Politics

Tipped off via the intrepid kodi, we have more on the Guantanamo plans for an execution chamber. There also are plans to build a permanent modular detention facility, to imprison detainees who might be sentenced to indefinite terms, and an execution chamber should any be sentenced to death, he said. If this is accurate, and the article quotes named individuals in the military, they have at the very least developed a process and procedure for military tribunal executions. And, in fact, it’s been posted (original). ...

I’m really hoping this one is wrong. Certainly the term “death camp” is overblown rhetoric. The reality is bad enough. We can’t be executing prisoners without very open due process, and Guantanamo Bay is a closed system. No appeals, no juries. No spectators. This is not an accusation. I do not say that the proceedings would be unfair; I can’t say that, because I don’t know who the men on the tribunals would be. What I’m saying is this: our system is an open one precisely because our Founding Fathers knew that it was necessary; it is an open system because we are expected not to trust the government’s unsupported word. ...

Despite the constant attempts to play down the looting of the Iraqi National Museum, the full story is coming out. It is fairly clear, at this point, that a whole bunch of items were missing. It’s also pretty clear that many of them were simply hidden for safekeeping. The lesson? We owe the Iraqis a debt of thanks for preserving the heritage of Iraq, since we were too busy to do so.

Daily Kos, who is among the top five liberal bloggers, got a gig working for Howard Dean as a political consultant. From his disclosure post, his focus is going to be on providing services for the Internet campaign. Now, “rah rah bloggers affecting politics rah.” Take that as said. And, yeah, it’s interesting that Dean chose a blogger to manage his online community. But I think it’s more interesting contemplating the fact that Dean cares about his online community at all. Blogs are part of that. So are the Dean Meetups, which have touched far more people than the Dean weblog. (Note that the Meetups translate into real world action in the form of charity work.) ...

Various and sundry Iraq news continues to flow. This is gonna be long. On WMD: we still haven’t found anything, although Bush said we did. Alas, two trailers that might or might not be WMD factories are not in any way WMD. Sort of in the same way that styrofoam and gas aren’t napalm. On the other hand, various sources are reporting that intelligence analysts felt pressured to find evidence of WMD before the war. Similar reports are coming out of the UK. ...

I think it’s about time to stop complaining that the media isn’t doing a good job of asking questions. In the end, the American public may or may not care about the WMD issue — although I hope they do — but it’s definitely out there. You can tell the media is covering the story when John Dean asks if lying about the reason for a war is an impeachable offense. He thinks it is, unsurprisingly. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports doubts about those two trailers.

Britain is now calling for the US to allow UN weapons inspectors back into Iraq. The poignant quote from Britain’s UN ambassador: “Even the closest ally cannot answer for the United States.” They’re joined by the rest of the UN, of course. How much longer can we bear this undue influence in our affairs? Hasn’t Britain learned their lesson? Our friendship is not unconditional.

Den Beste (original) notes a $500 million drop in American tourism (original) over in France. Meanwhile, the ITA Office of Travel and Tourism notes a 7.6% drop (original) in visitors to the United States for Q1 2003. This follows a 8.3% drop (original) last year. Putting that into perspective, a little over 600,000 fewer people visited the US in the first quarter of 2003. If each of those people would have spent an arbitrary $1,000, which is probably low, then the US has lost over $600 million in one quarter. The article on France implies that their drop is $500 million total. Per capita, $500 million represents more for France than $600 million does for the US, of course. ...

I have, on occasion, argued that attempting to control terrorism by controlling the states that sponsor terrorism is futile. It’s too easy for non-state sponsored terrorists to build weapons, and getting easier. As evidence, I offer the home-made cruise missile.

The similarities between this (original) (here’s part two (original)) and this (original) are amusing as all hell. This doesn’t really say much about the people parodied, though, since both of ‘em are pretty similar to this (with another part two (original) — will wonders never cease?). Lesson: pundits are goobers.