Best of the Web Today - May 4, 2004
By JAMES TARANTO
Distorting Mirror
"Controversy is growing over the authenticity of photographs that allegedly show British troops mistreating an Iraqi prisoner," CNN reports. "Some British military officials have cast doubt on the pictures--first published in the Daily Mirror newspaper--saying the clothing and equipment pictured is not currently troop issue."
The Daily Mirror is a left-wing tabloid that has previously printed ludicrous "exposés" of the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, including one in March that quoted an erstwhile inmate's claim that, in the Mirror's words, "prostitutes were taken into the camp to degrade Muslim inmates."
The Sun, a right-wing tabloid, "ran a story on Monday quoting military experts saying the photographs were 'staged' fakes," CNN notes. The Guardian, a left-wing broadsheet, also identifies problems with five Mirror photos. The Mirror stands by its story, describing the criticism as "the whispering campaign and dodgy briefings." (By contrast, no one has challenged the veracity of photos showing American soldiers allegedly abusing Iraqi prisoners.)
The free press is one of democracy's glories, and even in wartime it's necessary to hold government accountable. But if the Mirror does turn out to have fabricated the photos, it will be the clearest evidence yet that some in the press are abusing their power and consciously contributing to enemy propaganda during wartime.
Luke Baker, Money Grubber?
A Reuters dispatch by Luke Baker reports on the escape of Thomas Hamill, a Halliburton employee who'd been kidnapped by terrorists in Iraq:
Hamill, a dairy farmer who came to Iraq to make money and pay off debts at home, was kidnapped on April 9 after his convoy came under attack west of Baghdad.
So, he "came to Iraq to make money"? Why not just say he came to Iraq to work? Is Luke Baker of Reuters working free in Iraq?
Who's Distracted?
"Turkish police said Monday they had foiled a bomb plot targeting a NATO summit in Istanbul at the end of June which is to be attended by President Bush and other Western leaders," Reuters reports from Ankara. Police arrested 24 members of Ansar al-Islam, the Iraq-based al Qaeda offshoot, once again giving the lie to the claim that the liberation of Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror.
"The men arrested had also been plotting an attack on a synagogue in Bursa as well as a bank robbery in the same town to raise funds for their operations," Reuters adds. The Turks say the NATO summit will go on.
Ex-Diplomats Bash Bush, Israel
Some 60 former U.S. diplomats, many of whom were posted in Muslim countries, have signed an anti-Israel letter to President Bush:
As retired foreign service officers we care deeply about our nation's foreign policy and US credibility in the world.
We also are deeply concerned by your April 14 endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral plan to reject the rights of three million Palestinians, to deny the right of refugees to return to their homeland, and to retain five large illegal settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank.
The letter scores President Bush for "closing the door to negotiations with Palestinians and the possibility of a Palestinian state"--and never mind that he is the first president explicltly to endorse a Palestinian state.
"Your unqualified support of Sharon's extra-judicial assassinations, Israel's Berlin Wall-like barrier, its harsh military measures in occupied territories, and now your endorsement of Sharon's unilateral plan are costing our country its credibility, prestige and friends," they claim. Not a word about Arab countries' support for terrorism against Israel, their refusal to recognize the Jewish state, or the promotion of anti-Semitism in mosques, media and textbooks.
Here's a sort of silly example of the irrational anti-Israel sentiment that the diplomats seem to accept as the norm in the Arab world: A court in Cairo "rejected Monday the establishment of an Egyptian-Israeli association, saying Arabs do not need 'false friendship,' " the Associated Press reports from the Egyptian capital:
A film director, Nabil Abdel-Alim, had applied to set up the association to promote communication between Egyptians and Israelis. When the Ministry of Social Affairs, which oversees Egypt's civil society, refused his application, he went to court.
The judge rejected the appeal, partly on the ground that the friendship society would have "a political agenda."
And from the Jerusalem Post, here's a more serious example of the sort of Arab behavior that doesn't seem to trouble the ex-diplomats:
Natzer Awartani, 16, was indicted at the Samaria military court on Tuesday for recruiting, preparing and dispatching young suicide bombers for the al-Aksa Martyr's Brigades, including 14-year-old Husam Abdu [another Jerusalem Post article has his age at 16], who was apprehended on March 24, 2004 at the Hawara roadblock, explosives strapped to his waist.
So why are these erstwhile foreign service officers so keen to bash Israel? Diplomats sometimes end up acting as advocates for the country where they're assigned rather than their own; it's possible that these guys simply "went native."
London's Sunday Telegraph hints at another possibility. The U.S. diplomats explain that they were inspired by a similar letter to Tony Blair, which 52 former British diplomats signed. The Telegraph notes that some of the British 52 "have business links with Arab governments" or "are paid by pro-Arab organisations," and that they failed to disclose such ties as part of the letter. It would be interesting to look into the income sources of President Bush's correspondents.
Sad Preacher Nailed Upon the Colored Door of Time
From the Washington Post's account of John Kerry's speech yesterday to the Anti-Defamation League:
In animated tones, he spoke of his first visit to Israel, which he said was under the auspices of the ADL and the late Leonard P. "Lenny" Zakim, longtime director of the group's New England chapter. Kerry said he went to the Golan Heights, visited the Sea of Galilee and "actually stood on the Mount of the Beatitudes and read the Sermon on the Mount to those gathered with me."
Insane Teacher Be There Reminded of the Rhyme
From an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press on John Kerry's visit today to the Minnesota capital:
After touring a student housing rehabilitation project, the Democratic presidential candidate crossed Sims Avenue and waded into a crowd of about 20 neighbors. He shook hands, posed for photos with children and answered questions shouted at him.
Amy Ames told Kerry "We need more teachers."
"That's why I'm running for president," the Massachusetts senator replied.
'Out of Whack'
We thought this was just a New York Times tic, but get a load of the lead paragraph in this editorial from Salt Lake City's Deseret News:
In Salt Lake County, the jail continues to suffer from chronic overcrowding despite the fact the crime rate has declined. It's no wonder, then, that the county commissioned an expert to study the problem and recommend solutions. Something has to be out of whack.
What would the county do without experts? But let's see if we follow the "problem": The crime rate has declined as lots of people have gone to jail. What exactly is "out of whack" here?
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Zero-Tolerance Watch
Heather Mercer, a 12-year-old student at Needville Middle School, outside Houston, has been suspended for wearing a T-shirt that violates school policy against "pictures, emblems or writing on clothing that is lewd, offensive, vulgar or obscene," Houston's KPRC-TV reports. And what did the shirt say? "Somebody went to HOOVER DAM and all I got was this 'DAM' shirt."
The Associated Press reports from Dayton, Ohio, that five-year-old Kevin Lewis brought a tiny pocketknife to class at Grafton Kennedy Elementary School:
The small knife--with blade, file, toothpick and spoon--was given to Kevin by his grandfather's best friend.
"We told him not to take it to school, but he hid it in his pocket. He showed it to his friend, and his friend told on him," said his grandmother, Roberta Lewis.
"He was very excited about getting it, so he took it to school with him," said his mother, Juanita Mullins of New Lebanon.
"It was a childish mistake, but he's a child. I do not think he should be expelled. He didn't have any bad intentions."
School officials have already hit him with a 10-day suspension, and they may expel him altogether.
Thirteen-year-old Daryl Gray of Jonesboro, Ga., has been convicted of aggravated battery and could do five years behind bars, the Associated Press reports. Daryl, a student at Pointe South Middle School, did do something serious: He "struck another boy in the face with a pencil. The boy was seriously injured and has been left permanently scarred."
But juvenile court judge Leslie Gresham refuses to take into account the mitigating circumstances, namely that Daryl said he had been bullied for two years. He "says he has been hit, called gay and even had his shoes urinated on in the school restroom." Daryl had never been in trouble before, and the boy he injured had just hit him over the head.
Hat tip: ZeroIntelligence.net.
The Tipping Point
"Some 60 "Splash Day" revelers hoping to see nude sunbathers tipped over their double-decker barge when they crowded one side of the vessel," the Associated Press reports from Austin, Texas:
The accident happened during Splash Day, a semiannual event hosted at the clothing-optional area by the Austin Tavern Guild, a gay and lesbian bar association.
Witnesses said that all of the people aboard the barge moved to one side after it was tied up at Hippie Hollow, the only public nude beach in Texas, creating uneven distribution and making it tilt.
No one was injured in the incident, and no doubt the guys who make "King of the Hill" got a good story idea out of it. |
