Iraq Insurgents Hit the Gas
Best of the Web Today
BY JAMES TARANTO
Monday, May 17, 2004 2:36 p.m. EDT
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In May 2003 we noted that Nicholas Kristof and former Enron adviser Paul Krugman, both of the New York Times, had penned columns on the same day claiming that BUSH LIED!!!! because the coalition had not found weapons of mass destruction less than a month after Baghdad's liberation. It struck us that Kristof and Krugman were being a bit hasty in their defense of Saddam Hussein, and we wrote:<font size=3>
Before these guys complain about the coalition's failure to find weapons of mass destruction, wouldn't it behoove them to wait at least as long as they wanted to give the U.N. inspectors?
Here's a thought: Let's revisit this issue a year from now. If coalition troops still haven't found weapons of mass destruction next May, then we'll concede the argument may have some merit. And there's a way to test it. The Democratic nominee, whoever he is, can make righting this wrong his top promise if elected. Sounds like a winning rallying cry: Bring back Saddam!
As it turns out, we were right on all counts. John Kerry has wisely refrained from calling for a Saddam restoration (though Howard Dean came close when he sneered that Saddam's capture made the world no safer). And our counsel of patience in the search for weapons has been vindicated, as the Associated Press reports today:
A roadside bomb containing sarin nerve agent exploded near a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said Monday. Two people were treated for "minor exposure," but no serious injuries were reported.
"The Iraqi Survey Group confirmed today that a 155-millimeter artillery round containing sarin nerve agent had been found," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief military spokesman in Iraq. "The round had been rigged as an IED (improvised explosive device) which was discovered by a U.S. force convoy.
"A detonation occurred before the IED could be rendered inoperable. This produced a very small dispersal of agent," he said.
Sarin, developed by the Nazis in the 1930s (though apparently never used by them), is the same gas that the Aum Shinrikyo cult used in a 1995 attack on a Tokyo subway that killed 12. Fox News adds that "mustard gas was also recently discovered" in Iraq.
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It shouldn't surprise us that Saddam's weapons of mass destruction are beginning to turn up only now. After all, Baathist remnants in Fallujah were fairly quiet until last month, a year after Iraq's liberation. This isn't good news: If the enemy in Iraq is escalating its tactics to include chemical weapons, our soldiers are in even more peril, and there's a possibility terrorists have exported such weapons too. Meanwhile, those who were so fervidly anti-Bush that they were willing to defend Saddam Hussein will at last have been completely discredited.<font size=3>
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That's Entertainment
All right, we give up. What if John Kerry does make John McCain his running mate? The New York Times had a piece on the subject over the weekend that caught our attention, about which more below. But as long as we're entertaining this improbable idea, let's consider an entertaining scenario.
Suppose the Republicans, who currently have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, were to have a net loss of two Senate seats in November. A Kerry victory would hand one seat back to the GOP, since Massachusetts' Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, would appoint the president-elect's replacement. Result: a 50-50 split, just as after the 2000 election--which means that when the Senate convenes to elect a majority leader, the deciding vote would be cast by Vice President McCain. For whom would he vote, Tom Daschle or Bill Frist?
The Times article is noteworthy because it actually quotes two prominent Democrats, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida and ex-Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, as endorsing the Kerry-McCain idea. Both Nelson and Kerrey have been included on some long lists of prospective running mates for Kerry. "There's a collective sigh that says, 'This feels right,' " the Times quotes Nelson as saying.
Well, a Kerry-McCain ticket would certainly be balanced. They're from different parties, of course, but they're also from different parts of the country. McCain's Arizona is a battleground state, having gone for both Bill Clinton in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000. McCain and Kerry disagree on just about everything except taxes (both like them high) and political speech (both want it restricted). And McCain's Vietnam record could help offset Kerry's history as an antiwar radical.
A split-party ticket would not be unprecedented. In 1864, President Lincoln chose as his running mate Tennessee's Andrew Johnson, the only prominent Southern Democrat who opposed secession. The Lincoln-Johnson ticket won big, carrying every state but Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey (though the Confederacy sat out the balloting). The month after Lincoln's second inaugural, John Wilkes Booth assassinated him, and Johnson became president.
Johnson was one of only four presidents rated as "failures" in the Federalist Society/Wall Street Journal survey of scholars. In our forthcoming book, "Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House," scholar Jeffrey Tulis observes that "Johnson was an awful president precisely because he was an effectively powerful president."
Johnson believed "that black Americans were inherently unfit for full citizenship," Tulis writes. "His vision lasted, shaping American politics generally, and Southern politics especially, well into the mid-twentieth century."
Although 1864 and 2004 are vastly different times, there is a similarity. Now as then, America is at war, albeit this time with an external enemy; and now as then, some Democrats do not seem to be on the side of their own country. (David Gelernter has an excellent take on this in The Weekly Standard.) Under such circumstances, perhaps it's encouraging that this time it's the Democrats rather than the Republicans who feel the need to reach out to the opposing party.
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Kerry's Secret Army
He's at it again with the foreign leaders. "Sen. John F. Kerry said Friday that despite public declarations from France and other European countries that they would not send troops to Iraq, there were indications some of the nations would be willing to change course with the right diplomatic effort," the Los Angeles Times reports:<font size=3>
"There are senators and . . . diplomats who have had conversations with other folks that I think indicate that--given the right equation, given the right statesmanship and leadership--it is possible to have a very different level of participation," Kerry said Friday at his Washington campaign headquarters.
"I know what the public statements are today," the presumed Democratic presidential nominee added. "It doesn't deter me one iota from saying what I say, based on what my private conversations have been."
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Politicians have been known to break their own campaign promises, but how in the world are we supposed to trust promises that may or may not have been made by people who remain anonymous?<font size=3>
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'A Little Out of Sorts'
The New York Times reports that John Kerry was a bit of a loner in prep school:
Danny Barbiero, a middle-class boy from suburban Long Island who was Mr. Kerry's best friend, remembers how they made common cause in a boarding school full of Pillsburys, Peabodys, Pierponts and Pells. One day, Mr. Barbiero went to see a favorite teacher, the school's first black faculty member, and found someone else already there.
"I went into his apartment," recalled Mr. Barbiero, now an employee benefits consultant. "And he said, 'This is Johnny Kerry. He's just feeling a little out of sorts because he thinks people don't like him.' I said, 'Who cares what people think! You're obviously a terrific person.' "
The Times claims that "to a striking degree, the personal qualities that propel [Kerry]--and daunt him--are the same ones that buoyed and bedeviled him when he was 16." What strikes us, though, is that the teacher's comment so neatly encapsulates Kerry's foreign policy: "This is Johnny Kerry. He's just feeling a little out of sorts because he thinks the world doesn't like America."
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Best Wishes on Your Constitutional Rights
Massachusetts began marrying same-sex couples today, by order of the Supreme Judicial Court. It's an awkward moment for the state's junior senator, who is hoping to be elected president by a country that by and large has not accepted this redefinition of an age-old institution. The Washington Post rehearses John Kerry's shifting positions on the subject--he says he opposes same-sex marriage, but in 1996 he voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents one state from imposing it on other states, calling the measure, which President Clinton signed, "gay bashing."
Granted, dealing with these emotionally charged cultural issues is a challenge to any politician. But Kerry can't even give a straight answer (you'll pardon the expression) to the most innocuous question imaginable:
Asked if he would offer his congratulations to the newly married, Kerry replied: "I obviously wish everyone happiness. I want everyone to feel fulfilled and happy in their lives. The way to do that is by respecting every citizen's rights under the Constitution."
When most people go to a wedding, they congratulate the groom and offer the bride best wishes. Does Kerry really say instead, "I respect your rights under the Constitution"?
This column does not support same-sex marriage, and we vigorously oppose its establishment through judicial fiat. But disagreements over policy and procedure are no reason to be inhuman. Congratulations and best wishes to all the couples getting Massachusetts marriage licenses today.
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Look Out, Nagasaki
"Dukakis Says Kerry Would Bring Truman-Like Style to White House"--headline, Associated Press, May 15
A New Low in Scare Quotes
"Bush, at a Commencement, Hails 'Honor' of U.S. Troops in Iraq"--headline, New York Times, May 15
'Homicide' Again
"The chief of the Iraqi Governing Council was assassinated in a homicide car bombing Monday near a U.S. checkpoint in central Baghdad," Fox News reports. Uh, if the car bombing killed people, isn't it redundant to call it a "homicide" bombing? The second paragraph, however, points out that one of those killed in the bombing was "apparently the bomber." That's right, once again Fox is saying "homicide" when it means suicide.
We have long been critical of Reuters and other news organizations that use fuzzy language and scare quotes in an effort to be "evenhanded" toward terrorists. But Fox proves that even opponents of terror can be tempted by unclear, politically correct language.
Great Moments in Public Education
"Two teachers are suspected of showing students video of American Nick Berg being decapitated," San Diego's KGTV reports:
A social studies teacher from Grossmont High School in El Cajon allegedly showed students Wednesday a portion of the video, pictures and audio of the beheading, Grossmont Unified School District Superintendent Terry Ryan told 10News.
Ryan said the teacher, Michael Smith, (pictured, far right), has been removed from the classroom pending a full investigation. . . .
An art teacher from El Capitan High School in Lakeside Thursday allegedly noticed a student watching the video and invited other students to come to the computer terminal and watch.
Ryan said the art teacher, Gina Grossini, . . . told the students, "That's what we get for being in a war we shouldn't be in." . . . Grossini was also removed from the classroom.
"An investigation has been launched and district officials met with the teachers Friday along with attorneys," the station reports. Both teachers are on paid leave. Will the school district try to fire them for their appallingly bad judgment? If so, will the teachers union stand up for the "right" to show snuff films to schoolchildren?
Henceforth, All Barbecues Will Be Voluntary
"General Forbids Coercive Grilling"--headline, Houston Chronicle, May 15
Arafat: 'Terrorize Your Enemy'
Yasser Arafat gave a speech Saturday on the 56th anniversary of what Arabs call the naqba--a word that translates as "catastrophe" and refers to the establishment of the state of Israel. "Find what strength you have to terrorize your enemy and the enemy of God," the Associated Press quotes him as saying. "And if they want peace, then let's have peace."
This was a passage from the Koran, which the AP describes as follows:
Arafat, whom Israel accuses of supporting militant groups, did not appear to be calling for new attacks on Israel. The passage in the Quran refers to the early Muslims' wars against pagans and is frequently invoked by Islamic leaders today to encourage strength in times of conflict.
What a tortured explanation. Since the Palestinians have been engaged in a terror war against Israel for years, and neither they nor most Arab countries have ever made peace with Israel's existence, it seems clear that Arafat's meaning is a call for more terrorism.
Arafat won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
Springtime for Springer
The Ohio Democratic Party has named raunchy former talk show host Jerry Springer as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, the Associated Press reports:
"He's made 50 appearances at Democratic events this year. He's been an outspoken advocate for the party," said Dan Trevas, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party.
The party also named Springer "Democrat of the Year." Imagine how humiliating this was to the runner-up.
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