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June
26, 2006
Libertarian
Commentary on the News, 18 - 24 June 2006 Exclusive to TPOL
Shorter
than has been my wont in recent weeks, as home and business events take
up a lot of time. If you have news stories that I should include in the
commentary, please, send them to TPOL! We want your input. And please
remember, these views (and even the selection of news articles) are my
own, and don't necessarily reflect those of anyone else at all.
NFPA
Study Finds Sharp Drop In Number Of Firefighter Deaths
Fire and Emergency Response Update
Eighty-seven on-duty firefighters died in the United States in 2005, a
sharp decrease from the 103 firefighter fatalities that occurred in 2004
and the third lowest death toll since the National Fire Protection Association
began tracking this information in 1977.
Unlike
all the stories we keep reading that seek to scare us into allowing more
and more control over our lives through laws at all levels, this shows
that our world really is getting safer in many ways - unfortunately, this
gives people the idea that we can develop a society without risk, in which
we will all just die of old age. And that isn't going to happen. But we
need to honor people like this - firemen, medics, people who risk their
lives to save others, and rejoice when fewer die than have in the past.
Catalonians
to vote on autonomy
Arizona Republic
"Spain abounds in humorous stereotypes: party-loving southerners,
street-smart Madrid people and dour, workaholic Catalans. Here, the joke
goes, a man asking an attractive female passerby for the time actually
wants to know. But things get serious Sunday when semiautonomous Catalonia
votes in a referendum offering it even greater autonomy. It is something
conservatives fear will gravely wound the Spanish state. The motion, which
polls predict will pass easily, includes giving wealthy Catalonia many
new rights, including a bigger share of the taxes it collects. Most symbolic,
perhaps, is the recognition, in a roundabout way, that Catalonia is a
'nation.' The conservatives worry that with the Basque country already
autonomous, giving Catalonia new rights will encourage others to demand
the same, putting Spain as they know it on a slippery slope."
[FND editor's note: And this is a bad thing ... how? - TLK] (06/17/06)
For those
not that familiar with history, Catalonia was NOT a true party to the
unification of Leon and Castile that created modern Spain, but was an
annexed territory which has a history and existence distinct from the
rest of Spain. Like the British, the Spanish had a world-girdling empire
created in part based on their experience in imperial conquests much closer
to home. As Tom implies, this recognition of Catalonian nationhood is
a great thing - just as it was when Navarre was recognized, just as it
was when Wales and Scotland started down the path to restored nationhood,
and just as it was when Belgium reorganized as a federal union of three
separate states. Hopefully, we will see the same thing with Lombardy,
Sicily, Brittany, Bayern (Bavaria), and the rest. If we must have a European
Union, then let it be of a hundred and not a dozen nations, each as proud
and autonomous and stiff-necked as a Canadian province or, hopefully,
a Swiss Canton. And then, maybe, we can go back to being a true federal
union here in the United States.
UK:
Paedophiles kept away from schools
Independent [UK]
"John Reid has attempted to regain the initiative on crime by
pledging to crack down on convicted paedophiles. He said that he was barring
child sex offenders from bail hostels close to schools and said ministers
were considering allowing the controlled release of information to parents
about paedophiles in the area. ... David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary,
told the BBC: 'We have to protect the rights and the safety of children
-- that's paramount. But we must make sure we don't end up with some lynch
mob law. And bear in mind we've had the Criminal Records Bureau failures,
with innocent people being given apparent criminal records.'"
(06/18/06)
If they
really wanted to protect the children - their rights, safety, and bodies,
they would arm the school teachers and arm the parents, and make self-defense
again an acceptable right in the UK. That isn't mob rule or lynch law
- it is basic liberty: as long as a convicted sex offender or any other
sort of person wants to live near ANYWHERE should be no business of me
or the state, unless and until that person actually attempts to entice
or harm a child - in which case, the natural law of self-defense and defense
of your family applies.
Chile:
Naked protest
Ananova [UK]
"Students in Chile have staged a naked protest against poor quality
education. A group of 25 college students in Valparaiso stripped off in
the main Sotomayor Square, Las Ultimas Noticias reports. The students
painted their bodies with protest slogans and said they wanted to make
public their complaints about bad schooling in the region. The police
was called [sic] but the protesters were calm and orderly and the police
had to wait until they finished their protest." (06/18/06)
If they
want better schooling, I suggest that they go out and start their own,
and stop demanding more welfare.
Mama's
Note: Sounds also like a convenient excuse to get naked and shock people,
something college age folks are apt to enjoy in any country. Hopefully,
they'll learn better eventually. The people who are forced to pay for
this nonsense should be the ones protesting.
Schools
rethink how to teach ethics
Arizona Republic
"Last fall, Bentley College management Professor Tony Buono taught
a class on corporate scandals with colleagues pitching in from finance,
accounting and even the philosophy department. The four picked through
the cases of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and Shell. At the end of the semester,
the number of students in a simulated trading room who were caught in
misconduct or misusing information for insider trading was significantly
higher than at the beginning. The students said, 'You taught us how to
do it,' Buono recalled. 'For those of us who've spent our careers teaching
this, it's been a disappointing time,' said Buono, who has taught at the
Waltham, Mass., college for 27 years. 'Some of the most renowned names
in the corporate world are now jokes at cocktail parties. And they were
led by graduates of our business programs. That made a lot of us sit up
and rethink the approach of what we're doing.'" (06/18/06)
Funny -
but teaching kids how to have "safe sex" isn't resulting in
more kids having more sex? And teaching kids how to "resist drugs"
isn't teaching them how to get, use, and abuse drugs? Perhaps these people
should stop being "disappointed" and rethink their philosophy
of teaching (as well as understanding the economic version of the Law
of Unintended Consequences.")
Prosecutors
rest in Coast Guard case
Ashtabula Star-Beacon
"Prosecutors rested their rape and assault case against a U.S.
Coast Guard Academy cadet Thursday after a fourth woman testified about
a series of sexual encounters in her dorm room. Webster Smith, 23, of
Houston, is the first cadet to be court-martialed in the academy's history.
He has pleaded not guilty to rape, sodomy, extortion and assault charges
that stem from allegations by his on-again, off-again girlfriend and three
other female cadets. Prosecutors said Smith preyed on young women, manipulating
them into sexual situations when they were drunk and vulnerable."
(06/22/06)
IF we MUST
have government-run military schools, then they should be segregated by
sex, and the old West Point rule should apply. West Point cadets could
NOT be married, and that was in the days when it was also illegal to have
sex if you weren't married - to the person you were having sex with. A
"no-sex" rule would end this - and don't get me started on the
bizarre idea of allowing cadets in military academies to drink. Private
schools could do this, but public schools must be political, and therein
lies the disasters like this one.
Schumer:
Book shows NYC still al Qaeda target
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"A reported plot by al-Qaida terrorists to kill thousands of New
Yorkers by spreading cyanide gas in the subway underscores the folly of
a Homeland Security Department cutback of funds for major cities, a Democratic
lawmaker said Sunday. 'This is just more evidence that what Homeland Security
did to us was terribly misguided and just wrong,' Sen. Charles Schumer
said. 'It shows that New York is the prime target, and shows the importance
of prior intelligence and of manpower.'" [editor's note: The
book in which the alleged plot is reported is the forthcoming The One
Percent Doctrine by Ron Suskind - TLK (06/18/06)
Forget
this kind of garbage claim: it is all about pork, and NOT about security.
Folks, this book Schumer is quoting as gospel is the written equivalent
of a docudrama - somewhere on the vague borderline between historical
fiction and la-la-land. Based on Schumer's logic, NYC would get every
penny of DHS money (which of course wouldn't bother him at all - he'd
be bringing home the bacon).
Arizona
guardsmen head to Mexico border
Waco Tribune-Herald
"About 50 Arizona National Guard troops were sent to the U.S.-Mexican
border Sunday as part of President Bush's plan to assist immigration agents,
officials said. The guardsmen were briefed on U.S. Border Patrol operations
in Yuma and were to begin working Monday as mechanics and radio dispatchers.
A total of 300 guardsmen were expected to arrive at the border by the
end of the week, said Maj. Paul Aguirre, a spokesman for the Arizona National
Guard. The troops will monitor remote cameras, operate communications
equipment and perform other administrative duties." (06/18/06)
This appears
to be the first true deployment under the Bush Border Plan (the earlier
deployment of Utah Combat Support Engineers had been planned for months).
National
Guard arrives in New Orleans
Ottawa Daily Times
"Nine months after they rode to the rescue in the desperate aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina, National Guardsmen carrying M-16s returned to the
city Tuesday to reinforce a depleted police department and battle a surge
in violence. The 100 or so soldiers will patrol the streets in ravaged
neighborhoods left deserted by Katrina, freeing up police officers to
concentrate on more heavily populated sections." (06/21/06)
And were
greeted with open arms by both Mayor Nagging (sic) and the Governor who
cries wolf. Of course, maybe if they hadn't had all those imaginary police
officers on the payroll, or if they hadn't made it clear that private
citizens have no right to defend themselves, they wouldn't be having to
go beg to be turned into Baghdad, Cajun-style.
New
border chief: Walls are not the answer
Somerset Commonwealth Journal
"Two weeks on the job, the new head of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection said Tuesday he does not favor building a huge wall along the
Mexican border. 'I don't support, I don't believe the administration supports
a wall,' Commissioner W. Ralph Basham said in Tucson, where he met with
patrol officials and agents before embarking on a tour across the Arizona
desert. Asked about proposals in Senate- and House-approved immigration
measures to build security walls 380 or 700 miles long, respectively,
Basham said, 'It doesn't make sense, it's not practical.'" (06/20/06)
Walls may
not be, but I recall the old bromide: "good fences make good neighbors."
Free travel is a God-given right, but that doesn't make trespassing right
or proper. And just because we welcome a guest in through our front door
does not mean that it is therefore okay for them to sneak in through the
bathroom window and start living there permanently, even if we hire them
after the fact to clean it for us.
Mama's
Note: I suspect that if they could come in freely through the regular
portals and gates, they would see no advantage in sneaking across the
barren desert and trespassing. Unintended consequences... If your family
is starving to death, you do what you can to stop that, even if it means
doing things you might not otherwise do. This is not to excuse the violent
and the destructive behavior of some, but that should be addressed on
an individual basis, not wholesale condemnation of everyone.
Pennsylvania
city to crack down on illegal immigration
Arizona Republic
"With tensions rising and the Police Department and municipal
budget stretched thin, Hazleton is about to embark on one of the toughest
crackdowns on undocumented immigrants anywhere in the United States. Last
week, the mayor of this former coal town introduced, and the City Council
tentatively approved, a measure that would revoke the business licenses
of companies that employ undocumented immigrants; impose $1,000 fines
on landlords who rent to such immigrants; and make English the official
language of the city. 'Illegal immigrants are destroying the city,' said
Mayor Lou Barletta, a Republican. 'I don't want them here, period.' ...
The City Council, which approved the measure in a 4-1 vote, must vote
on it twice more before it can become law. The next vote is scheduled
for mid-July." (06/20/06)
To the
extent that ANY government should have the right to dictate to ANY business
who they should hire or fire, this is legit. But frankly, no government
SHOULD have such power. That goes double for landlords. The city government
can make Mandarin Chinese its official language, but that gives them no
right to penalize anyone for using or not using a language in private
or even in public. At the same time, if the city wants to restrict whom
it does business with, by saying "we will not buy services or goods
from anyone who employs illegals," that is fully within their right.
And if the taxpayers of a town want to say, "don't spend our money
to help illegals," then again, that is their right. There is a solution,
Mr. Mayor, but this isn't it.
FBI:
Data brokers probably act illegally
Guardian [UK]
"Despite use of private data brokers by federal and local law
enforcement agencies, the FBI said Thursday that practices by such companies
to gather Americans' private telephone records without warrants or subpoenas
are almost certainly illegal. A senior FBI lawyer, Elaine N. Lammert,
did not acknowledge whether any FBI investigators sought telephone records
or other information from data brokers. But Lammert, the bureau's deputy
general counsel for its investigative law branch, told Congress: 'There
are compelling reasons for the government to believe that these operations
violate federal law.'' Internal corporate documents turned over to Congress
by some data brokers include e-mails in which workers described efforts
to impersonate targets of investigations to trick telephone carriers into
revealing private calling records. " (06/22/06)
Horrors!
For once, I agree with the FBI. What is the difference, though, between
a government agent using such tactics and a corporate agent? None that
I can see - both are wrong and evil.
Official:
Seven held in Miami terror probe
Chicago Tribune
"Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early
stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in
the U.S., a federal law enforcement official said. The official told The
Associated Press the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent
ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations. He spoke on
condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt news conferences planned
for Friday in Washington and Miami. Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta
said in a statement that the investigation was an ongoing operation and
that more details would be released Friday. Local media reported that
agents were raiding a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City section."
(06/22/06)
The details
released on Friday seem to indicate that these people were a lot more
hot air than anything - they were talking about bombing, but hadn't actually
done anything towards that goal, unlike the claims made of the Canadian
plotters. Would I be surprised if these turned out to be the real thing
- terrorists figuring out what to do? No. Would I be surprised if someone
was acting as an agent provocateur and got these folks to do all this
"conspiring?" No. The US, and government, is filled with nutcases
and people trying to make a name for themselves at the expense of others.
Will I be surprised if this leads to calls for more curtailments of more
freedoms? Absolutely - just as every school shooting leads to more demonizing
of weapons. Whether the calls lead to anything, we shall sadly have to
wait and see.
Commerce
Sec. seeks immigration balance
Philadelphia Inquirer
"Americans can maintain a balance between enhancing border security
and remaining a nation made up of immigrants, U.S. Commerce Secretary
Carlos Gutierrez said Thursday. 'We don't need to pick between being a
welcoming nation and a nation of laws. We can be both,' Gutierrez said
in a speech to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed
Officials. Emotions have colored the immigration reform debate, keeping
both sides from communicating effectively, he said during NALEO's annual
convention. More than 1,000 people were expected to attend the event and
discuss political and social issues." (06/23/06)
Gee - an
almost reasoned and unemotional statement in this highly charged and often
irrational debate. Of course, he still doesn't speak truth completely
- he seems to be preaching the Bush line all the way. But then, virtually
no one else is, either.
Border
battle now a GOP turf war
Los Angeles Times
"The unorthodox plan by House Republicans for a series of hearings
on immigration policy represents an aggressive effort by hard-line critics
of illegal immigration to reassert control over the emotional debate -
and wrest it from President Bush - as this year's elections approach.
In proposing hearings around the country in July and August, House Speaker
J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has made plain that he and other Republicans
are willing to scuttle Bush's top domestic priority rather than give ground
on Senate legislation - backed by the president - that would provide a
path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants. The hearings will hand
a giant megaphone to vocal conservatives, who White House officials had
hoped would be overshadowed by the president's more moderate tone on how
to rewrite immigration laws. And that is a major setback for Bush and
GOP strategists who worry that rhetoric lambasting the citizenship provision
will alienate the nation's growing number of Latino voters."
(06/22/06)
As I said
earlier, the GOP doesn't have its ducks in a row, and are making a mess
of themselves. While the Demos aren't much better, it does give them hope.
Frankly, some in the GOP (including Bush) are overly sensitive on the
"Latino" vote - most Americans of Spanish heritage are NOT so
tied to amnesty for wetbacks as the press and so many politicians make
out.
Federal
lawsuit challenges Georgia's sex offender law
Rome News-Tribune
"A civil liberties group filed a federal class-action lawsuit
Tuesday challenging a new Georgia law designed to crack down on people
convicted of sexually abusing children, arguing that it is so strict that
it would be impossible for offenders to live in most of the state's urban
and suburban areas. The law, believed to be among the nation's toughest,
is set to go into effect July 1 and would impose stricter limits on where
sex offenders may live, work or spend time - including 1,000-foot buffers
around all school bus stops, churches, schools, childcare centers and
other places where children congregate. The lawsuit was filed by the Atlanta-based
Southern Center for Human Rights on behalf of nine convicted sex offenders."
(06/20/06)
As I have
pointed out before, it is NOT being "friendly" to sex offenders
to say that this kind of thing is wrong. If they are that much of a danger
to society, then stop with the short jail sentences and either (1) execute
them and be done with it, (2) send them to Coventry for life, or (3) exile
them permanently, with NO parole. The map is truly impressive, and the
SCHR is right, in this case.
Top
court affirms sex discrimination award
Yahoo! News
"The Supreme Court made it easier Thursday for workers to show
they suffered retaliation after accusing employers of discrimination.
By a 9-0 vote, the justices said that Sheila White, a railroad forklift
operator, was improperly punished when her employer suspended her for
37 days over a Christmas holiday and reassigned her to more physically
demanding duties as a yard worker. She had accused a supervisor of sexual
harassment. The ruling significantly eases the legal standard for showing
retaliation and could lead to more litigation against companies. ....
Under the court's new standard, the justices defined retaliation as any
action taken by an employer that would intimidate "a reasonable employee"
into backing off from a discrimination complaint." (06/22/06)
Given the
current mess of the law on sexual discrimination, this ruling probably
makes sense, but it will, in my opinion, lead to an even greater mess.
Afghanistan:
30 dead in Taliban attack
Scotsman [UK]
"At least 30 people have been killed in an ambush by Taliban militants
retaliating to a crackdown by US and UK troops in Afghanistan. They attacked
two convoys carrying members of the same family in the south of the country.
The first attack took place yesterday on a party including a former district
chief in the Helmand province, leaving the ex-official and four of his
bodyguards dead. The second ambush occurred several hours later when 30
of the murdered official's relatives went to collect his body. About 2000
UK troops and have joined more than 10,000 Americans in the UK-led Operation
Mountain Thrust, which has killed scores of militants in recent days."
(06/19/06)
Supposedly
this is a reaction to the reaction of the Coalition forces? Please. It
is part of the continuing campaign by the Taliban to reverse the last
five years and reinstate their theocratic dictatorship by replacing yet
another government, and convincing more in the West that the West is in
the wrong. Looking at it another way, it is the latest example of Afghani
history, which is written in the bloodiest of red ink going back for about
4,000 years.
Iran:
US making nuke talks difficult
Bismarck Tribune
"Iran accused the United States on Sunday of steering Europe away
from a possible compromise on Tehran's disputed nuclear program. Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the U.S. insistence on conditional
negotiations over a Western package of incentives has narrowed the scope
of possible talks and made it tougher for all parties to reach a solution.
The incentives are meant to persuade Iran to stop enriching uranium, a
process that can make nuclear fuel for a power plant or fissile material
for an atomic bomb." (06/18/06)
All the
US's fault, is it? A claim sure to resonate with many around the world.
Although I believe the US is not right in this mess, the Iranians have
done nothing to defuse the situation, and many things seemingly intended
only to arouse more ire on the part of not just the US but the Europeans.
T
Dumped
black oil creates toxic swampland in north Iraq
Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Iraqi officials say that in a desperate move to dispose of millions
of barrels of an oil refinery byproduct called 'black oil,' the government
has pumped it into mountain valleys and leaky reservoirs near the Tigris
River and set it on fire. The resulting huge black bogs -- in the heartland
of Iraq's northern Sunni-led insurgency -- are threatening the river and
groundwater in the region, which is dotted with villages and crisscrossed
by itinerant sheep herders. The region also contains Iraq's great northern
refinery complex at Beiji." (06/18/06)
As near
as I can tell, this was continuing a practice of Saddam's government,
typical for tyrannical governments of the 20th Century, who did multiple
times the amount of damage to the environment that the western, "democratic"
states did (not that any governmental system is free from a poor effect
on the environment due to "the tragedy of the commons" and "sovereign
immunity."
Iraq:
New Ramadi siege begins
MSNBC
"Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops set up outposts Sunday in
southern parts of Ramadi as part of an operation to establish Iraqi army
bases in the country's largest Sunni Arab city and wrest it away from
months of insurgent control. U.S. commanders stressed that the operation
was not a large-scale assault on the city but rather an 'isolation' tactic
to prevent insurgents from receiving supplies or reinforcements from outside.
Arab television networks and some Western outlets have reported on an
impending attack on the city." (06/18/06)
Will these
techniques work? Possibly. A better solution would be to allow the people
of these cities the right and ability to defend themselves against the
thugs on both sides who claim to be "government" and want to
run their lives. Sadly, too many Iraqis are apparently perfectly willing
to be slaves - a trait they do not have a monopoly on.
Canada:
Sheehan supports US deserters
Guardian [UK]
"A group of American military deserters publicly embraced their
new lives in Canada on Saturday with the support of 'peace mom' Cindy
Sheehan, who said she wished the son she lost in Iraq was among them.
'I begged him not to go to Iraq,' the antiwar activist said through tears
at a rally in support of the former soldiers, who wore black T-shirts
emblazoned with 'AWOL.' 'And I wish he was standing up here with these
people because he didn't want to go.' Sheehan was making her second visit
to Canada in support of sanctuary for those fleeing the U.S. military.
The Canadian government has so far denied political asylum to U.S. soldiers
who have sought it but appeals are pending." (06/18/06)
Speaking
of Cindy, once more making the entire antiwar movement look foolish, and
angering the very people that they need to win over to their side.
Hidden
toll of Iraq war: 450,000 refugees
Sunday Herald [UK]
"International aid agencies are publishing the first comprehensive
report into the plight of Iraqi refugees in Syria since the start of the
Iraq war in 2003. They estimate that 450,000 Iraqi refugees now live there,
and warn of increasing prostitution among Iraqi women and girls, some
as young as 12 years old, and find evidence of 'organised networks dealing
with the sex trade.'" (06/18/06)
Some would
say that the institution of Islamic marriage (which is as much known for
forcing underage females into marriage as for the four wives each faithful
Muslim man may have) is nothing but prostitution anyway, and virtually
any
Memo
paints bleak picture at Baghdad embassy
MSNBC
"A recent cable to the State Department from the U.S. embassy in
Baghdad outlines a litany of fears and misery among Iraqi employees at
the American diplomatic mission that threaten 'objectivity, civility,
and logic' among workers. The collection of anecdotes from Iraqi workers
in an undisclosed office in the embassy paints an extraordinarily bleak
picture of life in the capital, where local employees do not dare reveal
where they work, even to family members, for fear of retribution."
(06/20/06)
This is
pretty bad, but is exactly what we would expect. For a funny, but insightful
view of this problem, read almost any of Keith Laumer's Retief series
of science fiction stories.
Military
probe finds Iraqi troops killed 2 US soldiers, not ambush
Athens Banner-Herald
"Two California soldiers shot to death in Iraq were murdered by
Iraqi civil-defense officers patrolling with them, military investigators
have found. The deaths of Army Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr. and 1st Lt.
Andre D. Tyson were originally attributed to an ambush during a patrol
near Balad, Iraq, on June 22, 2004. But the Army's Criminal Investigation
Command found that one or more of the Iraqis attached to the American
soldiers on patrol fired at them, a military official said Tuesday."
(06/21/06)
This is
something that every soldier fears, and that will help control the thugs
and idiots and bootlickers that infest any military organization, if the
FedGov tries to use US troops against US citizens: that someone who is
apparently your comrade in arms turns out to be your enemy, either a sleeper,
an impostor, or just someone who got pushed too far. In this case, I suspect
that these are sleepers, hidden Islamicists that joined the new Iraqi
forces for the express purpose of eventually taking advantage of their
position to kill Americans or anyone else their bizarre faith deems enemies.
Afghanistan:
Revived Taliban waging 'full-blown insurgency'
USA Today
"In their biggest show of strength in nearly five years, pro-Taliban
fighters are terrorizing southern Afghanistan - ambushing military patrols,
assassinating opponents and even enforcing the law in remote villages
where they operate with near impunity. 'We are faced with a full-blown
insurgency,' says Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban:
Militant Islam, Oil & Fundamentalism in Central Asia. Four and a half
years after they overthrew the Islamic militia that had controlled much
of Afghanistan, U.S.-led forces have been forced to ramp up the battle
to stabilize this impoverished, shattered country. More than 10,000 U.S.,
Canadian, British and Afghan government troops are scouring southern and
eastern Afghanistan in a campaign called Operation Mountain Thrust. "
(06/20/06)
As a number
of other stories in the commentary this week point out, it is a major
turning point in Afghanistan, and is being imitated in Iraq. See my other
commentary on this entire situation.
Italy
may indict American
New York Daily News
"Italian prosecutors sought the murder indictment yesterday of
a Bronx soldier already cleared by the U.S. military in the shooting death
of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq. The case against Army Spec.
Mario Lozano was 'still at the preliminary phase' but could lead to a
request for extradition, said a spokesman for the Italian Embassy in Washington.
Pentagon officials said that a U.S. Military investigation had ruled the
March 2005 death of Italian agent Nicola Calipari near the Baghdad airport
a 'tragic accident.' Military law experts, speaking on background, said
that any U.S. agreement to extradition was highly unlikely and the only
danger of prosecution Lozano could face would be if he agreed to go to
Italy voluntarily." (06/20/06)
Let them
go ahead. It is their right, just as it is the soldier's right not to
be extradited for a crime for which he has already been cleared by a competent
court. It sounds like an Italian prosecutor must be up for reelection.
Iraq:
Missing soldiers' bodies found; attacks continue
Guardian [UK]
"The bodies of two U.S. soldiers who had been reported kidnapped
have been found near the checkpoint where the men disappeared after an
attack, a senior Iraqi military official said Tuesday. The U.S. Military
said two bodies had been found but had not yet been identified. ... Earlier
Tuesday, a parked minivan exploded in a busy outdoor market in a Baghdad
slum, killing four people and wounding 16, police said. Elsewhere, a suicide
bomber wearing an explosives belt blew himself up in a home for the elderly
in the southern city of Basra, killing two people and wounding three."
(06/20/06)
Thousands
of soldiers, both Iraqi and US, searched for these two men, whose bodies
were later formally identified. (Their bodies were so badly mutilated
that it required DNA testing to verify that they were the two.) It was
also claimed to be the first act of the dead Al Manzuri's replacement
- he appears to be even bloodier than the dead leader.
Soldiers
charged with killing Iraqi prisoners
CNN
"Three members of the 101st Airborne Division have been charged
with murder in the May shooting deaths of three Iraqi prisoners, the U.S.
Military announced Monday. Pentagon sources told CNN the soldiers claimed
the prisoners were attempting to flee at the time. The three soldiers
have been identified as Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Pfc. Corey Claggett
and Spc. William B. Hunsacker of the 101st Airborne's 3rd Brigade Combat
Team, the military said." (06/19/06)
Sounds
like the court martial is the appropriate way to determine what really
happened. "Shot while escaping" is both a common plot device
and a real-world, actual situation.
Iraq:
State of emergency as Baghdad erupts
Cumberland Times-News
"The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed
a curfew Friday after insurgents set up roadblocks in central Baghdad
and opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops outside the heavily fortified
Green Zone. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered everyone off the streets
of the capital. U.S. And Iraqi forces also fought gunmen in the volatile
Dora neighborhood in south Baghdad. A car bomb ripped through a market
and nearby gas station in the increasingly violent southern city of Basra,
killing at least five people and wounding 18 .... A bomb also struck a
Sunni mosque in Hibhib, northeast of Baghdad, killing 10 worshippers and
wounding 15 .... At least 19 other deaths were reported in Baghdad. Throughout
the morning, Iraqi and U.S. Military forces clashed with attackers armed
with rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and rifles in busy Haifa
Street .... Gunmen also attacked a group of worshippers marching from
Sadr City, the Shiite slum in eastern Baghdad, to the Buratha mosque on
the other side of the city to protest a suicide attack a week ago ....
At least one marcher was killed and four were wounded .... The U.S. Military
also said two U.S. Marines were killed during combat in the volatile Anbar
province in separate attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, and a soldier
died elsewhere in a non-combat incident on Wednesday .... Police said
they found the bodies of five men who apparently were victims of a mass
kidnapping from a factory on Wednesday .... the U.S. Military said it
killed four foreign insurgents in a raid north of Fallujah. Two of the
dead men had 15-pound bombs strapped to their bodies. The military said
an insurgent thought to be an Iraqi also was killed in the raid ..."
(06/23/06)
This is
very much reminiscent of what has been going on in Afghanistan for the
past few weeks, and even of the "Tet Offensive" in the Vietnam
War, when the "insurgents" have suddenly exploded in a burst
of blood and bravado. It is critical to the opponents that the new, finally-in-place
and operating, Iraqi regime be shown up as worthless, or even worse, just
a puppet for the occupation force. And so, (and different from the other
locations), the targets are other Iraqis more than the occupation forces.
Officials:
GOP wrong on WMDs
MSNBC
"Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday they have no
evidence that Iraq produced chemical weapons after the 1991 Gulf War,
despite recent reports from media outlets and Republican lawmakers. Sen.
Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan on Wednesday
pointed to a newly declassified report that says coalition forces have
found 500 munitions in Iraq that contained degraded sarin or mustard nerve
agents. They cited the report in an attempt to counter criticism by Democrats
who say the decision to go to war was a mistake." (06/22/06)
"He
said, she said." This supposedly secret report has been reported
on many times, and has been ignored many times. Read it for yourself and
decide.
Casey:
US forces in Iraq to shrink
Indianapolis Star
"The top U.S. commander in Iraq predicted on Thursday that the
size of the U.S. fighting force will shrink this year, although he said
he had not made new recommendations to his Pentagon bosses on the size
and timing of any cuts. 'I'm confident that we'll be able to continue
to take reductions over the course of this year,' Army Gen. George Casey
told a Pentagon news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
at his side." (06/22/06)
Good news?
Maybe, and maybe not? Why draw down? Is it to let Iraq go its way (assuming
it can)? Is it to give tired US troops a rest? They need it. Is it to
free up troops for more misadventures? We don't need that.
Mama's
Note: Don't look for the COST of this insanity to shrink, however.
Karzai
criticizes US-led coalition
Juneau Empire
"President Hamid Karzai criticized the U.S.-led coalition's anti-terror
campaign Thursday, deploring the deaths of hundreds of Afghans and appealing
for more help for his government. Karzai's sharp assessment came as Osama
bin Laden's deputy urged Afghans to revolt against coalition forces, and
four more U.S. Soldiers were killed. More than four years after U.S.-led
forces toppled the extremist Taliban government, Afghanistan is gripped
by its deadliest spate of post-invasion violence. To try curb the bloodshed,
more than 10,000 coalition forces have launched a major offensive against
militants across southern Afghanistan. More than 600 people, mainly militants,
have been killed since May." (06/22/06)
Karzai
is behaving in typical politician fashion: play both ends against the
middle. He doesn't want Coalition forces fighting, but he wants more help.
I suppose this is a way of stating that he is looking for "earmarks"
- not for more troops.
Senate
rejects calls for withdrawal from Iraq
CNN
"The GOP-controlled Senate Thursday rejected Democratic calls
to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq by year's end, as the two parties
sought to define their election-year positions on a war that has grown
increasingly unpopular. 'Withdrawal is not an option. Surrender is not
a solution,' declared Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee,
who characterized Democrats as defeatists wanting to abandon Iraq before
the mission is complete." (06/22/06)
Gee, THIS
was a surprise, wasn't it? The Democrats can't get their act together
and all agree, so to expect to win any GOP votes was foolish - except
that they can now scream about it for the election. Posturing, and very
little more - by both sides of the issue.
IL:
Korea vet had surprise for intruder
Belleville News
"Willie Brown shrugged off the noises downstairs early Thursday,
but the 74-year-old was fully awake when he saw a man holding a knife
in his bedroom doorway. 'He said, 'Don't move, I got a knife.' I said,
'You got a knife, huh?' He said, 'Yeah.' I reached under my pillow and
came up firing my .38 Smith and Wesson. He said, 'Oops' and turned and
ran down the steps. I followed and shot him again,' Brown said."
(06/16/06)
I don't
have to say it, but I will. "Don't bring a knife to a gun party."
Home invaders should not expect to survive their encounters with properly
prepared peaceful homeowners.
AZ:
Self-defense law before state high court
Mohave Daily News
"Faced with conflicting rulings by lower courts, the Arizona Supreme
Court will consider a request that the justices decide whether a new state
law on self defense should apply retroactively. The law, which took effect
immediately upon Gov. Janet Napolitano's signature on April 24, is more
favorable to defendants than a now-replaced statute. Justice Michael D.
Ryan on Wednesday ordered expedited consideration of Maricopa County prosecutors'
appeal of a trial judge's decision in a Maricopa County case that the
law should apply retroactively to the case because it was pending when
the law took effect." (06/16/06)
I think
a basic principle should apply here - laws that INCREASE the penalty on
a person breaking them can never be retroactive (post-ex-defacto) but
laws which REDUCE or DECREASE the penalty should always be applied to
cases currently in the courts, AND should be used to justify pardons for
those already convicted. It would seem to me that since Gov. Napolitano
signed the law, that the defense should stop messing with appeals and
go straight to her for a pardon dated about 15 seconds after the conviction
takes effect. Case closed.
SC:
Store heist erupts into shoot-out
Bluffton Island Packet
"A Hardeeville liquor store manager decided he'd have his own
shot -- or two -- at exacting justice on the man who robbed his store
at gunpoint Monday morning. After the robber took about $1,500 to $2,000
in cash from the counter of Greene's Package Shop, manager Herbert Tolar
snubbed the man's demand that he stay in the store for 10 minutes, instead
chasing the robber out with his .38-caliber revolver in hand. 'He threatened
my life, and I was going to kill the (SOB),' Tolar said Monday afternoon.
Tolar said he shot at the robber twice as he ran away, and the robber
shot back. No one was hit." (06/18/06)
In this
case, I don't know who was more stupid - the robber who thought he could
demand this, or the guy charging out into what could have been an ambush
- and still can't hit his target. And this also may have crossed the line
between self-defense and revenge. Still, I'll tend to side with the guy
who was robbed before I stick up for the armed robber. But Mr. Tolar needs
to get some training, fast.
GA:
Suspect shot by pawn shop employee
Access North Georgia
"A man who attempted to rob a DeKalb County pawn shop was in stable
condition Tuesday after being shot by an employee, a police spokesman
said. The 21-year-old man, armed with a knife, entered Evans Mill Pawn
Shop and tried to hold up the store Tuesday morning, Dekalb County police
Officer Herschel Grangent said. The man attacked one of the store's employees,
who pulled out a gun and shot the man several times." (06/20/06)
"Suspect"
is not the word I'd use in the headline, for certain. This case should
be open and shut - a coroner's jury is all that is needed.
More
News and Commentary on Page 2
Nathan
Barton is writing this from a wonderful place in the West, which might
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of freedom. For thousands of years, people have fought and died for the
liberty that Americans in the great spaces of the West enjoy, and he writes
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to do so, until the end of Time.
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