From the WSJ Opinion Archives
Osama
Flambé
Not all observances this Sept. 11 will be mournful. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
reports that the Bunker, a military-themed bar in Rochester, Wis., has "developed
an elaborate memorial celebration that will begin with a traditional military-style
memorial ceremony and culminate with a 'payback' where a figure of Osama Bin
Laden will go up in flames. Bunker co-owner Jeff Hartzheim tells the paper:
"It's a surprise how we're going to do it, but it's going to be cool, very cool."
Not everyone is happy about the plan. Othman Atta of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee tut-tuts: "If people want to channel their energy into something, rather than these kind of silly measures, they could spend a little time learning about other cultures, learning about foreign policy and some of the politics of the situation. Not that they have to agree with it, but for the promotion of understanding between people. That's probably not something you want to do out of a bar, though, especially after a few rounds."
Take
My Life--Please!
"At least 30 al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay US
naval base in Cuba have tried to commit suicide," the BBC reports. Lacking
airplanes or suicide belts, however, they've had to resort to less effective
methods, such as "trying to cut themselves with plastic utensils,"
banging their heads against walls" and "punching the walls."
James Radkee, a U.S. Navy physician, "says some of this behaviour is seen as a sign that the detainees are showing remorse for their actions"--a rather optimistic assessment given that radical Islam is a suicide cult to begin with.
Should
I Stay or Should I Go?
Judge Gladys Kessler has issued a stay of her earlier order that the federal
government must reveal the names of those it has detained in its Sept. 11 investigation,
the Associated Press reports. "Kessler said the stay will remain in effect
until a federal appeals court has ruled in the matter. That could take months."
The
Humanitarian Front
Here's a nice example of America's morally superior position in the world: "The
US has launched a public bidding process for humanitarian relief organisations
to work in Iraq and surrounding areas in the run-up to a possible military campaign
against the regime of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein," the Financial Times
reports:
A document sent by the State Department to NGOs last month, a copy of which has been obtained by the FT, states : "The office of northern Gulf Affairs [a department within the state department] announces an open competition for proposals for humanitarian assistance projects in Iraq (south, central or northern) and for Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries."
To say the least, most countries, when preparing to go to war, do not make plans for "humanitarian" efforts on behalf of the people whose countries they're attacking.
Meanwhile, CNN reports that "the movement of trucks and missiles inside Iraq has U.S. officials wondering if the nation is preparing for a U.S. military action." Is this really something they need to "wonder" about?
Say
What?
"Saddam to Run for Another Term as Iraq President," says the headline
of a Reuters dispatch. Here's a case in which those famous Reuterville scare
quotes would actually clarify rather than obfuscate the story, which Reuters
"reports" as if this were an actual democratic process rather than
a sham. Consider this paragraph:
A referendum on October 15, 1995, to endorse Saddam as president was the first such vote in Iraq since it became a republic following a 1958 revolution which toppled the monarchy.
It would be much more accurate had Reuters written:
A "referendum" on October 15, 1995, to "endorse" Saddam as "president" was the first such "vote" in Iraq since it became a "republic" following a 1958 revolution which toppled the monarchy.
Not that Reuters has abandoned scare quotes entirely. This story does use them around regime change and axis of evil.
You
Don't Say--I
"Rice Calls Saddam an Evil Man"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 15
One
Small Step for Human Rights
"The Bush administration will oppose any additional foreign aid for Egypt
to protest the Egyptian government's prosecution of human rights campaigner
Saad Eddin Ibrahim and its poor treatment of pro-democracy organizations,"
the Washington Post reports. Ibrahim is a U.S. citizen. The administration doesn't
affect existing foreign aid, of which Egypt is the biggest recipient save Israel.
Bad
Company
South African statesman Nelson Mandela is also standing up for human rights
in Egypt. "What is happening to Ibrahim is exactly the same as what happened
to me," Mandela, who spent 26 years as a political prisoner of the apartheid
regime, tells Britain's Guardian.
Oh wait, sorry. We got that wrong. Actually, Mandela was referring not to Ibrahim but to Marwan Barghouti, the Palestinian terrorist leader on trial for murder and other charges in Israel. The Guardian reports Mandela has agreed to "observe" Barghouti's trial. The Jerusalem Post reports he has joined "an international committee to work for the release of Barghouti." Also on the committee are authors Jose Saramago and Edward Said.
In his dotage, poor old Mandela is getting mixed up with a very bad crowd. As we noted in March, Saramago offensively likened the Israeli government to the Nazis, saying that then-besieged Ramallah was "being turned into a concentration camp." This sort of overwrought comparison, especially when applied to the Jewish state, is a mild form of Holocaust denial.
Said goes even further. Proving denial ain't just a river in Egypt, he complains in Cairo's Al-Ahram Weekly of "a vast dehumanisation of the Palestinians." That's a legitimate point of view, but this isn't: "I know of no such systematic dehumanisation in modern history that even approaches this."
Mandela won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Saramago won a Nobel Literature Prize in 1998. The underachieving Said is Nobelless.
The
Case Against Barghouti
Israel's indictment of Barghouti, which the Israeli group IMRA has posted on
the Web, makes interesting reading, detailing the multitude of terrorist attacks
Barghouti allegedly incited or helped plan. The New York Times' Serge
Schmemann sums up: "The charge sheet . . . specifically cites
37 attacks in which 26 people were killed and scores wounded. 'The accused,
a Ramallah resident, heads the West Bank terror organization,' the indictment
declared. 'The accused was subordinate to Yasir Arafat, who heads the terrorist
organization.' "
Schmemann then makes this bizarre observation: "What the indictment did not note was that Mr. Barghouti, 42, is also the second most popular figure among the Palestinians, after Mr. Arafat, and a man often cited as a potential successor to Mr. Arafat."
What O.J. Simpson's indictment did not note is that he won a Heisman Trophy in 1968.
Even more bizarre is the headline of Schmemann's piece: "Bitter Circus Erupts as Israel Indicts a Top Fatah Figure." What's a "bitter circus," and what does it look like when a circus "erupts"?
Bodyless
Head Is Homeless, Too
Hamas terrorist Naser Jarrar lost both legs and one hand last year when he had
a "work accident" in which a bomb prematurely went off, according
to the Israeli military. Yesterday Jarrar lost his head. Israel attacked his
house with rockets, then bulldozed the house. "About an hour ago we received
his body," Jarrar's brother Walid tells the Washington Post. "It was a direct
hit by a rocket. Only his head and a small part of his body were recovered."
The Post report makes Jarrar out to be some sort of small-time outlaw, almost admirable for his resilience; the headline reads: "Disabled Militant's Defiant Last Battle." Well, thank goodness it was his last; an Israeli military statement notes that he was planning "a major attack to bring down a multi-story building."
'Dear
Saddam'
Ha'aretz reports that "several hundred" Palestinians marched in Gaza
today, "setting fire to U.S. and Israeli flags, and chanting 'Dear Saddam,
bomb Tel Aviv.' " Charming, huh?
But not all Palestinians are caught up in this frenzy of hatred and violence. A Jerusalem Post report from Ramallah quotes a 24-year-old Palestinian woman who's been forced to sell her jewelry because of terror-induced economic hardship, and she knows exactly who's to blame: "This intifada has destroyed everything. We are paying a very heavy price and no one seems to care about us. Arafat doesn't care if we sell our jewelry or not. He and his men have billions of dollars."
Similarly, Fox News quotes Atta Sarasara, a father of a 16-year-old suicide bomber, who Fox says "is angry with not just the Israelis, but also with the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades for preying on impressionable teenagers and giving his son a bomb. 'They used a child. He was very kind, handsome, smart. They used him,' Sarasara said."
Middle East Online, a London-based pro-Arab site, reports on the diminishing nightlife in Gaza. A 51-year-old woman named May, buying ice cream with her niece, says: "Thank God we have this little pleasure left, but believe me life used to be so much better before the intifada when we would go out dancing, dining out and even to casinos."
In a sign someone may think peace is in the offing in the not-too-distant future, "Palestinian sources said Thursday that work had begun renovating the Casino in the West Bank city of Jericho," the Jerusalem Post reports, citing Israel Radio. Gambling.com notes that the casino catered mostly to Israelis, since Palestinian Arabs were barred from playing there.
You
Don't Say--II
"Meeting of Arabs, Jews Touchy"--headline, Raleigh News & Observer,
Aug. 15
You
Don't Say--III
"Saudi King Vacations in Luxury"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 14
You
Don't Say--IV
"Analysis: U.S.-Saudi Relations Eroded Post-Sept. 11"--headline, Reuters,
Aug. 14
We
Get Results
McDonald's has removed from its Web page for Saudi Arabia any reference to its
segregated restaurants in Mecca--less than a day after we noted
it.
We
Can't Go On Pretending Day by Day
Writing in the Arab News, one Fawaz Turki blasts columnist George Will, "whose
Eurocentrism is passionately worn by him like a badge of courage":
The anthem of Americans of Will's generation used to be, back in the late 60s, "We are the world, we are the children." Today, the latter remains true. As for the former, well, that's what the whole problem has been about--Eurocentric obnoxiousness. And that sentiment doesn't cut it in today's world.
This Turki doesn't know the first thing about American popular music. The ad hoc pop coalition USA for Africa recorded "We Are the World" not in the 1960s but in 1985. And can anyone imagine George Will singing along with this saccharine abomination?
Sex,
Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll
"The Sudanese ruling National Congress has decided to change its slogan
from 'Jihad, victory and martyrdom' to 'Peace, unity and development,' "
the Associated Press reports. "The new slogan is meant to promote peace
with the largely animist and Christian south, said Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, the secretary-general
of the National Congress."
If that doesn't work, maybe they can try "Eat, drink and be merry."
How
to Cheer Up the Marshals
USA Today reports that there are "real issues with morale" in the
U.S. air marshal program. Meanwhile, the Associated
Press reports that Hooters is thinking about buying an airline.
America,
an Angry God
If a man doesn't believe in God, G.K. Chesterton is said to have observed, he
does not believe in nothing; he'll believe in anything. Europe, once the heart
of Christendom, has become steadily less religious over the years, and a Washington
Times dispatch suggests Chesterton may have been on to something. Europeans
are now blaming America for an act of God--namely, the weather: "Leftist
politicians and environmentalists sought yesterday to link Europe's worst floods
in decades to U.S. reluctance to endorse the Continent's approach to fighting
global warming."
Toy
Soldiers
Our "zero tolerance watch" has chronicled many examples of kids getting
in trouble for carrying toy guns. The BBC reports Belgian soldiers may be facing
a similar problem:
The Belgian Defence Minister, Andre Flahaut, has ordered an investigation after reports that soldiers were carrying fake guns during the country's annual military parade.
Reports in the Belgian media say fake guns are popular with some troops because they require less maintenance.
But critics say the practice raises the spectre of a toy army.
You
Don't Say--V
"Apes Lack Gene for Speech, Study Finds"--headline, Reuters, Aug. 14
Too
Appealing
Texas has executed Javier Suarez Medina, a Mexican citizen, for the 1988 murder
of Dallas policeman Lawrence Cadena. Reuters reports the Mexican government
had filed an appeal on Suarez's behalf in which it argued, among other things,
that "Suarez suffered cruel and unusual punishment because he was scheduled
for execution 14 times, only to be saved by last-minute legal maneuvers every
time until the last one." The courts spared him further cruel and unusual
punishment by rejecting Mexico's last-minute legal maneuvers.
The
People vs. the Powerful
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports on a meeting of an oxymoronic--or maybe
just moronic--group called Business Leaders for Wellstone. Paul Wellstone, a
Minnesota Democrat, is probably the most liberal U.S. senator:
In what might be seen as a political twist, some members of the new business leaders group said they had trouble convincing their workers of the value of Wellstone's candidacy.
Fred Downing, the owner of E Z Way, a northeast Minneapolis manufacturer of electronic patient listings for hospitals and nursing homes, said he approached many of his 40 employees and asked them if they wanted to attend the meeting. Most declined, citing criticism that Wellstone is too supportive of welfare.
"They don't seem to understand that what's good for people who need help is good for everyone, workers and businesses," Downing said. "Maybe I'm paying them too much."
Brain
Drain
"Egyptian police have arrested a man who performed brain surgery on a number
of people even though he had only a primary school education," Reuters
reports. "The 40-year-old saw around 200 patients a week in the oasis town
of Fayoum near Cairo. He charged 22 Egyptian pounds ($4.74) per patient and
operated on a number of people but the fate of his victims was not immediately
known."
But hey, who says you need all sorts of fancy degrees to perform brain surgery? After all, it's not rocket science.
(Elizabeth Crowley helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Natalie Cohen, Rosanne Klass, Damian Bennett, S.E. Brenner, Marie Bourgeois, Zabelle Huss, Adam Cohen, Mike Granoff, Gershon Dubin, Aaron Rosenbaum, Jerome Marcus, John Vecchione, Reuven Weiser, Gad Meir, Elliot Ganz, David Hopson, Francesca Watson, C.E. Dobkin, Michael Segal, Randy Schwartz, Irene Margolin-Katz, Randal Voges, Carl Sherer, Mara Gold, Howard Weiser, Joseph Lazauskas, Brian Donohue, Gadi Niram, Darren Gold, Jonas Zoller, Michael Simons, Aaron Gross, John Payne, Brian Azman, Jeff Ketzler, Ed Graff, John Williamson, John Lott, Doug Levene, Brian Otey, Chris Nicastri, Dennis Sevakis, Greg Kelley, J. Brabston and Tim Raub. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Today on OpinionJournal:
- Brent Scowcroft: The case against attacking Saddam.
- John Fund: Prague is now a normal place. Can other former communist lands follow suit?
- Collin Levey: Who sold out America's black farmers?
- Lee Rosenbaum: Critics uncritically buy addled view of Adolf the artist.
