Friday, August 31, 2007
Historical Cost
I've seen people trying to make business decisions who can't accept that reality. You tell them that, if they scrap their old equipment and buy a new piece of equipment for $2 million, they will make more money. If their response is "But I paid $1.5 million for that old equipment just two years ago," then they don't get it. The money they spent two years ago is gone. The only question now is how to make more money, and there are only two choices: (a) Continue to use the old equipment, or (b) Spend money to buy new equipment. Choice (a) costs nothing except a loss of productivity. Choice (b) requires you to spend money out of pocket, but increases productivity and future profits. If the benefits of choice (b) exceed the costs of choice (b), then choice (b) is the right decision, regardless of what the old equipment cost. Why? Because historical cost is irrelevant.
I've also seen people trying to make investment decisions who can't accept that reality. You tell them that they can make more by selling investment A (which they bought for $X and now is worth $Y less) and putting money into investment B. If their response is "But I paid $X for Investment A and if I sell it I have a $Y loss," then they don't get it. They already have a loss of $Y. Their only choice is when they are going to realize it. (I'm using the word "realize" in both the tax sense and the cognitive sense.)
It is very therefore very disturbing to see the same mistake applied to our continuing military presence in Iraq. The human lives that have been lost or damaged in Iraq, which is part of the price of "blood and treasure" that we have paid for our military adventure in Iraq, is being promoted as a reason to stay in Iraq.
For example, in one of the pro-war ads that have been running on television from "Freedom's Watch" a soldier who has lost both legs in Iraq says "I know what I lost. And I also know that if we pull out [of Iraq] now, everything that I have given and sacrificed will be mean nothing."
And President Bush has stated that "under his watch" he will "never allow our youngsters to die in vain" in Iraq. (4/13/2004) After the U.S. military death toll reached 3,000 in Iraq, the White House announced that President Bush "will ensure their sacrifice was not made in vain." (CNN 1/3/2007) At Fort Benning, the President declared that "it is important for us to succeed [in Iraq] so that comrades would not have died in vain." (1/11/2007)
A Google search of "Iraq vain site:www.whitehouse.gov" turns up about 93 hits, so these are not isolated slips of the tongue, but part of a deliberate public relations effort that relies on emotion and not reason or results.
The plea to leave more soldiers in harm's way, ensuring that more will be killed or injuried, merely because others have already been killed or injured, is a failure to recognize that historical cost is irrelevant. In deciding whether to send people into battle, the only relevant question is whether risking more lives is justified by the possible future benefit. The number of lives that have been spent in the past is, in the hard calculus of reality, unimportant.
Am I equating human lives with financial costs? Yes. Money spent is money gone. And dead is dead. Someone doesn't become less dead (or less maimed) just by spending more lives.
The President owes a debt to the living to spend their lives wisely, not a debt to the dead to justify their deaths.
Novak Keeps a Secret
I first met Gonzales in 2001 when, along with other conservative journalists, I went to the White House for a background briefing by presidential counsel Gonzales on the new president's judicial nominations. I was stunned by the incoherence of the briefer. When I checked with several Republican senators, I received the same verdict. Their judgment was that Gonzales was not qualified to hold a senior governmental position.
And he tells us this after more than six years?
So the identity of a CIA agent gets disclosed immediately, but the incompetence of the man serving as White House Counsel to the President, and later Attorney General of the United States, should be kept a secret?
Perhaps this is something that Novak should have mentioned when those "several Republican Senators" were about to confirm Gonzales as Attorney General.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
All the President's Enablers
Both in his public speeches and in published accounts of more private conversations (such as are recounted in Woodward's State of Denial), the President consistently presents himself as locked into his view of reality, indifferent to facts contradicting those views, and unappreciative of those who wish to present those adverse facts and alternate views.
George W. Bush has spent most of his career cultivating a dependable stable of sycophants and replacing them now may be difficult because, believe it or not, a successful career in politics and government service usually requires having some independent judgment. So, finding people who are (a) qualified, (b) willing to mindlessly support the President's tunnel visions, (c) likely to be confirmed by the Senate, is not going to be easy.
So Bush is going to have to begin dealing with bad news and conflicting views from new appointees within his administration. Either that, or he will further isolate himself from real political issues and make himself even more irrelevant than the usual lame duck President.
My guess is that it will be the latter, and I simply hope he doesn't hurt more people (such as American troops in Iraq) than he really needs to while he remains fixated in his righteousness.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Chimera Cheney
One further point: If Cheney is not part of the executive branch, what was he doing with classified documents belonging to the executive branch? Perhaps he should return them. (And as soon as possible.)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Why "Plan" is a Four-Letter Word
Appearing on Sunday morning talk shows yesterday, national security advisor Stephen J. Hadley, said the following about a proposal by two leading Republican Senators to require President Bush to prepare and submit a plan to begin limiting the role of American forces in Iraq.
"They’ve done a useful service in indicating the kinds of things that we should be thinking about, but the time to begin that process is September."
That's right, we should not even think about what we should do after "the surge" until the surge is more than half over.
The surge will be more than half over in September because, according to recent news reports, the American forces will face another crisis next April when they will either have to (a) start withdrawing troops and reducing troop levels or (b) further extend already-extended tours of duty for the American soldiers in Iraq. The surge began last February and will end next April, so once we are allowed to start thinking in September, we have less than six months to come up with a plan before reality starts making plans for us.
It is no coincidence that it was an incompetent lack of planning that resulted in the mess that is now Iraq, because we invaded Iraq without a clear plan for how to govern the country once we toppled Saddam Hussein. And there has been an appalling lack of planning in the recent "surge" in Iraq. The claim was that, with additional troops, we could "clear and hold" neighborhoods in Bagdhad. But then what? American troops had cleared cities of insurgents before, turned the cities over to Iraqi forces, and then watched insurgents return. What was going to be different this time?
That is the most curious and bothersome part of the current surge. It's not that the President has no plan for what to do if the military surge fails, but that he has no plan for what to do if our military succeeds. According to the administration's own progress report on the 18 Iraqi "benchmarks," Iraq has provided three brigades to "support Baghdad operations" (we're not even going to pretend that the Iraqis can control their own capital city) but that "manning levels for the deployed Iraqi units continue to be of concern," probably because as many as half the Iraqi troops don't show up when they're supposed to. And that's one of the benchmarks in which the administration claims "satisfactory progress." Most of the important political benchmarks show no progress at all. So American troops are working (and dying) to turn over a secure Baghdad to a dysfunctional Iraqi army led by a dysfunctional Iraqi government.
The history of the conflict in Iraq has been a history of vague optimism. This administration not only doesn't need any plans, they don't even want to have plans, because if they had a specific plan and it didn't work, they might be held accountable. But if all they predict is "progress" without specifics, they can continue to claim that progress is being made, or that there is still a pontential for progress, without ever having to make an actual decision about what to do in Iraq.
Gen. Peter Pace (and others) have said that hope is not a plan. If they said that to the Commander-in-Chief, he either didn't hear it or didn't want to hear it.
Meanwhile, let's all stop thinking until at least September.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Shinseki Was Right
In 2003, before the invasion of Iraq, General Eric Shinseki testified before Congress and was asked about the troop levels needed to maintain order in Iraq after an invasion, and he replied that "several hundred thousand" troops would be needed.
This estimate was immediately ridiculed by (among others) Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. But Shinseki's estimate was not based on the same kind of wishful thinking (or denial of reality) that dominated Rumsfeld's administration, but was based on military history. And, as it turned out, he was right. The troop levels planned for post-invasion Iraq were not sufficient.
And Shinseki is still right. Adding 20,000 troops in a "surge" does not produce the "several hundred thousand" needed to maintain security in Iraq. Talk about tactics and strategies can't overcome the fact that there simply aren't enough troops there, and there never have been and never will be.
Only when the Bush administration understands that reality will there be any hope for progress in Iraq.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Punishments Imposed
In related news, the American people were sentenced to 19 more months of the Bush administration.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Iraqi Exports
So what to do?
The easiest way for America to stop the violence in Iraq, and so stop the breeding of new terrorists, is for us to stop fighting.
That's right. We should give up and go home.
Without an enemy to fight, the insurgents will have no reason to make more bombs and no reason to train new fighters. And how will they recruit new fighters if there is no enemy to fight? No new terrorists means that there will be no terrorists to export. Problem solved.
But could Iraq then become another pre-9/11 Afghanistan, controlled by anti-American terrorists who use the country as a base of operations? Possible, but not likely.
Exactly who we're fighting in Iraq is not always clear, but the insurgents attacking U.S. troops seem to belong to a number of different groups that want the United States out of Iraq in particular and the middle east in general. One of those groups is Al Qaeda, but that doesn't mean that all insurgents are Al Qaeda. There are other groups just as opposed to the U.S. presence in Iraq who are also just as opposed to Al Qaeda, and would probably be working to oust Al Qaeda from Iraq if they didn't hate the U.S. even more.
So take the U.S. forces out of the picture, and what happens? Conventional "wisdom" (brought to us by the same people who have been wrong about everything in Iraq) is that, in the absence of the American military, the insurgents will begin using Iraq and a base for terrorism (which they are already doing). But it is also just as likely that, without a common enemy to fight, the differing goals of foreign (Al Qaeda/international) insurgents and native (nationalist) insurgents would rise to the surface, and the native insurgents would begin trying to drive the foreigners from their country.
Fanaticism is redoubling your efforts when you've forgotten your goal and, by that measure, the Bush administration is fanatical. If the goal is to defend the United States against global terrorism, then continuing military efforts in Iraq is exactly the wrong thing to do. By invading a middle eastern country, we gave Al Qaeda the kind of war it wanted. We created a jihad for them, because they are now defending a Muslim country against infidels. And we gave them a war they can win, because they can use guerrilla tactics against a conventional army. By continuing to fight in Iraq, we are strengthening Al Qaeda, not weakening it.
When continuing to fight simply makes things worse, you finally have to ask if the solution is not more troops but fewer troops. The real question is not "how can we win in Iraq" but "how can we win the war on global terror," and to the second question the answer is to begin withdrawing American forces from Iraq.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Moral Relativism
Religious leader Jerry Falwell died on Tuesday. One of the early leaders of the so-called "Moral Majority," Falwell was mourned by (among others) Pat Robertson, who said that his "courage and strength of convictions will be sadly missed in this time of increasing moral relativism." In addressing the graduating class of Liberty University, which was founded by Falwell, former House Speaker (and possible Republican candidate) Newt Gingrich asked them to honor Falwell by confronting the "growing culture of radical secularism."
Meanwhile, the second Republican Presidential "debate" was held on Wednesday, and the 10 candidates were asked about a very theatrical (and highly unlikely) "24"-like scenario in which our nation is attacked by terrorists, more attacks are believed to be imminent, and some terrorists are captured. How "aggresively" should the captured terrorists be interrogated.
The first to answer was John McCain, himself a former prisoner of war who was interrogated "aggressively" during his years in captivity. He rejected the use of torture and gave the moral answer: "It's not about the terrorists, it's about us. It's about what kind of country we are." His answer was greeted by the audience with stony silence.
Taking their cue from the Republican base in the audience, the other nine candidates quickly advocated whatever was needed to get answers, and were rewarded with applause. Rudy Giuliani said that "I would tell the people who had to do the interrogation to use every method they could think of. Shouldn't be torture, but every method they can think of," specifically including waterboarding, which is universally regarded to be a form of torture. (In other words, Giuliani doesn't want to use torture, but gets to define the meaning of the word "torture.")
Mitt Romney expressed gratitude for the legal black hole that is Guantanamo. "I'm glad they're at Guantanamo. ... I want them in Guantanamo where they don't get the access to lawyers they get when they're on our soil. ... Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is, we ought to double Guantanamo."
California Rep. Duncan Hunter: "Let me just say, this would take a one-minute conversation with the secretary of defense. I would call him up or call him in, I would say to SecDef, in terms of getting information that would save American lives even if it involves very high-pressure techniques, one sentence: 'Get the information.'"
In other words, forget the teachings of Jesus, the "Golden Rule," and "turning the other cheek." Apply physical and mental pain if you need to in order to get what you think you need. If that isn't "moral relativism" and "radical secularism," what is?
The first task of the graduates of Liberty University should be to confront the hypocrisy of the Republican Party.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Power of Darkness
Now, the Bush administration is making a more direct assault on the lawyers, but seeking a court order limiting their access to their clients, both in their meetings with their clients and in their written communications with their clients (which will be read and censored).
This action appears to be the result of the wave of appeals now being filed in the DC Circuit by detainees. So far this year, there have been 14 appeals filed from "Combatant Status Review Tribunals," all of which have been filed since mid-March. There have also been 8 habeas corpus petitions filed, all since the beginning of February.
According to a story in today's New York Times, the filings by the administration include an affidavit from a Navy lawyer at Guantanamo, Cmdr. Patrick M. McCarthy, who alleged that lawyers for the detainees have been providing the detainees with information about events outside of the Guantánamo Bay military base, such as a speech at an Amnesty International conference and information about more recent terrorist attacks. The affidavit states that "Such information threatens the security of the camp, as it could incite violence among the detainees."
Exactly why or how such information could "incite violence" is not explained, but the obvious explanation is that the information gives the detainees hope.
Hope is what leads people to rebel. If you can hope to be free, then you can continue to struggle against your captors. But if you have no hope of ever being free, or ever being allowed to communicate with your family again, and there is no possible life other than eating and sleeping in isolation in a concrete cell, then there is no hope, and perhaps no reason to live.
And that is the goal of the Bush administration. They don't want merely to imprison the bodies of the detainees; they want to crush their spirits, and the way to crush their spirits is to keep them in darkness.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
The "Passive Exonerative"
A "mea culpa" in the passive voice?
Sorry, but "mea culpa" means "my fault" and you can't have admitted it was your fault when you haven't yet admitted that it was you that made those mistakes. Until someone moves from the passive voice and into the active voice, those mistakes are going to hang in the air without any fault attaching to any person.
Gonzales's biggest "mistake" might be that he forgot to tell his subordinates that they would be reporting to him and taking their orders from him, and not Karl Rove. Or perhaps Gonzales himself didn't know that? In any case, the man who is supposed to be in charge of the Department of Justice cannot provide any consistent, coherent explanation for major personnel changes, and my suspicion is that his ignorance and confusion are not an act.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Criminal Conduct as a "State Secret"
Briefly, Khaled El-Masri is a German citizen who was allegedly seized in Macedonia, delivered into the custody of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, imprisoned by the CIA in Afghanistan, beaten and abused, and finally released in Albania. He was apparently a victim of the U.S. program of secret prisons and "extraordinary rendition" that has been widely reported by the press and finally acknowledged publicly by several top government officials. The essential elements of El-Masri's own account of his abduction and imprisonment have been confirmed by the Council of Europe, and arrest warrants for persons suspected of involvement (who have not been publicly identified) have been issued by a German court.
El-Masri also filed a civil suit in the United States against then-Director of the CIA George Tenet, other named CIA officials, and other unnamed persons responsible for his abduction and mistreatment. El-Masri v. Tenet et al., No. 1:05-cv-01417 (U.S.D.C. E.D. Va.). (Selected court documents can be found through the ACLU.) The United States government immediately intervened and asserted the "state secrets" privilege, which prevents a court from considering a case if state secrets would necessarily be involved. The District Court dismissed the case on those grounds, and now the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed.
In his assertion of the state secrets privilege, then-Director of the CIA Porter Goss stated that the civil complaint alleges that the CIA conducted a "clandestine foreign intelligence activity," and that the United States can neither confirm nor deny those allegations without disclosing classified intelligence source and methods. Goss further stated that, because of the allegations of CIA involvement, "parties in this case have a special incentive to probe the CIA's foreign intelligence interests, authorities, and methods generally, and seek information and evidence to establish or refute claims and defenses." The nature of the interests, authorities, methods, or defenses that might be exposed by the litigation is not disclosed in the record, but were described in a "classified declaration" reviewed only by the judge in the District Court, and by the three judges who heard the appeal in the 4th Circuit.
What is disturbing about the claim of Director Goss, and the opinion of the 4th Circuit, is that the legality or criminality of the activities of the CIA have nothing to do with whether the state secrets privilege should apply. The 4th Circuit acknowledged that El-Masri challenged whether the state secrets doctrine should apply in cases of "egregious executive misconduct," and it's response is very unsatisfying. The court rejected the concept that the judiciary "possess a roving writ to ferret out and strike down executive excess," and explained that the courts have a "more modest role," which is to "simply decide cases and controversies." According to the 4th Circuit, the courts can impose liability against an executive officer "in a properly conducted judicial proceeding," but "we would be guilty of excess in our own right if we were to disregard settled legal principles in order to reach the merits on an executive act that would not otherwise be before us." This is circular, internally inconsistent, and evasive.
It is circular because the El-Masri was not asking the court to do anything but decide the case in front of it, and the court's response says little more than that the court has to dismiss the case because the court has to dismiss the case.
It is internally inconsistent, because the court claims to "simply decide cases" and implicitly rejects the idea that it should take into account broader public policy considerations even while dismissing the case under a doctrine that is based on broader public policy considerations.
Finally, the court is being evasive because it fails to address the actual issue raised by El-Masri, which is whether the application of the state secrets privilege to activities which appear to be unlawful on their face is a "settled legal principle." All of the precedents cited by the court seem to involve cases in which the alleged actions of the government might or might not have been legal, but are there any possible defenses to what is alleged to have occurred?
The heart of the complaint against George Tenet is that, as Director of the CIA, he approved a program of extra-legal seizures, transportations, and detentions of persons in violation of the laws of the United States and international law. The 4th Circuit claimed that, in order to succeed in that claim, El-Masri "would be obliged to show in detail how the head of the CIA participates in such [sensitive intelligence] operations, and how information concerning their progress is relayed to him." But is that true? That would be true if the question were whether Tenet was negligent in some way, or whether he was aware of El-Masri's circumstances in particular, but in this case the question is whether Tenet approved a particular program, the existence of which is already public knowledge, and it should be relatively simple to either or confirm deny that fact. And if Tenet approved an unlawful program, then he would be legally responsible for the results of that program whether or not he knew anything about El-Masri individually.
The only imaginable way that an investigation into Tenet's liability might be invasive, and so risk state secrets, is if the program he approved were legal or the harm to El-Masri were not foreseeable, in which case it would be necessary to disclose the details of the program in order to judge whether or not Tenet should be responsible for what happened to El-Masri. Is such a defense really possible? Is it really possible that our government can officially, regularly, and secretly seize people without any arrest or other judicial approval, imprison them, and abuse them without violating any law?
Unfortunately, we don't know what issues were raised in the classified declaration, and the 4th Circuit admits that is "no doubt frustrating" that the exact reasons for the court's opinion are classified. It is even more frustrating to learn that the CIA has been imprisoning and abusing people and there has been, and will be, no judicial restraint, no oversight, and no legal consequences.
Two final notes:
Whether or not the government has the raw extra-legal power to do what it did and get away with it, there is still the moral issue of whether or not the government should compensate El-Masri for his sufferings at our hands. There is no reason to believe that the Bush administration has ever considered, or will ever consider, this issue, despite its claims of Christianity and morality.
There are a number of differences defenses that the Bush administration could have asserted to the El-Masri complaint, including whether or not the complaint even states a cause of action against the government even if what the complaint alleges is true. (It is not clear to me whether a court would assert civil liability against a government official for actions taken outside of the United States in the absence of clear legal authority, which I'm not sure exists.) The Bush administration chose to assert the defense that resulted in the most governmental secrecy and the most Presidential power, and this is consistent with most decisions of the Bush administration.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Trolling II
Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), who is now the chair of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, put it very succinctly: “There is a large area for potential compromise and agreement, but with these latest Medicare proposals, the president is just asking for controversy.”
"Just asking for controversy" defines a troll very well.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Is George Bush a Troll?
In President Bush's most recent radio address (1/20/2007), and in the State of the Union Address he is expected to give tonight (1/23/2007), he has proposed (or is about to propose) to address the problem of health care in the United States through (a) income tax deductions for health insurance premiums and (b) imposing income taxes on "excessive" health insurance benefits. The first proposal is largely meaningless except as a tax break for the rich, but the second proposal is simply ridiculous and, taken together, the two proposals look like a troll.
The first proposal is largely meaningless because most of the people who now have no health insurance also pay no income tax because their incomes are within the standard deduction and personal exemptions. Giving them a tax incentive is buy health insurance shows a total disconnect from reality. So the only people helped by the proposal are the upper middle class who are already paying for health insurance and will benefit from the tax deduction.
The second proposal is ridiculous, because it is based on the idea that it is possible to have too much health insurance. One of the bizarre delusions of a handful of conservatives is that health care costs are rising in part because health insurance encourages people to use more of the health care system resources than they really need, and that there really are people who go to the hospital, or go to the doctor, just for fun and not because of any real illness or medical condition.
The worst thing about the second proposal is that it would probably not affect the wealthy, who don't really need health insurance because they can pay for health care needs out of their own funds, but union workers who have been able to negotiate generous health care benefits through collective bargaining. It is, therefore, not a tax increase for the wealthy, but a tax increase for the working class.
Given the present control of both houses of Congress by the Democratic Party, the odds of these proposals being enacted as law are only slightly more than zero. So why propose them? Because Bush is a troll.
The war in a Iraq is a continuing disaster for the United States, and Bush's approval ratings continue downward toward record lows. What better way to distract Congress and the American People than by trying to change the subject.
And an even better distraction is one that might help to inflame idealogical and party differences. If Bush can get Republicans and Democrats (or moderate and conservative Republicans, or moderate and liberal Democrats) fighting over a domestic issue, all the better.
If this were an isolated instance of what looks like a troll, I would agree that I might have become somewhat paranoid. But the Bush administration has often changed the subject, or made what seemed like antagonistic proposals, that seemed to serve no purpose other than creating disruptions. Why talk about a surge in troops in Iraq when the American people have voted to end the war? Why talk about sending a Democratic Congress re-nominations of federal judges who have already been blocked by a Democratic minority? Why talk about more tax cuts when Congress and the voters are expressing concern about enormous deficits?
There may be complicated political reasons for these actions, but it sure looks like plain and simple trolling.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Guantanamo and Legal Ethics
On Jan. 11, Charles D. "Cully" Stimson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Office of Detainee Affairs, was interviewed on "Federal News Radio," during which he made some remarkable statements:
I think the news story that you’re really going to start seeing in the next couple of weeks is this: As a result of a FOIA request through a major news organization, somebody asked, ‘Who are the lawyers around this country representing detainees down there?’ and you know what, it’s shocking.
Mr. Stimson then rattled off the names of some of the top law firms in the United States, concluding with:
I think, quite honestly, when corporate C.E.O.’s see that those firms are representing the very terrorists who hit their bottom line back in 2001, those C.E.O.’s are going to make those law firms choose between representing terrorists or representing reputable firms, and I think that is going to have major play in the next few weeks. And we want to watch that play out.
"We want to watch that play out"? He wants to watch lawyers being pressured to withdraw from representing detainees? He wants to watch lawyers suffer financially for opposing his detention policies?
And it gets worse. He was then asked who might be paying these lawyers, and he replied:
It’s not clear, is it? Some will maintain that they are doing it out of the goodness of their heart, that they’re doing it pro bono, and I suspect they are; others are receiving moneys from who knows where, and I’d be curious to have them explain that.
The insinuation is that many of these lawyers are being funded by terrorists (or terrorist sympathizers) and are either hiding the source of their funding or lying about whether or not they are being paid.
But there is no reason whatsoever to believe that any of these high-priced lawyers have any motive to represent detainees other than their belief in the value of constitutional civil liberties and their professional obligations to the public.
Stimson is a member of the Maryland bar, and the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers say that every lawyer has a "professional responsibility to render pro bono publico legal service." (Md. RPC Rule 6.1(a).) And "pro bono publico legal service" is defined to include the representation of "individuals, groups, or organizations seeking to secure or protect civil rights, civil liberties, or public rights." (Md. RPC Rule 6.1(b)(1)(C).) Similar provisions appear in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct of the American Bar Association and in the rules adopted by most states. In casting aspersions on the lawyers representing the detainees, Stimson was not only displaying any appalling lack of professional courtesy; he was also disparaging lawyers who were actually complying with the rules of professional ethics and adhering to some of the highest aspirations of the profession, which is to guarantee equal access to justice for all.
Was Stimson trying to embarrass or intimidate the lawyers who are opposing the government in court? If he was, then he may have committed a violation of professional ethics. Rule 4.4(a) of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct (which are, once again, similar to the ABA Model Rules) reads in relevant part as follows:
In representing a client, a lawyer shall not use means that have no substantial purpose other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third person, ...
Stimson has therefore not only embarrassed himself and the Bush administration, but he has probably violated the rules of his profession as well. (There is a technical issue as to whether Stimson is "representing a client" in his employment by the federal government, and it would be ironic for him to avoid the application of an ethical rule by what amounts to a technicality.)
I hope that one of the lawyers for the detainees files an appropriate complaint with the Maryland Office of Lawyer Discipline. I would want to watch that play out.
(For more information on this story, see The New York Times.)
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Staying the Course
"Stay the course" is an expression that has long been popular with Republicans. According to William Safire ("Safire's New Political Dictionary"), the phrase was popularized by Ronald Reagan during the 1980 Presidential campaign. It was also a favorite of Bush41, and Bush43 has used it repeatedly to try to drum up support for his ineffectively policies in Iraq.
Well, all that is going to change now. Not the war, of course, just the use of the phrase.
During an interview on "This Week with George Stephanopolous," in response to questions about Iraq, President Bush declared that "Well, listen, we've never been stay the course, George." (http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/story?id=2594541&page=2) Yes, it's time for Bush to ignore what he's said and done in the past and rewrite history.
The new history of the Iraq war, which is somewhat different from the one you might remember, was more formally announced during a White House press conference on Monday, October 23, in which White House Press Secretary Tony Snow explained that the policy in Iraq was never "stay the course" but "a dynamic policy that is aimed at moving forward at all times on a number of fronts." (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061023-2.html)
Snow was later asked "Has anybody told the President he should stop calling it 'stay the course' then?" He replied that the President has "stopped using it."
And then the question of responsibility. "Is the President responsible for the fact people think it's stay the course since he's, in fact, described it that way himself?" to which Snow responded "No."
So, there you have it. The policy of the United States in Iraq is not "stay the course," has never been "stay the course," and the President is not responsible for any misunderstandings that might have arisen from his repeated use of the phrase "stay the course."
And so the Bush Administration attempts to change course by staying on the same course it has always taken: Manage perceptions, deny any responsibility for the past, and ignore the reality of the present.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Terrorism: Things to Do and Not Do
The NIE concludes that the "jihadist movement" is spreading among muslims, and will continue to spread "for the duration of the timeframe of this Estimate" for the following reasons:
Four underlying factors are fueling the spread of the jihadist movement: (1) Entrenched grievances, such as corruption, injustice, and fear of Western domination, leading to anger, humiliation, and a sense of powerlessness; (2) the Iraq jihad; (3) the slow pace of real and sustained economic, social, and political reforms in many Muslim majority nations; and (4) pervasive anti-US sentiment among most Muslimsall of which jihadists exploit.
The current policies of the Bush administration actually add to those factors:
1. The U.S. currently supports some of the most corrupt and unjust muslim governments, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and continues to try to exert more and more military power in the mid-east, leading to greater fears of Western domination.
2. The U.S. allows the Iraq jihad to continue by maintaining troops and military operations there.
3. See #1. The U.S. does nothing to help reforms in Muslim nations, and actually hinders reforms through its support of oppressive governments and its attacks on progressive countries. For example, there is real economic and social progress in Iran, which the U.S. is threatening with military action over its nuclear program, and there was real progress in Lebanon until the U.S. allowed (if not supported) the Israeli bombing of southern Lebanon.
4. And why is there anti-U.S. sentiment among Muslims? See #s 1, 2, and 3 above.
The NIE then goes one to present the "vulnerabilites" of the jihadist movement that the U.S. could exploit:
Concomitant vulnerabilities in the jihadist movement have emerged that, if fully exposed and exploited, could begin to slow the spread of the movement. They include dependence on the continuation of Muslim-related conflicts, the limited appeal of the jihadists radical ideology, the emergence of respected voices of moderation, and criticism of the violent tactics employed against mostly Muslim citizens.
• The jihadists greatest vulnerability is that their ultimate political solution--an ultra-conservative interpretation of sharia-based governance spanning the Muslim world--is unpopular with the vast majority of Muslims. Exposing the religious and political straitjacket that is implied by the jihadists propaganda would help to divide them from the audiences they seek to persuade.
• Recent condemnations of violence and extremist religious interpretations by a few notable Muslim clerics signal a trend that could facilitate the growth of a constructive alternative to jihadist ideology: peaceful political activism. This also could lead to the consistent and dynamic participation of broader Muslim communities in rejecting violence, reducing the ability of radicals to capitalize on passive community support. In this way, the Muslim mainstream emerges as the most powerful weapon in the war on terror.
• Countering the spread of the jihadist movement will require coordinated multilateral efforts that go well beyond operations to capture or kill terrorist leaders.
(Emphasis added.)
All of the above "vulnerabilies" are political, not military, but the Bush administration's solution to every problem is more military force. And the reason that military action is the only solution is because its the only solution that they believe in, understand, and can unilaterally control.
And when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Which means that the chances of the Bush administration being able to exploit these vulnerabilities range between slim and none, while the chances of the Bush administration continuing the war in Iraq and the other policies in the mid-east that fuel the growth of the jihadist movement are a near certainty.
As noted above, the NIE concludes that the "jihadist movement" is spreading among muslims, and will continue to spread "for the duration of the timeframe of this Estimate." Cynic that I am, I immediately wondered if the authors of the NIE were making the subtle (and snide) suggestion that the jihadist movement would continue as long as Bush is President.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Clarification
One of the most controversial parts of the proposal would "clarify" the meaning of what is known as "Common Article III" of the Geneva Conventions, which applies not only to prisoners of war but also to civilians detained by foreign governments in times of war, and prohibits "[o]utrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment." The concern of the Bush Administration is that this quoted phrase is "susceptible to uncertain and unpredictable application." See "Fact Sheet: The Administration's Legislation to Create Military Commissions," http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060906-6.html (9/6/2006).
The irony (and humor) here is that under the Bush Administration the Constitution of the United States, and most of the laws enacted by Congress, are of "uncertain and unpredictable application." Maybe the President will comply with them, and maybe he won't.
To clarify the meaning of the phrase "[o]utrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment," the administration wants Congress to declare that the standards for detainees should be the standards of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which prohibits "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment." So a provision in the Geneva Conventions that prohibits "degrading treatment" would be clarified through a statute that prohibits "degrading treatment"?
And the Bush administration also claims that other practices prohibited by Common Article III, such as "violence to life," "murder," "mutilation," and "torture," are "universally condemned," and yet one of the practices that has been employed by CIA interrogators in the past (and which will presumably be employed in the future) is "waterboarding," which is generally considered a form of torture. (Television reporters frequently describe waterboarding as a technique which makes the detaineed think he is drowning. The reason the detainee "thinks" he is drowning is that (a) his face is covered by water and (b) he can't breathe. It's gentler than strangling the detainee, but the end result is the same.) If the Bush administration thinks that they can suffocate people to make them talk, why the concern with "degrading treatment"?
The answer might lie in the history of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which is Title X of Public Law 109-148, 119 Stat. 2740, H.R. 2863 (12/30/2005). In the "signing statement" issued by the President for H.R. 2863, he stated:
"The executive branch shall construe Title X in Division A of the Act, relating to detainees, in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power...."
"President's Statement on Signing of H.R. 2863, the 'Department of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006'," http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051230-8.html (12/30/2005)
In other words, President Bush might not comply with the Detainee Treatment Act if he believes that he has the constitutional authority not to comply.
So the President wants Congress to define the rules for the treatment of detainees by reference to a statute that the President has announced that he doesn't necessarily need to comply with. Isn't that amusing?
Of course, the Supreme Court pretty much rejected the President's claims that he could ignore the Constitution, Congress, and the Geneva Conventions when it held that the President was bound by the Common Article III in its treatment detainees. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 2749 (2006). But that could be part of the plan. By getting Congress to define the application of Common Article III by reference to the Detainee Treatment Act, which the President publicly announced did not necessarily limit his authority, the President can then claim that Congress has agreed with him that he has the constitutional authority to ignore Common Article III.
If that sounds far-fetched and paranoid to you, it's only because you haven't been paying attention to the practices of the Bush administration.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Fall of Castro
Now that Castro is reported to be ill, is there any doubt that Bush43 will claim credit for the "spread of democracy" in Cuba?
Remember, you read it here first.
Monday, July 31, 2006
What is Terrorism?
And it seems particularly appropriate to ask this question now that Israel and Hezbollah are trading munitions. Hezbollah is firing rockets into Israel and so they are "terrorists" according to Israel and the Bush Administration, while the Iraeli bombing of civilian targets in Lebanon, destroying homes, roads, infrastructure, and private industry, and killing civilians, is described as Israel's "right to defend itself."
This is a clear dichotomy. Hezbollah is practicing terrorism, while Israel is exercising its right to exist, while both are killing civilians and destroying homes and other private property of people having nothing to do with the conflict. How to explain the difference?
1. Cynically: "Terrorism" is the tactic of people we don't like. (I.e, we don't like Hezbollah and we like Israel.)
a. More gently: "War" is for something we support, while "terrorism" is for something we oppose.
b. More specifically: Israel has a right to exist and defend itself by killing people outside of its borders, while Hezbollah has no right to exist and is not allowed to kill any people at any time or any place.
2. Objectively: "Terrorism" is poorly-funded, while "war" is well-financed and better equipped (i.e., with uniforms).
3. Democratically: "Terrorism" is violence by a minority against a majority. There are more Israelis than members of Hezbollah, so Hezbollah is terrorist while Israel is not.
4. Some combination of the above.
How to differentiate "terrorism" from what would otherwise be described as war, civil war, revolution, or simple criminality?
At present, the very vagueness of "terrorism" works to the advantage of the Bush administration because it is a one-size-fits-all kind of label that can be applied to any real or perceived opponent that the Bush administration wishes to vilify.