From the WSJ Opinion Archives
The
Nature of My Game
Remember
that Ramsey Clark lawsuit in Los Angeles on behalf of the Guantanamo Bay detainees?
The government asked the court to dismiss the case, and the plaintiffs' lead
lawyer, Stephen Yagman, who usually specializes in suing the L.A. Police Department,
has filed his answer (link in PDF format).
It's quite a piece of work, filled with typographical errors, insults (federal prosecutors are "that not so intrepid flock of government gulls and toadies") and impenetrable sentences ("American law, in this respect, contemplates a pre-Marxian, non-dialectice [sic] kind of Leibnizian dialectic: thesis, antithesis, and thesis").
The best part, though, is on page 4, where Yagman cites those great legal scholars Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Seriously. Here's what the brief says, including footnotes (the bracketed insertions are Yagman's):
Through the ages, evil has manifested itself in various forms, e.g., "I watched as Pilate washed his hands and sealed his [Jesus Christ's] fate;" "I watched as kings and queens fought ten decades for the gods they made [The Hundred Years' War];" "I rode a tank in a general's rank, while the blitzkrieg raged and the [Jews'] bodies stank [burning in concentration camps in the Holocaust];" "I shouted 'who killed the Kennedys?,' when after all it was you and me."* The advice given by Lucifer, himself was that "I'm in need of some restraint."*
Today, our bold American, war mongering, macho, and swaggering government and respondents are in need of some restraint.
--------------------
* Sympathy for the Devil, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 1967.
* Ibid.
Judge Howard Matz holds a hearing on the matter Thursday. We suspect the plaintiffs will find that "[they] can't get [any] satisfaction [by winning the case]."
Unlucky
13
The FBI has issued an alert naming 13 suspects who may be planning an attack
"in the United States or against U.S. interests in the country of Yemen
on or around 02/12/02"--that is, today. The suspects were identified, authorities
say, by al Qaeda prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan.
You can see their pictures here--and guess what? All of them are Arabs! How could the FBI be so insensitive as to practice racial profiling at a time like this?
'Al Qaeda
Takes Pride'
The Middle East Media and Research Institute translates an article by Abu Ubeid
Al-Qurashi, described as one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants, that appeared
in a new al Qaeda Internet magazine. "Al-Qa'ida takes pride in that, on
September 11, it destroyed the elements of America's strategic defense, which
the former U.S.S.R. and every other hostile state could not harm," he writes,
adding:
With the September 11 attacks, Al-Qa'ida entered the annals of successful surprise attacks, which are few in history--for example, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the surprise Nazi attack on the U.S.S.R. in 1941, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and the crossing of the Zionist Bar-Lev Line in 1973.
Hmm, we notice one other thing these "successful surprise attacks" all have in common: They were all carried out by powers that ended up losing the war.
"Several dozen Palestinian militants escaped from the Palestinian prison in the West Bank city of Hebron after friends and relatives stormed the jail on Monday."--Ha'aretz, Feb. 12
"According to reports prior to yesterday's air attack, PA security officials released all the prisoners in the Gaza City jail."--Jerusalem Post, Feb. 12
"The PA released overnight all prisoners in Nablus and Jenin detention facilities, Palestinians reported."--Jerusalem Post, Feb. 7
"In Bethlehem today, Palestinians stormed a prison and secured the freedom of nine militants jailed by Mr. Arafat's security services, Palestinian officials said."--New York Times (link requires registration), Jan. 28
The usual excuse for releasing these terrorist suspects is that they aren't safe behind bars while the Israelis are bombing. Well, here's a crazy thought: The Wye River Accords provide that "a U.S.-Palestinian committee will meet to review and evaluate information pertinent to the decisions on prosecution, punishment or other legal measures which affect the status of individuals suspected of abetting or perpetrating acts of violence and terror." Why not just turn the Palestinian terrorists over to the U.S.? America has shown at Guantanamo Bay that it's quite capable of looking after the safety of prisoners. Of course, there's always the danger that Ramsey Clark could end up as their lawyer. Oh wait, that already happened.
Why
They Call It Foggy Bottom
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says Yasser Arafat has sent a "positive"
letter about the arms shipment Israel seized early last month. "We hope now
to see strong, resolute and irreversible action by Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian
Authority along the lines indicated in the letter," Reuters quotes Boucher as
saying.
Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports Arafat has switched back to blaming Israel for the shipment: "In an interview with Lebanon's An-Nahar newspaper, Arafat said Israel's intelligence service, Mossad, had engineered the arms ship episode as a blow against the Palestinians, Iran and Lebanon's militant Hizbullah group."
'The
Mid-Hundreds'
The Associated Press has conducted a survey of civilian deaths in Afghanistan,
and it estimates the figure is "in the mid-hudreds"--far below the
figure of 3,000-plus that various America-hating agitators had been bandying
around. London's Guardian,
though, must not have heard of the AP, because it publishes a story today headlined
"Afghans Are Still Dying as Air Strikes Go On. But No One Is Counting."
Dr.
Daschle's Political Elixir, Cont'd.
We thought Tom Daschle's strategy for losing
the Senate was to stand with President Bush on the war while attacking his
tax cuts. He must've decided higher taxes weren't unpopular enough, because
now he's taking issue with Bush on the war, too. He told PBS's Jim
Lehrer last night that he doesn't agree with all that "axis of evil"
stuff: "I think that it's important for us to look at each of these countries,
Jim, as threats to this country clearly, as problems that we've got to address
clearly, but I think we've got to be very careful with the rhetoric of that
kind. We've already seen the moderates in Iran scramble to draw distance between
'us' and 'them,' and I think we've got to be very careful with how we approach
all three countries."
Staged
but Spontaneous?
The New York Times editorial board is even more confused than usual today, on
the subject of Iran. Here's how the editorial (link requires registration) begins:
Millions of Iranians marched with unusual vigor and anti-American defiance yesterday to mark the 23rd anniversary of their Islamic revolution. Staged rallies on official anniversaries are not an accurate measure of the mood of a country, but in this case the turnout partly reflects a genuine popular backlash against President Bush's description of Iran as a member of the "axis of evil." His comment has clearly strengthened the hand of the hard-liners and forced reformers to prove their patriotism by denouncing the United States.
So let's see if we have this straight: "Staged rallies on official anniversaries," in the Times' view, "are not an accurate measure of the mood of a country"--except when it suits the purposes of the Times to say they are. Writing in National Review Online, Michael Ledeen, whose expertise on Iran we trust more than that of the Times editorial board, says the Times vastly overstates the degree of anti-American sentiment among Iranians:
The largest estimate I can find of the crowd in Tehran is about 300,000, and while that may seem like a huge number to a Western journalist, it is appallingly small by historical standards. Over the years, the regime could generally count on a million or so enthusiasts, but the last time a million people demonstrated in Tehran it was to demand an end to the regime, just a few months ago. Yesterday's mob was an insult to the regime, a further demonstration of its weakening grip on the Iranian people.
By the way, the Times' news story on the rally includes this charming reference to "moderate" president Mohammad Khatami: " 'Our policy is a policy of détente,' Mr. Khatami told the throng clogging all avenues to Freedom Square in Tehran. 'We intend to have ties and peaceful relations with all nations in the world,' except Israel."
Reuters
Watch
The wire service that thinks Osama bin Laden may be a "freedom fighter"
manages to blame America for the crash of an Iranian commercial jet, which killed
117:
Iranian airlines have been dogged by accidents in recent years.
Subject to U.S. sanctions, the country has had difficulty obtaining spare parts for its ageing fleet of aircraft, many of them Boeings acquired before the 1979 Islamic revolution, and has instead leased planes from the former Soviet Union. . . .
U.S. sanctions bar the sale of Boeing airliners to the Islamic Republic and hinder the acquisition of other aircraft, many of which rely on U.S.-built engines or other components.
Washington imposed sanctions in 1996, under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, saying Iran sponsored terrorism.
The
Daughter of the Mother of All Wars
Iraqi "vice president" Taha Yassin Ramadan says "that Baghdad
would defeat any U.S. military action against his country," Reuters reports.
Quoth Ramadan: "Those who defend their sovereignty and country will defeat the
aggressors such as the arrogant Americans."
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that Kanan Makiya, "Iraq's most eminent dissident thinker," wants America to take Saddam out:
[In Makiya's view] the military posturing of the younger Bush's "axis of evil" rhetoric is all very well--but it must be backed by "an ironclad commitment" to the Kurds and to replacing Saddam with a viable democracy. "There must not be even a smell of a half-measure. [American action in Iraq] should be based on the Kurdish safe-haven areas, and the Kurds will only allow those areas to be used if there's a real commitment--'If his tanks come above this line, you shoot them right there.' "
'What
We're Fighting For'
Sixty intellectuals, ranging from politically conservative (Harvey Mansfield)
to liberal (Daniel Patrick Moynihan) to socialist (Michael Walzer), have signed
a statement,
formulated by the Institute for American Values, called "What We're Fighting
For." It affirms "five fundamental truths":
1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
2. The basic subject of society is the human person, and the legitimate role of government is to protect and help to foster the conditions for human flourishing.
3. Human beings naturally desire to seek the truth about life's purpose and ultimate ends.
4. Freedom of conscience and religious freedom are inviolable rights of the human person.
5. Killing in the name of God is contrary to faith in God and is the greatest betrayal of the universality of religious faith.
What
We're Fighting Against
The Associated Press reports on the proliferation of anti-Semitic propaganda
in the Egyptian press, whose editors are appointed by the government. Al-Akhbar,
one of the three leading dailies, published a piece last spring paying tribute
to the 20th century's leading evildoer: "Thanks to the late Hitler, who took
revenge in advance for the Palestinians on the most vile criminals on earth,
though we blame Hitler because his revenge was not quite enough," Ahmed Ragab
wrote.
The Dallas Morning News, meanwhile, reports on an upsurge in anti-Semitic violence in France:
In 1998, one serious anti-Semitic attack was reported in France; in 1999, there were nine such attacks. But in 2000, the commission reported, there were 116 serious acts of violence against Jewish institutions, almost all of them taking place after the Palestinian uprising began in October of that year.
The Morning News notes that "French officials have been trying to play down the violence, suggesting that it is not anti-Semitic in nature but is part of a larger societal drift afflicting much of France, particularly the crowded, working-class suburbs where jobs and educational opportunities are scarce"--which, come to think of it, is the usual excuse for anti-American terrorism, too.
Comparative
Religion
The Council on American Islamic Relations is blasting Attorney General John
Ashcroft for observing that "Islam is a religion in which God requires you to
send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his
son to die for you." Both Ashcroft and CAIR, however, forgot the punch line:
Judaism is a religion in which God help you if your son doesn't get into medical
school.
Stupidity Watch
Arthur
Levine, head of Columbia University's Teachers College, is quoted in the
New York Times (link requires registration) as saying: "What Sept. 11 should
have been is a signal that the canon [in American schools] ought to be expanded
to include books like the Koran. Other than the Constitution, no work has had
a larger impact on the United States."
Ted Turner said lots and lots of stupid things in a speech at Brown University, but we'll just single out the Sept. 11-related idiocy. "The reason that the World Trade Center got hit is because there are a lot of people living in abject poverty out there who don't have any hope for a better life," observed the media mogul. Sure, Osama is rich, but if only he were as rich as Ted Turner, he never would have gone astray.
Turner also said of the Sept. 11 hijackers: "I think they were brave at the very least." And, as the Providence Journal notes, he "proved" it: "He asked for a show of hands of people who would act as suicide bombers for their country and got none."
Tailgunner
Krugman
We guess we must not be examples of "compassionate conservatism,"
because we are having too much fun watching the disintegration of former Enron
adviser Paul Krugman. In his New York Times column today (link requires registration),
Krugman actually resorts to red-baiting:
In the former Soviet Union, the term "biznesmen" (pronounced "beeznessmen") refers to the class of sudden new rich who emerged after the fall of Communism--and who generally got rich by using their connections to strip away the assets of public enterprises. What we've learned from Enron and other players to be named later is that America has its own biznesmen--and that we need to watch out for policies that make it easier for them to ply their trade.
Dinosaur
Vomit
"British scientists said Monday they had discovered what they believed
to be the world's oldest fossilized vomit from a large marine reptile that lived
160 million years ago," Reuters reports. Meanwhile, U.S.
News & World Report says that Bill Clinton has sent supporters a letter
in which he says his Little Rock, Ark., presidential library will include a
" 'Clinton School of Public Service' for students 'who want to travel
the same road I traveled.' He adds with a little bragging: 'I believe it is
vitally important that we offer our nation's future leaders this opportunity.'
The memo, accompanied by a picture of his center's groundbreaking, also details
his plans to address world issues like AIDS and a new fave: terrorism."
(Elizabeth Crowley helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Robert Butchko, Raghu Desikan, Michael Segal, Jason Elbaum, Rafael Harpaz, Yehuda Hilewitz, Darren Gold, S.E. Brenner, Christian Peck, David Merrill, Napoleon Cole, David Burkhart, Jerome Marcus, Brian O'Rourke, Jay Brinker, Edward Schulze, Tom Elia, Zabelle Huss, C.E. Dobkin, Aaron Gross, Diane Ravitch, Tricia Stevenson, Mario Fante, Scott Scholten, Paul Williamson, Greg Corrado, Michael Moynihan, Jennifer Walsh, Steven Platzer, Steve Prestegard, George Roper and Robert McCarthy. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Also on OpinionJournal:
- Karen Elliott House visits Vladimir Putin (link requires registration).
- Tom Bray: Will Enron's failure provoke Congress to declare war on capitalism . . .
- Brendan Miniter: . . . or just generate a lot of hot air?
