George Bush today at the Pentagon, in the course of explaining his preposterously long-drawn out "review" of Iraq policy --
I'm pleased when Iraqi leaders go to Saudi Arabia and talk to my friend, the King of Saudi Arabia, and talk about how they can work together to achieve stability. It's in Saudi's interest, it's in Jordan's interest, it's in the Gulf Coast countries' interest that there be a stable Iran [sic], an Iran [sic] that is capable of rejecting Iranian influence -- I mean, Iraq that is capable of rejecting Iranian influence.
Note also the confusion of the Persian and Mexican gulfs.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
From one corner to another
At National Review's The Corner, Victor Davis Hanson makes a bid for Pseuds Corner --
War is like water, its recent manifestation like a pump that delivers more of it more quickly but does not change its essence, which is entirely human—and human nature is fixed. So what Lincoln felt in 1864 or Truman in 1950 is not unlike Bush must feel now (which does not necessarily imply that Bush is, for example, a Lincoln), as the pulse of the battlefield has shorn away erstwhile supporters and prompted calls for talking rather than sacrificing more for victory. That wartime fickleness in a democracy, mutatis mutandis, is a universal phenomenon and goes back to the Greeks, as Thucydides saw in his brilliant epilogue/epitaph about Pericles in book II.
War is like water, its recent manifestation like a pump that delivers more of it more quickly but does not change its essence, which is entirely human—and human nature is fixed. So what Lincoln felt in 1864 or Truman in 1950 is not unlike Bush must feel now (which does not necessarily imply that Bush is, for example, a Lincoln), as the pulse of the battlefield has shorn away erstwhile supporters and prompted calls for talking rather than sacrificing more for victory. That wartime fickleness in a democracy, mutatis mutandis, is a universal phenomenon and goes back to the Greeks, as Thucydides saw in his brilliant epilogue/epitaph about Pericles in book II.
No election, no plot
Remember the Heathrow liquid bomb plot? The suspicion has lingered that the plot was hyped up by the electoral needs of George Bush -- specifically his desire to "own" the terrorism issue in the run-up to to the 9/11 anniversary and the November elections. It's already known that the triggering event in shutting the plot down was an arrest in Pakistan, with the only issue being whether the US forced the arrest to bring the rest of the "plot" to boiling point.
Now comes news that a Pakistan anti-terrorism court has thrown out the terrorism charges against the suspect, Rashid Rauf. He will be tried on lesser charges (possession of hydrogen peroxide?) in a regular court.
There's not much hope of ever getting the White House to tell the truth about what really happened. But with UK Home Secretary John Reid having used the plot to boost his own stature, a point of leverage might exist should he have any ambitions for higher office in the Labour Party.
UPDATE: The New York Times report lays out the confusion regarding the timeline --
Accounts differed over just when Mr. Rauf was arrested. The Pakistani police said he was taken innto custody Aug. 10, the day of the British raids, in Chohan Chowk near the Islamabad airport. But Mr. Habib [lawyer] said his client was actually arrested the day before while traveling between Multan and Bahawalpur in Punjab province ... Details of Mr. Rauf”s alleged involvement in the terror plot remained sketchy. Mr. Habib said the charges were trumped up. “All the story about the plans of hijacking airplanes was an imaginary allegation, just to boost the graph of Bush and Blair,” Mr. Habib said.
Now comes news that a Pakistan anti-terrorism court has thrown out the terrorism charges against the suspect, Rashid Rauf. He will be tried on lesser charges (possession of hydrogen peroxide?) in a regular court.
There's not much hope of ever getting the White House to tell the truth about what really happened. But with UK Home Secretary John Reid having used the plot to boost his own stature, a point of leverage might exist should he have any ambitions for higher office in the Labour Party.
UPDATE: The New York Times report lays out the confusion regarding the timeline --
Accounts differed over just when Mr. Rauf was arrested. The Pakistani police said he was taken innto custody Aug. 10, the day of the British raids, in Chohan Chowk near the Islamabad airport. But Mr. Habib [lawyer] said his client was actually arrested the day before while traveling between Multan and Bahawalpur in Punjab province ... Details of Mr. Rauf”s alleged involvement in the terror plot remained sketchy. Mr. Habib said the charges were trumped up. “All the story about the plans of hijacking airplanes was an imaginary allegation, just to boost the graph of Bush and Blair,” Mr. Habib said.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
It was 20 years in Ireland
Today's Financial Times, columnist Gideon Rachman --
The European Union's financial services action plan is not the ideal topic for an after-dinner speech. So it was perhaps unsurprising that an audience of City of London financiers gave Charlie McCreevy, the EU's internal market commissioner, a rough ride when he attempted to address them on that subject at a dinner last month. When the comedienne Ruby Wax, who followed Mr McCreevy to the podium, remarked: "He spoke for 20 minutes; it seemed like 20 years", she was reportedly greeted with riotous applause.
This Charlie McCreevy.
The European Union's financial services action plan is not the ideal topic for an after-dinner speech. So it was perhaps unsurprising that an audience of City of London financiers gave Charlie McCreevy, the EU's internal market commissioner, a rough ride when he attempted to address them on that subject at a dinner last month. When the comedienne Ruby Wax, who followed Mr McCreevy to the podium, remarked: "He spoke for 20 minutes; it seemed like 20 years", she was reportedly greeted with riotous applause.
This Charlie McCreevy.
Amateur Sleuthing
If Detectives Briscoe and Logan from Law and Order were investigating this morning's double-murder in Finglas, they would be intrigued by the timing in which one of two plumbers working at the house happened to be away at the exact time interval that the murder of the 2nd plumber and intended target Marlo Hyland occurred. In cases like this, suspicious minds are usually trumped by the simpler explanation of someone having blundered, which in this case would mean that the hitmen who had the house under surveillance assumed that both workmen left when in fact only one did.
UPDATE: There is at least one important question flowing from this: Was Hyland under Garda surveillance when he was killed, as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern clumsily seemed to imply?
UPDATE: There is at least one important question flowing from this: Was Hyland under Garda surveillance when he was killed, as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern clumsily seemed to imply?
Finally
The Vatican stops fussing about when, exactly, life begins, and starts to focus on the welfare of people already here --
Pope Benedict said on Tuesday states had to set ethical limits to what can be done to protect their people from terrorism and that some countries have flouted international humanitarian law in recent wars. .... In the message, which is traditionally sent to governments and international organizations, he also repeated his often stated belief that war in God's name is never justified...
"...the new shape of conflicts, especially since the terrorist threat unleashed completely new forms of violence, demands that the international community reaffirm international humanitarian law, and apply it to all present-day situations of armed conflict, including those not currently provided for by international law," .. he called for a review of what states could ethically do to protect their citizens while still trying to respect international humanitarian law, "which has not been consistently implemented in certain recent situations of war." "
...the scourge of terrorism demands a profound reflection on the ethical limits restricting the use of modern methods of guaranteeing internal security," he wrote.
The message will pose obvious problems for the White House and those pundits who have sought to interpret Catholicism as an obligation to vote Republican. And lest anyone doubt the target, consider this Bush statement, a formulation that he has used hundreds of times --
I based a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there's an Almighty, and secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free
UPDATE 19 DECEMBER: It's very rare that the media take notice of the implications of Bush's bizarre freedom philosophy but Orlando Patterson does in today's New York Times (subs. req'd), albeit not the theological implications.
Pope Benedict said on Tuesday states had to set ethical limits to what can be done to protect their people from terrorism and that some countries have flouted international humanitarian law in recent wars. .... In the message, which is traditionally sent to governments and international organizations, he also repeated his often stated belief that war in God's name is never justified...
"...the new shape of conflicts, especially since the terrorist threat unleashed completely new forms of violence, demands that the international community reaffirm international humanitarian law, and apply it to all present-day situations of armed conflict, including those not currently provided for by international law," .. he called for a review of what states could ethically do to protect their citizens while still trying to respect international humanitarian law, "which has not been consistently implemented in certain recent situations of war." "
...the scourge of terrorism demands a profound reflection on the ethical limits restricting the use of modern methods of guaranteeing internal security," he wrote.
The message will pose obvious problems for the White House and those pundits who have sought to interpret Catholicism as an obligation to vote Republican. And lest anyone doubt the target, consider this Bush statement, a formulation that he has used hundreds of times --
I based a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true. One, I believe there's an Almighty, and secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free
UPDATE 19 DECEMBER: It's very rare that the media take notice of the implications of Bush's bizarre freedom philosophy but Orlando Patterson does in today's New York Times (subs. req'd), albeit not the theological implications.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Precedents
With the partition of Iraq ever more a de facto if not a de jure possibility, there is much interest in analogies. Here's a paper that looks at a few of them, including of course the Irish case. The thesis is that on balance partition leaves more stable entities in its wake and thus that despite the high costs, it might be worth it. In the Irish case, the paper recommends that Britain should have forced Northern Ireland to be smaller and induced some Catholics to relocate to the larger Free State.
It all sounds a bit antiseptic. And as usual with such claims, the question has to be "relative to what?" For one thing, partition rarely brings finality. As we've noted before, Michael Collins had a plan to maintain an insurgency in Northern Ireland, involving loyal lieutenants like UK Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly's grandfather. Kashmir has never been solved. So the contrast should be relative to civil war that eventually comes to resolution in the un-partitioned or reunified entity. Examples like Vietnam, Mozambique, and, er, the United States of America!
It all sounds a bit antiseptic. And as usual with such claims, the question has to be "relative to what?" For one thing, partition rarely brings finality. As we've noted before, Michael Collins had a plan to maintain an insurgency in Northern Ireland, involving loyal lieutenants like UK Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly's grandfather. Kashmir has never been solved. So the contrast should be relative to civil war that eventually comes to resolution in the un-partitioned or reunified entity. Examples like Vietnam, Mozambique, and, er, the United States of America!
With Miltie in the grave
On a day that is likely to see accusations of speaking ill of the dead, with the late and mostly unlamented Pinochet, the Wall Street Journal op-ed page strikes with indecent haste at Milton Friedman. This comes via a piece (subs. req'd) by 2004 Nobel in Economics prize winner Edward Prescott. Most of it is taken up with data-intensive justifications of economics policies that are remarkably similar to those of a certain George W. Bush (e.g. the US should be piling up even more public debt), but there's also --
Myth No. 1: Monetary policy causes booms and busts. ... Let's begin with the assumption that tight monetary policy caused the recession of 1978-1982. This myth is so firmly entrenched that I could have called this downturn the "Volcker recession" and readers would have understood my reference. To accept the myth, you have to accept a consistent relationship between monetary policy and economic activity -- and as we've just seen, this relationship is simply not evident in the data ... Our obsession with monetary policy in the conduct of the real economy is misplaced.
And thus exits monetarism from the apparently acceptable elements of conservative thought.
Myth No. 1: Monetary policy causes booms and busts. ... Let's begin with the assumption that tight monetary policy caused the recession of 1978-1982. This myth is so firmly entrenched that I could have called this downturn the "Volcker recession" and readers would have understood my reference. To accept the myth, you have to accept a consistent relationship between monetary policy and economic activity -- and as we've just seen, this relationship is simply not evident in the data ... Our obsession with monetary policy in the conduct of the real economy is misplaced.
And thus exits monetarism from the apparently acceptable elements of conservative thought.
Times have changed
On this Pentagon photo of outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld signing a whiteboard at Balad Air Base in Iraq ("you fellows are superstars"), an adjacent signature is clearly visible, a relic of a previous visit: that of Bill Frist, styling himself "M.D., Senate Majority Leader." Sadly, he probably was not a "M.D." when he signed, having let his license lapse, and the last election saw off the latter title as well.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Comedy that writes itself
White House --
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 10, 2006, as Human Rights Day; December 15, 2006, as Bill of Rights Day; and the week beginning December 10, 2006, as Human Rights Week. I call upon the people of the United States to mark these observances with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 10, 2006, as Human Rights Day; December 15, 2006, as Bill of Rights Day; and the week beginning December 10, 2006, as Human Rights Week. I call upon the people of the United States to mark these observances with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
Friday, December 08, 2006
When conflict diamonds were cool
The decorum of Wise Washington will require that the death of Jeane Kirkpatrick be appropriately mourned. As a counterweight, let us instead recall one infamous rhetorical episode from her career, nicely recounted by an article in one of those issues of the New Republic where their good side showed up. The context -- in what was both a current and leading indicator of the reactionary right's overseas activities -- was their infatuation with Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, a civil war entrepreneur if ever there was one:
But, by mouthing the right words, Savimbi cemented the [conservative] movement's undying loyalty. The relationship culminated at a 1986 black-tie dinner for the Conservative Political Action Committee. Kirkpatrick delivered a passionate introduction for Savimbi: a "linguist, philosopher, poet, politician, warrior, ... one of the few authentic heroes of our time." As she worked herself toward the climactic moment when she would call Savimbi forward to receive an award for his dedicated anticommunism, she intoned, "Real assistance means real weapons! ... Real helicopters, ... real ground-to-air missiles." It was then that Savimbi, a burly man who conformed perfectly to Hollywood's image of the guerrilla leader, ambled to the lectern. The room broke into a chant, "U-NI-TA, U-NI-TA." At this euphoric moment, Howard Phillips, chairman of the Conservative Caucus, told a reporter, "If Jonas Savimbi were an American citizen, he would be the presidential candidate of the conservative movement in 1988."
Angola survived this lunacy, although at dreadful cost to its citizens. Sensible US foreign policy did not.
But, by mouthing the right words, Savimbi cemented the [conservative] movement's undying loyalty. The relationship culminated at a 1986 black-tie dinner for the Conservative Political Action Committee. Kirkpatrick delivered a passionate introduction for Savimbi: a "linguist, philosopher, poet, politician, warrior, ... one of the few authentic heroes of our time." As she worked herself toward the climactic moment when she would call Savimbi forward to receive an award for his dedicated anticommunism, she intoned, "Real assistance means real weapons! ... Real helicopters, ... real ground-to-air missiles." It was then that Savimbi, a burly man who conformed perfectly to Hollywood's image of the guerrilla leader, ambled to the lectern. The room broke into a chant, "U-NI-TA, U-NI-TA." At this euphoric moment, Howard Phillips, chairman of the Conservative Caucus, told a reporter, "If Jonas Savimbi were an American citizen, he would be the presidential candidate of the conservative movement in 1988."
Angola survived this lunacy, although at dreadful cost to its citizens. Sensible US foreign policy did not.
Fogra
We've updated to the beta version of Blogger which has caused little bits of weirdness, including the entire blog disappearing for a few hours and the irishblogs aggregator digging up a random selection of old posts. Hopefully things will settle down soon.
UPDATE: The switchover looks fairly smooth. It will take a while to get the labels to provide comprehensive coverage of nearly 2000 posts.
UPDATE: The switchover looks fairly smooth. It will take a while to get the labels to provide comprehensive coverage of nearly 2000 posts.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
About that visit to Maynooth
Former Russian PM Yegor Gaidar provides a first-person account of his apparent poisoning in Ireland a few weeks ago; it's in the Financial Times (free link, so far). Amongst other things, and in fairness to James Connolly hospital, he says that they wanted to keep him in hospital and it was his decision alone to check out before returning to Moscow for further treatment.
Logo wars
As background to understanding one particular high profile legal dispute, compare the logos for FIFA and Mastercard. One of soccer's biggest problems is the suits that run the game.
One for the base
Amongst this year's Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients (which, had Iraq gone better, would have been renamed the Bremer-Franks-Tenet medal), is Anglosphere anchor historian Paul Johnson.
Winning = Wanting
Not that George Bush has many new lines these days, but sometimes the context highlights the old ones. Hence what is perhaps the most alarming claim from his news conference with Tony Blair -- that winning in Iraq is just a matter of sufficiently wanting to win, and therefore that having wanted to win, his job is done and it gets dumped onto the next President -- who also just has to want to win:
I like to remind people it's akin to the Cold War, in many ways. There's an ideological clash going on. And the question is: Will we have the resolve and the confidence in liberty to prevail?
That's really the fundamental question facing -- it's not going to face this government or this government, because we made up our mind. We've made that part clear.
But it'll face future governments. There will be future opportunities for people to say, "Well, it's not worth it. Let's just retreat." I would strongly advise a government not to accept that position because of the dangers inherent with isolationism and retreat.
UPDATE: A couple of entries for most bizarre utterance:
I appreciate the Prime Minister's answer to this lad -- we call them lads, in Great Britain -- lad's question, is that --(laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: You've made a friend, I think, there. (Laughter.) It's a long time since anyone's called him that. (Laughter.)
which seemed to be a reference toNic Robertson Nick Robinson, who had earlier triggered this bit of petulance --
Q Mr. President, the Iraq Study Group described the situation in Iraq as grave and deteriorating. You said that the increase in attacks is unsettling. That won't convince many people that you're still in denial about how bad things are in Iraq, and question your sincerity about changing course.
PRESIDENT BUSH: It's bad in Iraq. Does that help? (Laughter.)
Also -- We've got special operators, we've got better intelligence
I like to remind people it's akin to the Cold War, in many ways. There's an ideological clash going on. And the question is: Will we have the resolve and the confidence in liberty to prevail?
That's really the fundamental question facing -- it's not going to face this government or this government, because we made up our mind. We've made that part clear.
But it'll face future governments. There will be future opportunities for people to say, "Well, it's not worth it. Let's just retreat." I would strongly advise a government not to accept that position because of the dangers inherent with isolationism and retreat.
UPDATE: A couple of entries for most bizarre utterance:
I appreciate the Prime Minister's answer to this lad -- we call them lads, in Great Britain -- lad's question, is that --(laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: You've made a friend, I think, there. (Laughter.) It's a long time since anyone's called him that. (Laughter.)
which seemed to be a reference to
Q Mr. President, the Iraq Study Group described the situation in Iraq as grave and deteriorating. You said that the increase in attacks is unsettling. That won't convince many people that you're still in denial about how bad things are in Iraq, and question your sincerity about changing course.
PRESIDENT BUSH: It's bad in Iraq. Does that help? (Laughter.)
Also -- We've got special operators, we've got better intelligence
Add to the list of "good coups"
One bit of business from the White House this morning before the chat with Blair --
President Bush today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation on December 11, 2006 to Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Accession to the Throne.
The Honorable George H. W. Bush, Former President of the United States, will lead the delegation.
Members of the Presidential Delegation are:
Mrs. Barbara Bush, Former First Lady of the United States
The Honorable Ralph Boyce, United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand
Would he really send the most high-powered delegation of all -- his parents -- if he disapproved of Thailand still being run by a military government, one that acts with the approval of the King?
President Bush today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation on December 11, 2006 to Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Accession to the Throne.
The Honorable George H. W. Bush, Former President of the United States, will lead the delegation.
Members of the Presidential Delegation are:
Mrs. Barbara Bush, Former First Lady of the United States
The Honorable Ralph Boyce, United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand
Would he really send the most high-powered delegation of all -- his parents -- if he disapproved of Thailand still being run by a military government, one that acts with the approval of the King?
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Help not wanted
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow --
MR. SNOW: That is part of a section [in the Iraq Study Group report] that talks about the fact that there -- it recommends more Arabic speakers. It suggests the need for better and more robust intelligence. And that's something that --
Q So that's fairly critical of the administration.
MR. SNOW: Well, I don't know -- Bret, as you know, as a former Pentagon correspondent, the Pentagon has been trying to address these. But you don't snap your fingers and have the Arabic speakers you need overnight.
No, but you do snap your fingers and fire some of the Arabic speakers that you previously had, for being gay. And anyway, "overnight" doesn't really match a need that's been glaring for 5 years.
MR. SNOW: That is part of a section [in the Iraq Study Group report] that talks about the fact that there -- it recommends more Arabic speakers. It suggests the need for better and more robust intelligence. And that's something that --
Q So that's fairly critical of the administration.
MR. SNOW: Well, I don't know -- Bret, as you know, as a former Pentagon correspondent, the Pentagon has been trying to address these. But you don't snap your fingers and have the Arabic speakers you need overnight.
No, but you do snap your fingers and fire some of the Arabic speakers that you previously had, for being gay. And anyway, "overnight" doesn't really match a need that's been glaring for 5 years.
Irish budget
Two bits of fine print. In a move that sees the George Bush commitment to switchgrass as an alternative fuel and raises it, Minister Cowen announced --
First, establishment grants will be introduced for willow and miscanthus where costs of establishment are very high and there is a wait of several years before harvesting can begin.
Note that the latter crop in particular seems to need warmer weather than Ireland currently has, so is the Minister betting on global warming as well as grants?
Second -- In recent years, hotel and tourism bodies have made a strong case to introduce a VAT measure specifically for conferences, which will allow deductibility of accommodation expenses on a ring-fenced basis. I am now bringing in such a measure which should greatly help that sector promote growth in the important conference business and benefit the entire country.
This concession to special-interest pleading is ripe for abuse. How long before someone's wedding is recast as a "conference"?
First, establishment grants will be introduced for willow and miscanthus where costs of establishment are very high and there is a wait of several years before harvesting can begin.
Note that the latter crop in particular seems to need warmer weather than Ireland currently has, so is the Minister betting on global warming as well as grants?
Second -- In recent years, hotel and tourism bodies have made a strong case to introduce a VAT measure specifically for conferences, which will allow deductibility of accommodation expenses on a ring-fenced basis. I am now bringing in such a measure which should greatly help that sector promote growth in the important conference business and benefit the entire country.
This concession to special-interest pleading is ripe for abuse. How long before someone's wedding is recast as a "conference"?
9/11 changed everything
The American right used to weave a tapestry of conspiracy, accusation, and innuendo around this picture -- federal agents taking action to return Elian Gonzales to his father in Cuba, Elian having been hijacked both as a person and a cause by anti-Castro militants in Miami. Note that in the picture, the gun is not pointed at anyone, and everyone can see everyone else. Now compare that to George Bush's latest photographed disgrace -- a US citizen, Jose Padilla, made mentally ill by his treatment in military custody, which included extreme sensory deprivation.
If this is how citizens are treated, any country thinking about extraditing non US nationals to the US for terrorism offences might want to consider the Russian rule that any trials for alleged offences overseas have to take place in the home country. Indeed, any country that facilitated prisoner renditions might want to consider whether inducing mental illness is in their definition of torture.
If this is how citizens are treated, any country thinking about extraditing non US nationals to the US for terrorism offences might want to consider the Russian rule that any trials for alleged offences overseas have to take place in the home country. Indeed, any country that facilitated prisoner renditions might want to consider whether inducing mental illness is in their definition of torture.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Uninitiated
James Baker will have 2 books on the shelves this Christmas -- the Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq (for which the bookstores will be competing with the free boxes outside the White House) and his own memoirs, the latter currently being serialised in the Times (UK). While for the most part the memoirs are the cagey-partisan blend that one expects from Baker, he has a few revealing asides, particularly with regard to the 2000 non-recount in Florida. Baker discusses how he ensured that the Bush-Cheney campaign was able to frame sub-components of the dispute in their favour --
Florida is largely remembered as a legal battle, but in my opinion it was every bit as much a political battle, and we may have understood this point better than the other side ... It was vital to our success that we controlled both the messengers and the message on what was happening in Florida.
One surrogate we didn’t get was Colin Powell. After the Democrats tried to throw out some overseas military ballots, we asked him to speak up for the right of our troops to have their votes counted, but he demurred. He was in line to be George W.’s Secretary of State, and I think he wanted to stay above the fray. I regret that he did not come to Florida. Coming might well have strengthened Colin’s relationship with George W. Bush, which in turn might have helped him in the first-term battles for influence and power in administration.
He seems to be up to a couple of things here -- getting in a dig at Powell, but more importantly providing a good insight into the mind of George W. Bush. Florida 2000 remains the Original Sin of the last 6 years, the period when the supposed moderate conservatives had their first Bilbo Baggins moment (a transformation not, as often later claimed, due to 9/11). But for Bush it was also a hazing ritual: Colin Powell was expected to show he could play dirty even when he didn't want to.
Powell failed that test, and so at some level earned the contempt of his boss even when he got the Secretary of State job. Bush needed him, of course, because he needed the Washington pundit class who had hitched their wagon to Powell. And he did give Powell a 2nd chance at truly being one of the boys -- by delivering a pack of lies at the UN about WMD, but for the true believers, Powell was always going to be the one who hadn't chugged all those beers the first time around. Anyway, Powell turned out to have just enought shame to get out, although not enough to force any change from within.
Baker's little aside reveals that Powell's entire tenure at the State Department was a charade: Bush had no respect for him from the start, and the expectation of the pundits, and Tony Blair, that Powell could control Bush was doomed to fail. All because of Florida.
Florida is largely remembered as a legal battle, but in my opinion it was every bit as much a political battle, and we may have understood this point better than the other side ... It was vital to our success that we controlled both the messengers and the message on what was happening in Florida.
One surrogate we didn’t get was Colin Powell. After the Democrats tried to throw out some overseas military ballots, we asked him to speak up for the right of our troops to have their votes counted, but he demurred. He was in line to be George W.’s Secretary of State, and I think he wanted to stay above the fray. I regret that he did not come to Florida. Coming might well have strengthened Colin’s relationship with George W. Bush, which in turn might have helped him in the first-term battles for influence and power in administration.
He seems to be up to a couple of things here -- getting in a dig at Powell, but more importantly providing a good insight into the mind of George W. Bush. Florida 2000 remains the Original Sin of the last 6 years, the period when the supposed moderate conservatives had their first Bilbo Baggins moment (a transformation not, as often later claimed, due to 9/11). But for Bush it was also a hazing ritual: Colin Powell was expected to show he could play dirty even when he didn't want to.
Powell failed that test, and so at some level earned the contempt of his boss even when he got the Secretary of State job. Bush needed him, of course, because he needed the Washington pundit class who had hitched their wagon to Powell. And he did give Powell a 2nd chance at truly being one of the boys -- by delivering a pack of lies at the UN about WMD, but for the true believers, Powell was always going to be the one who hadn't chugged all those beers the first time around. Anyway, Powell turned out to have just enought shame to get out, although not enough to force any change from within.
Baker's little aside reveals that Powell's entire tenure at the State Department was a charade: Bush had no respect for him from the start, and the expectation of the pundits, and Tony Blair, that Powell could control Bush was doomed to fail. All because of Florida.
That may actually be "ironic"
One pillar of George Bush's plan to avoid dealing with global warming is the claim that there is massive scope for expansion of nuclear power to reduce reliance on carbon fuels. Sadly, reports the Wall Street Journal (subs. req'd), step forward the market --
The Bush administration's plan for a "renaissance" in nuclear power may be crimped by tightening world-wide supplies of uranium and a lack of enrichment facilities to turn the uranium into fuel for power plants ...enrichment facilities, which turn uranium into fuel for nuclear power plants, have already pledged their services because of growing interest in nuclear fuel by other countries. The result is that the U.S. is relying more than before on Russia, which provides about half the enriched nuclear fuel used in this country.
Uranium is extracted from mines and processed into a form called "yellowcake." The yellowcake, in turn, is processed at enrichment plants, into fuel for nuclear-power plants. A far more time-consuming process is required to turn yellowcake into fuel for nuclear weapons ... The Russians say they could supply more enriched uranium to the U.S., but they are blocked by an agreement with the Commerce Department that restricts their imports to the current levels managed by USEC [single US agent].
So, the administration that spent 2002 and early 2003 arguing that access to a uranium mine in Niger was equivalent to having a nuclear weapon is now begging the Russians to enrich more uranium for them -- which the Russians can't currently do because there is a single monopoly purchaser of their enriched uranium under a deal agreed with the US. Saddam must have been even cleverer than we thought!
The Bush administration's plan for a "renaissance" in nuclear power may be crimped by tightening world-wide supplies of uranium and a lack of enrichment facilities to turn the uranium into fuel for power plants ...enrichment facilities, which turn uranium into fuel for nuclear power plants, have already pledged their services because of growing interest in nuclear fuel by other countries. The result is that the U.S. is relying more than before on Russia, which provides about half the enriched nuclear fuel used in this country.
Uranium is extracted from mines and processed into a form called "yellowcake." The yellowcake, in turn, is processed at enrichment plants, into fuel for nuclear-power plants. A far more time-consuming process is required to turn yellowcake into fuel for nuclear weapons ... The Russians say they could supply more enriched uranium to the U.S., but they are blocked by an agreement with the Commerce Department that restricts their imports to the current levels managed by USEC [single US agent].
So, the administration that spent 2002 and early 2003 arguing that access to a uranium mine in Niger was equivalent to having a nuclear weapon is now begging the Russians to enrich more uranium for them -- which the Russians can't currently do because there is a single monopoly purchaser of their enriched uranium under a deal agreed with the US. Saddam must have been even cleverer than we thought!
The case for progressive taxation
Tuesday's Irish Times (subs. req'd) carries details on how one particular donor to George Bush's Republican party, Robert Greifeld, the chief executive of the Nasdaq stock exchange, spends the cash that Bush's tax cuts let him keep -- even if later refuses to settle the bill --
[he] brought 16 adults and seven children to stay for a week at Luttrellstown Castle in Dublin. He claims that he was overcharged by $70,000 and is refusing the pay the money for the trip, which included 32 actors in medieval dress, banquets of wild boar, helicopter rides, a marquee for Irish dancing and lessons in falconry, archery and jousting.
The August 2004 trip also included four butlers who led guests to horse-drawn carriages, goose hunts and Dublin masseuses on hand to attend for guests ... Other expenses included €28,000 for Mr Greifeld snr's transatlantic voyage on the Queen Mary II and even €100 for a leprechaun costume for an actor performing at the castle.
He has already spent more in legal fees that his creditor says he owes, which makes one wonder what exactly his qualifications are to be in charge of a stock exchange.
UPDATE: Reader KH alerts us to coverage of the same case in the Times (UK); one story notes a key point of dispute relating to the difference between "markup" and "gross margin" while another story has further details on the extravagance, some of which has a Spinal Tap quality to it.
[he] brought 16 adults and seven children to stay for a week at Luttrellstown Castle in Dublin. He claims that he was overcharged by $70,000 and is refusing the pay the money for the trip, which included 32 actors in medieval dress, banquets of wild boar, helicopter rides, a marquee for Irish dancing and lessons in falconry, archery and jousting.
The August 2004 trip also included four butlers who led guests to horse-drawn carriages, goose hunts and Dublin masseuses on hand to attend for guests ... Other expenses included €28,000 for Mr Greifeld snr's transatlantic voyage on the Queen Mary II and even €100 for a leprechaun costume for an actor performing at the castle.
He has already spent more in legal fees that his creditor says he owes, which makes one wonder what exactly his qualifications are to be in charge of a stock exchange.
UPDATE: Reader KH alerts us to coverage of the same case in the Times (UK); one story notes a key point of dispute relating to the difference between "markup" and "gross margin" while another story has further details on the extravagance, some of which has a Spinal Tap quality to it.
Monday, December 04, 2006
The standard for grief
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow --
MR. SNOW: Okay, well, let me back up. The President is somebody, as I've said many times, and you've seen it, who grieves the loss of anybody over there [Iraq], and this is not something where, as Commander-in-Chief, he wants anything other than success and to bring everybody home safely.
a few questions later --
MR. SNOW: We think John Bolton -- John Bolton had more -- look, there were more Democrats who were going to vote for John Bolton than Republicans who were going to vote against -- there were 58 announced votes in his favor. That's bipartisan. And John Bolton was a successful U.N. Ambassador, and we grieve the fact that he was not rewarded for his success and honored for it.
UPDATE: Bolton's run-of-the-mill resignation even gets a White House photo-op -- this from the White House with a policy of making no case-by-case mentions of military deaths in Iraq.
MR. SNOW: Okay, well, let me back up. The President is somebody, as I've said many times, and you've seen it, who grieves the loss of anybody over there [Iraq], and this is not something where, as Commander-in-Chief, he wants anything other than success and to bring everybody home safely.
a few questions later --
MR. SNOW: We think John Bolton -- John Bolton had more -- look, there were more Democrats who were going to vote for John Bolton than Republicans who were going to vote against -- there were 58 announced votes in his favor. That's bipartisan. And John Bolton was a successful U.N. Ambassador, and we grieve the fact that he was not rewarded for his success and honored for it.
UPDATE: Bolton's run-of-the-mill resignation even gets a White House photo-op -- this from the White House with a policy of making no case-by-case mentions of military deaths in Iraq.
They're up to something
In slightly breaking news, though it was apparently known to the British media over the weekend, Tony Blair is coming to Washington on Thursday, the day after "Jimmy" Baker's report on Iraq is published. It's a sign of how far things have gone that Blair gets to meet Bush later in a week that begins with Bush meeting the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
That makes it all right then
In a Guantanamo whitewash article that appears on the Pentagon website, the following nugget of information is offered --
Maggie, the chief librarian, said that books in the Harry Potter series translated into Arabic are among the most-requested items.
Which is somehow meant to excuse the fact that the detentions are indefinite and that the detainees have no habeas corpus rights: no external oversight of the Combatant Status Review tribunals which declare them to be enemy combatants, and the ever-receding prospect of trials that would be rigged against them anyway, the earlier tribunals having already judged them to be terrorists.
Maggie, the chief librarian, said that books in the Harry Potter series translated into Arabic are among the most-requested items.
Which is somehow meant to excuse the fact that the detentions are indefinite and that the detainees have no habeas corpus rights: no external oversight of the Combatant Status Review tribunals which declare them to be enemy combatants, and the ever-receding prospect of trials that would be rigged against them anyway, the earlier tribunals having already judged them to be terrorists.
Friday, December 01, 2006
He'll be Brother Sullivan by Christmas
We used to think Andrew Sullivan was signalling that his disillusionment with Catholicism would end in conversion to the Anglican faith. There is a new possibility, however --
The first time I walked into a gay disco, with all those lights, music, ritual and smoke, my immediate thought was: church! Madonna gets this, whatever Jonah says. Because she's a born-and-bred Catholic, which Jonah [Goldberg] isn't. It's theater, sweetie, theater. And the Church once understood that - which was part of its beautiful Catholicity. Gone, now, alas. But Benedict is helping nudge it back. And although I tease him about it [the Prada outfits], it's a wonderful thing. More incense, please. And lace.
Aside from the fact disco has nothing on Black Sabbath, for example, when it comes to High Church antics, if one is seeking incense and lace within the Christian tradition, isn't it time to look a tad further east than Rome?
The first time I walked into a gay disco, with all those lights, music, ritual and smoke, my immediate thought was: church! Madonna gets this, whatever Jonah says. Because she's a born-and-bred Catholic, which Jonah [Goldberg] isn't. It's theater, sweetie, theater. And the Church once understood that - which was part of its beautiful Catholicity. Gone, now, alas. But Benedict is helping nudge it back. And although I tease him about it [the Prada outfits], it's a wonderful thing. More incense, please. And lace.
Aside from the fact disco has nothing on Black Sabbath, for example, when it comes to High Church antics, if one is seeking incense and lace within the Christian tradition, isn't it time to look a tad further east than Rome?
How many more times?
In the spirit of this post from Backword, note this little item from the Wall Street Journal politics blog --
Organizers expect about 150 attendees and 15 exhibitors at next week’s “Sixth Rebuilding Iraq Conference & Expo” outside Washington. Iraq-reconstruction conferences in 2003 drew packed houses.
Organizers expect about 150 attendees and 15 exhibitors at next week’s “Sixth Rebuilding Iraq Conference & Expo” outside Washington. Iraq-reconstruction conferences in 2003 drew packed houses.
Clearing the desk
In a statement that looks like it was written before last week's events at Stormont but got buried under the NATO and Jordan briefings, the White House has issued a statement of support for the progress (sic) in implementation of the St Andrews Agreement --
The United States welcomes the recent progress made by the Northern Ireland parties and the British and Irish Governments to implement the agreement reached at St. Andrews, and I recognize the leadership shown by the political party leaders. The United States fully supports the agreed way forward for Northern Ireland: a power-sharing government by the end of March next year, based on support for the rule of law and policing.
The one bit of leverage that the White House still has is the St Patrick's Day invitations and visas, but right now it looks like Ian Paisley is the one herding cats and it's not clear how much leverage those perks have with him.
The United States welcomes the recent progress made by the Northern Ireland parties and the British and Irish Governments to implement the agreement reached at St. Andrews, and I recognize the leadership shown by the political party leaders. The United States fully supports the agreed way forward for Northern Ireland: a power-sharing government by the end of March next year, based on support for the rule of law and policing.
The one bit of leverage that the White House still has is the St Patrick's Day invitations and visas, but right now it looks like Ian Paisley is the one herding cats and it's not clear how much leverage those perks have with him.
If renditions were actually radioactive
then they might get more attention. UK Home Secretary John Reid, speaking in the House of Commons, suddenly seems to have a stronger interest in finding out what exactly might be on board planes, even if it means trodding on diplomatic niceties -- a willingness that has been missing in Britain and Ireland for George Bush's rendition flights --
As for co-operation with the Russians, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has spoken to them and we have been assured of their co-operation. We understand that that assurance goes up to the highest level in the Russian authorities. Of course, if it is necessary to use the powers that are conferred on the police to obtain access, for instance, to aeroplanes in this country, they will be prepared to exercise that power on their own judgment. There will be no political prohibition on the police following where the evidence leads them.
[Permanent link to be added]
As for co-operation with the Russians, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has spoken to them and we have been assured of their co-operation. We understand that that assurance goes up to the highest level in the Russian authorities. Of course, if it is necessary to use the powers that are conferred on the police to obtain access, for instance, to aeroplanes in this country, they will be prepared to exercise that power on their own judgment. There will be no political prohibition on the police following where the evidence leads them.
[Permanent link to be added]
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