Opinion
Editorial Roundup.
By The Associated Press Wed Jul 30, 1:21 PM ET
July 26
The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, on Sen. Barack Obama's meeting with troops in Iraq:
There's been so much attention paid to the political jousting between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama over the latter's trip to the Middle East and Europe that some good news is close to being forgotten already: The Iraqi government is talking about American troops leaving by the end of 2010.
Unfortunately, it is not clear that troops pulled out of Iraq would come home right away regardless of which candidate wins the presidency.
For now, there's no official deadline for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. And yes, for a lot of Americans even 2010 would be too long to wait.
Still, the fact that the Iraqi government wants a timetable or to use President Bush's preferred euphemism, a "time horizon" for the departure of American troops suggests that there might really be light at the end of the Iraqi tunnel. ...
Whether it's weak or strong, if the Iraqi government tells the United States to leave, it must. The U.S. government has no right to stay the course if the government it helped create says go away. ...
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July 30
Los Angeles Times, on the recent 5.4-magnitude earthquake:
We got lucky this time. ...
... And although better building codes have made this a safer region in which to ride out quakes, we are not prepared in other ways to maximize our chances for both immediate and longer-term survival.
... When hundreds of people wrote in to The Times' Web site within minutes to share their experiences of the quake, among the stories were reports of unsecured bric-a-brac that had fallen or children who had never experienced an earthquake and had no idea what to do. And how many of us, if we ever had a home earthquake kit complete with bottled water, have bothered to update it in the last five years? ...
It's easy to ignore theoretical reports such as the one released in May by the U.S. Geological Survey and the California Geological Survey warning that a catastrophic quake, like the one that struck China, was inevitable here, and that individuals and governments were not up to the challenge. After all, we have other disasters to worry about these days. ... (The) quake may have provided a useful jolt of reality.
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On the Net:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-quake30-2008jul30,0,10315.story
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July 27
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, on federal oversight and truck and bus drivers:
The 1999 Mother's Day bus crash that killed 22 mostly elderly Louisianians exposed a lax federal oversight system that allowed drivers with drug problems and debilitating illnesses to remain at the wheel of buses and tractor-trailers.
Despite the creation after that crash of a new agency to monitor truck and bus drivers and repeated promises of reform, essentially nothing has changed.
A study reported last week by the Associated Press found that hundreds of thousands of drivers who qualify for full federal disability payments still hold commercial drivers' licenses. Hundreds of injuries and deaths are attributable to drivers who lost consciousness or collapsed while behind the wheel, according to the study by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a Washington-based consortium of medical, consumer and safety groups and insurers.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which was created after the New Orleans bus crash, has yet to complete any recommendations proposed by safety regulators since 2001, according to the report.
One pending reform would set minimum standards for deciding whether a driver was medically fit to operate a truck or bus. Another would prevent doctor-shopping by drivers who are trying to mask dangerous illnesses.
It is appalling that nine years after the senseless deaths on Interstate 610 so little has been done to make passengers and other drivers safer. ...
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July 28
Durango (Colo.) Herald, on the Bush administration's use of diplomacy:
In the waning days of the Bush administration, there appears to be a slight shift away from the hard-line approach to dealing with "Axis of Evil" members that has defined Bush's presidency thus far. With high-level State Department personnel engaging in talks with their counterparts in Iran and North Korea, there may be some move toward resolving the standoff with those two countries over their respective nuclear programs. It would be unrealistic, though, to expect too much.
Nevertheless, the willingness to talk is a big change — and one that is welcome, if late. For far too long, the Bush administration has left diplomacy on the shelf when dealing with what it defined as "Axis of Evil" countries: Iran, Iraq and North Korea. The most striking example of this anti-diplomacy model, of course, is the war in Iraq, which has removed that country from the trio, but at a substantial cost — in lives, dollars, time and political capital. Addressing Iraq's perceived nuclear ambitions, it seems now, more than five years later, could have benefited from a less heavy-handed approach. That is a hard-learned lesson that will continue to burden the United States and Iraq for years to come.
It was disappointing, then, to see the Bush administration similarly eschew diplomatic efforts in dealing with North Korea's and Iran's nuclear programs. While leadership in both of those countries exhibit unsavory behavior in their policies and treatment of citizens, there is much to lose for those citizens and the world beyond if full-scale nuclear weapons programs are developed. ...
The recent movement toward the discussion table by the Bush administration is not enough to suggest an imminent solution to the foreign policy struggles that have troubled the United States in recent years. It is, however, encouraging to see an increased willingness to discuss matters that are uncomfortable, rather than cast threats and rattle sabers. Those strategies simply add to the discomfort as they have very high stakes indeed.
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July 29
The News-Press, Fort Myers, Fla., on how the presidential campaigns of Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton sparked an increase in minority voters:
There's no doubt that the historic presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton energized the electorate like few campaigns ever have. Moreover, the Democratic senators' unprecedented success in transcending race and gender led to a welcome increase in the number of registered voters, particularly among minorities.
Between early January and late last week, the number of black voters in Lee County increased 22 percent and the number of Hispanic voters increased about 21 percent. There also was a 10 percent increase among white voters.
The increase in minority voter registration gives voice to people who haven't always been represented at the table. Whether it's the presence of a nontraditional candidate, the pressing economic conditions, or the war in Iraq, anything that inspires citizens to participate in the political process is beneficial.
Now that so many have registered, the next step is getting to the polls. The Census Bureau reports that 36 percent of registered voters didn't vote in the 2004 presidential election.
The 2008 election could swing on the turnout of new voters. The more citizens exercise the privilege, the stronger our democracy will be.
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July 28
The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel, on the church shooting:
"Let people know that Greg McKendry is a hero, an absolute hero."
Those are the words of Taylor Bessette, McKendry's foster son. They should be echoing throughout Knoxville today.
In the sanctuary where he came to celebrate life, McKendry instead gave up his life ... taking a gunshot to protect other congregants at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
Many questions about the attack remain unanswered. Foremost among them: Why?
Was this some sort of hate crime tied to the Unitarian Universalists' teachings?
We fervently hope not. At this point, little is known about Jim D. Adkisson, the Powell man being held in connection with the crime.
But beyond question is the fact that there were heroes in that church ... watching a children's production of "Annie Jr.," never suspecting that within minutes they would face a crisis.
Their bravery and quick action prevented a horrible calamity from becoming something even worse. ...
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July 25
Albany (N.Y.) Times Union, on the FCC fine imposed for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction":
A federal appeals court has wisely revoked the $550,000 fine imposed on CBS for Janet Jackson's famous "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl. That should let other broadcasters breathe a little easier whenever they air programming that might not fit the narrow definition of family fare. But maybe not for long. The Supreme Court is scheduled to take up a broadcast indecency case later this year, and there is no indication of how the justices might rule.
For now, then, there is only the ruling by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to go by, and it is a model of common sense. The court found that the FCC, in fining CBS for the "malfunction," which fleetingly exposed one of Ms. Jackson's nipples, "acted arbitrarily and capriciously" in punishing CBS. By imposing the fine, the court said, the FCC violated its own long-standing policy of punishing broadcasters only when indecency is so "pervasive as to amount to 'shock treatment' for the audience." ...
... But broadcasters clearly had been intimidated by the FCC and were censoring their programs rather than preparing to fight the FCC, if necessary, on First Amendment grounds. Regrettably the self-censorship might continue until the Supreme Court decides a case involving fleeting profanities uttered by entertainers Cher and Nicole Richie during awards shows carried on Fox stations.
Even fleeting language can coarsen the public airwaves, of course. But to use these incidents as an excuse to muzzle broadcasters would be far worse — and the Supreme Court should say so.
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July 27
Chicago Tribune, on NATO and Afghanistan:
... Obama's extended photo op in Europe may hearten residents of that continent who view 21st Century America as too belligerent, just as it could enhance his candidacy for the presidency here at home. We hope, though, that the throng gathered before Obama in Berlin didn't hear only what it wanted to, lots of talk about taking down walls and ignore his call for NATO members to assume more responsibility for saving Afghanistan.
In 2006, NATO forces took command of what had started five years earlier as a U.S. war effort. For the most part, though, Europe hasn't committed resources sufficient to prevail in Afghanistan. Rather than look eastward toward the war zone and ask "What can we do?", too many European leaders essentially have looked westward toward Washington, chanting, "Yes, you can!"
The crowd in Berlin, like all the peoples of Europe, needs to appreciate the unanimity of commitment in this country. President Barack Obama or President John McCain won't shy from the message President Bush has emphasized: The "Don't-bother-us" contingent in NATO must do more to exterminate terror groups in some of the most treacherous terrain on Earth. ...
The threat of Afghanistan returning to uniform lawlessness is palpable, and the demands European nations need to meet are not extreme. This is a sprawling and vicious war, but not a huge one. If NATO members dodge their obligations in Afghanistan, how reliable would they be as co-combatants in a more expansive conflict elsewhere — perhaps one with nuclear implications? ...
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On the Net:
http://www.chicagotribune.com.
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July 29
Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm, Sweden, on executions in Iran:
The largest mass execution in years is threatened to be followed by death through stoning. Youths are being tortured and executed. The world must condemn the tyranny in Tehran.
Last week, an Iranian court sentenced eight women and one man to death through stoning for prostitution and marital crimes, etc. The gender division is typical. Iranian women seldom have neither money nor possibility to defend themselves to the same extent as men. The verdict has been condemned by the E.U. ...
Ironically enough, stoning is not mentioned in the Quran, despite the punishment now having become linked to Islamic law. ...
Meanwhile the medieval week in Iran continues. ... Only this year's Olympic host executes more people. ...
Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005, the executions have increased by 360 percent. Does it have to take as long as for China for people to wake up and see the truth about the Iranian regime?
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July 30
Politiken, Copenhagen, Denmark, on democracy in Muslim countries:
... The Constitutional Court in Turkey is expected to pass a judgment already this week, and the risk that it will include dissolving the government party AKP and thus a breach of the parliamentarian majority that won a landslide victory as late as in February, is eminent.
The base is thin: a claim that the government will "Islamify" the country with a law that will remove the scarf ban on Turkish university campuses is the sole documentation. ...
What is crucial is that a ban against a political party can only be justified if there is an eminent threat against the democratic system.
In so far as the threat exists in Turkey, this threat doesn't come from the moderate, pro-European reform government but rather from the circles behind the court case. ...
Considering the seriousness of the situation, the democratic world, headed by Europe, should be standing on the other end to condemn this assault on democracy.
Although the European Commission has expressed its concerns and most observers see that the Constitutional Court ruling almost certainly will be condemned by the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, the silence is deafening. ...
The disastrous signal which would result in the removal of a democratically elected government, is striking, and goes far beyond Turkey's borders. ...
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July 30
The Daily Telegraph, London, on the World Trade Organization talks:
In some ways, the remarkable thing about the Doha round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks is not that they have collapsed, but that they came as close as they did to success.
At the end of last week, some participants were putting the chance of a deal as high as 75 per cent.
However, it was cruel timing that seven years of negotiations should reach a climax when the world economy is stalling and food and oil prices are soaring, all of which tends to fuel atavistic protectionist tendencies. ...
The failure of the talks is economically disastrous and could be politically destabilizing. A deal could have been worth several hundred billion dollars in increased global activity. ...
The WTO has started to resemble the United Nations - a bureaucratic, slow-moving, heavily politicized organization that finds agreement difficult because of the hyperinflation in its membership - 153 at the last count.
It looks increasingly like a last century solution to this century's problems. ...
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July 30
Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab emirates, on Iraq:
There's more bad news from Iraq. A new phenomenon of female suicide bombers has added itself to the long list of woes of the Middle East country. Three female suicide bombers killed more than 60 people in triple devastating attacks across Iraq. ...
The bombers targeted a crowd of Shia devotees and a protest rally in Kirkuk in the north. These attacks have shaken the Iraqi government and the coalition that had begun to cautiously celebrate relative improvement in security situation in recent times. ...
But coming as it does after weeks and months of relative peace in Iraq, the female suicide bombing has left everyone stunned reminding them of the extremely fragile nature of peace. It is being suggested that since the massive influx of foreign fighters has of late been reduced to a trickle, thanks to increased vigil and crackdown by security forces and cooperation of Iraq's neighbors of course, the insurgents are increasingly turning to women as their weapon of choice. ...
That said, the new phenomenon must come as a wake-up call to Iraq's leaders. But, instead of cracking down on the families of the female bombers, the Iraqi government and the US-led coalition must take a serious look at why women are taking to these desperate measures. If the Iraqi authorities are keen to prevent such tragedies in the future, it's important to understand what is driving such women. ...
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