A major Rand Corp. study has come out confirming the wrongheadedness of the Bush administration’s “war on terror” strategy. In the first place, it’s not a conventional war; defeating terrorism is best done by disrupting networks and arresting leaders; in most cases, this is best carried out by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, not armies, according to the report’s authors. And terrorists should be treated as criminals, not holy warriors.
The idea of international police action against al-Qaida was mocked by the neoconservative crowd when presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry advocated it in 2004.
In fact, Kerry was dead-on.
From a column by Dick Morris: “According to the latest Fox News survey, Obama is winning among women under 40 by 13 points, but McCain is winning among women aged 41-45 by four points. Among women 50 and over, McCain is three points ahead. Obama’s 48-35 lead among women under 40 is normal for a Democrat, but to trail among women in their 40s by 45-41 and by women over 50 by 38-35 is extraordinary.”
“I hope nobody thinks that Congress has done all, or even a large fraction, of what needs to be done,” columnist Paul Krugman wrote about the Fannie and Freddie bailout bill that President Bush signed. “This bill is the latest in a series of temporary fixes to the financial system — attempts to hold the thing together with bungee cords and masking tape — that have, at least so far, succeeded in staving off complete collapse. But those fixes have done nothing to resolve the system’s underlying flaws. In fact, they set the stage for even bigger future disasters — unless they’re followed up with fundamental reforms.”
A main, underlying problem, Krugman said, is that traditional banks have been pushed aside by unregulated financial players. He said that “financial regulation needs to be extended to cover a much wider range of institutions. Basically, the financial framework created in the 1930s, which brought generations of relative stability, needs to be updated to 21st-century conditions.”
Good for Sedgwick County Sheriff Gary Steed for speaking out on the issue of whether the county needs a jail expansion. “We need more beds. The potential for lawsuits gets higher with overcrowding,” he told The Eagle, taking issue with County Manager William Buchanan’s proposal to shelve a $54 million jail expansion and cut county property taxes by 1 mill. Unfortunately, Steed’s lament neither provides much clarity nor settles the issue. County commissioners won’t be inclined to forge ahead with a bigger jail — and without a tax cut — in light of Buchanan’s plan. So Steed, who is not seeking re-election, may not be able to avoid seeing the jail issue pass to his successor. Meanwhile, county residents are left to wonder whether a bigger jail is needed or not — the population numbers still seem to support it — and how long the county can go without one.
Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback need to support the Free Flow of Information Act, which the Senate is expected to vote on this week. The act would protect the public’s right to know by preventing reporters from being imprisoned and fined if they don’t reveal confidential sources. The protection isn’t absolute; reporters would have to provide confidential source information if it could prevent acts of terrorism or other significant harm to national security, as well as some other exceptions. But in order for the press to serve as a watchdog and provide the public with information it needs, it must be able to protect its sources.
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
OBAMA LEADS McCAIN IN FREQUENT FLIER MILES; Next Trip to Iraq Will Be Free, Aides Say
McCAIN MAKES HISTORIC FIRST VISIT TO INTERNET; Will Spend Five Days at Key Sites
OBAMA RELEASES LIST OF APPROVED JOKES ABOUT HIMSELF; Bid to Help Late-Night Comics
A major Rand Corp. study has come out confirming the wrongheadedness of the Bush administration’s “war on terror” strategy. In the first place, it’s not a conventional war; defeating terrorism is best done by disrupting networks and arresting leaders; in most cases, this is best carried out by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, not armies, according to the report’s authors. And terrorists should be treated as criminals, not holy warriors.
