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MARCH 12,  2011

MIDEAST UPDATE – AT 11:11 A.M. ET:  One effect of the Japan catastrophe has been to take attention away from the rebellions in the Mideast.  Those rebellions, at this hour, are not going all that well.

Rebels in Libya are taking a beating from Qadaffi's air force and army, and are losing ground.  Many of the rebels are pleading for outside help, but their appeals are falling on the very chilly ears of the president of the United States and the chilly, soft spines of the European Union.  If the present trend goes on, and Mr. Obama continues contemplating the meaning of life, the rebellion will fail.  And governments will quickly find a way to make peace with Qadaffi, express regrets over the inconvenience, and get back to oil deals. 

Friday was supposed to be a "day of rage" in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil supplier.  It was not, as WaPo points out, but there was some disruption elsewhere:

QATIF, SAUDI ARABIA - A "Day of Rage" planned by critics of the Saudi Arabian government proved relatively calm Friday, with peaceful demonstrations in and around the eastern city of Qatif, a day after police fired on protesters there, and elsewhere in oil-rich Eastern province.

Witnesses reported a heavy police presence in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, but no protests.

In other countries in the region, protests led to violence. Demonstrators in Bahrain who have been on the streets for almost a month calling for democratic reforms were attacked by government supporters brandishing sticks and knives, witnesses said. Police fired tear gas on the protesters as they attempted to march to a royal complex on the outskirts of Manama, the capital.

In Yemen, security forces opened fire on protesters near Aden, injuring at least six, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital, Sanaa, to demand the immediate ouster of longtime President Ali Abdullah Saleh and to mourn the death of a protester killed by security forces at a rally Tuesday.

COMMENT:  Libya is still, by far, the greatest scene of violence.  But surely the message being sent from the West to the Mideast is one of indifference, sluggishness and lack of any real interest in the people of the region.  This may work in the short term, but I suspect that those in the Mideast demanding basic rights will remember America's role in these hours, and forever resent it.

March 11, 2011       Permalink

MUSLIMS IN AMERICA – AT 10:37 A.M. ET:  We had a classic Washington spectacle this week.  Representative Peter King of New York began hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims, and the implications for terrorism.  King was immediately denounced as 1) a racist, 2) an Islamophobe, 3) a grandstander, 4) a McCarthyite, and 5) a right-wing zealot.  What a shock.

The usual suspects came out in force.  Sadly, some Democratic members of King's own committee joined the opposition.  It was particularly sad to see African-Americans leading in this smear campaign.  They might gently be reminded of the number of African-Americans killed in terrorist attacks.  But Islam has made inroads into the black community, which is why black members of Congress feel compelled to oppose King.

Some brave Muslims testified before King's committee about the danger of radical infiltration of their community, one father movingly telling how his son has been radicalized.  They were disparaged and insulted by Democratic committee members and so-called Muslim "representatives."

We have in the past investigated dangers that have had ethnic connections, and have done so without demonizing the members of ethnic communities.  Before World War II, there were probes into Nazi penetration of German-American communities, but no one suggested that the probes were targeting all German-Americans.   Congress has investigated organized crime, where Italian and sometimes Jewish names have come up.  But no one believes the targets have been those communities.  Now, investigations into organized crime might turn up some Russian connections.  But does anyone believe we're targeting all Russian-Americans? 

Muslim-Americans should welcome King's hearings, which will show that the great majority of Muslims are not involved in terror-related activities, but that there is a danger to the community itself.  But we've become so "sensitive," so politically correct, that King has become the target, not the radicals.

A new Rasmussen poll, though, shows that Americans just don't buy the idea that Muslims are particularly targeted by their fellow citizens:

Most voters don’t believe their fellow citizens are unfair to Muslim Americans. They also think Muslims in this country should be louder in their criticism of potential domestic terrorist attacks.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 17% of Likely U.S. Voters believe that most Muslims in America are treated unfairly because of their religion and ethnicity. Sixty-three percent (63%) disagree and say they are not treated unfairly while 20% are not sure.

A plurality (49%) of liberal voters, however, says there is bias against Muslim Americans. Eighty-one percent (81%) of conservatives and 57% of moderates disagree.

What can you expect of modern "liberals"?

But only 10% of all voters think American Muslims are speaking out enough against potential terrorist attacks in the United States. Fifty-seven percent (57%) disagree and say they are not speaking out enough. One-in-three voters (34%) are not sure.

COMMENT:  We encourage Congressman King to be brave, and not break under the whip of political correctness.  He is a leader in cutting through the propaganda and getting to the truth.

March 11, 2011       Permalink

JAPAN UPDATE – AT 10:07 A.M. ET:  As expected, the death toll is rising quickly.  Some 9,500 people are missing from one town alone.

In addition, there has been an explosion at a nuclear power plant, with danger of substantial radiation leakage into the atmosphere.  The Japanese government is distributing iodine tablets to reduce the danger from radiation exposure. 

Clearly, the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe will capture a great deal of the world's attention today.  But be careful.  I don't mean, in any way, to minimize the danger or the extent of the tragedy, but the political actors are waiting in the wings to make their propagandistic points.  Nuclear power, for going on two generations, has been largely safe and critically important.  Yes, of course, there have been exceptions.  But when you balance the exceptions against the good – and the fact that smoke isn't being belched into the air every day, nuclear power comes out well ahead.  And it doesn't depend on Mideast oil sources. 

We will of course have to measure the damage from any radiation release in Japan.  We will have to listen to the best people, not political scientists posing as real scientists.  If mistakes have been made, they must be corrected.  Charles Krauthammer said last night that the tragedy in Japan can set nuclear power back for a generation or more, and he's right.  That would be a terrible blow.  We hope that Japan will be able to contain any radiation damage, reduce casualties to a minimum, and, if it can be done with attention to public safety, build better, more damage-resistant plants in the future.

What continues to impress us is the calmness and resolve with which the Japanese are going about coping with this catastrophe.  There are reasons why societies are successful.  And they are coping with the horror without resort to dictatorial rule, a tribute to the legacy we left in Japan as the occupying power after World War II.  There's a little bit of America in the way the Japanese are facing the danger. 

March 11, 2011       Permalink

MARCH 11,  2011

IS THERE MORE TO THIS THAN WE MIGHT THINK? – AT 9:14 P.M. ET:  Bill Clinton appeared on a closed-to-the-press panel with George W. Bush, and Clinton's comments were startling, especially as his wife serves in the current administration.  From The Politico:

Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that delays in offshore oil and gas drilling permits are “ridiculous” at a time when the economy is still rebuilding, according to attendees at the IHS CERAWeek conference.

Clinton spoke on a panel with former President George W. Bush that was closed to the media. Video of their moderated talk with IHS CERA Chairman Daniel Yergin was also prohibited.

But according to multiple people in the room, Clinton, surprisingly, agreed with Bush on many oil and gas issues, including criticism of delays in permitting offshore since last year’s Gulf of Mexico spill.

“Bush said all the things you’d expect him to say” on oil and gas issues, said Jim Noe, senior vice president at Hercules Offshore and executive director of the pro-drilling Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition. But Clinton added, “You’d be surprised to know that I agree with all that,” according to Noe and others in the room.

COMMENT:  Clinton knew that even if this meeting was closed to the media, his comments would leak out.  The bluntness of those remarks is startling. 

Is Clinton perhaps signaling that he, and, by extension, his wife, are starting to distance themselves from some of Obama's policies?  I've wondered how long Hillary Clinton would put up with Obama's amateurism in foreign relations.  Does she really believe some of the stuff she's been spouting, especially about how America wants others to lead in the Libya crisis?

We assume Obama is running in 2012.  But if the economy tanks again, and his numbers start to slip, anything can happen.  Waiting in the wings is Hillary.  Hillary is always waiting in the wings.

I don't want to read too much into Bill Clinton's remarks, but that kind of public split with Obama policies is something to be examined.  I'd love to be listening in on his phone calls to the secretary of state's private line.

March 11, 2011       Permalink

JAPAN BATTLES A CATASTROPHE – AT 8:42 P.M. ET:  The death toll in today's quake, the worst in Japanese recorded history, will undoubtedly go into the thousands.  But please note the word "thousands."  Not "hundreds of thousands."

The contrast between the quake in Japan and natural catastrophes that have hit other countries is telling.  Haiti was hit by a major quake last year.  The death toll was ghastly.  It is estimated at 230,000.  There will someday be another quake in Haiti, and the death toll will probably be just as high.  And once again the politicos and the rock stars will rush down and start making their endless appeals for cash, food and medicine.  Careers will be polished.  Maybe some telethons will be run. 

In Japan, strict building codes, a disciplined society, and emergency services, will dramatically reduce the toll from today's quake.  And Japan will rebuild.  In Haiti, observers say the place looks like it did the day after the quake.

And yet, if we ask questions about Haiti we're called racists or, at minimum, culturally insensitive.   Haiti is a corrupt, horribly run country, but pointing it out is considered rude.  How, I ask, do the people of Haiti benefit from such sickening political correctness?  They don't benefit at all, but trendiness and political correctness are about how certain people feel about themselves, not about actually helping.

Next time there's a natural disaster in some "poor, impoverished" country, maybe we should break the mold and insist that any relief effort be accompanied by demands for changes in the way that country is run.  The terms "racist" or "imperialist" will start to flow from the usual suspects, but such demands could revolutionize the way we deal with disaster relief.

We wish Japan well at this terrible hour, but we know they'll recover because of their attitude and work ethic.  Other nations might learn.

March 11, 2011     Permalink

GATES SLAMS U.S. ALLIES – AT 11:14 A.M. ET:   Almost lost in today's news is a blunt speech delivered by Defense Secretary Gates to American allies.  From The New York Times:

BRUSSELS — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates sharply rebuked the United States’ allies on Friday for preparing to effectively abandon Afghanistan, threatening what he described as tenuous progress in the nearly decade-old war.

In a deliberately undiplomatic speech to NATO defense ministers, Mr. Gates called on European allies to put aside their domestic politics and work with the United States to secure the “semblance of normalcy” that he said was emerging in some parts of Afghanistan.

“Frankly, there is too much talk about leaving and not enough talk about getting the job done right,” Mr. Gates said. “Too much discussion of exit and not enough discussion about continuing the fight. Too much concern about when and how many troops might redeploy and not enough about what needs to be done before they leave.”

COMMENT:  We are reminded of the Biblical admonition, "If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?"  Gates is right, and many of our allies should, as usual, be ashamed of themselves.  But why shouldn't our allies abandon the fight, when American leadership these days is so weak?  True, Barack Obama has taken Afghanistan seriously, but his whole international demeanor is so lacking in spirit that no one is inclined to follow him.

Further, the Western alliance is becoming old and frayed.  NATO has always been primarily an American operation, which is why the NATO commander is always an American.  Other countries contribute, but many Europeans seem more interested in being protected than in doing the protecting.  The contributions of NATO nations to the war in Afghanistan, a war derived from an attack on a NATO member – the U.S. – have always been minimal, with the exception of the old reliables, Britain and Canada.  Australia has also made an important contribution, as it always does. 

Even in America, Afghanistan is the forgotten war.  In September we will mark ten years since the 9-11 attacks, and the nation is forgetting.  We will be reminded again.

March 11, 2011      Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY - AT 9:53 A.M. ET: 

From The New York Times:  Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.”

And the take-out is much better than those places around the White House.  Look, the job will open up, Obama used to live next door in Indonesia, so why not?  If he becomes president of China he could help a country hostile to the United States.  He's had plenty of practice.

March 11, 2011       Permalink

ON WISCONSIN – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  Governor Scott Walker has won a major victory in Wisconsin, with the legislature's passage of a bill that effectively strips government workers of most of their collective bargaining rights.  From WaPo:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker won his drive to strip the state's government workers of nearly all of their collective-bargaining rights Thursday, after a three-week standoff that brought tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol.

The new legislation represents a major setback for organized labor, but the political battle over public employees and their rights to bargain is likely to continue - not only in Madison.

The state Assembly passed Walker's proposal a day after Republican senators outmaneuvered the 14 Democratic senators who had fled Wisconsin to deny a quorum needed for passing a budget measure. By stripping the bill of its spending language, they were able to pass it with only Republicans present.

Despite losing the battle in Wisconsin, union leaders said it would have repercussions across the country.

COMMENT:  I don't think either side necessarily comes out very well here.  As readers know, I was skeptical about Walker's strategy – using collective bargaining as a wedge issue, rather than concentrating on the nuts 'n bolts, and the numbers.  Walker has won, the people of Wisconsin will be better off, but he's also stirred up the hornets.  Other Republican governors, like Chris Christie have expressed some skepticism over this approach, and Walker's poll numbers are down.  The reason is that many people, even those outraged by union behavior, see collective bargaining as a right, and they're reluctant to take away a right once it's been granted.  Also, why stir up such fierce opposition, and get the other side so motivated, when a more subtle approach might be more effective in the long run? 

The fact is, of course, that the federal government doesn't permit collective bargaining for its employees, nor do half of the 50 states. 

Walker was helped by the appalling behavior of Democratic legislators, who skipped across the international border to the nation of Illinois, to avoid voting on the union-weakening measure.  He was also helped by a thuggish element, some from out of state, who invaded the capitol building in the People's Republic of Madison, a rather leftish place to start with. 

There may be an attempt to recall Walker, but it will fail. 

Now Walker, and other Republican governors, must make real progress in bringing down the outrageous costs of state employees, especially pension plans that have not actually been funded.  Many states are underwater, and there is no appetite in Washington for bailing them out.  This fight for fiscal sanity at the state level has just begun.

March 11, 2011      Permalink 

OUTRAGEOUS!  YOUR DEFENSE DOLLARS AT WORK – AT 8:32 A.M.  ET:  Don't you just love it when the guys down below get blamed for the mistakes up above?  The Pentagon has now rendered judgment on Army officers who, it says, should have recognized danger signs in the Fort Hood shooter, and didn't.  From NBC News:

Army Secretary John McHugh has ordered disciplinary action against nine officers for allegedly failing to flag any potential warning signs related to Maj. Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 soldiers at Fort Hood in November 2009, NBC News has learned.

The nine officers were in Hasan's chain of command at the Walter Reed Medical Center and the military's medical school. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, allegedly showed signs of Islamic radicalization that were ignored by superior officers.

While the Army's investigation found "no single event" that led to the Fort Hood shootings, "certain officers" in Hasan's chain of command "failed to meet the high standards expected of them," McHugh found.

McHugh also ordered the Army Surgeon General to review the Army Medical Commands training and evaluation of all medical officers. Investigators allege that Hasan's evaluation reports were inflated so he could be promoted and continue practicing at a time when the Army had a shortage of psychiatrists.

COMMENT:  Oh, come on.  Look at the examples set at the top.  We have an administration that refuses to use the term "Islamic extremism," we have an administration that came into office trying to replace "terrorism" with "man-made disasters," we have a chief of staff of the Army who, after the Fort Hood shootings, said publicly that his greatest worry was that Muslims in the service would be hurt, and we have a Defense Department that issued a report on Fort Hood that made not a single reference to Hasan's religious fanaticism, even though he screamed a traditional Muslim phrase when gunning down our service personnel.

And who gets blamed?

The guys down below.

Leadership is by example.  If one of the people under charge had warned about Hasan, you may be sure he would have been reprimanded and sent to cultural sensitivity training.  The hypocrisy here just flows, as the Pentagon looks for sacrificial lambs to satisfy critics.  When the Army chief of staff resigns and takes responsibility for the tone he set, then I'll listen to the rest.

March 11, 2011      Permalink

TSUNAMI – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:  A huge earthquake, followed by a tsunami, has hit Japan.

TOKYO — A huge earthquake struck Japan on Friday, churning up a devastating tsunami that swept over cities and farmland along the northern part of the country and threatened coastal areas throughout the Pacific.

Walls of water whisked away houses and cars in northern Japan, where terrified residents fled the coast. Trains were shut down across central and northern Japan, including Tokyo, and air travel was severely disrupted. A ship carrying more than 100 people was swept away by the tsunami, Kyodo News reported. A fire broke out at the nuclear plant in Onagawa, but Japanese officials said it was extinguished.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the disaster caused major damage across wide areas. Several hours after the quake, Kyodo News was reporting 48 deaths, but with rescue efforts just getting under way, the extent of injuries and damage is not yet known.

COMMENT:  It's likely that the casualty toll will grow much higher. 

You may be sure, though, that President Obama is on the case.  After blaming the quake and tsunami on global warming, he'll probably call for an international conference sometime next year to assess what we can do, without intruding on the cultural norms and proud traditions of Asian peoples.   And then it's off to a game of hoops.

March 11, 2011     Permalink