President Bush declared today his continued support for Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, saying he is “the right guy for Iraq.” Bush added: “You can’t lead unless you’ve got courage. He’s got courage and he’s shown courage over the last six months.” But a classified memo from national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley expressed doubts about whether Maliki has the capacity to control the sectarian violence in Iraq. It concluded: “The reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into actions.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Brandon Mayfield, the Oregon attorney and former Halstead resident wrongly arrested in 2004 in connection with the Madrid train bombings, has settled a lawsuit against the federal government for $2 million. Some Americans will think Mayfield, a convert to Islam, should have been satisfied by the apology the FBI offered him after re-examination of fingerprint evidence showed he had not handled a bag of detonators after all. But then they didn’t have their homes searched and conversations monitored without their knowledge, and they weren’t jailed and treated as terrorists in their own country.
Taxpayers can only hope this reminds the FBI to exercise its broad anti-terrorism powers with more care.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Sure, Kim Jong Il can threaten the world with his nuclear bombs, but the next time he wants a new Harley, he’s going to be sorry.
Since diplomacy and threats don’t appear to be working, the Bush administration is proposing trade sanctions on the sort of luxury goods Kim is known to covet: stuff like iPods, Rolex watches, plasma TVs and Segway scooters. And, yes, Harley-Davidson motorcycles — hard as it may be to picture the diminutive Kim astride one.
The sanctions would be coordinated under the United Nations. Most officials agree that Kim is unlikely to suffer much, given the reach of the global black market, but the symbolism is appealing. And with North Korea, symbolism is about the only tool we have.
Posted by Dave Knadler.
Were the situation not so grim, it might be amusing to note the continuing reluctance of the Bush administration to call the spiraling violence in Iraq what it is: civil war.
The White House has reacted sharply to NBC News’ landmark use of the phrase Monday. Even United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan seemed reluctant to go there, saying only that Iraqis had “almost” reached the critical point.
But let’s not split hairs. When you have opposing factions killing hundreds at a stroke with car bombs and mortar fire, in an escalating cycle of attack and reprisal, the situation has gone beyond a troublesome insurgency.
Evidently, a number of experts on the subject agree: An analysis in the New York Times notes that most American scholars believe the bloodshed “already puts Iraq in the top ranks of the civil wars of the last half-century.”
Posted by Dave Knadler
Good for incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for saying "no" to letting Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., chair the House Intelligence Committee. She hasn’t named a chairman yet, though it apparently won’t be ranking member Rep. Jane Harmon, D-Calif., who is by far the most qualified. In passing up Hastings, Pelosi risks further alienating the Congressional Black Caucus, also unhappy with her treatment of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. But with all due respect to the caucus: Does it really want to hitch its credibility to that of an impeached federal judge (Hastings) and a guy who had $90,000 in his freezer (Jefferson)?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The fight over the peace wreath in Colorado is over, and peace prevailed. Lisa Jensen and Bill Trimarco of Pagosa Springs, which is about 200 miles southwest of Denver, put a wreath in the shape of a peace symbol on their house. But their homeowners’ association threatened to fine them $25 a day until they removed it. The association thought it was politically divisive (Trimarco said the wreath was a symbol of peace on Earth, not a commentary on the Iraq war). One board member said he thought the symbol might be a sign of the devil.
After protests — and media attention — the association backed down, and three board members resigned. Now the town is building its own peace wreath that it will display on its bell tower.
Sounds like the makings of a TV Christmas special.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
More Kansans traveling means a risk of more traffic deaths over a holiday period. Still, the state’s eight fatalities on streets and roadways over the four-day weekend — up from three during Thanksgiving 2005 — suggest drivers need to exercise a lot more care. During the period, the Kansas Highway Patrol also logged 44 drunken driving arrests, 2,685 speeding tickets and 284 seat belt violations. Troopers also wrote 90 tickets for failure to properly secure kids in vehicles. Of course, tailgating, speeding and other excesses are visible on area streets every day. If Kansans don’t want to drive safely for themselves, they can at least better buckle up their kids.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
The chief obstacle to a free and stable Iraq, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, has made good on his threat to withdraw his 35 loyalists from the Iraqi government over Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s summit with President George W. Bush in Jordan. The question now is whether the pullout — reportedly ordered by al-Sadr because the summit constituted a “provocation to the feelings of the Iraqi people and a violation of their constitutional rights,” whatever that means — will be temporary or permanent. The leader of al-Sadr’s parliamentary bloc suggests it is a suspension, not a withdrawal.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
For John Kerry, the good news is that he still ranks among the top 20 American politicians. The bad news is that he’s polling dead last for likability.
As reported by CNN, the Quinnipiac poll asked 1,623 registered voters to rate 20 political figures on a “feeling thermometer” from zero to 100.
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, led the pack with a mean score of 64.2, followed by Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, 58.8, and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, 57.7.
Not all the politicians were presidential candidates. Former President Bill Clinton ranked fifth at 55.8.
President Bush? He’s at 15th, just behind former Vice President Al Gore. Their scores, respectively, were 43.8 and 44.9. Kerry’s was 39.6.
Posted by Dave Knadler
As our editorial Tuesday argued, the Bush team’s recent flurry of pragmatic regional diplomacy on Iraq — including President Bush’s meeting today in Jordan with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — is a welcome change of course, even if it is a couple of years late.
But the Bush team needs to talk to all of the players, including troublemaker regimes Syria and Iran. As former Secretary of State James Baker said last week, “it’s not appeasement to talk to your enemies.”
Talking with Iran and Syria is complicated and might not lead to any breakthroughs, but with Iraq rapidly sliding toward chaos, it’s worth trying. At this point, are there better options?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments today for perhaps the most important environmental case in years. At issue: whether the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate carbon dioxide as a global warming pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
Twelve states and environmental groups say yes, pointing to the law’s language that the EPA shall regulate any pollutant from motor vehicles that “may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.”
If the high court agrees, it could mean sweeping changes for the nation’s energy policy and new restrictions on greenhouse emissions from cars and coal-fired power plants.
Too bad it takes a lawsuit to force this administration to acknowledge the scientific consensus and enforce the law.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
“The AK-47 has become the world’s most prolific and effective combat weapon, a device so cheap and simple that it can be bought in many countries for less than the cost of a live chicken,” Larry Kahaner wrote in an interesting op-ed piece in the Washington Post about the development and proliferation of the Russian assault rifle, which is responsible for a quarter million deaths a year. “For all of the billions of dollars Washington has spent on space-age weapons and military technology, the AK still remains the most devastating weapon on the planet, transforming conflicts from Vietnam to Afghanistan to Iraq.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
One thing about all the newly prominent faces of the Democratic majority’s congressional committee chairmen is hard to miss: Dubbed the “old bulls,” they define seniority. Of the new Senate chairmen, all but one is at least 60, and three are 80-something — including 89-year-old Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. About two-thirds of the new House chairmen are older than 60. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (in photo), D-Mich., is 80 and was first elected to Congress in 1955. “I don’t buy green bananas,” said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who is 76.
The question will be whether the old bulls will lead their committees in a way that reflects the centrist mandate of the 2006 election, or veer so far left that they remind voters why Democrats lost power in the first place.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
For many Wichita working stiffs, the news surely prompted a double take: $61,440 in cash and stock for each of the 4,000 Machinists at Spirit AeroSystems. The startling bonuses will be the result of last week’s initial public offering of Spirit’s stock. For Spirit’s Machinists, they’re also the realization of a promised trade-off for the wage and benefit cuts accepted after the Canadian investment firm Onex Corp. bought the former Boeing commercial division in June 2005. As the bonus news revives local debate among union and nonunion workers, it leaves some out — including Spirit workers represented by the Society for Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (who didn’t take wage cuts) and the more than 1,000 workers laid off in the sale. But the windfall promises to sweeten the coming months for thousands of area families and the broader local economy, further confirming that Spirit’s success is Wichita’s success.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Pope Benedict’s XVI’s trip to Turkey this week offers a rare opportunity to promote, in his words, “dialogue and brotherhood and the commitment for understanding between cultures . . . and for reconciliation.”
Granted, such values were in short supply in September, when many Muslims were insulted when the pope noted a medieval quote about Islam being an “evil and inhuman” religion.
Turkey, the most moderate and pro-Western majority Muslim nation, provides a good venue for the pope to clarify his views about Islam and Christianity and to work for reconciliation.
Benedict has said that he wants a “frank and sincere” dialogue with Islam. The question is: Does the Muslim world want it? Or are moderate Muslims willing to let the radicals set the terms of their relationship with the West?
The pope should continue to press his message about the dangers of fanaticism in religion, as well as the need for reciprocity, the principle that Christian churches should be as protected and welcome in the Muslim world as mosques are in the West.
It’s a risky trip, but the payoffs could be huge if Pope Benedict says the right things. Let’s hope that Muslims, too, see this as an opportunity for real dialogue.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Here are the essential reasons little happens on immigration reform, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan wrote: “Businesses want low-wage workers; intellectuals are wed to global visions of cross-border prosperity; politicians want Hispanic loyalty and the Hispanic vote.” Another reason is that politicians get stuck trying to agree on long-term, comprehensive answers, rather than taking incremental steps. “They are like people in a burning house who sit around discussing the long-term efficacy of various kinds of water hoses while the house burns down around them.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
After Sen. Sam Brownback had concluded his interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” by suggesting he’d say more soon about a 2008 presidential run, the conservative Kansan’s chances were debated on the roundtable.
Columnist George Will observed that there is room for a Ronald Reagan conservative in the GOP primary, “but they don’t grow on trees. If you want potato chips, you increase the demand for potato chips. Someone makes potato chips. You can’t just say, ‘We demand a Ronald Reagan’ and Ronald Reagans appear, with due respect to Mr. Brownback.”
Columnist E.J. Dionne noted that “what’s striking is the thinness of the crop on the conservative side of the Republican Party, which is why I think Sam Brownback is perfectly smart to try to fill that void. There are really only two candidates there that I can see right now. One is Brownback. The other is Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. Very interesting candidates.” He added: “Is Romney of Massachusetts going to grab the evangelical and conservative heart? Well, we don’t know that, so Brownback has as good a chance as anyone of occupying that space.”
Democratic strategist Donna Brazile suggested the Kansan would seem to be a good fit for the Iowa caucuses. “I think he’s someone that you should look at in terms of the early states. He’s someone that I believe has broad base appeal,” she said. And when someone at the table observed the glee with which Brownback said he was doing a December event with Democratic sensation Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Brazile added: “Guess who’s coming to dinner all over again.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Most of the criticism of the Kansas Supreme Court has been political. Last week found some that was geographical, with the Johnson County Sun’s opinion page editor, Bob Sigman, lamenting that the state’s most populous county does not have a candidate among the top three nominees for the latest opening on the court. Noting that only one “bona fide” Johnson Countian has ever served on the court and that four county residents were among the 14 applicants this time, Sigman said, “Surely no other place in the state has a superior talent pool — judges and lawyers — than Johnson County.” He added: “On an ideal, balanced court, it should be appropriate for the most heavily populated county in the state to have a place at the table.” The final three, by the way, are former Wichitan Tom Malone, a member of the Kansas Court of Appeals since 2003, as well as Court of Appeals Judge Lee Johnson, who formerly practiced law in Caldwell in Sumner County, and Douglas County District Judge Robert Fairchild.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Think there are no new options on Iraq? Here’s a really bad one, courtesy of Jonathan Chait in the Los Angeles Times: Bring back Saddam Hussein. Chait explains:
‚”The disadvantages of reinstalling Hussein are obvious, but consider some of the upside. He would not allow the country to be dominated by Iran, which is the United States’ major regional enemy, a sponsor of terrorism and an instigator of warfare between Lebanon and Israel. Hussein was extremely difficult to deal with before the war, in large part because he apparently believed that he could defeat any U.S. invasion if it came to that. Now he knows he can’t. And he’d probably be amenable because his alternative is death by hanging.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
I was reminded of the “Thank You for Smoking” movie (which is pretty funny) when I read about a new study on the “anti-smoking” advertising. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, concluded that ads done by tobacco companies aimed at discouraging kids from smoking were not effective. What’s more, teenagers were more likely to smoke if they saw ads encouraging parents to discourage their kids from smoking. A New York Times editorial notes that the study’s conclusions are in line with District Judge Gladys Kessler of the District of Columbia, who concluded that the anti-smoking programs were not about preventing smoking but about heading off a government crackdown.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
If you want to cut down on crime, you put away the crooks, right?
Wrong, according to this story in the Washington Post, which notes that in three states where prison populations swelled by about 170 percent over a decade, crime also increased, by as much as 14 percent. New York City, on the other hand, has seen a 70 percent drop in homicides — all while reducing its prison population by about one-third. A similar trend has emerged in San Diego and in Canada.
Even the experts aren’t sure why more prisons can mean more crime, although there are a number of possibilities: locking up drug offenders instead of treating them, the tendency of prisons to be crime incubators, and the social restrictions on released felons that appear to encourage recidivism.
We’ll always need prison cells, but the numbers suggest we may not need as many as we thought.
Posted by Dave Knadler