Peter Jennings died last night of lung cancer at the age of 67. I seldom watch(ed) ABC News, so I never developed the necessary parasocial relationship with Jennings to really have anything to say about him, so I will instead turn you over to Joe Gandelman, who has a nice obit, as does the Belgravia Dispatch.
Bayh/Richardson
Interesting piece on Bill Richardson in Salon.
An Evan Bayh/Bill Richardson ticket in 2008 would be a tough ticket for the GOP to beat. Fortunately, Evan Bayh will never make it out of the primaries.
*** Update ***
Then Why Quit?
Looks like the Volcker-led UN-Oil-For-Food investigation has claimed its first head:
The former head of the United Nations’ oil-for-food programme has quit the UN, lashing out at Secretary General Kofi Annan for “sacrificing” him.
Benon Sevan’s announcement on Sunday came a day before a third report on the scandal-plagued programme is published.
It is expected to accuse Mr Sevan of receiving cash in return for allocating Iraqi oil contracts in the mid-1990s.
The oil-for-food programme allowed Saddam Hussein to sell limited amounts of oil to buy humanitarian goods.
Mr Sevan’s lawyers have already said the report will falsely accuse him of receiving cash kick-backs for helping a company obtain lucrative oil contracts under the scheme.
Mr Sevan, a Nicosia-born Cypriot who had worked with the organisation for four decades, tendered his resignation in a letter addressed personally to Kofi Annan.
If the allegations are false, why quit?
Hanging The Troops Out to Dry?
The NY Times has a big story (and, I might add, a careful one) on the abuse/torture cases and the move to deal swiftly with those charged. Finally, though, they are getting to the question that I am interested in:
Along with other information that has emerged, trial testimony has underscored a question long at the core of this case: what is the responsibility of more senior military personnel for the abuses that took place?
Many former Bagram officers have denied knowing about any serious mistreatment of detainees before the two deaths. But others said some of the methods that prosecutors have cited as a basis for criminal charges, including chaining prisoners to the ceilings of isolation cells for long periods, were either standard practice at the prison or well-known to those who oversaw it.
None of the nine soldiers prosecuted thus far are officers. The 18 others against whom Army investigators have recommended criminal charges include two captains, the military intelligence officer in charge of the interrogation group and the reservist commander of the military police guards.
In the first interview granted by any of the accused soldiers, a former guard charged with maiming and assault said that he and other reservist military policemen were specifically instructed at Bagram how to deliver the type of blows that killed the two detainees, and that the strikes were commonly used when prisoners resisted being hooded or shackled.
“I just don’t understand how, if we were given training to do this, you can say that we were wrong and should have known better,” said the soldier, Pvt. Willie V. Brand, 26, of Cincinnati, a father of four who volunteered for tours in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
In interviews and statements to investigators, soldiers who served at Bagram have at times echoed the defenses offered unsuccessfully by the soldiers charged with abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, saying they were acting on instructions from military intelligence personnel or on the authority of superior officers.
But documents from the Bagram investigation and interviews with military officials suggest that at least some soldiers implicated in the two deaths may be able to make such arguments more forcefully than their counterparts from Abu Ghraib, who were unable to prove any authorization for their actions.
Many of you have stated that you think this is nothing more than the Nuremberg defense, and that the lower level soldiers are the only problem. I am not buying it.
RINO Sightings
The Searchlight Crusade has this week’s RINO Sightings.
I will be hosting next week.
Everything But God
It is Sunday, so we might as well check out what sort of inane and offensive political activism the church is up to, and it appears Israel bashing remains the topic du jour:
One by one, mainline Protestant denominations with close ties to the Holy Land are taking controversial steps aimed at influencing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
While the churches have engaged in Middle East issues for decades, the decision of some to begin using economic leverage to press for an end to the Israeli occupation has roiled the US Jewish community and some within their own church ranks. The initiative to consider divestment began with a vote by Presbyterians last year, but has been gathering momentum as various churches debate the issue in national conventions.
On Friday, the Presbyterian Church USA reignited concerns when its investment committee named five US corporations it intends to push to reform their practices. The effort could eventually lead to divesting from the church’s $8 million portfolio.
The committee said the firms contribute to the ongoing conflict through support for the Israeli occupation and settlements, construction of the separation barrier on the West Bank, or facilitating violent acts against civilians.
“This is not an immediate divestment, nor a blanket divestment against Israel as a whole – I hope that gets heard,” says the Rev. Marthame Sanders, a Presbyterian spokesman.
No doubt the leadership of the Disciples of Christ will quickly fall in line. And it is important to remember it is mostly just the leadership:
Rabbi Cooper said the Protestant churches were ignoring the current “reality on the ground” – that Israel is preparing to withdraw this month from Gaza and remove settlements there. “Instead of divesting, these churches should be investing,” he said. “There is so much humanitarian need on the ground in the Holy Land. We’re not telling them: ‘Stay out of it. It’s not your business.’ There’s a ton of work to be done.”
He called the churches’ actions “functionally anti-Semitic.” But he said that after attending the conventions of the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ this year, he concluded that the resolutions were being “rammed through” by denominational leaders and were not reflective of the churches’ grassroots membership.
Here is the latest press release from the DoC:
The 2005 General Assembly called upon Israel to tear down the barrier fence it is building across Palestinian territory to shield itself against terrorist attacks. Assembly representatives approved the resolution first by majority voice vote and then by standing. The amended resolution 0522, was entitled, “Breaking Down the Dividing Wall.”
The resolution calls upon the Israeli government to cease the project to construct the barrier, tear down the segments that have already been constructed, and make reparations to those who have lost property and homes among other things. The resolution also calls upon the U.S. government to engage actively, fully, and fairly in a peace process that will lead to the peaceful coexistence of both Israel and a Palestinian state.
The amended resolution can be found here. I love it that the DoC leadership now is releasing statements that read like International A.N.S.W.E.R. or Indymedia wet dreams. Really, it makes me proud.
To give them a piece of your mind, go here for the congregation locater or here to send the nationals a message.
Misplaced Priorities and Power Grabs
More Republican perfidy, as Henry Hyde inserts vague measures into the House version of the Patriot Act that would create massive mandatory minimums for ‘narco-terrorism.’ TalkLeft has the details.
And the War on Drugs War on Your Neighbor® continues in earnest.