A classy guy, a way with words
Senator Zell Miller ("D"-GA), quoted in the Washington Times:

"Those who are wringing their hands and shouting so loudly for 'heads to roll' over [the abuse] seem to have conveniently overlooked the fact that someone's head has rolled — that of another innocent American brutally murdered by terrorists" [...]
"Why is it that there's more indignation over a photo of a prisoner with underwear on his head than over the video of a young American with no head at all?"

Memo to White House: easy on the Zarqawi thing
Meanwhile, Eric Alterman is reminded by a reader of a a March NBC report by Jim Miklaszewski:

...long before the war the Bush administration had several chances to wipe out his terrorist operation and perhaps kill Zarqawi himself... Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.

Maybe Nick Berg's dad has a better complaint than some people think. posted by Thomas Nephew at 6:04:00 PM -- |    

 
The stubborn child
Brothers Grimm:

Once upon a time a child was stubborn and didn't do what its mother wanted. So God was not pleased with it and let it become sick, and no doctor could help it, and shortly it was on its little death bed. When it was lowered in its grave and the earth was covering it, its little arm came out and reached up, and when they laid it back in and put fresh dirt over it, that didn't help, and the little arm kept coming out. So the mother had to go to the grave herself and hit the little arm with a switch, and when she did that, it pulled itself back, and only then did the child rest under the earth.

The end. Sleep tight! God, I love Grimm's fairy tales. (Yes, this one's for real.)

Via Peter Praschl of "le sofa blog," who gets a kick out of the absurdly perky web site. posted by Thomas Nephew at 12:12:00 AM -- |    

 
Where the Education Is?
The New York Times published an interesting chart* and article today titled "Where the Jobs Are." The authors group different jobs (lawyers, stevedores, secretaries) in groups with names like "People Skills," "Muscle Power," and "Formulaic Intelligence," and rank the groups and their jobs by group percent gain, and job percent gain. The authors conclude,

Over the past decade the biggest employment gains came in occupations that rely on people skills and emotional intelligence — like nurse and lawyer — and among jobs that require imagination and creativity: designer, architect and photographer. [...]

Trying to preserve existing jobs will prove futile — trade and technology will transform the economy whether we like it not. Americans will be better off if they strive to move up the hierarchy of human talents. That's where our future lies.

For all I know labor economists will pan this little demonstration. There are some semi-ridiculous entries in the "winner" job brackets -- cosmetologists in the "Imagination and Creativity" bracket along with actors, directors and architects. Still, the overall picture is persuasive.

If so, the question I have is whether today's "teaching to the test" education policies fit the future the authors portray. In his bracing polemic "Against School," (mentioned here last year) education critic John Gatto's advice seems tailor-made for the jobs the Federal Reserve economists identify:

We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness -- curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight -- simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids to truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then.

Are "imagination and creativity" or "people skills and emotional intelligence" things that can be taught in ways that standardized third and fifth grade tests will capture? Or is there a little room for other approaches as well? Of course, we can't all be actors, architects, or even lawyers (even if it seems that way around here). But what's the harm in teaching -- and funding programs -- as if kids might like to succeed at those careers, too?



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* (compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank's W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm, and designed by Nigel Holmes) posted by Thomas Nephew at 10:44:00 PM -- |    

 
Outrage imperils morale of Republican politicians
In their article "Outrage erodes morale of troops," Charles Hurt and Amy Fagan of the Washington Times begin "rowing back" with the first sentence:

The worldwide furor over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers imperils troop morale at a crucial time, say lawmakers from both parties.

Not quite the same thing. In fact, nowhere in the article are actual, you know, soldiers consulted about the effect of the Abu Ghraib scandal on their morale or that of their unit. Instead, the article is devoted to the usual hyperventilation by the mad dog Republican right. Exhibit A:

During the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings yesterday into the prison-abuse scandal, Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, read one of the Kerry solicitations into the record and called them unprecedented.
"It goes on to demand that George Bush fire Donald Rumsfeld," he said. "And then it goes on to a timeline, a chronology, and at the very last, it makes a solicitation for contributions. I don't recall this ever having happened before in history."

Outrageous! Facts -- accompanied by a call for accountability AND a contribution to an election campaign! In a democracy! What'll they demand next -- a fair election? That's some senator you've elected there, Oklahoma. Tom DeLay, John Kline, Duncan Hunter (see below) and RNC chairman Ed Gillespie also distinguish themselves with stupid and/or vile excuse-making.

Now I wouldn't be surprised if soldiers' morale did suffer because of the scandal (I know mine has, and I'm not even getting shot at thousands of miles from home). I just expected to learn about that and not the splutterings of Congressthings when I clicked on the headline. While morale loss among American soldiers would be regrettable, that's (a) not the primary concern of a criminal or Congressional investigation, and (b) not because of being "tarred with the same brush" by Democrats like Tom Daschle or Ted Kennedy -- judging by the same Washington Times article.

But while we're on the subject, maybe morale will get a bit of a boost if there were consequences not just for the "six morons" who were "just following orders,"* but for the officers who gave those orders, and the generals and civilian "leadership" who appear to have set that up and looked away.


Enemies' heinous crime to serve as smokescreen for our own
What happened to Nicholas Berg was criminal and revolting. To attempt to use it to deflect attention from the misdeeds at Abu Ghraib is merely revolting:

[Representative Duncan Hunter (R), House Armed Services Committee Chairman] said that the attention already paid to the prison abuses has been more than enough and that it's important not to let the actions of a few soldiers sully the reputations of 135,000 soldiers who are serving "honorably" in Iraq.

He also noted that the videotaped beheading of the American contractor from Philadelphia came in response to the public release of the abuse pictures and thus Mr. Rumsfeld was "exactly right" to keep the photos private and investigate according to regular military procedures.

Specifically, Mr. Hunter blamed the press "for being more interested in selling" advertisements "by airing these inflammatory pictures than they are about the lives of their fellow Americans."

"All the people who had a hand in publishing those pictures should think long and hard about what their responsibility was for the beheading of this American," Mr. Hunter said.

Reviewing: it's not OK to demand accountability for crimes and failed policies with huge political implications, but it's OK to use the decapitation of an American citizen to score political points.

Our president is George W. Bush, and he has no doubt approved this message.


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* Gratuitous link to another good post by Sergeant Stryker on the subject. posted by Thomas Nephew at 11:31:00 PM -- |    

 
Like a wind-up toy trying to walk through a wall
The White House as irony-free zone -- Rape Rooms: A Chronology: What Bush said as the Iraq prison scandal unfolded, compiled by William Saletan of Slate:

"Iraq is free of rape rooms and torture chambers."—President Bush, remarks to 2003 Republican National Committee Presidential Gala, Oct. 8, 2003 [...]

"One thing is for certain: There won't be any more mass graves and torture rooms and rape rooms."—Bush, press availability in Monterrey, Mexico, Jan. 12, 2004

-- CBS broadcasts Abu Ghraib story, April 28, 2004 --

"A year ago, I did give the speech from the carrier, saying that we had achieved an important objective, that we'd accomplished a mission, which was the removal of Saddam Hussein. And as a result, there are no longer torture chambers or rape rooms or mass graves in Iraq."—Bush, remarks in the Rose Garden, April 30, 2004

"There are those who seek to derail the transition to democracy because they want to return to the days of mass graves and torture chambers and rape rooms. But that's not going to happen."—McClellan, White House press briefing, April 30, 2004

"Because we acted, torture rooms are closed, rape rooms no longer exist, mass graves are no longer a possibility in Iraq."—Bush, remarks at "Ask President Bush" event, Michigan, May 3, 2004

"... Iraq was a unique situation because Saddam Hussein had constantly defied the world and had threatened his neighbors, had used weapons of mass destruction, had terrorist ties, had torture chambers …"—Bush, interview with Al Arabiya Television, May 5, 2004 [emphases added, links via Saletan/Slate]

posted by Thomas Nephew at 11:57:00 PM -- |    

 
Superb job
President Bush's support for Donald Rumsfeld, quoted in the New York Times ("President Backs His Defense Chief in Show of Unity"):

You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You are doing a superb job. You are a strong secretary of defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude.

Thanks a whole hell of a lot, Donald!

Meanwhile, congressional Republicans know what to do:

Republicans in Congress will intensify their effort to help the White House in coming days by suggesting that Democrats are politicizing the issue, the adviser said. House Republicans in particular have already sought to equate criticism from Democrats with a lack of support for fighting terrorism.

At long last, have they no shame?

That image is a recruiting poster for Al Qaeda for the next decade. It's one Bush and Rumsfeld's slipshod oversight and arrogant disregard for expert advice and international conventions made all but inevitable. It would be hard to do worse in the war on terror than Bush has done the last year, it would be impossible to do worse in Iraq than he and Rumsfeld have done. If you want a war on terrorism minus one disgrace and screwup after the other, vote Kerry. If you want "the buck stops there" leadership, vote Bush. posted by Thomas Nephew at 11:56:00 PM -- |    

 
"The wrong morons"
Known traitorous liberal media outlet Army Times:

"Around the halls of the Pentagon, a term of caustic derision has emerged for the enlisted soldiers at the heart of the furor over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal: the six morons who lost the war.

Indeed, the damage done to the U.S. military and the nation as a whole by the horrifying photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees at the notorious prison is incalculable.

But the folks in the Pentagon are talking about the wrong morons.

There is no excuse for the behavior displayed by soldiers in the now-infamous pictures and an even more damning report by Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba. Every soldier involved should be ashamed.

But while responsibility begins with the six soldiers facing criminal charges, it extends all the way up the chain of command to the highest reaches of the military hierarchy and its civilian leadership. [...]

This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential — even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war."
(via known liberal spokesperson Andrew Sullivan)

posted by Thomas Nephew at 6:19:00 PM -- |    

 
This may not come as a surprise
If you have a nagging feeling you're just a little too cheered up this Monday morning, read the latest "Foreign Media Reaction," compiled by the U.S. Department of State International Information Programs: "IRAQ PRISONER ABUSE DRAWS GLOBAL MEDIA OUTRAGE." I'll include just the first two from a country I know a little about:

KEY FINDINGS
** World media condemn "sadistic abuse" at Abu Ghraib; call torture a "major defeat" for U.S.
** Such "barbaric idiocy" will recruit more terrorists and inflame "intense anger" against West.
** Euros want "swift punishment" for the guilty; others say court martial "doesn't go far enough."
** Arabs, Muslims insist torture was not isolated and demand U.S. be tried for war crimes. [...]

GERMANY: "Out Of Control"
Frank Herold remarked in left-of-center Berliner Zeitung (5/5): "Washington claimed to oust an inhuman dictator to bring democracy, human rights and the rule of law to Iraq, but at the latest now, this allegation has lost [the U.S.] any credibility in the Arab world. The hatred of the western leading power continues to grow. But the events are also dangerous for Washington for a different reason. At issue are not the crimes of a few perverse individuals, as the Pentagon wants to make us believe.... The fighters against terror follow the example of their superiors: they do not feel bound by rules and get out of control. Bush seems to recognize this, since he has promised a tough prosecution of the criminals...but it is not enough to simply punish the torturers. Human Rights Watch...demanded regular access for independent observers to the prisons. This is the crucial point: if the United States wants to regain its credibility, it should no longer elude international control."

"The Lawless"
Business daily Financial Times Deutschland of Hamburg judged (5/4): "All indications are that this scandal cannot be minimized that easily. In the fight against terrorists and Iraqi resistance groups, moral and legal standards have begun to slip. This is why far-reaching consequences must now be taken by the military, the executive in the United States but also by other democracies.... The excesses from Abu Ghraib are not an accidental lack of discipline of a few GIs under stress. They point to serious flaws in the system: mistakable and ambiguous signals of the leadership, insufficient controls, a total lack of an awareness of being wrong. The argument that this is a very perfidious opponent and the incidents are harmless compared to terrorist atrocities does not count. If the previous legal means in the fight against violence do not suffice, then there is only one reliable answer: new limits must be discussed in public and then be binding for everyone. Those who allow or even promote intelligence services and special units to take the law into their own hands will in the end jeopardize the credibility and the reputation of the rule of law--like now in Iraq." [...]

posted by Thomas Nephew at 2:05:00 AM -- |