From the WSJ Opinion Archives
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Why
Democracy Matters
The recommendations of the Iraq Study Group are out, and those who are eager
for a quick American defeat will be disappointed. The full report is here,
and the Associated Press summarizes the findings:
President Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working," a high-level commission said Wednesday in a blunt, bleak assessment that urged an immediate diplomatic attempt to stabilize the country and allow withdrawal of most combat troops by early 2008. . . .
"Military priorities must change," the report said, toward a goal of training, equipping and advising Iraqi forces. "We should seek to complete the training and equipping mission by the end of the first quarter of 2008."
The commission recommended the number of U.S. troops embedded to train Iraqis should increase dramatically, from 3,000-4,000 currently to 10,000-20,000. Commission member William Perry, defense secretary in the Clinton administration, said those could be drawn from combat brigades already in Iraq.
Then, by early 2008, combat troops could begin to leave the country.
More than a year ago, Rep. John Murtha caused a stir when he said America should "immediately redeploy," though he later claimed this wasn't what he meant (another botched joke?). The ISG's recommendation is much more moderate: a partial withdrawal, beginning more than a year from now, contingent on the success of efforts to train Iraqi forces. It seems like a plausible approach.
Less impressive is the stock the ISG places in negotiation with hostile regimes. The recommendations regarding Iran and Syria are fairly anodyne (see pages 51-52 of the report):
Under the aegis of the New Diplomatic Offensive and the Support Group, the United States should engage directly with Iran and Syria in order to try to obtain their commitment to constructive policies toward Iraq and other regional issues. In engaging Syria and Iran, the United States should consider incentives, as well as disincentives, in seeking constructive results.
The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby notes one big problem with this approach:
With totalitarian regimes like those in Iran and Syria, the effect of such "conversations" is usually negative. It buys time and legitimacy for the totalitarians, while deepening their conviction that the West has no stomach for a fight.
One could argue that there are ways of approaching such talks that avoid this pitfall, or that it is a cost worth paying. But the ISG's failure even to grapple with the question does not inspire a great deal of faith in its approach.
The ISG's recommendations are thought to reflect the foreign-policy school known as "realism"--that is, the belief that nations act in their own interests and that it is folly to expect them to do otherwise. But one of the ISG's recommendations shows why this concept is too simplistic:
The United States will not be able to achieve its goals in the Middle East unless the United States deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict.
There must be a renewed and sustained commitment by the United States to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts: Lebanon, Syria, and President Bush's June 2002 commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
The U.S. has tried for decades to resolve the Israeli-Arab problem, and the results have been either meager (peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan) or execrable (a terrorist regime in the Palestinian Authority). Why is it "realistic" to think that more of the same will magically transform the region now?
Self-evidently it is not. In truth, the so-called realists make two unrealistic assumptions. The first is unrealistic even by their own lights: that Arab nations, far from being concerned only with their own interests, have a sentimental attachment to the Palestinian cause.
The second goes to a fundamental problem with realism: a failure to distinguish between nations and regimes. It's obvious that it would be in the interest of Arab nations--especially the currently nonexistent Palestinian one--to coexist peacefully with Israel. But the regimes that rule those nations are concerned above all with self-preservation. Stirring up hatred against an external enemy--the Jews--serves the purpose of diverting popular attention from the regimes' depredations.
This is why democracy matters. Democratic regimes are far from perfect, but by providing for popular accountability, they align the interests of the regime with the interests of the nation better than any other system that has been devised. In a world of democracies, realism would be a lot more realistic.
Fact-Free
Journalism
Will Bunch, a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News, is outraged at bloggers
who've questioned an Associated Press story claiming that Iraqi Shiites had
burned six Sunnis alive. But Bunch, wittingly or not, essentially concedes the
argument:
Even if the report [was] wrong, and I'm not convinced that it is, it was in the context of horrific--and demonstrably true--escalating violence in Baghdad. . . .
In fact, it's almost not worth swatting at these gnats from the 101st Fighting Keyboard Commandos. I'd rather just concede, and let them have as their main talking points on the Middle East: The fact that smoke was added to a picture of a real Israeli bombing of Lebanon, that the AP printed an incorrect story about one of the hundreds of deadly acts of sectarian violence in Iraq, and even the allegation--totally unproven and not resulting in any actual charges--that one Iraqi photographer who has worked with the AP has ties to the insurgents.
For our main talking points that the Iraq war is immoral and that U.S. involvement needs to end, we'll take the lies about weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's ties to al-Qaeda that didn't exist, and the unrelentingly sad fact that more than 2,900 Americans and tens upon tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have now died in an unnnecessary [sic] civil war, all for this mistake.
Let's see who wins that one.
Reporters, of course, are not supposed to have "talking points," and their paramount responsibility is to report the facts accurately. If a story isn't true, it is no defense that it is plausible "in the context."
The Wall Street Journal (link for subscribers) reports on a great moment in African journalism. The Rwanda New Times newspaper published a hit piece on Paul Rusesabagina, the Kigali hotel manager whose story was the subject of the 2004 movie "Hotel Rwanda." The RNT, too, relied on a dubious source:
To buttress its condemnation of Mr. Rusesabagina, the New Times in one article quoted someone identified as an American reporter named Richard Cesare saying, "None of his actions made him a hero even in the eyes of Americans." Mr. Cesare later in the article dismissed [Rusesabagina's] Medal of Freedom as no big deal.
It turns out Mr. Cesare is, in fact, a 12-year-old from Sahuarita, Ariz., who had contacted the New Times for help with a history paper he was writing on Mr. Rusesabagina.
"We were laughing so hard when we saw this article," says Lea Cesare, Richard's mother. "He was just a kid doing a homework assignment." Ms. Cesare says her son was in contact for months with several reporters and editors at the New Times who were well aware of his age. The New Times did not respond to requests for comment.
Even if the New Times got the facts wrong, it did so in the context of its "talking point." Is that any different from the style of journalism Will Bunch advocates?
Still
Dead
Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's tin-pot president, takes a stab at handwriting analysis:
During the news conference, Chavez read a note from ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro congratulating him on his victory. Chavez said he could tell from the signature that Castro was gaining his strength back.
Or maybe the autopen just got new batteries.
The
Grass Is Always Greener
The Boston Globe has a bizarre editorial following up on a bizarre hit piece,
which we noted
Friday, that revealed Gov. Mitt Romney's lawn-care contractor employed--are
you sitting down?--illegal immigrants. On the broader issue of immigration,
the Globe calls for a comprehensive solution, including a guest-worker program
and a path to citizenship, and we generally agree with this. But on the specifics,
the Globe seems confused:
A day before the Globe published its articles about the lawn crew last week, the Romney administration announced the State Police would begin enforcing federal immigration laws. The troopers will check on immigration status during a traffic stop or other routine work if they believe something is amiss, and only a few of the force's 2,500 officers will be involved. Even on a limited basis, however, this is an unnecessary broadening of responsibility and will do little to diminish the flow of illegal immigrants, who surely number in the tens of thousands across Massachusetts. . . .
Community Lawn Service with a Heart, the company that does Romney's lawn, also works for the Massachusetts Port Authority and the City of Chelsea. Public agencies cannot be complicit in violation of immigration law, and the company should be denied this business unless it can prove its compliance.
Immigration enforcement is no job for the police; it should be left to lawn-maintenance administrators! Hey, why not discourage illegal immigration by erecting "Keep off the grass" signs along the border?
Dutch
Courage
"AMSTERDAM--Against a backdrop of protests, the defense minister honored
Dutch troops who served in the U.N. peacekeeping force that failed to prevent
the 1995 slaughter of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica enclave
during the Bosnian war."--"World in Brief," Washington Post,
Dec. 5
Spend
Your Way to Sanity
"The Department of Veterans Affairs is too slow to spend the money it budgeted
to treat the mental health needs of veterans, including those returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a Congressional study released Monday,"
USA Today reports:
The VA budgeted $300 million in fiscal 2005-06 for new mental health initiatives but spent only $200 million, according to the study by the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress.
So the key to sanity is to spend money as fast as possible? Whatever you do, don't tell our wife!*
* OK, we're not actually married, but even if that report was wrong, it was in the context of a demonstrably funny bon mot.
Today
in History
From the report of the independent counsel investigating President Clinton,
this blast from the past:
On the morning of Saturday, December 6 [1997], Ms. Lewinsky went to the White House to deliver the letter and gifts to the President. The gifts included a sterling silver antique cigar holder, a tie, a mug, a "Hugs and Kisses" box, and an antique book about Theodore Roosevelt. Ms. Lewinsky planned to leave the parcel with Ms. Currie, who had told Ms. Lewinsky that the President would be busy with his lawyers and unable to see her.
Ms. Lewinsky arrived at the White House at approximately 10:00 a.m. She told the Secret Service uniformed officers at the Northwest Gate that she had gifts to drop off for the President, but that Ms. Currie did not know she was coming. Ms. Lewinsky and the officers made several calls in an attempt to locate Ms. Currie. The officers eventually invited Ms. Lewinsky inside the guard booth. When Ms. Currie learned that Ms. Lewinsky was at the Northwest Gate, she sent word that the President "already had a guest in the [O]val," so the officers should have Ms. Lewinsky wait there for about 40 minutes.
While Ms. Lewinsky was waiting, one officer mentioned that Eleanor Mondale was in the White House. Ms. Lewinsky correctly surmised that the President was meeting with Ms. Mondale, rather than his lawyers, and she was "livid."
Takes you back, doesn't it?
It's
the Eponomy, Stupid
"Police said they were looking for Adidas Fila Rowson and an unnamed
suspect in the shooting. . . . An officer spotted Rowson on Sunday,
but he took off on foot."--Internet Broadcasting System, Dec. 5
The
Thrilla Is a Chilla
"Boxer Promises Action on Global Warming"--headline, Associated Press,
Dec. 6
He
Shouldn't Have Come Tumbling Down
"Police Locate Car of Moon Man Found Dead"--headline, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
Dec. 5
Tell
Them to Put Some Clothes On!
"Darton Women Streaking Again"--headline, Albany (Ga.) Herald, Dec. 5
What
an Odd Question
"San Francisco Says No to Cookie Aroma at Bus Stops"--headline, Reuters,
Dec. 5
Just
Outside Minneapolis
"Remains of St. Paul May Have Been Found"--headline, Associated Press,
Dec. 6
News You Can Use
- "Take Care of Your Employees; They'll Take Care of You"--headline,
BostonWorks.com,
Dec. 3
- "Blame Hormones for Weird Behavior of Middle-Schoolers"--headline, Kalamazoo (Mich.) Gazette, Dec. 3
Bottom Stories of the Day
- "Elmira Leaf Pickup Done"--headline, Star-Gazette
(Elmira, N.Y.), Dec. 6
- "Some Hollywood Women Say Too Busy to Shave Armpits"--headline,
Reuters,
Dec. 6
- "Edwards Needs Money for Presidential Bid"--headline, Associated Press, Dec. 6
Ten
Mullahs Leering, Nine Ladies Dancing . . .
"President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who flaunts his ideological fervour,
has been accused of undermining Iran's Islamic revolution after television footage
appeared to show him watching a female song and dance show," reports London's
Guardian:
The famously austere Mr Ahmadinejad has been criticised by his own allies after attending the lavish opening ceremony of the Asian games in Qatar, a sporting competition involving 13,000 athletes from 39 countries. The ceremony featured Indian and Egyptian dancers and female vocalists. Many were not wearing veils.
Women are forbidden to sing and dance before a male audience under Iran's Islamic legal code. Officials are expected to excuse themselves from such engagements when abroad but TV pictures showed Mr Ahmadinejad sitting with President Bashar Assad of Syria and Ismail Haniya, the Palestinian prime minister, during last Friday's ceremony in Doha.
Oh well, it could have been worse. At least he didn't go to a dog strip club.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Andrew Robinson, John Williamson, Monty Krieger, James Gallagher, Richard Potter, Tom Wasiak, Harry Forbes, Darin Bartram, Bob McCarthy, Tomas Nally, Dave Tinkle, Dori Monson, Kevin Thomson, Trevor Permison, Scott Wright, James Currin, C.E. Dobkin, Ed Sackley, Raymond Hull, Rod Pennington, Mark Schluze, Don Stewart and Ethel Fenig. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)
Today on OpinionJournal:
- Debra Burlingame: Grievance theater at Minneapolis International Airport.
- Joel Himmelfarb (from The American Spectator): It's a myth that the U.S. hasn't already engaged Syria and Iran.
- Joanne Kaufman: These days the Bible comes in hundreds of varieties.
