Author Archives: Josh Eidelson

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George Monbiot on the dark side of today’s centenary:

In 1886, Jules Verne imagined aircraft acting as a global police force, bombing barbaric races into peace and civilization. In 1898, the novelist Samuel Odell saw the English-speaking peoples subjugating eastern Europe and Asia by means of aerial bombardment. In the same year, the writer Stanley Waterloo celebrated the future annihilation of inferior races from the air.

None of this was lost on the Wright brothers. When Wilbur Wright was asked, in 1905, what the purpose of his machine might be, he answered simply: “War.” As soon as they were confident that the technology worked, the brothers approached the war offices of several nations, hoping to sell their patent to the highest bidder. The US government bought it for $30,000, and started test bombing in 1910. The airplane. was conceived, designed, tested, developed and sold, in other words, not as a vehicle for tourism, but as an instrument of destruction.

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Connecticut Governor John Rowland today delivered his first public address since admitting his role in scandals which, while not as crimminal, as scandalous, or as cruel as the state budget which he passed, are illegal. Unsurprisingly, he claims he plans to finish his term in office – this is, after all, the same John Rowland who ran for re-election last November as the only Governor ever to be fined for ethics violations. But as the Times reports:

A University of Connecticut poll released this week showed that 55 percent of Connecticut residents thought the governor should resign. Four newspapers called for him to step aside and some lawmakers have even talked about the possibility of impeachment.

Should Rowland’s term end in 2006 as planned or much earlier than that, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano has been increasingly public of late about his plans to run to replace him. If DeStefano finished his sixth term as New Haven mayor, the buzz is that city Chief Administrative Officer Karen DuBois-Walton or Economic Development Minister Henry Fernandez would have the best shot at DeStefano’s job. Under city law, if DeStefano left mid-term, his job would go to the President of the Board of Aldermen. Ward Five Alderman Jorge Perez, whose relationship with the Mayor’s office has been mixed over the past years, is expected to be re-elected to that post in Janurary.

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An Israeli court has just convicted five of the Israeli seruvniks – men and women who’ve refused to serve in the occupied territories.

The five – Hagai Matar, Shimri Zameret, Adam Maor, Noam Bahat and Matan Kaminer – had claimed conscientious objector status on the grounds that they oppose serving in “an army of occupation.” But the court ruled that their freedom of conscience had to be balanced against equally important values, such as national security, which it said could be gravely impaired if the conscripts were exempted from service.

Furthermore, the court said, the five recent high school graduates did not refuse to serve as individuals, but rather as a group, with the explicit goal of bringing about a change in Israeli policy in the territories. As such, the court ruled, their action strayed from the norms of classic conscientious objection into the realm of civil disobedience.

In support of this finding, the court cited a letter the conscripts had signed in high school, in which they declared they would not serve in the IDF “as long as it acts as an army of occupation.”

More power to them – and to the nearly 600 more who’ve recognized that the occupation is a threat to Israeli security and Jewish values, and risked their futures to avoid perpetuating it.

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The federal advisory panel to “Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction” released a report today with damning assessments of the administration’s record on protecting civil liberties and funding homeland security:

The attacks of September 11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001, led to newlaws, policies, and practices designed to enhance the nation’s security against the terrorist threat.These security measures have prompted a debate about their effect on civil liberties, especiallyprivacy. The panel believes that the debate should be reframed. Rather than the traditionalportrayal of security and civil liberties as competing values that must be weighed on oppositeends of a balance, these values should be recognized as mutually reinforcing. Under this framework, counterterrorism initiatives would be evaluated in terms of how well they preserveall of the unalienable rights that are essential to the strength and security of our nation: life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While these fundamental rights are guaranteed by our Constitution they should not be confused with privileges, which may be imposed upon to protectnational security. However, even privileges should not be imposed upon lightly; they arefundamental to our quality of life. For example, the opportunity to fly may be viewed as aprivilege rather than a right, but overly stringent and arbitrary security measures can not only have an economic impact but could also increase public skepticism about security measures generally.

As more terrorist attacks occur, the pressure will rise to lessen civil liberties, albeit perhaps with
different labels. Governments must look ahead at the unintended consequences of policies in thequiet of the day instead of the crisis of the moment. One thing we have learned from Al Qaeda is that they pick the time and day that they will strike. They are ideologically patient. We are not.There is probably nothing more strategic that our nation must to do than ensure our civilliberties…

Every State and most localities in America have taken steps for combating terrorism, but it is
time to ask ourselves: If local responders are in fact our first line of defense, have we succeededin effectively empowering and enhancing State and local capabilities?
The overall picture that emerged from the RAND survey is that State organizations tend to feel
that the Federal government is giving them some of the support they need, although there are
areas for improvement. By contrast, local organizations tend to feel less positive about Federal
empowerment. This may reflect the fact that the State governments have more experience in
working with Federal grant programs and understand the wide gap between “an announcement”and the reality of the time frame for funding to actually flow, once it has been appropriated bythe Congress. Local organizations sound a consistent theme of the need for direct Federalsupport, and this may indicate that States need to do a better job of managing expectations andproviding better education on grant-making processes. For example, more than 80% of “FirstResponder” funding has been dedicated to local governments, a much higher percentage thanthat available to States.

A continuing problem is a lack of clear strategic guidance from the Federal level about the
definition and objectives of preparedness and how States and localities will be evaluated in meeting those objectives. While some progress is being made, it is not happening at a pace
commensurate with the flow of Federal funding to communities and States. By the time clear
definition and objectives are provided, many communities and States may have embarked on
paths that are measurably different from those adjacent to them and potentially inconsistent witha national approach. Moreover, deadlines should not be allowed to overtake deliberative
approaches. Such actions further weaken our ability to establish the foundation for a unified
national enterprise approach.

The panel’s chair? Former Republican Party Chairman and current Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

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Glad to see Saddam’s been captured. Human Rights Watch summarizes the case against the Iraqi war crimminal, and is right to call for an international tribunal. Dean is right to argue that

This development provides an enormous opportunity to set a new course and take the American label off the war. We must do everything possible to bring the UN, NATO, and other members of the international community back into this effort.
“Now that the dictator is captured, we must also accelerate the transition from occupation to full Iraqi sovereignty

A welcome alternative to messages like this one:

…my first question about where he’s going to be tried will be answered by whether that tribunal can execute him.

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Democracy.
A Jewish state.
The West Bank and the Gaza strip.

Given demographic reality, Israel can have any two out of three.

Meir Kahane pushed Israel to give up the first; Tony Jundt recently stirred up controversy in this country pushing for giving up the second. The reason I call for Israel to keep the first two and give up the third is because it’s the only solution that’s received majority support on both sides. Now the New York Times is suggesting that Sharon’s right-wing Likud party is coming to the same conclusion. I would love to believe that they’re right.