Politics and Press

Martin Amis Reflects on Extreme Islamism

Our intrepid Kiwi correspondent has referred me to a powerful critique of extreme Islamism by Martin Amis carried in the Guardian’s Observer. In it Amis says what I believe many are thinking but backing away from actually saying, probably out of obeisance to political correctness. It is a lengthy piece, published in three parts and is introduced thusly:

“…On the eve of the fifth anniversary of 9/11, one of Britain’s most celebrated and original writers analyses - and abhors - the rise of extreme Islamism. In a penetrating and wide-ranging essay he offers a trenchant critique of the grotesque creed and questions the West’s faltering response to this eruption of evil…”

Part one, with links to parts two and three can be read here.

Condi’s Incompetence

According to the new Woodward book, verified today by White House sources, Secretary Rice has conveniently misplaced or misfiled in her mind a meeting with George Tenet in July 2001 in which he urgently warned of an impending attack by Al Qaeda.

In an administration overloaded with incompetence, Rice is a particularly fatuous figure. Warned about an Al Qaeda attack she never flinched – just ignored it. As head of the National Security Agency she supported the invasion of Iraq based on phony evidence.  Either she knew it was phony and ignored it or did not know when she should have. As Secretary of State she supported a misguided bombing campaign of Lebanon by Israel despite Lebanon being one of our few friends in the region. She followed that up by refusing to support a ceasefire, which would have spared Lebanon a portion of the violence visited on it. She has consistently presented the view that we cannot negotiate directly with North Korea or Iran without appearing weak. North Korea is now about to test a nuclear device; Iran continues to move – albeit slowly – toward development of nuclear weapons.

Is there a single positive accomplishment in her nearly 6 years in positions of influence?

The Americanization of Canadian Media

The role of the Canadian press in the Maher Arar fiasco presents some interesting parallels to the Judith Miller run-up to Iraq reporting fiasco. Miller, at the time a NY Times correspondent, was used by anonymous administration sources to publish deceptive information intended to aid in the selling of the Iraq War. While it was never clear how much she actually believed of what she wrote the consequences are obvious and the damage has been done.

The Arar fiasco, as reported in today’s NY Times business section, included CTV’s (Canada’s largest private TV network) main nightly news show broadcasting that information from ‘’senior government officials in various departments'’ showed that Mr. Arar had given Syrian officials information about Al Qaeda and terrorist cells in Canada.

Juliet O’Neill published a 1,500-word, front-page article in The Ottawa Citizen under the headline ‘’Canada’s Dossier on Maher Arar.'’  Her article cited leaked documents and a ‘’security source.'’ They revealed, the report said, that the Canadian police had ‘’caught Mr. Arar in their sights while investigating the activities of members of an alleged Al Qaeda logistical support group in Ottawa.'’

The NY Times reports that ”although the leaks have now been shown to be completely false, Scott Anderson, The Citizen’s editor in chief, said last week that he had no regrets about publishing the report. ‘’Just the opposite. The story stands up completely,'’ he said.”

Anderson’s response is absurd.  The issue here is the laziness of reporters who will run with anyone’s garbage for a front-page scoop and the weakness of editors who refuse to push their reporters to do the hard work of serious journalism. Leaks from anonymous sources may be a necessary journalist tool but their use requires the hard work needed to verify them before destroying someone’s reputation or helping to start a war.

Brain Dead at the White House

Ok– the NY Times and Washington Post have reported on the NIE report that our Iraq fiasco has increased the terrorist threat; the President’s response is a typical moronic babble to the effect that we should not have been provided this information and that he would release - selectively - further information that would make it plain as can be that our Iraq fiasco was a wonderful adventure - as long as your kid wasn’t one of the ones giving it up for a pile of Texas bullshit. I understand that the press thinks it needs to treat this crap seriously - I just wonder why?

Skippy has consistently lied about everything connected to Iraq and the press was complicit in this (see Judith Miller et alia) It is actually not clear why he did it - was it his Daddy’s failure in 1991 to finish it off and a Freudian need to one-up him? Was it the Israel lobby that moved him? The direct voices from God? Wolfkowitz’s nutty obsession with Iraq? Cheney’s desire to set up a profit machine for Halliburton?

There is really no good reason for it and the puzzle remains because Skippy seems to actually believe what his speechwriters have written. What seems clear is that we have a president who does not enjoy good mental health. He avoids reality, believes he speaks personally with God, sends young Americans to death on a series of known lies, has destroyed the reputation of Colin Powell a former American hero, supports the most incompetent Defense Secretary in the country’s history, and has the audacity to go on TV and claim that everyone around him is naive. If only we knew what he knows. It is past time for America to embrace sanity.

The Clowns on the Hill

Senators McCain, Warner and Graham, made a half-hearted attempt to salvage habeas corpus from the administration’s Constitution wreckers. Sen. Spector, having caved once already this month, on the wire-tapping bill, has re-discovered his spine and called for hearings on the bill, called by Rolling Stone’s Tom Dickinson the “Abu Ghraib Authorization and Whitewash Act of 2006″.
Is the Senate really ready to throw the U.S. Constitution under the train to further the political interests of the loonies in the Bush administration? Probably.

Senator Spector was likely driven by the embarrassment of a bill removing the precious Constitutional protection of habeas corpus heading for the Senate floor with no hearings in his Judiciary Committee.  But given his having collaborated with Vice President Cheney on the wiretap whitewash there is no reason not to believe that the American people will once again be sold down the river.