Surprise! Things May be Turning Around on Iraq War – Jay Ambrose, Washington Examiner
Maybe, of course, America will lose the war in Iraq, followed by genocidal mayhem, the rise of a Saddam-like, jihad-endorsing dictator, further, perilous instability in the Middle East and an increased risk of emboldened terrorists one day blowing up a city or two or three over here, in the United States. Or maybe not. Over the past week and more, testimony from official and unofficial sources - including the analyses of two Brookings Institution Democrats - has indicated that, believe it or not, the military surge is working, sectarian violence is lessening and that an out-maneuvered, outnumbered al Qaeda enemy is inch-by-inch being defeated.
Farewell to Arms: Missing Guns Pose Danger to Americans in Iraq - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial
A Government Accountability Office report indicates that American authorities in Iraq can no longer account for some 190,000 weapons that the United States provided to Iraqi security forces. Offered as consolation is the fact that they are only AK-47 assault rifles and pistols, as if those are less useful to people fighting Americans in Iraq than rocket-propelled grenade launchers and other heavier weapons. The Middle East is awash with arms, and it is important to remember that weapons are one of the most fungible of commodities. AK-47s and pistols can be sold easily and other, heavier armaments purchased with the proceeds. It is especially ironic that one of the principal raps of the Bush administration against Iran -- most recently reiterated by the president himself to visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai -- is that it supplies arms to America's enemies in Iraq. More than we do ourselves?
In Praise of Private Contractors - Mike Hardiman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
What I saw in Iraq was that these contractors filled in where our armed forces did not need to be. Having them protect key personnel, guard convoys and defend supply depots has sharply reduced the number of American troops needed to be deployed overseas. Contractors have been exposed to significant danger and suffered more casualties than nearly all of the armed forces of those nations contributing to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
Why Terrorists Aren’t Soldiers – Wesley Clark and Kal Raustiala, New York Times
The line between soldier and civilian has long been central to the law of war. Today that line is being blurred in the struggle against transnational terrorists. Since 9/11 the Bush administration has sought to categorize members of Al Qaeda and other jihadists as “unlawful combatants” rather than treat them as criminals. The federal courts are increasingly wary of this approach, and rightly so. In a stinging rebuke, this summer a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., struck down the government’s indefinite detention of a civilian, Ali al-Marri, by the military. The case illustrates once again the pitfalls of our current approach.
Fighting Terrorists Requires Understanding Their Concept of Time - Louis René Beres, Christian Science Monitor
True chronology in counterterrorism must embrace more than the uniform intervals of clocks. For America's determined Islamist terrorist enemies, time means something very personal. For these jihadists, real time has more to do with the subjective idea of felt time than it does with any standard measures of duration. Were it otherwise, the United States would already have been hit with substantial and potentially deadly follow-on strikes to 9/11. Time's most authentic meanings are rooted in religion and culture. Historically, the idea of felt time – of time-as-lived rather than clock time – has its roots in ancient Israel. Rejecting the mundane idea of time as linear progression, the early Hebrews approached chronology as a qualitative experience. In that context, all time was logically inseparable from its personally incorporated importance.
Journalists and the ‘Phony War’ – Washington Examiner editorial
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich made an important point when he called the war on terrorism “phony.” Unfortunately, he was almost totally misunderstood by many in the mainstream media reporting his remarks. His “phony war” allusion was to the early months of World War II, when opposing troops quietly sat in their foxholes silently staring at each other without firing a shot.
Narcotics, Afghanistan and Terrorists – Washington Times editorial
If a narco-state can be defined as a nation where the production and export of illegal drugs comprises the equivalent of about 50 percent of that country's legitimate gross domestic product, then Afghanistan is a narco-state. The numbers are staggering. According to the U.N. World Drug Report for 2007, which was issued in July, Afghanistan is home to 82 percent of the area throughout the world that is devoted to the cultivation of opium. Because Afghan poppies generate better yields than can be found elsewhere, the country was responsible for 92 percent of the opium produced in the world last year.
Baffling Afghan Signals - Toronto Star editorial
What message, exactly, did Afghan President Hamid Karzai intend to deliver during his visit to Washington this week? On Sunday, before he met U.S. President George Bush, Karzai struck a gloomy note. "The security situation in Afghanistan over the past two years has definitely deteriorated," he told CNN. "There is no doubt about that." A few days earlier in Kandahar, Ehsan Zia, one of Karzai's cabinet ministers, painted an even bleaker picture. If foreign troops pull out, "what has been achieved will collapse," he warned. But by Monday, after talks with Bush, Karzai boldly described the Taliban as "defeated," a spent force. "They're not posing any threat to the government of Afghanistan," just terrorizing civilians, he said.
Running Out of Time, Patience in Afghanistan - Karl Inderfurth, Boston Globe
When President Bush hosted Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai at Camp David earlier this week, it was their ninth meeting since US-led military forces ousted the Taliban from power in late 2001. It may also prove to be their most fateful. Time is running out to get things right in Afghanistan. The battle for Afghan "hearts and minds" is in danger of being lost because of rising civilian casualties and war damage. The Karzai government is losing the support of ordinary Afghans due to widespread corruption, the failure to provide needed social services, and its inability to control large parts of its own territory. A US National Intelligence Estimate says Al Qaeda has established a new safe haven on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Meanwhile, international support for "staying the course" in Afghanistan is slipping. The Taliban surge in suicide bombings, hostage taking, and killing of foreigners is taking its toll.
An Interview with Benazir Bhutto - Harlan Ulllman, Washington Times
My last column likened the desperate conditions in the Greater Middle East and South Asia to the summer of 1914 and the onset of World War I — but in slow motion. Despite the naive and unhelpful comments of several presidential aspirants who say they would consider using nuclear weapons to attack al Qaeda in friendly states or take out Islam's holiest shrines, a meeting last week in the Gulf could reverse these dangerous trends in Pakistan. That glimmer of optimism rests in the discussions between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto over her return from exile in a power-sharing arrangement.
Bring Bhutto Back – Washington Times editorial
Harlan Ulllman's column on this page today provides an exclusive interview with former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan's location places it at the intersection of the war on terror and fundamentalist extremism. Its possession of nuclear weapons as a deterrent to India makes Pakistan potentially the most dangerous state on the globe if radical Islamists were to seize power. President Pervez Musharraf is under growing pressure externally to do more on the war on terror and internally to return to promised democratic rule. Discussions last week between Gen. Musharraf and Mrs. Bhutto could pave the way for him to solve those dilemmas by inviting the former prime minister back and assigning her some of the responsibilities for both tasks.
Gordon Brown's Perilous Game with US – London Daily Telegraph editorial
The first tangible outcome of this change of posture emerged yesterday with the Government's formal request for the release of five British residents from the American detention camp at Guantánamo Bay. It was disingenuous of the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, to depict the request as simply a helping hand to the Americans as they "move towards the closure of the detention facility". In reality, it is a highly symbolic political gesture designed to show the Brown Government's distaste for Guantánamo. The five are not British citizens, and there is no obligation for us to take them.
Mideast Two-step - Baltimore Sun editorial
To advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Bush needs the support and involvement of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis last week cautiously expressed interest in attending a regional peace conference Mr. Bush had proposed for the fall, provided the meeting tackles the core issues dividing Israel and the Palestinians. The Saudis haven't done Mr. Bush any favors. A dialogue that would bring them to the table would have to include the status of Jerusalem and the future of Palestinian refugees, and the Israelis are resisting a discussion of either at this time.
Olmert's Approach to Israel's Enemies - Louis Rene Beres, Washington Times
Prodded by President Bush on several fronts, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government in Israel continues to place its existential bets on diplomacy. To be sure, such a stated policy preference is plainly civilized, and it is also in compliance with binding international law. At the same time, Israel's principal enemies — the disputing Palestinian elements (Fatah or Hamas, it makes little effective difference) and Iran — will never accept anything less than Israel's physical disappearance. They say this every day, either openly or obliquely. Moreover, in a corroborating bit of cartography, every PA or Iranian map of "Palestine" already includes all of Israel.
South Africa’s Betrayal – James Kirchick, Wall Street Journal
Last September, not long after the Israeli-Hezbollah war, South Africa's minister of intelligence, Ronnie Kasrils, praised the Islamist group committed to Israel's destruction. The Iran News Agency, albeit prone to exaggeration, reported that Mr. Kasrils "lauded [the] great victories of the Lebanese Hezbollah against the Zionist forces" and "stressed that the successful Lebanese resistance proved the vulnerability of the Israeli army." The comment received no attention in the South African media; nor, for that matter, did the international press seem particularly interested. And yet, the scandalous comment occurred immediately after the South African government had warmly received the visiting Iranian foreign minister and expressed support for Iran's campaign for uranium enrichment--in spite of the passing of a United Nations Security Council deadline that same week regarding the suspension of Iran's nuclear program. This stance toward Iran is cause for concern on its own. Unfortunately, it is also illustrative of a much broader and more chilling trend in South Africa's postapartheid foreign policy: one that cozies up to tyrants, and is increasingly orientated against the West--even at the cost of its self-proclaimed principles of human rights and political freedom.
Saharan Shakedown – Washington Post editorial
European leaders claimed an important step toward bettering Libya's still-shaky relations with the West. But the North African dictatorship deserves no plaudits for its release last week of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, all locked up for the past eight years on flimsy charges. Nor should European negotiators take pride in an episode that, by all indications, is a clear-cut case of international extortion.
Homeland Security Law - Philadelphia Inquirer editorial
The Democrat-controlled Congress and President Bush haven't agreed on much this year, but the new homeland security legislation is a shining exception. Signed into law by Bush Friday, this measure finally implements many recommendations made by the independent 9/11 commission. That report came out three years ago, and too many of its wise suggestions have been ignored in Washington.
Reason and Wiretaps – Wall Street Journal editorial
To hear the critics tell it, the warrantless wiretapping law passed by Congress this weekend is an immoral license for a mad President Bush and his spymasters to eavesdrop on all Americans. For those willing to believe such things, mere facts don't matter. But for anyone still amenable to reason, the deal is worth parsing for its national security precedents, good and bad. The next Democratic President might be grateful. The good news is that the new law will at least allow the National Security Agency to monitor terrorist communications again. That ability has been severely limited since January, when Mr. Bush agreed to put the wiretap program under the supervision of a special court created by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The new law provides a six-month fix to the outdated FISA provision that had defined even foreign-to-foreign calls as subject to a U.S. judicial warrant.
Too Much FISA Oversight? - David Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, Los Angeles Times
The ink is still wet on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act amendments, adopted by Congress in the final hours before its August recess, and already this six-month-long compromise legislation has drawn strident criticisms from civil libertarians, who believe that it has given the president too much power. The truth, however, is that the amendments mostly return to FISA's original intent, to set requirements for judicial review of domestic wiretaps while allowing the interception of foreign communications without a warrant or other judicial order.
FISA Fumbles - National Review editorial
The right thing it is not, but the Democratic Congress has done a barely adequate thing, albeit kicking and screaming: This weekend, it temporarily acknowledged the executive branch’s authority to monitor international communications for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence. This should not have been controversial. The single most important task of any president is to protect the United States from external threats. If the executive branch did only one thing, this would be it. To this purpose, presidents have for decades deployed the U.S. intelligence services — in particular, the CIA and the NSA — to intercept international communications.
A Six-month Spy Fix - Chicago Tribune editorial
Congress found itself backed into a corner last weekend. Lawmakers wanted to go on vacation. But President Bush threatened to keep them in session until they passed what he described as an urgent fix to the country's ability to secretly eavesdrop on suspected terrorists overseas. And many in Congress, particularly Democrats, feared the firestorm of blame if they did nothing about the eavesdropping law and terrorists attacked while lawmakers were toes-up on the beach.
The Terror Card - Baltimore Sun editorial
President Bush's crushing victory last weekend over the Democratic Congress, forcing its leaders to accept secret surveillance of American citizens without court approval, demonstrates that Mr. Bush's favorite fear tactic has not lost its potency. Vague hints of a possible terrorist attack on American soil within the next few weeks set a tone of urgency. The administration's "more, more, more" negotiating stance made compromise impossible. And the still-palpable fears among Americans since the 9/11 attacks suggested that a principled stand of opposition before a monthlong recess could have disastrous political consequences.
The Spy Game - San Francisco Chronicle editorial
No-limits spying is on a roll. In rushed votes, both the House and Senate meekly accepted a White House plan to vastly expand phone and e-mail eavesdropping. The changes were sold as a key step in tracking foreign terrorists and their allies on American soil. But the shift guts any semblance of oversight, leaving the picking and choosing of targets to spy agencies. It's a major win for the White House, which chafes at any check on its powers. It's now free to tap communications going in and out of the United States without a warrant.
FISA: Don’t Mend It, End It - Andrew McCarthy, National Review
We should all breathe a sigh of relief that sanity prevailed when Congress enacted emergency legislation over the weekend to address a national-security crisis: the hamstringing of our intelligence community’s ability to eavesdrop on agents of foreign powers situated overseas and bent on killing Americans. I would keep the cork on the champagne bottle, though — and not just because this eleventh-hour fix of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will lapse in six months, nor because it is absurd that we should ever have been arguing over anything so silly in the first place.
Reform FISA Now - Peter Hoekstra, Washington Times
Whenever the issue of foreign surveillance is discussed in Washington, Democrats immediately invoke "Big Brother" to scare people. From the way Democrats are running Congress, they would do well to remember "Animal Farm," since it seems Democrats believe they are more equal than others. There was more drama on Friday concerning a "terrorist loophole" that was preventing U.S. intelligence agencies from monitoring terrorist communications. In April, Director of National Intelligence Adm. Michael McConnell informed Congress that antiquated provisions of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA) were forcing him to get court orders to monitor terrorist communications and preventing him from collecting a significant amount of intelligence on terrorist activities.
All Eyes on Deck - Rich Lowry, National Review
Little did they know it, but terrorist suspects living in Pakistan recently had their rights to privacy enhanced. It happened through the magic of adventurous judicial interpretation of an outdated U.S. law. Back in 1978, when disco was king, gas lines were long and no one owned a cellular telephone, Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It sought to constrain the president’s power to monitor communications for intelligence purposes here in the U.S. by requiring him to get a warrant from a special FISA court. The court would have to be convinced that there was probable cause to believe that a target of surveillance was an “agent of a foreign power.”
Jihadists Owe Kirby a Thank You - Janet Albrechtsen, The Australian
Single-handedly Justice Michael Kirby disproves Alexander Hamilton's aphorism that the judiciary is the "least dangerous" branch of government. Fortunately, there is only one Kirby on the High Court. Accordingly, his refusal last week to uphold the Howard Government's control orders is just another meaningless whistle in the wind from our most senior court's great dissenter. But Kirby's 94-page judicial yawn at the need for anti-terrorism laws provides a timely lesson on why filling the next High Court vacancy with a sensible judge is such a critical issue.
Countdown to Beijing – Victor Cha, Washington Post
One year from today, Beijing will host the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics. For two weeks we will be treated to athletic performances that animate dreams and inspire the world, set against the backdrop of one of the world's most ancient and celebrated civilizations. That, at least, is the way Beijing would like to sell the Games. For better or worse, they will mark a critical crossroads in China's development as a responsible global player.
Tight-lipped China – Washington Times editorial
As part of their bid package for the 2008 Olympic Games, Chinese authorities in 2001 promised to expand human rights and press freedoms. Six years later as China prepares to launch the games exactly one year from today, these flowery assurances have fallen by the wayside, triggering protests and condemnations from human-rights and journalism groups worldwide. These protests are warranted, and, we hope they will cajole Chinese officials into granting basic guarantees to free expression, for both foreign and domestic correspondents.
Combat Confessional – Phillip Carter, Slate
Every soldier has a story. Some are even true. As soldiers, we learn to hide our worst stories from people outside the brotherhood of the close fight. And so the picture of war that gets transmitted back to America is incomplete, always lacking in the awful, gory, human details that flesh out the narrative of combat. These stories are reserved for unit reunions and American Legion halls. Army Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp broke that code when he pseudonymously wrote a series of colorful dispatches for the New Republic about his experiences as an infantryman in Iraq. He offered often gruesome details about the realities of war, details that have ignited a firestorm between left- and right-wing magazines willing to stake their reputations upon their truth and falsity.
Winter Soldier Syndrome – Michelle Malkin, Real Clear Politics
U.S. military investigators concluded this week that Beauchamp concocted allegations of troop misconduct in a series of essays for the New Republic. "The investigation is complete and the allegations from PVT Beauchamp are false," Major Steven Lamb, a spokesman for Multi National Division-Baghdad, told USA Today. the New Republic is standing by Beauchamp's work. But Michael Goldfarb, online editor and blogger at The Weekly Standard who first challenged Beauchamp's writing, reported Monday that Beauchamp had "signed a sworn statement admitting that all three articles he published in the New Republic were exaggerations and falsehoods -- fabrications containing only 'a smidgen of truth,' in the words of our source."
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