tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post806014193461388455..comments2024-03-29T06:05:04.162+01:00Comments on Robert's Stochastic thoughts: Roberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14455788499385673507noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-68670085330400909852009-04-24T00:48:00.000+02:002009-04-24T00:48:00.000+02:00http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/sena...http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/senate-leaders-opposes-interrogation-inquiry-panel/<br /><br />April 23, 2009<br /><br />Senate Leaders Oppose Inquiry on Interrogation<br />By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE<br /><br />At a meeting of top Democrats at the White House Wednesday night, President Obama told Congressional leaders that he did not want a special inquiry, which he said would potentially steal time and energy from his ambitious policy priorities, and could mushroom into a wider distraction by looking back at other aspects of the Bush years....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-56855307482607844102009-04-24T00:46:00.000+02:002009-04-24T00:46:00.000+02:00http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/sena...http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/senate-leaders-opposes-interrogation-inquiry-panel/<br /><br />April 23, 2009<br /><br />Senate Leaders Oppose Inquiry on Interrogation<br />By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and CARL HULSE<br /><br />Senate Democratic leaders said they would resist efforts to create a special panel to investigate harsh interrogation methods.<br /><br />[Beyond freedom and dignity, and all that jazz.]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-32894102737630938562009-04-23T20:40:00.000+02:002009-04-23T20:40:00.000+02:00Then there is the advocacy of ceaseless collective...Then there is the advocacy of ceaseless collective punishment:<br /><br />http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-told-you-so-damn-it_23.html<br /><br />April 23, 2009<br /><br />I told you so, damn it<br /><br />" 'Congressman, the crossings are no longer completely closed. There are many items that are being transported through the crossings. There are, as you know, some items that the Israeli government does not permit to cross,' Clinton responded. 'The best way for us to help the people of Gaza is for Hamas to cease its rocket firing on Israel, to abide by the quartet principles, and the same principles that were adopted by the Arab peace initiative, which I have reiterated several times here today.' " *<br /><br />* http://www.minnpost.com/cynthiadizikes/2009/04/22/8269/ellison_questions_clinton_on_gaza<br /><br />-- As'ad AbuKhalilAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-44848974752213307292009-04-23T17:57:00.000+02:002009-04-23T17:57:00.000+02:00Here was the only response:
http://query.nytimes....Here was the only response:<br /><br />http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E2DF1E39F932A25752C1A9659C8B63<br /><br />Avoid War Crimes <br /><br />To the Editor: <br /><br />In ''A Burden Too Heavy to Put Down,'' * David Brooks writes, ''Inevitably, there will be atrocities'' committed by our forces in Iraq. Did he forget to add that they must be prosecuted? <br /><br />War crimes are indeed more likely if influential commentators foreshadow impunity for perpetrators of the ''brutal measures our own troops will have to adopt.'' <br /><br />The choice is not between committing war crimes and retreating ''into the paradise of our own innocence.'' A third option is for the United States to strive to avoid complicity. <br /><br />It is untrue that ''we have to take morally hazardous action.'' Those who choose it, or urge others to, cannot evade or distribute responsibility by asserting that ''we live in a fallen world.'' <br /><br />BEN KIERNAN <br />New Haven, Nov. 4, 2003 <br />The writer is director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University.<br /><br />* http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/opinion/04BROO.html?ex=1383282000&en=a52dd59eac5f7517&ei=5007&partner=USERLANDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-81695803302766715632009-04-23T17:56:00.000+02:002009-04-23T17:56:00.000+02:00Here is the justification for war crimes, notice t...Here is the justification for war crimes, notice the date:<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/opinion/04BROO.html?ex=1383282000&en=a52dd59eac5f7517&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND<br /><br />November 4, 2003<br /><br />A Burden Too Heavy to Put Down<br />By DAVID BROOKS<br /><br />But the administration would be making a mistake if it sent the signal to the American people that the hard work from here on out would be done by the Iraqis themselves. After all, is it realistic to think barely trained policemen can, over the next six months, deliver blows against bands of experienced mass murderers? Is it realistic to think that a local Iraqi mayor will take on the terrorists and so risk his own death, when the most powerful army in the history of the earth is camped just nearby?<br /><br />No. Iraqification is a strategy for the long haul, but over the next six months, when progress must be made, this is our job. And the main challenge now is to preserve our national morale. <br /><br />The shooting down of the Chinook helicopter near Fallujah over the weekend was a shock to the body politic. The fact is, we Americans do not like staring into the face of evil. It is in our progressive and optimistic nature to believe that human beings are basically good, or at least rational. When we stare into a cave of horrors, whether it is in Somalia, Beirut or Tikrit, we see a tangled morass we don't understand. Our instinct is to get out as quickly as possible. <br /><br />It's not that we can't accept casualties. History shows that Americans are willing to make sacrifices. The real doubts come when we see ourselves inflicting them. What will happen to the national mood when the news programs start broadcasting images of the brutal measures our own troops will have to adopt? Inevitably, there will be atrocities that will cause many good-hearted people to defect from the cause. They will be tempted to have us retreat into the paradise of our own innocence.<br /><br />Somehow, over the next six months, until the Iraqis are capable of their own defense, the Bush administration is going to have to remind us again and again that Iraq is the Battle of Midway in the war on terror, the crucial turning point where either we will crush the terrorists' spirit or they will crush ours. <br /><br />The president will have to remind us that we live in a fallen world, that we have to take morally hazardous action if we are to defeat the killers who confront us. It is our responsibility to not walk away. It is our responsibility to recognize the dark realities of human nature, while still preserving our idealistic faith in a better Middle East....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-82214724508265315782009-04-23T17:54:00.000+02:002009-04-23T17:54:00.000+02:00The climate in America through the Bush years, mad...The climate in America through the Bush years, made acceptance of leadership brutality definite. Then again, the same climate in Israel has made the acceptance of leadership brutality definite but even the supposed liberals who have forgotten the positions they took on Iraq and are taking on Afghanistan, have not interest at all in the brutality in Gaza.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621026.post-61079790939898614882009-04-23T17:49:00.000+02:002009-04-23T17:49:00.000+02:00"How could anyone have believed they were in such ..."How could anyone have believed they were in such a situation ? Did anyone believe they were in such a situation ?"<br /><br />http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/04/paul-berman-is.html<br /><br />April 1, 2008<br /><br />For the record, I was in favor of the war on Iraq in the winter of 2003. I reasoned:<br /><br />Condi Rice is not-stupid and not-malevolent, and is for the war. <br /><br />Colin Powell is not-stupid and not-malevolent, and is for the war. <br /><br />This means that even though the public intelligence is bs, that there must be solid evidence of an advanced nuclear program in Iraq and of a willingness to give serious weapons to terrorist groups--otherwise attacking Iraq while we have real enemies like Osama bin Laden running loose would be really stupid. <br /><br />And although Bush is really stupid, not everyone in the administration is. <br /><br />Wrong on all counts. I am very sorry.<br /><br />I may be the stupidest man alive.<br /><br /> -- Brad DeLongAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com