April 30, 2004 by s.z.

Besmirching a Good War Well, the war bloggers have finally heard about the abuse of Iraqi captives at Abu Ghraib prison.  The consensus seems to be that the reservists who committed these crimes should be dealt with very harshly, because they made us look bad (not only to the Arab world, but to our enemies the Europeans, as Andrew Sullivan notes).  So, let's execute these evil soldiers, and then we will never have to think of this again. Nobody talks about higher-ups who either knew or should have known what was going on at the prison, but did nothing to stop it.  No one asks any questions about the interrogators (reportedly government contractors) who allegedly approved of the great job that the jailers were doing in helping to "break" their charges.  (And there is no debate about the appropriateness of having contractors not bound by military law doing such interrogations.)  There is no discussion of the possibility that putting a handful of untrained reservists in charge of guarding a prison was a bad idea -- and possibly a sign that something could be wrong with the way the reconstruction of Iraq was planned and implemented.  Nope, the only problem is that these reservists are evil, in that the photos they took can be used to "neuter America's moral credibility."  Oh, and the abuse of the prisoners was bad too.  But the bad acts of a few bad apples don't in any way diminish the nobility, glory, and rightness of this war -- because we're always the good guys, and we never screw up.  Here's a representative remark from Glenn Reynolds [his entry on the subject also provides comments from several other bloggers with whom he agrees]: Of course, it's not the same as Saddam's torture -- which was a matter of top-down policy, not the result of assholes who deserve jail or execution, and will probably get one or both. As with other reported misbehavior, it should be dealt with very, very harshly. But those who would -- as Senator Kerry did after Vietnam -- make such behavior emblematic of our effort, instead of recognizing it as an abandonment of our principles -- are mere opportunists. Yes, this appalling incident is indeed an "abandonment of our principles" -- just as the Vietnam atrocities which Kerry spoke of were also not in accordance with our ethics and values.  But a war isn't just about our principles, it's about our actions.  If our mismanagement of a war produces atrocities, then such mismanagement can also be "emblematic of our effort."  While we don't yet know everything about what happened at Abu Ghraib, and while the actions of those involved (either directly or indirectly) in the abuse of prisoners aren't typical of the U.S. military, the story is certainly more "a few bad soldiers did some bad things because they're bad." P.S.   I watched the "Hannity & Some Guy" segment about this story tonight.  Among other things, Hannity asked their guest, a man who had worked as a military interrogator, if would be okay to do the kinds of things that the soldiers at Abu Ghraib were accused of in order to get information from Saddam -- for instance, to get from him the location of the WMDs.  And wouldn't it be okay to use these "techniques" to get information from Hitler?  The guest never answered, but maybe Sean should ask Glenn that question.  It would help to determine just what our principles are. 10:30:14 PM

Maybe It Was Like 'Murder on the Orient Express' As you know, Joseph Wilson's book, The Politics of Truth, goes on sale today.  And you also know that it gives us Wilson's thoughts on who leaked his wife's name and affiliation to Novak.  While his main suspect is also my (and probably the FBI's) main suspect, Wilson also gives us some exciting, new possibilities: Mr. Wilson writes that a White House effort to damage him began at a March 2003 meeting called to develop a critique of him for the vice president's office. Citing an unnamed source "close to the House Judiciary Committee," Mr. Wilson writes that "either the vice president himself or, more likely, his chief of staff, Lewis (Scooter) Libby chaired a meeting at which a decision was made to do a work-up on me." Mr. Wilson writes that the meeting was attended by senior Republicans, possibly including Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker. On Thursday, a spokesman for Mr. Gingrich, Rick Tyler, said Mr. Wilson's account was a "complete fabrication." I would so love to see Gingrich go down for something!  Conspiracy, attempted intimidation, corruption, statutory rape: they should be able to make one of the charges stick. Mr. Wilson says those in the meeting decided that "the strategy of the White House was to confront the issue as a `Wilson' problem rather than as an issue of the lie that was in the State of the Union address." As to the leaker, Mr. Wilson does not limit his suspicions to Mr. Libby. He says another person whose name "has most often been repeated to me" is Elliott Abrams. Mr. Abrams is a former official in President Ronald Reagan's administration who became embroiled in the Iran-contra affair and now works in the National Security Council. Last year, Mr. Wilson identified Karl Rove, senior political adviser to Mr. Bush, as the probable source of the leak, but he later backed off from that accusation. In the book, he writes that Mr. Rove circulated information from the work-up on him within the administration. The White House has denied that Mr. Libby, Mr. Abrams or Mr. Rove were involved in the disclosure. Well, if the leaker is Elliott and he is found guilty (or takes a plea), he could be the first man in history to be pardoned by father and son Presidents.  Think what a great "Jeopardy question that would make! 4:42:40 AM

When Student Writing Attacks! Lileks reads about that University of Massachusetts student who wrote the juvenile, inflamatory column about Tillman, and sees the shape of things to come: I wouldn’t be surprised if domestic leftist terrorism made a comeback this decade. It only takes a few, after all.  And it only takes a few sympathizers here and there to shield them. Again: I’m not saying I expect the author of that excrescence to make common cause with Al Qaeda and blow up buildings; I’m just saying I won’t be surprised when a few flaming nutballs take it to the next level.  Yup.  Because if a student paper prints a piece which says that a rich sports star who joined the military and was killed in action "got what he deserved," then the next thing you know, leftists are "taking it to the next level" and blowing up buildings, robbing banks, and kidnapping newspaper heiresses.  James should never let Gnat leave the house! But what does it mean when a guy is caught with several hundred rounds of ammunition, components for pipe bombs, shotguns, more than 700 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, and a list of liberal officials and public figures with the word "marked," meaning "marked to die" next to the names?  Oh, probably that he's just another concerned American, looking out for the children. (Thanks to David Neiwert for making us aware of this real case of planned domestic terrorism.) As to Lileks' concerns about the resurgance of the Weathermen -- well, he needed something new to worry about, since the al Qaeda invasion of Minnesota has been put on hold. 4:11:51 AM

NOW's Mary Magdalene Home for Repentant Porn Stars Pastor J. Grant Swank, Jr, in a column for Intellectual Conservative, has come up with a new mission for NOW: guiding porn stars in the ways of virtue. She says she needed tuition money for college. So she went the adult industry route, not telling her parents. Now, only a month into porn take, she’s testing for AIDS / HIV. Actually, she’s having a fit about all this. It seems to me that with such help agencies proliferating our democratic society that the National Organization for Women should have as at least an adjunct to its agenda some sort of rescue plan for females caught in porn industries. After all, is not NOW on the planet for women’s causes? Well, to be fair, shouldn't the government have some kind of plan to help America's young people pay for college, so they don't have to turn to sin?    Would not that include the health of females, their being netted from deadly diseases, and educated about not being used by money-rakers? Would not NOW’s care reach out to females to guide them in directions moral and virtuous so they could soar to commendable heights in education, social care, religion, science, and family? Yeah!  Maybe Betty Friedan could teach a Sunday School class for Jenna Jameson and her ilk. When I read about this young woman outraged because she was not warned about the fellow having sex with her — that is, that he could be loaded with disease potential — I asked myself: Now where was NOW when this young life needed a helping hand? Where, oh, where? NOW spends billions on issues. This surely is a begging issue waiting for urgent attention — especially the sophisticated, educated, contemporary attention that NOW prides itself on dispensing. And where, oh, where was a sex education teacher when this young twit needed to be told that having unprotected sex with strangers could be hazardous to her heath?  And where, oh, where was a pastor when this young sinner needed to be told that she would go to hell for making dirty movies?  This surely is an issue waiting for urgent attention -- especially the self-righteous, strident, overwrought attention that many religious pundits pride themselves on dispensing. So in America where we have so much going for health and sanity, why is not NOW on the cutting edge of helping these females caught up in porn phlegm? Porn phlegm! What a great name for a rock band!  I know that there are men caught up in the same; but right now I’m focusing on women who need another woman to guide aright.  If NOW were all that it was cracked up to be, it would be sending servers to females outside porn lots, warning them not to go through the gates.  "Hi.  I'm a server from NOW, here to warn you not to go through the gates, or rather the condo door, of this porn lot, because you should instead be soaring to commendable heights by taking off your clothes in the fields of education, social care, religion, science and family." It would be advertising warning billboards nationwide. It would be circulating leaflets around university and college campuses cautioning women not to go the porn film route. Kids, just say no to letting yourself be used by money-rakers who want to film you having sex.  Paris Hilton, this PSA is for you! Why, that’s just a start. Surely the sharp brains sipping coffee this gorgeous spring morning in NOW executive offices could come up with a whole pretty list of more helps to provide fems caught in the porn drag. "Fems caught in the porn drag"?  I guess the Pastor knows more about specialized porn niches than one might think suitable for somebody in his position. Now come on, ladies, let’s see you do your thing. The pastor has a whole wallet full of dollar bills at the ready. 3:04:30 AM

White House Censors O'Reilly Column? Here's a portion of Bill O'Reilly's latest column, which is mostly about how Bush is ahead in the polls because he is "steadfast in fighting the terror war," while Kerry wants to involve the UN. Here's a news flash, Senator. Many Americans don't trust the United Nations and well remember it cut and ran in Iraq as soon as the going got tough. The Bush people, of course, are watching all this carefully. A high-ranking Bush advisor told me that as it stands now, . You'll remember that President Ford told a stunned Jimmy Carter and national TV audience that Poland wasn't in the Soviet orbit back in 1975. The high-ranking Bush person also told me that if I used his name in any way, I would disappear to the place where Dick Cheney goes and never be seen again. Obviously, there is something missing from the second paragraph.  Perhaps, by looking at the context and making some deductions, we can figure out what might have been deleted.  My guess: "A high-ranking Bush advisor told me that as it stands now, he, Karl Rove, won't permit the President to debate John Kerry, because he knows that Bush is an idiot who would undoubtedly refer to UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi  as 'Lactose Houdini,' and everybody would laugh at him, like they did at Gerald Ford after his second debate with Jimmy Carter.  You'll remember that President Ford ..." I hope Bill enjoys his stay in the underground cryogenic tube where FEMA stores Dick Cheney when he's not in use. 2:12:37 AM

Bonzo Doesn't Go to College And we thought Ronald Reagan University for Conservative Creme de la Creme had such promise!  Nancy Shoots Down Stupid Plan Nancy Reagan is just saying no to the idea of a Ronald Reagan University in Colorado. Organizers wanted to name a proposed 10,000-student university after the former president, but his wife issued a statement Thursday effectively killing the idea. "We do not support the creation of a separate university," she said. Federal law gives former presidents or their spouses final say over the use of the president's name as long as either is alive, said Terry Walker, the founding president of the university. The rejection was a shock, Walker said. "I'm just sitting here watching Fox News and recovering with a scotch in my hand. When I wake up tomorrow, maybe I'll think about it some more," he said. [...] Walker said he forwarded a formal proposal to Nancy Reagan last week; his request for a meeting was turned down. He said he had spent five months searching for a family representative. It took him five months to find out that Nancy was Ronnie's wife?  Maybe Walker isn't the right guy to head Ronald Reagan U.  But this does free him up to found another school named after a prominent conservative: may I suggest the George W. Bush Clown College? 12:51:46 AM