Best Of The Web
BY JAMES TARANTO
Wednesday, December 17, 2003 3:34 p.m.
Albright Accuses Bush of Success
Some of the Democratic presidential candidates have been taunting President Bush over the failure thus far to capture Osama bin Laden--as if that task would be any easier if someone like Wesley Clark were in the White House. But this weekend's capture of Saddam Hussein has one Dem singing a new tune. Madeleine Albright, who served as Bill Clinton's secretary of state, is accusing the Bush administration of having captured bin Laden.
According to journalist Morton Kondracke, Albright was in the green room at Fox News Channel yesterday when "She said, 'Do you suppose that the Bush administration has Osama bin Laden hidden away somewhere and will bring him out before the election?' " Although Albright now says the remark was a "joke," Kondracke says that at the time, "she was not smiling," and other witnesses back him up: "Two makeup artists who prep the guests before their appearances also reported that Albright did not ask her question in a joking manner," Fox reports.
Whether serious or jocose, Albright's comments seem to be sheer speculation, and we know of no evidence to suggest that bin Laden is in custody. But the idea that he is actually is plausible. As Mark Bowden explained recently in The Atlantic Monthly, there are reasons other than domestic politics to keep such matters secret:
It is likely that some captured terrorists' names and arrests have not yet been revealed; people may be held for months before their "arrests" are staged. Once a top-level suspect is publicly known to be in custody, his intelligence value falls. His organization scatters, altering its plans, disguises, cover stories, codes, tactics, and communication methods. The maximum opportunity for intelligence gathering comes in the first hours after an arrest, before others in a group can possibly know that their walls have been breached. Keeping an arrest quiet for days or weeks prolongs this opportunity.
Albright served in an administration that was similarly accused of politically opportunistic timing; Bill Clinton's decisions to bomb Afghanistan, Sudan and Iraq in 1998 coincided with key moments in his impeachment ordeal. Whatever his motives, Clinton would have been entitled to a full measure of political credit had he succeeded in killing bin Laden or ousting Saddam. If bin Laden is indeed in U.S. custody, no one but the angriest of the Angry Left will begrudge President Bush kudos for a job well done.
Free Iraq Confronts U.N.
Hoshyar Zebari, foreign minister of liberated Iraq, gave the U.N. Security Council a much-needed dose of reality yesterday. "The U.N. as an organization failed to help rescue the Iraqi people from a murderous tyranny of 35 years," he said. "The U.N. must not fail the Iraqi people again." Agence France-Presse reports he also "called for a swift UN return to the country," which prompted Secretary-General Kofi Annan to sniff that it is "no time to pin blame and point fingers." Annan added that "I think the U.N. has done as much as it can for Iraq."
It's fair to note that before 2002 the U.S. failed Iraq as much as the U.N. did. Although liberating Iraq has in theory been U.S. policy since 1998, in practice Washington mostly went along with the status quo of international sanctions, bombing and containment--until President Bush shifted course last year. He invited the U.N. to join the U.S., France balked, and as a result the U.N.'s policy toward Iraq is today in shambles. After being hit by a terrorist attack, the U.N. cut and ran, whereas the U.S., which has suffered far more casualties, is in for the long haul.
Remember this the next time someone urges that America should make way for the U.N., as the New York Times does today in an editorial arguing that Saddam Hussein be tried in a tribunal "under United Nations authority." The U.N. has no moral authority, especially where Iraq is concerned.
"The U.N. has done as much as it can for Iraq," says Kofi Annan. Fine--let's leave it at that.
The World's Smallest Violin
One man is a tragedy, the saying goes, while a million deaths are a statistic. OK, it's easier to summon compassion for a single person than for a massive number of victims, but this is ridiculous: "I felt pity to see this man destroyed," Cardinal Renato Martino said yesterday. Martino, who heads the Vatican's Justice and Peace department, was troubled by the pictures of a medic looking inside Saddam Hussein's mouth "as if he were a cow. They could have spared us these pictures."
"Seeing him like this, a man in his tragedy, despite all the heavy blame he bears, I had a sense of compassion for him," Martino added. The heart bleeds.
'One of Their Own'
On The American Spectator Online, humorist Steve Hornbeck offers an amusing take on Democratic reaction to Saddam's capture: "For their part, Dean supporters posting messages on the campaign website were in a deep funk. Saddam's unkempt appearance and the fact he was described as "very disoriented" gave most the feeling he was, in many ways, one of their own."
Yeah, it's a cheap shot, but admit it--you laughed.
What Would Saddam's Ego Do Without Experts?
"Experts: Saddam Holds On to Ego"--headline, USA Today, Dec. 17
This Just In--I
"Blix Sceptical on Iraqi WMD Claim"--headline, BBC Web site, Dec. 16
Bad Timing Alert
Here's another one worthy of von Hoffman, a column by John Aloysius Farrell of the Denver Post:
Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein may have gotten off to a good December.
Thanks to us.
We won't bore you with all the details, but basically Farrell's argument is that President Bush's decision to withhold primary contracts for Iraqi construction from countries that refused to join the coalition will alienate "allies" and thus make victory harder to achieve. This article ran in Sunday's paper, which means by the time most Denverians were reading it over their coffee, the TV was bringing news that Saddam's December had taken a turn for the worse. It would be two more days, however, before it was clear Farrell was also wrong about the creditors' willingness to restructure Iraq's debt.
You Don't Say
"US Remains Iraq Resistance Target"--headline, BBC Web site, Dec. 16
What Would We Do Without Afghan Officials?
"Osama bin Laden Remains Out of Grasp, Afghan Officials Say"--headline, Salt Lake Tribune, Dec. 16
What Would We Do Without Clark?
"Clark Describes Milosevic as Stubborn"--headline, Associated Press, Dec. 16
What Would Musharraf Do Without Experts?
"Musharraf Assassination Bid Carried Out by Experts"--headline, Radio Singapore Web site, Dec. 16
Economy Killers
Today the New York Times came close to publishing yet another false obituary. An article by Felicity Barringer, on a court ruling involving Yellowstone National Park, makes passing reference to America's "moribund national economy." Moribund means "near death," and this seems an odd way to refer to an economy that grew last quarter at an annual rate of more than 8%.
Barringer's slip-up is probably an example of bad writing rather than blatant bias. On the other hand, this Times headline from yesterday clearly falls into the latter category: "New Democratic Group Finances a Republican-like Attack on Dean."
2008 Elections Canceled?
Hillary Clinton denounced the Bush administration in a Miami speech last night, the Associated Press reports. "I cannot even imagine four years of a second term of this administration, with no accountability and no election at the end," New York's junior said.
Wait--what's this about "no election"? Does Hillary think the 2008 election is going to be canceled? Or does she just want the other Dems to believe that so she'll have the field all to herself?
Less Better Blues
"We are about to see the first generation of American leadership to leave our nation less better off than it was before."--Sen. Hillary Clinton, quoted in the New York Sun, Dec. 17
Boy, He Really Does Like to Pray
"Bush to Undergo MRI on Knees"--headline, CNN.com, Dec. 17
Zero-Tolerance Watch
Clay-Chalkville High School in Pinson, Ala., has suspended 15-year-old Ysatis Jones, a sophomore, for a "major drug offense," the Birmingham News reports. The offense? She took ibuprofen for menstrual cramps. "It is harsh. I will admit that," Nez Calhoun, a Jefferson County School District spokeswoman, tells the paper. "If we don't have consequences for aberrations of the rule, then we never will get a handle on drugs in the school."
News You Can Use
"The Train Can Ease Your Airport Holiday Woes"--headline, CNN.com, Dec. 17
Stop the Presses
"Some Teams Win, Some Lose"--headline, USA Today, Dec. 15
What Would Deadly Caregivers Do Without Experts?
"Deadly Caregivers Enjoy the Power, Experts Say"--headline, Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.), Dec. 17
This Just In--II
"Keeping Fit Has Long-Term Benefits"--headline, BBC Web site, Dec. 17
So Bus Them to Lake Wobegon
"Many Urban Students Score Below Average"--headline, Associated Press, Dec. 17
Not Too Brite--CXXVIII
"A British woman described by police as "every man's nightmare" was jailed for life Monday for murdering her second husband on his birthday--probably by poisoning his curry," Reuters reports from London.
Oddly Enough!
The Birds, the Bees and the Elephants
"Group Said to Try to Inseminate Elephants" reads the headline on an Associated Press dispatch from Bangkok. If we remember our high-school biology, one bull elephant could do the job of the whole group.
Maybe the Thais should take lessons from Joycelyn Elders, the former surgeon general, who has made a life's work of clearing up misconceptions about sexuality and health. "Many HMOs feel that women are just like men," the Argus of Fremont, Calif., quotes her as saying. "We know that's not true."
The lesson would seem to be: Never go on a blind date with an HMO administrator.
Fear of Flying
We've often observed that today's political left has largely abandoned its faith in social progress and become almost entirely a reactionary movement. George Monbiot, a columnist for the London Guardian, provides a nice example in a piece on the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight, which is today.
The anniversary "should be a day of international mourning," moans Monbiot. "December 17 2003 is the centenary of the world's most effective killing machine." Monbiot calls flying machines a weapon of mass destruction; after all, have been used to drop bombs, including nuclear ones (though as the late Bob Bartley pointed out, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved a lot of Japanese lives). More recently, al Qaeda used planes in their attacks on Sept. 11. Monbiot's conclusion:
Just as Alexander the Great worshipped his horse, George Bush, the new conqueror of Persia [sic], will [today] worship the aeroplane. Our societies are built upon these technologies of war: the current world order fell from the hatches of the aeroplane. At 10.35am, North Carolina time, George Bush and the other enthusiasts for domination will bow down before it. The rest of us should observe 12 seconds of silence, in commemoration of the deeds wrought by those magnificent men in their killing machines.
But wait. Monbiot glosses too quickly over Alexander and his horse, though he does note earlier in the piece that "in the past we raised our eyes to the men on horseback. Today we raise our eyes to the heavens." Plainly the trouble began with the invention of horses. Horses go "neigh," it's time to say "nay" right back to them.
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