the Democrats to lose the game. Instead of capitulating on the playing field laid out by Karl Rove and his friends the Democrats need instead to move the playing field. It’s a simple strategy yet it holds the promise of success. 

Posted in Constitution, Politics | 11 Comments