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Sarin Gas Released by Iraq Roadside Bomb Fox News — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq — A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent exploded near a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said Monday. Two people were treated for "minor exposure," but no serious injuries were reported. | |
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Ezra Klein: Rejoice Not — As the right rejoices in a Sarin bombing (Two people were injured in the greatest show of power last... Robert Prather: Chemical Waepons Found In Iraq, Though Stckpiles Still Unaccounted For FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Sarin, Mustard Gas... Tom Smith: Then there's this: Gazi George, a former Iraqi nuclear scientist under Saddam's regime, told Fox News that he believes... |
Steve Antler: More... In addition to everything I complained about this morning, weapons of mass destruction have now been found in Iraq. Mike Hendrix: Looks like it isn't just one, either, which ought to short-circuit another inevitable argument from the Left but won't. Betsy Newmark: Fox News also had news of mustard gas that was also found in Iraq. |
| Also: Captain Ed, Jan Haugland, James Joyner, Clayton Cramer, Cori Dauber, Smash, Steven Taylor | |
Sarin Nerve Agent Bomb Explodes in Iraq By / AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq - A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent exploded near a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said Monday. Two people were treated for "minor exposure," but no serious injuries were reported. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: SARIN GAS IN IRAQ — Like everyone else, I find this story to be quite interesting. Steve Antler: UPDATE: Nope. Sorry, my mistake. [snipped quote] (As far as I know, however, Rosenberg is still using the same new template.) Captain Ed: Sarin Artillery Shell Discovered In Iraq — It looks like the death of the WMD justification has been somewhat... |
Oliver Willis: WMD! WMD! Or not. Two former weapons inspectors — Hans Blix and David Kay — said the shell was likely a stray weapon... Steve Messina: The incident occurred "a couple of days ago," he said... "The former regime had declared all such rounds destroyed... Steve Dillard: And here's another report on the sarin nerve agent bomb explosion in Iraq today. |
| Also: Jon Henke, Clayton Cramer, Damian Penny, Smash, Cori Dauber, Charles Johnson | |
Car bomb kills Iraqi Governing Council leader CNN — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — The current president of the Iraqi Governing Council was among several people killed Monday in a suicide car bombing near Baghdad's Green Zone, a council official said. | |
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Mark Kleiman: Mickey reponded (to Fareed Zakaria, not to me) that things aren't getting any better. Maybe he's got a point. Steve Messina: UPDATE: The CNN story is a bit clearer about Kimmitt's reason for believing this is a Saddam-era weapon:... Jeff Goldstein: Looks like we may have found some more of those WMDs that never existed... In related news, Al Qaeda continues to have no connection to Iraq. update: Nevermind. |
Moe Lane: As I've seen links of the Iraqi sarin gas shell story in comments, we might as well give it its own thread. Captain Ed: CNN says that this is not the first chemical-weapon shell discovered, either: "The general said the Iraqi Survey Group,... Jan Haugland: This was not the preferrable way to find Saddam's nerve gas, I have to say. Update: CNN has more details. |
| Also: Smash, Atrios, Patrick Belton | |
'Nerve gas bomb' explodes in Iraq BBC — Permalink An artillery shell containing a small amount of the nerve gas sarin has exploded in Iraq. Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt said the blast had caused a small release of the substance and two people had been treated for exposure to the agent. | |
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Steve Messina: ABOUT THAT SARIN... From the BBC: ...a senior coalition source has told the BBC the round does not signal the discovery... Captain Ed: UPDATE: The BBC also carries the story, and notes: [quote] Gen Kimmitt said the dispersal of the nerve agent from a device such as the homemade bomb was "limited".[end quote] Jon Henke: Which would be very interesting and hard to explain... UPDATE II: Captain Ed has more, and finds this BBC story, which... |
Steve Soto: No, We Haven't Found The WMDs — Before the Bush supporters get too giddy over the explosion of a bomb in Iraq several... Jan Haugland: Nerve gas artillery round explodes in Iraq — An artillery round with a small amount of the deadly nerve gas sarin has exploded in Iraq. Cori Dauber: The BBC is dismissing the whole episode: However, a senior coalition source has told the BBC the round does not signal... |
| Also: David T | |
U.S. Army Says It Finds Shell with Sarin Agent in Iraq Reuters — Permalink BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A small amount of the nerve agent sarin was found in a shell that exploded in Iraq , the U.S. army said Monday in the first announcement of discovery of any of the weapons on which Washington made its case for war. | |
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Donald Sensing: Iraq terrorists use military chemical weapon — Reuters is reporting that terrorists used an artillery chemical round as a roadside bomb that exploded a few days ago. Brian Crouch: Unrooted from historical context, Al-Reuters does its best to minimize the damage from reality: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A... Blackfive: However, France and Germany as well as Democratic lawmakers and liberal political groups in the United States accuse the... |
Betsy Newmark: Sarin Nerve Gas found in Iraq. Hmmm. How could that have gotten there? Hesiod: TIMING IS EVERYTHING: Interesting: [snipped quote] Boy. Those insurgents and terrorists sure do have really bad timing. Tim Cavanaugh: "It is a weapon that we believe was stocked from the ex-regime time," says Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, "and it had... |
| Also: Cori Dauber, Sparkey | |
Iraqi Governing Council President Killed in Attack WaPo — Permalink BAGHDAD, May 17 — The president of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed early Monday in a huge explosion set off by a suicide bomber outside the headquarters of the U.S.-led occupation authority here. | |
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Smash: Other News of the Day — IZZEDINE SALIM, a Shiite who held the Iraqi Governing Council's rotating presidency for the month of May, was killed by a car bomb in Baghdad. James Joyner: Update: WaPo is downplaying the story as well, carrying the same AP report with a different headline, although... Kos: Iraqi leadership targeted — The latest devastating blow in Iraq. [snipped quote] Bush broke it, and there's no way he can fix it. |
Matthew Yglesias: The Weekly Standard has a highly informative article about the life and times of Abu Zarqawi, the man behind some of the... Ted Belman: Iraqi Governing Council President Killed in Attack 10 Iraqis Killed, 6 Wounded in Suicide Bomb Attack By Scott Wilson... Aaron @LiquidList: Just six weeks before the June 30 handover of sovereignty, the leader of the so-called Iraqi Governing Council was... |
| Also: Nick Gillespie, Glenn Reynolds, KJL | |
No Way to Run a War By / Opinion Journal — Permalink Though America has condemned the cruelties of Abu Ghraib, they remain nonetheless a symbol of the inescapable fact that the war has been run incompetently, with an apparently deliberate contempt for history, strategy, and thought, and with too little regard... | |
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Deacon: There's plenty to think about in this critique of our efforts in Iraq by the gifted Mark Helprin. Vanderleun: MARK HELPRIN: Essential Reading — A LUCID AND ARRESTING ARTICLE on what is to be done in Iraq: Written on Water ... Dale Franks: Emerods on both their houses — Mark Helprin writes a devastating critique of Bush's conduct of the war in Iraq. |
Steve Bainbridge: Mark Helprin's Must Read Column — Mark Helprin's WSJ ($) op-ed, available to nonsubscribers via OpinionJournal.com, is... Glenn Reynolds: MARK HELPRIN says that both the Democrats and the Republicans are clueless on the war. Jonah Goldberg: HELPRIN — This is very tough stuff but very much worth reading. |
| Also: Charles Johnson, Michael DeBow | |
Roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent explodes in Iraq By / San Francisco Chronicle — Permalink (05-17) 08:03 PDT BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent exploded near a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said Monday. Two people were treated for "minor exposure," but no serious injuries were reported. | |
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The Big Trunk: That seems to me the question raised by the story of the day: "Roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent explodes in Iraq." Steve Dillard: Lookie what turned up in Iraq: Can you say "four more years?" And here's another report on the sarin nerve agent bomb explosion in Iraq today. |
Hugh Hewitt: An artillery shell containing sarin nerve gas —a WMD by anyone's definition— was used against American troops today, with two soldiers injured. Cori Dauber: The San Fransisco Chronicle also has to bring up past failures: U.S. troops have announced the discovery of other... |
Showdown at the Communion Rail By / Time — Permalink It has — amazingly — been 44 years since a Catholic ran for the presidency of the U.S. under a major-party banner. And how things have changed. In 1960 John F. Kennedy had to convince Americans that he was not too Catholic to be President. | |
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Dale Franks: The source of this discomfort is the suggestion that pro-choice, Roman Catholic politicians be refused communion, since,... Steve Dillard: On denying communion to proabort pols: Ramesh Ponnuru makes the following point, which I think is well worth reflecting... Andrew Sullivan: COMMUNION WARS: How politicized will the Eucharist become? My latest column for Time. |
Steve Bainbridge: Ramesh v. Andrew on the Communion Issue — Ramesh Ponnuru, my favorite Cornerite, responds to Andrew Sullivan's Time... Ramesh Ponnuru: "SHOWDOWN AT THE COMMUNION RAIL" — I was going to refrain from commenting on the latest piece about this issue on the... |
Bomb containing deadly sarin explodes in Iraq MSNBC — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq - A roadside bomb containing sarin exploded after it was discovered by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, releasing a "small quantity" of the deadly nerve agent but causing no casualties, a U.S. military spokesman said Monday. Brig. | |
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Jim Henley: Watch This Space - We may have discovered an actual chemical weapon in Iraq, as you've probably read by now. Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Reader Kevin Greene says the spin has already started: "Found this quote interesting, and proof that the left... |
Edward _: From MSNBC.com [snipped quote] No, just enough to let those who really wanted there to be WMD in Iraq believe they're now exonerated. Sparkey: Two members of the ordnance team were treated, Kimmitt said. REUTERS has a similar story here. |
Bomb Kills Head of Iraq Governing Council By / AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The head of the Iraqi Governing Council was killed in a suicide car bombing near a checkpoint outside the coalition headquarters in central Baghdad on Monday, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq ahead of a handover of sovereignty on June 30. | |
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Juan Cole: President of Interim Governing Council Assassinated — A suicide car bomber assassinated the current president of the... Thorley Winston: Bomb Kills Head of Iraq Governing Council — [snipped quote] Read the whole thing TChris: Iraqi Governing Council Member Killed — Abdel-Zahraa Othman, a/k/a Izzadine Saleem, was killed in a Baghdad car bombing. |
Roger Ailes: The Cakewalk Report — [snipped quote] U.S. officials promptly resolved the crisis by calling Saleem's killer a "terrorist." Edward _: The Garage Is Open — Why do we let Chalabi get away with this? |
Integration Day By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON — Today is the day that gay citizens in this country cross a milestone of equality. Gay couples will be married in Massachusetts — their love and commitment and responsibility fully cherished for the first time by the society they belong to. | |
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Will Baude: Justice Breyer and Andrew Sullivan both have op-eds in todays Times, although each is really writing as much about... Andrew Sullivan: INTEGRATION DAY: What marriage rights are ultimately about: an end to emotional segregation. |
Josh Chafetz: I wish them all the best! Andrew Sullivan's op-ed on marriage in today's NYT is well-worth a read. James Joyner: Gay Integration — In a NYT op-ed, Andrew Sullivan [RSS] notes the symbolic serendipity that the first legally... |
The Rule of Law and the Rules of War By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON — With questions being raised regarding the treatment of detainees in both Guantánamo Bay and Iraq, it is important to revisit the origins of what has been a consistent and humane policy by the United States on this matter. | |
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Kos: Doubletalk on the Geneva Convention — From the fine folks at the Center for American Progress: [snipped quote] Liars. |
Tim Dunlop: Approach the bench — In the post below about torture, I mention the memo produced by White House counsel, Alberto Gonzalez, and what a vile document it is. |
Pentagon: Hersh report 'journalist malpractice' CNN — Permalink NEW YORK (CNN) — Officials in the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community Monday flatly denied a New Yorker magazine report that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved a clandestine unit to crack down on terrorists held at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, where inmates were abused. | |
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Baldilocks: Did Rumsfeld Give the Orders? Hersch says it's true. Five-sided building occupants say it's bovine excrement. Blackfive: They had bad morale, bad leadership, no training, etc... Update: CNN "Pentagon: Hersh report 'journalist malpractice'" |
Angry Bear: Hersh Denial — If everything Hersh wrote is true, this sounds exactly like what the Pentagon would say. |
Kennedy's calumnies have gone way too far al.com — Permalink Edward Kennedy ought to resign from the U.S. Senate. Likewise, Sen. Kennedy's protegé John Kerry ought to publicly disassociate himself from, and denounce in no uncertain terms, his mentor's latest inflammatory remarks. | |
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H.D. Miller: Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho — Ted Kennedy's got to go: [snipped quote] Testify, brother, testify! KJL: KENNEDY SHOULD RESIGN — The Alabama Mobile Register is calling on Massachusetts's senior senator to call it quits—and challenges John Kerry to nudge him. |
Quin Hillyer: I thought y'all might enjoy these three editorials. First, why Kennedy must go. Second, on who al-Zarqawi is. |
Bush closes gap in Illinois despite bad grade in Iraq By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink President Bush gained on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in Illinois in the last two months despite growing concern over Iraq and the administration's response to Iraqi prisoner abuse, a new Daily Southtown poll shows. | |
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Robert Prather: Illinois Is In Play!! Bush closes gap in Illinois despite bad grade in Iraq I'm kidding with the title. |
Bill Hobbs: UPDATE: The Chicago Sun Times reports that Bush is gaining on Kerry in Illinois, despite two months of bad press over... |
Fundraiser Denies Link Between Money, Access WaPo — Permalink MASON, Ohio — Richard T. Farmer is one of America's richest men and a Bush Pioneer by virtue of having raised at least $100,000 for the 2000 campaign. Over the past 15 years, he and his wife have given $3.1 million to Bush campaigns, the Republican Party and Republican candidates. | |
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The Poor Man: If you wonder why anyone should care about this, read this and this and this and this and this. That'll teach you to wonder stuff. |
Mark Kleiman: Nothing to see here, folks — James Grimaldi and Tom Esdall of the Washington Post tell a story of political money and environmental decision-making. |
A Proposal to Fight Cultural Segregation By / TCS — Permalink "The growing insularity of the elites means, among other things, that political ideologies lose touch with the concerns of ordinary citizens... Both left- and right-wing ideologies, in any case, are now so rigid that new ideas make little impression on their adherents. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: Kling on Lasch — Must read TCS column by Arnold Kling on Christopher Lasch's The Revolt of the Elites, giving a hat tip to your truly for having flagged it. |
Edward Driscoll: FIFTY YEARS AFTER BROWN VS BOARD OF EDUCATION, segregation remains a serious problem, writes Arnold Kling, in Tech Central Station. |
Web Site Cites Bush-Riggs Link By / WaPo — Permalink A political Web site written by a Democratic operative drew attention yesterday to the fact that President Bush's uncle, Jonathan J. Bush, is a top executive at Riggs Bank, which this week agreed to pay a record $25 million in civil fines for violations of law intended to thwart money laundering. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: Bush's Uncle is Head of Bank Fined in Money Laundering Probe — This article appeared in Saturday's Washington Post:... |
Kos: The piece got noticed by the WaPo, which ran a brief piece on it on page A02. |
Powell Says C.I.A. Was Misled About Weapons By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, May 16 — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said for the first time on Sunday that he now believes that the Central Intelligence Agency was deliberately misled about evidence that Saddam Hussein was developing unconventional weapons. | |
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Tarek @LiquidList: Politics: Overlooked — Overlooked in all the stories about Secretary of State Colin Powell's interview with Tim... Jon Henke: Like an oil spill in a clear blue lake — In an otherwise straightforward piece on Colin Powell's statement that some of... |
Matthew Yglesias: The New York Times has a good summary of one of the more interesting segments of Colin Powell's Meet The Press... |
Sarin Nerve Gas Round Found, Partly Detonated in Iraq (Update1) Bloomberg — Permalink May 17 (Bloomberg) — A small shell containing Sarin nerve gas was discovered and partly detonated in Iraq today, U.S. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said during a briefing televised from Baghdad. | |
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Bill Hobbs: Yet More WMD in Iraq For The Left To Deny — Sarin nerve gas - a weapon of mass destruction - found in a roadside bomb in Iraq. |
Sparkey: REUTERS has a similar story here. UPDATE#1: The Bloomgerg story is updated here, and MSNBC has a story here. |
Ex-Congressman Janklow Released from Jail Reuters — Permalink SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Reuters) - Former South Dakota Rep. Bill Janklow was released from jail on Monday after serving 100 days on a manslaughter conviction for speeding through a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist. | |
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Steven Taylor: A Long Way to Have Fallen — Ex-Congressman Janklow Released from Jail "Former South Dakota Rep. Bill Janklow was... |
Roger Ailes: Grand Old Police Blotter: A Killer Smile Edition — [snipped quote] Solitary confinement has a slightly different meaning when you're a Republican. |
Baghdad blast kills Iraq leader BBC — Permalink The current head of Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council has been killed in a car bomb blast near the headquarters of the US-led coalition in Baghdad. Ezzedine Salim was near a checkpoint outside the compound when the bomb went off, killing him and several others. | |
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Steve Soto: It doesn't inspire confidence when the current head of the Iraqi Governing Council is killed in the streets of Baghdad while he is waiting to enter the Green Zone compound. |
Jan Haugland: Iraq Governing Council leader assassinated — Ezzedine Salim, the head of the interim Iraqi Governing Council has been... |
Historic date arrives for same-sex couples in Massachusetts Boston Globe — Permalink Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to permit gays and lesbians to wed just after midnight today, when Cambridge City Hall welcomed more than 250 same-sex couples who applied for the marriage licenses many thought they would never see in their lifetimes. | |
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Kos: A glorious day From the Boston Globe: Same-sex marriages have been legal in Mass. for what, five or six hours? |
Hugh Hewitt: Same-sex marriage came to Massachusetts at a minute after midnight last night, when the city of Cambridge began issuing licenses to same sex couples. |
A Fake Macedonia Terror Tale That Led to Deaths By / NYT — Permalink SKOPJE, Macedonia, May 14 - Roughly two months after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, a group of high-level officials met here in Macedonia's Interior Ministry to determine how their country could take part in the United States-led campaign against terror. | |
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Jesse Walker: The Macedonian Conspiracy — From today's Times: "Roughly two months after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and... |
Cori Dauber: One of the bodies had 53 bullet holes. But the job was so clumsy that one pistol planted on a body was put in a pocket over four bullet holes — but was untouched. |
No Security, No Democracy By / MSNBC — Permalink May 24 issue - Larry Diamond is not going back to Iraq. One of America's foremost experts on building democracy—a man who has spent years studying and helping countries from Asia to South America make the transition—he had been working with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad over the last few months. | |
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Robert Garcia Tagorda: This possibility could undermine confidence in democratic government, as Fareed Zakaria suggests. |
Captain Ed: Zakaria argues that the current lack of a reasonably secure and stable environment means that any elections will make... |
Gov. Keeps Distance From Bush Campaign By / LAT — Permalink SACRAMENTO — As President Bush spends more time on the campaign trail, there is one prominent and popular Republican virtually silent in his support for the president: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: Turn to the paper's front page this morning: "Governor Keeps Distance from Bush Campaign." |
Taegan Goddard: Schwarzenegger Keeps Distance From Bush — "With his own movie-star allure and significant political disputes" with... |
Suicide Car Bomb Kills Iraq Governing Council Chief Reuters — Permalink BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber killed the head of Iraq 's Governing Council Monday, increasing fears that instability will make a new Iraqi government unable to function when U.S. occupiers hand it power in six weeks. | |
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Charles Johnson: Iraqi Jihad Strikes Again — Suicide Car Bomb Kills Iraq Governing Council Chief. [snipped quote] "Martyrs?" |
Steve Antler: Mama said there'd be days like this... Izzedin Salim has been assasinated, Asian stocks are posting disorderly declines... |
Divided Mission in Iraq Tempers Views of G.I.'s By / NYT — Permalink KARBALA, Iraq, May 16 — Six weeks ago, soldiers of the First Armored Division were renovating schools. Now they are raiding them for hidden munitions. Children wave to them along the roads, while insurgents with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades make them targets. | |
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Steve Soto: This piece in the New York Times this morning shows the challenge faced by our troops, many of whom would like to... |
Cori Dauber: So when the Times puts an article on the front page with the response of a bunch of twenty year olds to this turning... |
Today's battle in classrooms: Resegregation By / CNN — Permalink LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CNN) — Two black and two white students sit around a table at Central High School and speak in glowing terms about the racial climate and quality of education at their school — the only working school designated a National Historic Site. | |
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Dean Esmay: 50 Years — Today is the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. |
Captain Ed: However, as CNN notes, city public schools such as the celebrated Central High School in Little Rock have seen a... |
Bush's Job Approval Drops to Record Low 42% Zogby — Permalink President George W. Bush's job approval rating dropped to 42%— a record low for his administration and a drop of six points from last month, according to a new Zogby International poll. The poll of 985 likely voters was conducted Monday through Thursday (May 10-13, 2004). | |
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Hesiod: While I wasn't surprised to see that libertarians favor Bush over Kerry, I was surprised by the percentage: 80-0! Yes. Steve Soto: Here is the Zogby report I talked about on Friday, showing similar falling numbers for Bush. Mathew Gross: The requisite disclaimer: it's early, six months is a lifetime in politics, anything can happen, etcetera... But... |
Mark Kleiman: And they further know that, no matter how optimistic we feel, (and, yes, the new Zogby numbers look pretty good) the odds are still on Bush. Ruy Teixeira: (Note: Zogby also has his rating at 42 percent, but Zogby job ratings are based on a different question and are therefore not directly comparable with other public polls.) Chris Bowers: New Zogby Poll — Information galore in the New Zogby Poll: May 10-13, 985 LV, MoE 3.2 (April 15-17 results in... |
| Also: Taegan Goddard | |
Down but Not Out, Kucinich Keeps On Fighting By / NYT — Permalink PORTLAND, Ore. , May 16 - Before Americans get too engrossed in a general election contest between President Bush and Senator John Kerry, Dennis J. Kucinich would like to remind them of something: He's still out here, working hard every day, slogging from town... | |
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Howard Kurtz: But Dennis Kucinich is available. The NYT finds that he's still running for president. Daniel Drezner: After reading Rick Lyman's New York Times article about Dennis Kucinich's ongoing campaign, I think that time has come for the good representative from the state of Ohio. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Meanwhile, Dennis Kucinich, down but not out, is still fighting for the Democratic nomination. |
Head of Governing Council Killed in Car Bombing AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq — The head of the Iraqi Governing Council (search) was killed in a homicide car bombing near a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad on Monday, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq ahead of a handover of sovereignty on June 30. | |
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Sadly @SadlyNo: This can't be good — Fox News reports: [snipped quote] That is one wickedly effective flypaper they've got going over there... |
Damian Penny: Governing council head killed — The president of the Iraqi governing council has been killed by a bomb: Abdel-Zahraa... |
Iraqi General Urges Support of U.S. Troops By / AP — Permalink FALLUJAH, Iraq - A former Saddam Hussein -era general appointed by the Americans to lead an Iraqi security force in the rebellious Sunni stronghold of Fallujah urged tribal elders and sheiks Sunday to support U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq . | |
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Smash: Read what Latif himself had to say at a town meeting in Fallujah on Sunday, as reported by Katarina Kratovac of the... Andrew Olmsted: But at the same time, one of the former Iraqi generals in charge of the security force in Fallujah called on its leaders to support American efforts to stablize Iraq. |
Glenn Reynolds: VIA CICADA, an interesting report from Fallujah: [snipped quote] I know that some people in the blogosphere think we're... Betsy Newmark: A former Iraqi general offers some wise words. [snipped quote] He reminds me of Grant's campaign slogan, "Let us have peace." |
Once considered fringe, al-Sadr movement now leads anti-U.S. fight By / AP — Permalink NAJAF, Iraq (AP) Not long ago, U.S. officials and senior Shiite clergy viewed radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a fringe figure with a narrow base of support. Times have changed. | |
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Mark Kleiman: AP's Hamza Hedwawi seems equally pessimistic; he says fighting while the senior ayatollahs are talking is winning Sadr support. Andrew Olmsted: (Hat tip: The Agonist.) al-Sadr may not be having great success in driving Coalition forces from Iraq, but he may be... |
Juan Cole: Hamzah Hendawi of AP offers a useful set of observations about the rising popularity of Muqtada and offers some insight... |
The Curse of Pan-Arabia By / Opinion Journal — Permalink Consider a tale of three cities: In Fallujah, there are the beginnings of wisdom, a recognition, after the bravado, that the insurgents cannot win in the face of a great military power. | |
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McQ: Crocodile tears — Foud Ajami, in the WSJ Opinion-Journal, points out the following: [snipped quote] I agree with his assessment. Steve Bainbridge: As Fouad Ajami argues: "We have been doing Iraq by improvisation, we are now "dumping stock," just as our fortunes in that hard land may be taking a turn for the better." |
Michael DeBow: (The latter link is via Instapundit.) More on going wobbly from Fouad Ajami. |
How long before the anti-war pundits turn pro-European? By / Telegraph — Permalink There is a sort of madness in the air in that clammy Westminster microclimate where the twin trades of politics and journalism eat, drink and think together. | |
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Jim Henley: No You're Not Missing Something - Kevin Drum figures it out : [snipped quote] The only remaining question is whether the... |
Kevin Drum: WAR ON THE CHEAP....Writing in the Telegraph, Stephen Robinson is gloomy about the war: "Let us accept the arguments of the anti-war lobby. |
The State of Iraq: an Update NYT — Permalink After all the bad news from Iraq in recent weeks — the abysmal mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by American troops, the urban combat in Falluja and Karbala, new polls from Gallup and other organizations showing declining numbers of Iraqis who think their... | |
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Matthew Yglesias: The Op-Ed You Actually Need To Read Adriana Lins de Albuquerque, et. al. on where things stand in Iraq. |
Hugh Hewitt: The article by Adriana Lins de Albuquerque, Michael O'Hanlon, and Amy Unikewicz —"The State of Iraq: an Update"— is accompanied by a chart of facts. |
The Dark Side of America NYT — Permalink The sickening pictures of American troops humiliating Iraqi prisoners have led inevitably to questions about the standards of treatment in the corrections system at home, which has grown tenfold over the last 30 years and now jails people at eight times the rate of France and six times the rate of Canada. | |
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Cori Dauber: But in the hands of the Times editorial board, this became purely an exercise in earnestness: The sickening pictures of... |
Jeralyn Merritt: That's what we have become. Don't miss this editorial in Monday's New York Times, The Dark Side of America. |
Anger Management Opinion Journal — Permalink It's a cliché this is becoming the meanest year in politics yet. But it's true. Last week, Mike Lavigne, the spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, admitted calling a state Supreme Court justice "a Nazi." | |
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KJL: ALL HATE WON'T WORK — John Fund suggests the Dems might be working on a new strategy to defeat the president they hate. Betsy Newmark: John Fund says that the Democrats need to get over themselves. "It's time that liberals police their own and flush out the nests of the most virulent Bush haters. |
Edward Driscoll: PUTTING OUT THE FIRE WITH GASOLINE: John Fund writes that Democrats have started to realize that a campaign of hate won't beat President Bush. |
Massachusetts Arrives at Day for Gay Vows By / NYT — Permalink CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 16 — Carting lawn chairs and boxes of heart-shaped cupcakes, purple bouquets of bridal flowers and gigantic candy wedding rings, gay and lesbian couples lined up outside Cambridge City Hall on Sunday evening, waiting for midnight, when Massachusetts would become the first state in the country to allow same-sex couples to marry. | |
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Julian Sanchez: So This Is the New Year, and I Don't Feel Any Different — Massachussetts should be seeing its first married gay couples right about now. |
Atrios: Congratulations! To the happy couples about to be married in Mass.! |
The Roots of Torture MSNBC — Permalink May 24 issue - It's not easy to get a member of Congress to stop talking. Much less a room full of them. But as a small group of legislators watched the images flash by in a small, darkened hearing room in the Rayburn Building last week, a sickened silence descended. | |
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The Poor Man: Newsweek backs him up, but Hersh owns the story. With this in mind, read this CJR profile of Hersh, wherein he is called "the greatest reporter of his generation". Kevin Drum: Four months after 9/11, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales wrote a memo to President Bush recommending that we not... Kevin Raybould: Newsweek Confirms Hersch' Rumsfeld Story — Newsweek has a piece that confirms the majority of Sy Hersch's piece of the weekend: Rumsfeld's orders led to prisoner abuse. |
Jeralyn Merritt: "- Alberto Gonzales, 1/25/02 (Memorandum to the President, as reported in Newsweek 5/16/04)" Unless we're thinking about... Michael DeBow: Doubtless you've heard that Newsweek has placed White House counsel Alberto Gonzales at or very near "The Roots of Torture." Steve Messina: Once you know (from Newsweek and The New Yorker) just how long it's been official U.S. policy that the Geneva rules on... |
| Also: Billmon, Mary InLosGatos, Angry Bear, Stryker, Josh Marshall, Jesse Walker, Mathew Gross, Matt Yglesias, Atrios, Dan Gillmor | |
Backers of Gay Marriage Ban Find Tepid Response in Pews By / NYT — Permalink Just four months after an alliance of conservative Christians was threatening a churchgoer revolt unless President Bush championed an amendment banning same-sex marriage, members say they have been surprised and disappointed by what they call a tepid response from the pews. | |
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SK Bubba: They aren't acting forcefully enough to impose Christian values and morals on the population, particularly as it relates to marriage (thanks to reader F-Stop for the link). Kevin Drum: GAY MARRIAGE AND THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT...The New York Times reports that the Christian Right isn't having much luck... |
Tom Maguire: No Traction For The Federal Gay Marriage Amendment — So says the Times, and we believe them. |
U.S. and British Forces Battle Shiite Rebels in 4 Iraqi Cities By / NYT — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 15 — American-led occupation forces battled with insurgents and militias loyal to a rebel Shiite cleric in at least four cities in Iraq over a 24-hour period ending Saturday, killing at least 38 Iraqis in what one American official said was part of a "minor uprising." | |
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Andrew Olmsted: Other Topics Today Include: the U.S. puts down an uprising in Baghdad; Coalition command structure revised; Fallujah... |
Cori Dauber: IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE — Battles between the Coalition and the Mahdi Army continue in the south. |
U.S. athletes told to cool it at Olympics By / Washington Times — Permalink NEW YORK — American athletes have been warned not to wave the U.S. flag during their medal celebrations at this summer's Olympic Games in Athens, for fear of provoking crowd hostility and harming the country's already-battered public image. | |
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Adam Mordecai: We have the support of many countries, at least those that love freedom. So then, explain this little tidbit. Tacitus: Memo for the timorous — Self-flagellating nonsense like this and this will get us nothing in terms of respect, goodwill, or admiration. |
Emperor Darth Misha I: With whingeweasels like these on the U.S.O.C., who needs enemies? Charles Johnson: US Athletes Told to Cool it at Olympics — In a "charm offensive" to try to get the world to like us, US athletes have... |
Poll: Bush Job Approval Hits New Low By / AP — Permalink PHOENIX - President Bush 's job approval ratings are hitting the lowest levels of his tenure as problems in Iraq crowd out other issues for voters, public opinion specialists say. A Newsweek poll released Saturday put Bush's overall job approval at 42 percent, the lowest yet in that poll. | |
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Steve Soto: Newsweek And Zogby Have Bush's Approval Rating Down To 42% (Thanks to PollingReport.com for the graphic) Today, the... |
Mathew Gross: (Newsweek has similar numbers.) |
Insult-happy Web guns fall quiet By / Toronto Star — Permalink The warblog drums are growing silent. They're either running out of time, or money, or steam — or the conviction that Operation Iraqi Freedom was going to be a cakewalk in the sand. | |
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Dean Esmay: Wow — Who is this vicious jerk and what is she talking about? Jeff Goldstein: protein wisdom, channeling Dean Vernon Wormer, offers the following advice to Canadian columnist Antonia Zerbisias: ... Ted Belman: Where have all the pro war bloggers gone — Insult-happy Web guns fall quiet [WE'RE STILL HERE] ANTONIA ZERBISIAS, The Toronto Star The warblog drums are growing silent. |
Glenn Reynolds: TORONTO STAR OPED PAGE FALLS SILENT: Antonia Zerbisias of the Toronto Star — last seen here making a fool of herself by... Jeff Jarvis: First swipe: Toronto Star scribe Antonia Zerbisias saying that warbloggers are silent lately (I hardly hear the quiet,... Cori Dauber: NOT ALL CANADIANS ARE POLITE — I'd love to Fisk this amazingly ugly, amazingly ill-informed diatribe against war... |
| Also: Damian Penny, Charles Johnson | |
Shadow on the U.S. Beacon By / WaPo — Permalink The first victims of U.S. prison abuse at Abu Ghraib were Iraqis. But those who will pay a price also live in Libya and Hong Kong, Venezuela and Burma, and anywhere else human rights are in jeopardy. | |
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Matt Yglesias: Indeed, the board is shooting back: [snipped quote] Harsh. And then head honcho Fred Hiatt fires again. Atrios: But, here I think he gets it about right: Some will say this is all to the good if it diminishes the hubris of what President Bill Clinton called the "indispensable nation." |
Gregory Djerejian: Fred Hiatt, quoting Tommy Koh (Singapore's former Ambassador to Washington). Harsh and overwrought? |
'In the Company of Those Involved' WaPo — Permalink The Post's focus on the possible uncertainty of the international legal status of the detainees held by the United States as the reason for the shocking abuse shown in the photos from Abu Ghraib detention facility is misplaced and wrongheaded ["Protecting the System," editorial, May 12]. | |
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Mark Kleiman: Decompensation — Lawrence di Rita, the same senior Pentagon flack who denied the Hersh story, also wrote one of the most bizarre letters-to-the-editor I've ever seen. Atrios: Stunning — What can you say when the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs of the Department of Defense writes a letter like this to the Washington Post. |
Matt Yglesias: Pissing on the Post — Not only, as Atrios says, is the content of this letter to The Washington Post totally unhinged,... |
What Must Come Next WaPo — Permalink The photos and reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib have understandably commanded America's attention. The soldiers who committed these atrocities have marred the reputation of our country and have made the lives of American personnel in Iraq more dangerous and difficult. | |
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Andrew Olmsted: With the push for early elections in Iraq growing, al-Sadr may end up becoming a successful political player in Iraq regardless of his success on the battlefield. |
Max B. Sawicky: Why must more Americans die? Worst fear: President John Kerry enlists John McCain to lead the U.S. to success in Iraq. |
Apocalypse Soon? By / WaPo — Permalink On March 13, the Guardian newspaper of London, beating the American networks by nearly eight months, called the U.S. presidential election — for Sen. John F. Kerry. The Democrat would win, the paper declared, not because of his plan for Iraq, or his proposals for the economy, but because of . . . a movie. | |
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Daniel Drezner: The real reason to boycott The Day After Tomorrow — Glenn Reynolds has a post up about the absurd environmentalism that... Mike Rappaport: Hollywood Junk Science — Climate Scientist Patrick Michaels argues in the Washington Post that "The Day After Tomorrow" is junk science. Juan Non-Volokh: The Disaster Movie Without Facts: Patrick Michaels explains why "The Day After Tomorrow" should be called "The Climate... |
Susanna Cornett: Bad science, political alarmists and election impact — Pat Michaels, a senior fellow in environmental studies at the... Glenn Reynolds: As far as I know, it didn't, and Patrick Michaels writes in The Washington Post that anyone who gets his or her climatology from the film is an idiot. Betsy Newmark: Pat Michaels goes through all the bad science that is in "The Day After Tomorrow" and examines the real goal of this movie. |
Now's not the time for Bush to go soft By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink In his column last week, Robert Novak talked to a big bunch of Beltway insiders about Donald Rumsfeld's future, or his lack thereof. Among my colleague's sources was ''one senior official of a coalition partner,'' who, apropos the Defense secretary, put it this way: ''There must be a neck cut, and there is only one neck of choice.'' | |
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Ted Belman: Now's not the time for Bush to go soft — The great Mark Steyn has a new column in the Chicago Sun- Times "[...]He also... Michael DeBow: "Now's not the time for Bush to go soft" says Mark Steyn. Here's the final graph: "We always come back to that strong horse/weak horse thing. Cori Dauber: But the media seems more interested in the metaphorical then the real: The American people, no thanks to their media,... |
Hugh Hewitt: Mark Steyn spells it out for us this morning: "The war on terror will be lost in the talking shops of Washington —... Joseph Alexander Norland: Somewhere towards the upper limit you'll finds today's warning, "Now's not the time for Bush to go soft ". Charles Johnson: Now's Not the Time for Bush to Go Soft — From time to time Mark Steyn issues a call to the Bush administration to buck... |
| Also: Betsy Newmark | |
Knowledge of Abusive Tactics May Go Higher By / WaPo — Permalink Army intelligence officers suspected that a Syrian and admitted jihadist who was detained at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad knew about the illegal flow of money, arms and foreign fighters into Iraq. But he was smug, the officers said, and refused to talk. | |
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Jesse Walker: Update: A reader calling himself "Matt XIV" directs us to yet another damning article, this one in the Washington Post. Captain Ed: The Washington Post reports today on the continuing investigation into the Abu Ghraib abuses, reducing the story to two somewhat contradictory themes. Betsy Newmark: The Washington Post has a breathless story trying to show that there was approval by higher ups for the prison abuse. |
Matt Yglesias: More Documentation — Of a more widespread pattern of abuse comes to us through the Washington Post which is working off documents. Cori Dauber: INNOCENT VICTIMS — Buried in today's coverage of the prison scandal, in which there really isn't much else new, comes... James Joyner: Clearly, though, it was official policy to allow intense fear and disorientation as a tactic in certain cases. |
| Also: Ken Masugi | |
THE GRAY ZONE By / New Yorker — Permalink The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. | |
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The Poor Man: Greatest Reporter Of His Generation — If you have not done so, please read terrorist Sy Hersh's two recent pieces on the roots of the Abu Ghriab torture. Liz Cox Barrett: "I guess later this week," Geraghty huffs, "Hagar the Horrible will refer to [Iraq] in a punchline and the Horoscope for... Taegan Goddard: Rumsfeld Signed Off On Prison Tactics — A decision by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld "encouraged physical... |
Blackfive: We also thought that the Democrats and left-wing media would do anything to get rid of him - including the latest story by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker. Roger L. Simon: The latest salvo by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker is another example. Howard Kurtz: Speaking of Iraq, Sy Hersh is out with another New Yorker piece that attempts to tie the prisoner abuse scandal to a... |
| Also: SLZoll, Billmon, Steve Soto, Andrew Olmsted, Mary InLosGatos, Michael Totten, Angry Bear, Dale Franks, Josh Marshall, Harley, Jesse Walker, Juan Cole, Matt Yglesias, Moe Lane, Tom Tomorrow, Dan Gillmor, James Joyner, SK Bubba, Mark Kleiman, Adam Mordecai, Brad DeLong, Joe Gandelman, Phil Carter, Charles Johnson, Digby, Brian Linse, Jeralyn Merritt, Atrios, Kevin Drum | |
From GOP, Zero Tolerance For Democratic War Critics By / WaPo — Permalink Republicans have adopted a scorched-earth strategy toward Democrats who challenge the wisdom of the way the war in Iraq is being conducted. Such critics, GOP officials say, are not merely misguided but are craven cut-and-runners who help the enemy and put politics ahead of U.S. troops' safety. | |
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Radley Balko: Uniting, Not Dividing — The Washington Post outlines the GOP's Ann Coulter-like scorched earth policy of responding to war critics. Cori Dauber: TWO PIECES — Ignore, for a second, the opening paragraph of this piece. The Poor Man: Jim VandeHei broke the seal, and now Charles Babington gets even more direct, in an article entitled "From GOP, Zero... |
Jesse Taylor: Hold on...you mean that Republicans are aggressively questioning the integrity and patriotism of anyone who lodges any criticism of their plan in Iraq or in the War on Terror? Digby: And in other news, the sun came up this morning: [snipped quote] Joe Biden said this morning on Meat The Press that we... |
Divided Iraqi South Posing New Obstacles By / WaPo — Permalink BAGHDAD, May 15 — The battle for Iraq's Shiite-populated south that engaged U.S. forces again Saturday is presenting U.S. officials with a more serious political challenge than the insurgency's still potent strongholds farther north, U.S. officials and Iraqi political leaders say. | |
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Mark Kleiman: Not looking good — Scott Wilson in the Washington Post is downbeat about the current fighting in Iraq. Deacon: A case in point when it comes to news stories out of Iraq is this report in the Washington Post called "Divided Iraqi... |
Andrew Olmsted: Scott Wilson at the Washington Post examines other problems Sadr's revolt has raised for Coaltion forces, and why a Fallujah-style solution may not work with the Shi'ites. Juan Cole: The Implication of Shiite Divisions — Scott Wilson of the Washington Post says that "A Divided South Moves to the Fore in Iraq." |
The Policy of Abuse WaPo — Permalink UNTIL THIS MONTH very little was publicly known about the Bush administration's procedures for handling and interrogating foreign detainees. Human rights groups had collected reports of abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in Afghanistan, reports that the administration dismissed or denied. | |
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Mark Kleiman: How's that again? I think the pressure must be getting to these folks. The Post responds. Matt Yglesias and Atrios comment. |
Cori Dauber: THE PENDULUM SWINGS — And now the Post's editorial page, long the most moderate and reasonable that I've seen, jumps in... |
Pioneers Fill Campaign War Chest, Then Capitalize WaPo — Permalink GREENSBORO, Ga. — Joined by President Bush, Vice President Cheney and a host of celebrities, hundreds of wealthy Republicans gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Lodge here in the first weekend in April, not for a fundraiser but for a celebration of fundraisers. | |
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Jon Henke: History starts and stops with every campaign — The DNC and the left has been beside themselves over this WaPo story... James Joyner: Bush Rewards Fundraisers — If this WaPo story is to be believed, people who spend a lot of time raising a lot of money... |
Joe Drymala: The Buying of the Presidency — An article in today's Washington Post details the Bush fundraising machine, including... Tbogg: Pay for play... Access, GOP-style: As Bush "Pioneers" who had raised at least $100,000 each for the president's... |
Statement from DoD Spokesperson Mr. Lawrence Di Rita DefenseLINK — Permalink "Assertions apparently being made in the latest New Yorker article on Abu Ghraib and the abuse of Iraqi detainees are outlandish, conspiratorial, and filled with error and anonymous conjecture. | |
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Angry Bear: The Pentagon, of course, refutes Hersh's account in its entirety and released a statement on Saturday saying in part... Brad DeLong: Update: The Pentagon just issued a press released titled "Statement from DoD Spokesperson Mr. Lawrence Di Rita" in... |
James Joyner: The Pentagon is denying these allegations in the strongest terms. Phil Carter: Update I: The Pentagon just issued a press released titled "Statement from DoD Spokesperson Mr. Lawrence Di Rita" in... |
'Culture' is no excuse Observer — Permalink A man from Maidstone had this letter published in the Independent last week. 'Why is it barbaric,' he asked, 'to decapitate an innocent man with a knife but civilised to do it with a laser-guided bomb? | |
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Damian Penny: Inexcusable by any standard — David Aaronovitch condemns "honour killing" in the Muslim world - and those in the West... |
Harry @HarrysPlace: David Aaronovitch's piece 'Culture is no excuse' on the public beheading of Nicholas Berg, the reaction to it and many... |
Jack Kelly: No easy victory Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Permalink Public opinion in America on the war in Iraq seems to be divided chiefly between those who think the cause is hopeless, and those who wonder why Iraq isn't Switzerland yet. | |
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Deacon: Two views of the Iraqi south — Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette compares the upcoming election to the election of 1864. |
Betsy Newmark: The Pittsburgh Post Gazette is right when it says that the War in Iraq can be lost only at the ballot box. |
Rumsfeld and Aide Backed Harsh Tactics, Article Says NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, May 15 — Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and one of his top aides authorized the expansion of a secret program that permitted harsh interrogations of detained members of Al Qaeda, allowing these methods to be used against prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to an article in The New Yorker. | |
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Brad DeLong: Will the Republican Grownups Please Do Something? |
Phil Carter: Update II: Sunday's NY Times carries a report on the Sy Hersh story, as well as the Pentagon's response to it. |
Powell pledges justice on abuse By / Boston Globe — Permalink DEAD SEA, Jordan — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell launched a multipronged effort yesterday to mend US relations with the Arab world, promising to bring to justice the Americans responsible for abusing Iraqi prisoners and to reinvigorate the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process. | |
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Andrew Olmsted: Colin Powell was in Jordan Sunday trying to repair U.S. -Arab relations in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal. |
Fred Lapides: Powell pledges justice on abuse — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell launched a multipronged effort yesterday to mend... |