Bush an Armageddon believer

The Age's Terry Lane, in an opinion piece based on a May 2004 Village Voice article, worries that President Bush is heavily influenced by apocalyptic fundamentalist Christians:

If you expect Jesus to come at any minute then the planet has already served its purpose. God provided just enough of everything, from clean air to oil, to last humankind from creation to Armageddon. In fact the degradation of the life systems of the planet is to be welcomed because it is another harbinger of the end of time.

If Bush sees the apocalypse in the near future, why does he want to reform Social Security? You know, why bother when nobody's going to be around to retire anyway?

UN gets tough on Darfur atrocities

The UN reacts:

More than 350 Arab militia fighters mounted on horses and camels rampaged through a village in southern Darfur this week, killing, burning and destroying everything in their paths, the African Union and the United Nations said today.

"We condemn this senseless and premeditated savage attack" which destroyed everything in the rebel-held village of Khor Abeche but the mosque and the school, the organisations said in a joint statement, vowing to refer the militia commander's name to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

The statement for the first time in the troubled region named the commander, identifying him as Nasir al Tijani Adel Kaadir of the Miseriyya tribe, based in the Arab militia stronghold of Nitega.

The Security Council has recently voted to impose a travel ban and an asset freeze on those responsible for atrocities against civilians or ceasefire violations in Darfur, and to refer those responsible for war crimes to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Yep, it'll teach – reinforce – that the UN is nothing to worry about.

Wouldn't it be nice if the UN preempted rather than reacted?

US university enrolment declines

Economist John Quiggin, liberal academic that he is, has a typically liberal explanation for declining US university enrolments:

Although there are many possibilities, it seems likely that this is a second-round effect of growing income inequality. The huge increase in income inequality over the past thirty years has been cushioned, for the poor, by increased access to credit, which has meant a much smaller increase in consumption inequality. But almost certainly that has excluded lots of families from saving for university education for their childrens. At the same time, the increased wealth of the top two quintiles has allowed, and encouraged, universities to raise tuition charges and offer more lavish facilities.

I'd argue that people have realised universities aren't really institutions of higher learning, they're liberal inculation facilities. Great, if you plan to be an academic, but useless if you plan to work in the real world.

Canadian Holocaust

Canadian Indian activist David Ahenakew, currently being prosecuted for hate speech, continues to run his mouth:

"I'm a holocaust victim," Ahenakew shouted Thursday under cross-examination on the final day of his trial.

"We lost over 100 million people over the last 500 years."

Asked if that would make him identify with the Jews rather than deride them, Ahenakew scowled.

"We're not the same culture," he said. "We cannot mix our culture with yours and expect it to work."

Ahenakew testified that his anti-Semitic remarks were fuelled by a combination of anger, fatigue from his diabetes and the oppression of the Palestinians that he witnessed while serving with the Canadian military in the Gaza Strip.

As Ahenakew says, the Canadian people should be on trial, not him. (Just in case you're wondering, the population of Canada is approximately 33 million, of which some 2% are Amerindian. Thus, 100 million Indians killed is more than 150 times the current aboriginal population of Canada. I think he's exaggerating.)

Rupert Murdoch owns New York

And he wants to own the world:

The Murdoch-ization of America has never felt so irreversible. At any given moment, according to Business Week, one in every five households is tuned into a show produced or delivered by News Corp.; meanwhile, Fox News is crushing CNN, the Weekly Standard is running the Bush administration, and three of the top six books now on the New York Times’ best-seller list were published by Regan Books. And in perhaps the most unmistakable sign yet that New York’s preeminent right-wing robber baron has become an entrenched member of the city’s Establishment, Rupert Murdoch recently purchased the late Laurance Rockefeller’s Fifth Avenue triplex for $44 million. In cash.

Murdoch is one of those really clever guys who applies his intelligence to making money and in so doing helped revive New York. How dare he?

Journalists or hacks?

In a Slate article, Eric Boehlert shows himself to be a dullard. Boehlert notes in the article that CBS apologized for its incorrect reporting of the forged Bush memo but that RWDBs have not followed suit with apologies for speculation on the source of the Schiavo talking-points memo. Well, it was one thing for the RWDBs to engage in obvious speculatation; it was something else altogether for CBS to try to pass a bogus memo off as news. The former does not demand correction; the latter does.

Boehlert's an idiot: probably well educated and well meaning, but an idiot nonetheless.

Scandalous outrage

Why didn't Jimmy Carter attend the Pope's funeral as part of the official US entourage? Evil Bush machinations, of course:

"I think it's an outrage," said Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter's national security adviser, who said he has not spoken with his former boss about the funeral. "It's scandalous. He should have been included in the official party. I suppose in the White House there was some resentment that the president was so critical of Bush at the convention."

Or, maybe Carter declined to go. Who cares, Carter is, and always has been, an embarrassment. Perhaps worse, he's downright creepy. Imagine being stuck on a plane for a trans-Atlantic flight with the guy. Scary.

It's PNG's call on aid money

Australia's response to PNG's rejection of an $800 million aid package:

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, says it is up to PNG to decide whether it accepts the aid.

"If we are generous enough to go and offer another country $800 million worth of assistance and they want that, then we'll agree to do that, that's entirely satisfactory," he said.

"But ultimately it's for them to benefit from, not us. It's going to be a cost to us."

Now all the government need do is hold to that line. All PNG need do is shut up and take the money.

Rachel Corrie, the musical

Actually, it's a play, not a musical. My Name Is Rachel Corrie, is directed by Alan Rickman. It would be worth going just to see a D9 on stage.

Mugabe visits Europe despite travel ban

Mugabe and a host of government officals have been banned from travel to Europe since EU election observers were prevented observing Zimbabwe's elections in 2002. This has not kept Mugabe out:

... the sanctions have a clause specifying that if an EU member state has an obligation under international law, the EU cannot request it from infringing its commitment.

And Italy has a legally binding arrangement with the independent city-state of the Vatican, which is not an EU member, saying it should not obstruct people transiting the country in order to visit the Pope - or to attend his funeral.

But, this is not the only time Mugabe has gotten around the ban:

In 2003, Mr Mugabe went to Paris for a Franco-African summit, following France's insistent requests the President be granted a waiver allowing him to attend the event.

The ban that isn't a ban. Those Europeans are an inscrutable bunch.

Emotional attachment to speed

The EU’s energy commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, thinks it's a good idea to reduce fuel consumption by lowering the European speed limit to 90 km per hour (55.9 miles per hour). This idea is not universally popular:

Setting the speed limit to 90 km per hour would raise too many strong emotions in Germany, according to the Social Democrat chairman of the German parliament’s environment committee, Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker.

See, the Huns can be sensible, sometimes. Let those emotions flow.

Bombs away

Illegal Mexican immigrants wandering onto an Arizona bombing range are costing Iraq and Afghanistan bound US forces valuable training time:

Since July 2004, the training range has been shut down more than 500 times because of immigrants spotted on the range, causing a loss of more than 1,100 training hours, said Colonel James J. Cooney, the base's commanding officer.

''That's equivalent to almost 46 days of training. We're getting overrun here," he said in an interview. ''Any moment we take away from a Marine's experience base could cost him his life in combat."

Cooney said Marines intercepted more than 1,500 undocumented immigrants on the training range last year and, in the first three months of this year, more than 1,100. Base personnel detain the immigrants and call in Border Patrol agents to pick them up.

''I have to use Marines that aren't trained in that to do that, which puts me at a liability," said Cooney, a Boston College graduate. ''It's completely counterproductive to our whole training operation."

Keep the planes flying and the problem will go away, one way or the other.


Via: Clear and Present

Papua New Guinea suspends Australia's aid

How would they have reacted to a cavity search?

Papua New Guinea suspended Australia's $A800 million aid program today in protest at Prime Minister Michael Somare's treatment at Brisbane airport last month, when he had to remove his shoes at a security check.

The PNG government Chief Secretary Joshua Kalinoe said the 149 Australian police and civil servants already in the country as part of the aid program would be allowed to stay but no new personnel would be accepted until Canberra apologised for Somare's treatment.

Wonder if this will tempt anyone to give Kofi's shoes a thorough check the next time he's at a US airport? Screw it, bend over and spread 'em, Kofi.

Update: It'll be great if the government stands firm:

The Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, says it is up to PNG to decide whether it accepts the aid.

"If we are generous enough to go and offer another country $800 million worth of assistance and they want that, then we'll agree to do that, that's entirely satisfactory," he said.

"But ultimately it's for them to benefit from, not us. It's going to be a cost to us."

Shut up and take the money you fools.

Dean to steer Dems left

This should come as no surpise:

Dean attracted an activist corps that is whiter, wealthier, better educated and far more liberal and secular than Democrats generally or the population at large, according to the Pew Research Center.

The article fails to make an important point: Dean's supporters backed a loser. Now that he's chairman of the DNC he's hoping to integrate them into the party. If he succeeds, the Dems are doomed. Go Howard.

Rumsfeld vs the generals

Colonel Mark F. Cancian, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Ret.), writing in the United States Naval Institute's magazine Proceedings, takes a close look at Iraq war planning - as registration is required, the excerpt that follows is longer than usual:

Rumsfeld, like McNamara, also intervened actively in operational planning. He scrapped the existing deployment plan and substituted a process whereby Central Command would request specific units (through a "request for forces" or RFF), and the Secretary would approve them through a deployment order. Where he thought forces were excessive or imbalanced, he pressed Central Command and the services to justify the request. If unconvinced, he did not approve the force package. The notion thus has grown that Rumsfeld ignored military advice and substituted his own plan.

The problem is that, according to the military participants, this is not true. General Tommy Franks, who was Commander, Central Command, and the officer ultimately responsible for operations, states forcefully in his autobiography that he drove prewar planning and supported the result. He is proud of producing what he sees as an innovative plan based on jointness and "new operational and strategic paradigms"— speed and mass of effect. He believes prewar exercises "validated" the plan and its assumptions. Finally, he describes briefing all the service chiefs and getting their approval. He does describe repeated discussions with Rumsfeld as the planning evolved, but sees this as the appropriate interaction of a commander with his civilian leaders.

General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been emphatic that "there has never been a better exchange of viewpoints between senior military and civilians as occurs today at the Pentagon." He repeatedly has denied that before the war senior military leaders advised against military action. Further, he dismissed as "absolute rubbish" accusations that civilians had ignored military advice.

Indeed, none of the military commanders involved has come forward to say he disagreed with the final plan. Apparently, they had the opportunity. As Daniel Goure, a Pentagon adviser, relates:

On the morning of March 13, six days before the first coalition air strikes on Baghdad, Donald Rumsfeld attended a crucial war meeting. "It was detailed stuff, and there was not a word of dissent from anyone in that room," said Daniel Goure, who attended the meeting. "Not from anyone. And remember the whole armchair-general crowd was there. No one said: 'Are you sure you've got enough troops?' Everyone was on board with the plan."15

The conclusion is inescapable: Franks and Rumsfeld—indeed the entire military and civilian leadership — were in this together. You cannot criticize one without criticizing the other.

It's a no nonsense article that demolishes a number of Iraq war "truths". It's worth the registration hassle, read it.

US mean to Saddam

He watched Iraqi history being made:

It would be fascinating to know what Saddam Hussein was thinking yesterday, as he was forced to watch televised coverage of the Iraqi parliament naming a new president.

It would be fascinating to know why the Guardian says Saddam was "forced to watch". All of the major news sources I checked – but I only checked a few – indicate that a TV was placed in his cell so he could watch parliamentary proceedings. Guardian staff apparently think Saddam was strapped down with his head fixed in place and his eyes propped open all Clockwork Orange-like so he couldn't avert his gaze. Actually, we know why they say he was forced to watch, don't we?

Canada hate speech trial continues

He said it but ...

Former aboriginal leader David Ahenakew said he still stands behind anti-Semitic remarks he made more than two years ago and blames the media for trying to "destroy" his life by publishing them.

Much of yesterday's proceeding was punctuated by angry shouts and taunts from a gallery packed with members of the Jewish and native communities. And many of the jeers were directed at Crown attorney Brent Klause, who was booed and called a racist several times.

This loon makes anti-semtic statements on the public record and his supporters reckon the Crown prosecutor is a "racist" for doing his job? Typical liberal tactics.

See the original post on Ahenakew's trial here.

Porn star annoyed

Paris Hilton is unhappy that photographers rented rooms in buildings opposite her Australian apartment:

Photographers with long lenses went to great lengths to shoot her.

"So, every time I'd be in, like, the hot tub or whatever, like, the next day it would be on the cover of every magazine," Hilton explained.

The stupid bitch could have, like, pulled the curtains so she wouldn't get all that, like, free publicity.

Australian jailed for gay sex

When overseas it's a good idea to obey local laws:

An Australian tourist and a Fijian man have been jailed for two years in Fiji for breaking the conservative Pacific nation's laws against homosexuality.

"If you wanted to have fun, you should have stayed in Australia instead of trying to come to Fiji and exploit our young boys," Magistrate Shah said.

The Fijian magistrate describe the homosexual liaison as "shameful" and "so disgusting that it would make any decent person vomit".

Just so you know, I think adults should be allowed to engage in consensual sex of whatever kind they see fit without fear of persecution. Unfortunately, my opinion counts for nothing in Fiji.

Loose talk taped

Canadian Indian, member of the Order of Canada and former head of the Assembly of First Nations, David Ahenakew, says he had no idea he was being taped when he referred to Jews as a "disease".

The Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter who taped the conversation, James Parker, testified that his recorder was right in Ahenakew's face.

But Ahenakew said he didn't see it.

"Maybe he has big hands," Ahenakew said.

[Ahenakew] refers to the United States and Israel as "bullies" in the world and blames the Jews for starting the Second World War.

Parker testified that it was that last comment that led him to approach Ahenakew.

"I asked him about this statement regarding the Jews and the Second World War," Parker said. "I recall he jumped right in."

On the tape of the interview, Ahenakew rails about the Jews owning everything prior to the war as Parker challenges him with counterpoints.

"How do you get rid of a disease like that, that's going to take over, that's going to dominate?" Ahenakew said. "The Jews damn near owned all of Germany prior to the war. That's how Hitler came in. He was going to make damn sure that the Jews didn't take over Germany or Europe.

"That's why he fried six million of those guys, you know. Jews would have owned the God damned world."

Ahenakew testified that he was simply repeating what he was told by Germans when he served overseas in the army during the war.

Ahenakew's trial for hate speech is drawing intense media coverage, and rightly so. Apparently high-profile idiot natives are a dime-a-dozen in North America.

Jihad Jane

If you think Ward Churchill is a nasty piece of work, take a look at this well educated freak. Political science my arse.

Insomnia problem?

There'll soon be a cure:

The former vice president and longtime Internet champion joined investors Monday to announce the creation of Current, a cable TV channel that will target younger viewers with a blend of news, culture and viewer-produced video.

First Gore invents the internet, now he want's to lure away its users. What an odd man.

Update: Gore claims Current will entertain, not politicize:

"We have no intention of being a Democratic channel, a liberal channel, or a TV version of Air America, that's not what we're all about," he said, referring to the liberal radio network.

Gore serves as chairman of the board of that channel.

No matter what Al says, it's going to have a liberal slant.

Deep penetration

Head of the US nuclear weapons program, Linton F. Brooks, wants to build a new generation of longer shelf-life bombs, some with special capabilities:

Because their casings were not designed to penetrate earth, "we have no capability against hardened, deeply buried targets." He also described the current stockpile as "unsuited for some specialized missions" caused by post-Cold War situations.

"Today's stockpile may not be the stockpile you want to have 20 years from now," Brooks concluded.

Wonder what some of the "specialized missions" would be? Build 'em and be prepared to use 'em.

The Pulitzer Prizes 2005

You didn't really expect Claudia Rosett would win one, did you?

Heavy duty hair splitting

Today's Chris Saliba piece in Webdiary deals with the Greens-Herald Sun dispute. (For those who aren't aware, the Herald Sun ran an article that the Greens claim misrepresented their policies; the Press Council ultimately agreed. But, since that isn't the point, I won't bother to elaborate.) Saliba takes the Herald Sun's reporting to task, concentrating at one point on the Greens' drug policies:

Is it true? Do the Greens back illegal drug use? Of course not. If elected to government, does anyone seriously think The Greens would urge the electorate to break the law? As a headline, it’s clearly nonsense, and this is why it works. It makes an alarming, emotionally charged statement that can’t be countered with rational argument. It spooks people.

The first step in their policies is to de-criminalise drug usage. Nowhere, and this must be repeated, nowhere do The Greens advocate illegal drug taking.

The Greens’ policies state that: The regulation of the personal use of currently illegal drugs should be moved outside the criminal network.

Drugs are a hot button issue, just the sort of thing to get a reaction. Greens’ policies acknowledges as much: Drugs and substance abuse are complex issues and strategies need to acknowledge this complexity.

Other misleading statements in the 31 August article include the assertion that ecstasy would be supplied over the counter to young users. Real policy: Investigations of options for the regulated supply of social drugs such as ecstasy in controlled environments where information will be available about health and other effects of drug use.

The Greens’ policy only talks of "investigation of options". It doesn’t state that their intention is to start issuing ecstasy, ad libitum, as soon as humanly possible. And why has the Herald-Sun said the drugs would be issued to "young users"? Are they insinuating that The Greens would hand out drugs like candy to children and teens?

The claim the paper makes to "state sanctioned heroin and marijuana sales at what it calls appropriate venues" conveniently leaves out a key detail. These venues, with regards to heroin use, are not to be the dubiously vague venues the article makes out, but rather licensed clinics. The actual policy on heroin use reads: Pilot programs to test the effectiveness of controlled availability of heroin to registered users from specifically licensed clinics.

With regards to the use of cannabis, the Herald-Sun is correct. The policy does support "the controlled availability of cannabis at appropriate venues".

I don't usually bother with Webdiary because it's typically well covered by local RWDBs and to be honest, I seldom read it. For some reason I went there and had a look and found Saliba's piece, without a doubt the most petty bit of – measure with a micrometer, cut with an axe – hair splitting I've read in quite a while. Saliba should be ashamed of himself and whoever was meant to edit this crap should be fired.

Huffington to blog

Arianna Huffington has assembled a big name lineup in an attempt to attract attention to her upcoming blog:

This month the wannabe California governor is launching a Slate-like Web site where a cast of bigwigs, including Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), David Geffen, Barry Diller, Larry David, Tom Freston, Ari Emanuel, Jim Wiatt Tina Brown and Harold Evans will each have their own blog from which to spout Big Thoughts about politics.

Hopefully, Bigwig blog, or whatever it will be called, will become the Air America of the blogosphere.

Baxter detainee suicidal

No sane person wants to be locked up but this is iffy:

A suicidal Iranian asylum seeker said today he was treated like an animal at the Baxter detention centre and was not seen by a psychiatrist for four years.

Lawyers for the man and another Iranian detainee have taken court action claiming the federal government failed its duty of care towards the men, and requesting they be sent to a psychiatric hospital in Adelaide.

One of the men, identified as S, told the Federal Court in Adelaide today he had been held in Australian detention centres for four-and-a-half years, the past two years at Baxter.

Despite a series of self-harm and protest incidents, S said he was not consulted by a psychiatrist until January this year.

S detailed several incidents of self-harm, in which he used a razor blade to repeatedly slash his arms, legs and chest.

I have no idea how badly S injured himself but he can't be seriously suicidal, after all, he did have a razor blade ...

If S has done his research, he can convincingly claim to suffer PTSD. The lawyers and mental health professionals will make a fortune, as will S, of course.

Blame Bubba

I don't know why exactly but this is very unsettling:

One in five US teenagers say they have engaged in oral sex, an activity that some adolescents view as not sex at all and certainly less risky than intercourse, a report said.

The survey of 580 children with a mean age of 14-and-a-half found 20 per cent said they had engaged in oral sex, compared to 14 per cent who said they had engaged in sexual intercourse.

In addition, one-third of the multi-ethnic 9th graders surveyed said they intended to have oral sex within the next six months and nearly one-fourth planned to have intercourse during the period.

It was more common for boys to have performed oral sex on girls than vice versa, the report said.

Previous studies and numerous campaigns aimed at deterring teenaged sex have focused on intercourse, but as many as half of adolescents experience oral sex first, the report said.

Oh well, I suppose it keeps them off the streets.

Loco liberal lingo laughable

In what must be the best book review ever, Marc Cooper sticks it to George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate (A Progressive Guide to Action). Excerpt:

In his best-selling manual of progressive political advice, Don't Think of an Elephant!, Lakoff asserts that political consciousness, and therefore voter choice, is determined by deeply wired mental structures -- "frames" -- that reflect more-general views and values. "The frames," Lakoff writes, "are in the synapses of our brains, physically present in the form of neural circuitry." Notwithstanding this neuroscientific hooey, Lakoff suggests that reframing American politics according to liberal values -- in essence rewiring our collective circuitry -- is but a matter of simple wordplay. When conservatives invoke "strong defense," liberals, Lakoff says, must reframe the concept by referring to a "stronger America." Instead of "free markets," liberals should speak of "broad prosperity." Likewise, "smaller government" must be recast as "effective government," and "family values" as "mutual responsibility." Those greedy "trial lawyers" excoriated by the right should be reframed and praised as brave and selfless "public-protection attorneys." And perhaps most important, when conservatives start promoting more Bushian "tax relief," liberals should respond by defending taxes as "membership fees" or "investments" in America.

And here I thought semantic bobbing and weaving had helped cost the Democrats the vote. But what do I know? Just a few weeks after the November election House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (a veritable totem of blue-state liberalism) invited Lakoff to come in and coach the Democratic caucus in this new way of thinking. Other liberal members of Congress distributed hundreds of copies of his book to Hill staffers. Lakoff's slim volume has now had multiple printings, and its small Vermont-based publisher predicts that half a million copies will eventually be sold. "What are there?" Margo Baldwin, of Lakoff's publishing house, said to the Los Angeles Times as she estimated the market. "Fifty million unhappy Democrats out there?"

This review is really just an excuse for Cooper to have a go at liberals. It's not new but doesn't seem to have gotten all that much attention around the blogosphere so, if you haven't read it, now's your chance. Be prepared to laugh out loud.

Via: Arts & Letters Daily

Gujranwala race riot

It's hard to imagine a simple foot-race causing problems like this:

Hundreds of radicals protesting against the participation of women in a marathon race hurled stones and bricks at competitors, and clashed with police in eastern Pakistan yesterday, leaving at least 18 people injured, police said.

About 2,000 men, women and children were taking part in the three-kilometer race when more than 200 supporters of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), launched their attack, police official Arif Mushtaq said.

The attackers, wielding sticks and throwing stones, blocked the race course and chased competitors away as they approached a sports stadium in Gujranwala, a city about 200 km southeast of the capital Islamabad, where they were expected to finish race, Mushtaq said.

I suppose if the women had been wearing appropriately modest apparel everything would have been hunky-dory:

A spokesman for the MMA accused police of using force against peaceful protesters who wanted the race canceled.

“We had warned them in writing not to hold the race because it is against Islam. But despite that, this happened. They want to undress the entire nation,” Riaz Durrani said.

“It is indecent for women to run in the streets,” he said. “They want the sisters and sisters-in-law of the nation to wear knickers and T-shirts.”

Just imagine the reaction to this.

Methane hydrate doom and gloom

Today's Guardian features an interesting and informative article on the enormous energy potential of methane hydrates. All you have to do is make it past the bullshit at the start:

More than a mile below the choppy Gulf of Mexico waters lies a vast, untapped source of energy. Locked in mysterious crystals, the sediment beneath the seabed holds enough natural gas to fuel America's energy-guzzling society for decades, or to bring about sufficient climate change to melt the planet's glaciers and cause catastrophic flooding, depending on whom you talk to.

No prizes for guessing the US government's preferred line. This week it will dispatch a drilling vessel to the region, on a mission to bring this virtually inexhaustible new supply of fossil fuel to power stations within a decade.

After the obligatory cheap shot at the US the article becomes quite a good read. But, read on far enough and you'll be confronted by this revelation:

Environmental groups oppose attempts to extract methane from hydrate reserves.

Naturally, scenarios of doom and gloom follow. Regardless, the article's well worth a look.

Evil returns

Evil Pundit returns after a short hiatus with one of his typically outstanding posts, this one on the report to the UN that the number of malnourished children in Iraq has doubled under US occupation. Go take a look.

Update: The opposite point of view is strongly argued – if you don't believe the UN figures, you're an idiot – here (via Tim Lambert, in his 48th post on the Lancet Iraq casualty report).

Democracy in action, Iraqi-style

It looks like the recent televised shouting match has spurred Iraqi politicans into action:

Iraqi lawmakers elected a Sunni Arab as parliament speaker and Shiite and Kurdish leaders as his deputies on Sunday, ending days of deadlock as they sought to balance the country's predominant religious and ethnic groups in a new government.

The three were chosen by secret ballot, with lawmakers allowed to write the names of no more than three of five possible candidates on pieces of paper that were dropped into a box. The ballots were then read out loud and marked down, one-by-one, on a large, white board.

The three top candidates — Al-Hassani with 215 votes, al-Shahristani with 157, and Taifour with 96 — were elected.

Al-Hassani urged legislators to pledge their "allegiance to the country and the people, not to the party or the sect or the ethnicity." His statement was greeted by applause.

Pieces of paper and a white board, great stuff.

Miroslav Kvocka granted early release

Who is Miroslav Kvocka and why was he in jail?

On 30 March 2005, the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Judge Theodor Meron, granted Miroslav Kvocka’s Request for early release pursuant to Article 28 of the Statute of the Tribunal, and Rules 124 and 125 of the Rules of Evidence and Procedure.
On 2 November 2001, Miroslav Kvocka was found guilty by virtue of his individual criminal responsibility on one count of crimes against humanity (persecutions) and two counts of violations of the laws or customs of war ( murder and torture) and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment which was upheld by the Appeals Chamber (Please refer to Press Release 940e dated 28 Februassry 2005).

In reaching his decision, the President considered a number of different factors. These included the fact that Kvocka had served two-thirds of his sentence on 13 January 2004.

The President also considered a number of submissions, including reports by the Commanding Officer of the Detention Unit and the Office of the Prosecutor, and consulted with the members of the Appeals Chamber and the members of the Bureau.

So, get convicted of persecution, torture and murder and get seven years in jail but serve only four. This should send a powerful message to the Sudanese government, which is ignoring the United Nations anyway.

For some reason the MSM is ignoring Kvocka's early release: a Google News search for Kvocka yielded only six results, none of them MSM. Maybe they'll pick up on it eventually.

Update: Kvocka's case information file is here.

Kvocka's judgement is as follows:

Mr. Kvocka, you are a professional policeman, very knowledgeable about the rules which apply to police work.

While working at Omarska camp from 29 May to 23 June 1992, you were, as you stated yourself, a duty officer. You had no official function, no specific responsibility. You did witness several acts of violence but never participated in them. On the contrary, you claim that you wanted to help some people, in particular, your Muslim brothers-in-law.

Nonetheless, the Chamber considers that isolated acts of kindness to some prisoners do not absolve an individual of crimes which may have been committed.

You were not a low-level official at the very bottom of the ladder and so totally unable to exert an influence on what was happening. The evidence presented at trial demonstrates that you were the camp commander’s right hand and, as such, passed on the orders which he issued. Your role, however, did not end there because you replaced the commander in his absence. And you could intervene so that the mistreatment of a detainee would be stopped. You knew that sanctions could be taken against those guards responsible for crimes but you did not take any meaningful steps to do so. You observed the climate of constant violence in the camp and still, day after day, returned to carry out your responsibilities in Omarska. You told us that you would have remained longer in the camp had you been given the choice.

In short, not only did you know of the system of persecution which Omarska camp represented but you also agreed with it and made it possible for the system to function. You did your work so well that the victims had no doubt that you were the camp’s deputy commander.

The Chamber accepts that you are a professional policeman who loves his work. The Chamber can accept that of your own accord you would not have taken the decision to mistreat non-Serbs systematically and repeatedly.

But you participated in the workings of that system and, in so doing, incurred criminal responsibility. For the reasons set out in detail in the Judgement, the Chamber finds you guilty of the crime against humanity, persecution, and the war crimes, murder and torture.

To get a better picture of what was going in these camps go here and scroll down to Kvocka et al., click on Press Release No. 631. In short, Kvocka was intimately involved in the running of a detention camp that makes abu Ghraib look like a Sunday school, for which he serves four years in jail. To his protestations of innocence the judge has this to say:

The detainees ... were almost always beaten, usually ferociously. The men were tortured in front of each other. Sometimes they were made to beat one another. A father was beaten to death in front of his son. The men shrieked with pain. There was blood on the walls and on the ground. The men who came out of there alive had open wounds, could not stand or were unconscious. The corpses removed from there had open wounds to the skull, severed joints, slit throats. Some of the victims were ultimately executed with a bullet.

The accused heard nothing, saw nothing and did nothing.

Detainees sometimes died as a result of beatings. Their bodies were left on the ground ... sometimes for several days. They would be loaded into small trucks by detainees.

Did the accused still see nothing?

Some of the bodies, including those of two women, would be discovered in mass graves much later.

The 12th of July is Saint Peter’s day (Petrovdan) an important Orthodox celebration when large bonfires are lit. On 12 July 1992, a large bonfire was lit using tyres. Shots were fired at one of the rooms containing detainees. Some were called out of the hangar. Screams were heard. The air smelt of burnt tyres and grilled flesh.

Anyone complaining about the sentences handed down to US forces convicted of mistreatment of prisoners, or about the treatment of prisoners in general, can now shut the fuck up.