Antiwar.com Blog

Great line from this Seattle Times article.

According to a Washington-based intelligence newsletter Defense and Foreign Affairs, Bosnia’s viceroy “Paddy” Ashdown’s eagerness to support his late friend Alija Izetbegovic resulted in a major blow to anti-terrorism intelligence efforts on the eve of the Athens Olympics. Says DFA:

“Significantly, it was understood to be SFOR leadership which caused the Bosnia-Herzegovina ‘High Representative,’ Paddy Ashdown, to attempt a face-saving move in June 2004 which effectively reversed his decision of April 20, 2004, to arbitrarily remove the Head of the [Serb Republic] Secretariat for Cooperation with the [ICTY], Dejan Miletic.
Mr Miletic had been removed for refusing to sign off on a statement which essentially — at Ashdown’s insistence — accepted responsibility for the so-called ‘Srebrenica Massacre’ of 1995. The Secretariat had provided substantial evidence contradicting Ashdown’s totally unsubstantiated claims about the incident.
SFOR officials subsequently told the Office of the High Representative that this move had dealt a major blow to counter-terrorism intelligence in Bosnia-Herzegovina at a critical time.” Continue reading “Viceroy’s vendetta hurt anti-terror efforts?”

Be sure to check out Gene Callahan’s blog. I’m a little hesitant to promote a blog so narrowly fixated on “philosophy, religion, theology, economics, sociology, history, physics, mathematics, politics, current events, computers, sports, art, culture, programming languages, nightlife, travel, artificial intelligence, ethics, food, and secret sex tips gleaned from my years spent with various Himalayan masters,” but I like Gene, so deal with it.

From (appropriately) WorldNetDaily:

President Bush plans to unveil next month a sweeping mental health initiative that recommends screening for every citizen and promotes the use of expensive antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs favored by supporters of the administration. …

The panel found that “despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed” and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for “consumers of all ages,” including preschool children. …

The commission recommended that the screening be linked with “treatment and supports,” including “state-of-the-art treatments” using “specific medications for specific conditions.” …

Call me crazy, but didn’t I predict all this?

Gene Healy finds this long lost glimpse into the sick mind of Fred Barnes:

In an essay in the Feb. 24 [1997] Weekly Standard, Barnes laments the current “ennui” in Washington and confesses his longings for the glory days of old — you know, the Golden Age commonly known as “the Bush administration.” “The last great moment in Washington was Desert Storm,” Barnes writes, with an almost audible sigh. “It was exciting to follow and write about … Every press conference, I watched. Desert Storm was all I thought about or talked about. My stories concentrated on President Bush’s heroic role in the war. As best I recall, he wasn’t in a funk, not even for a single fleeting moment.”

Via Salon.

The Erez Industrial Zone in Gaza is notorious as a borderline industrial slave labor camp (on occupied land), though of course its creation has long been touted as a supreme act of benevolence by Israel, which of course wishes only to show how much it wants friendship and
cooperation with the Palestinians. Erez is one of the last places where Gazans can earn a few shekels so that they don’t starve to death, though it is not by choice that they work there. Now its factories are closing and moving to Israel, AP and AFP report.

Anyone who has bothered to read the 4-stage “disengagement” plan by Sharon will also note that Israel hopes to phase out having any workers from Gaza enter Israel in the future – another act of benevolence, no doubt, though I haven’t heard how this is going to be presented to the media to highlight Israel’s desire for peace.

Meanwhile, with a Rafah Sister City Project proposal before the Madison city council, Kavanna — “the progressive Jewish voice” on the UW Campus — has suggested in its oozingly liberal way that a better choice for a sister city than Rafah (a terrorists’ nest) would be the Erez Industrial Zone, since it displays such cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis.

Now that the Erez “island of sanity” option has been precluded, maybe the “progressive Jewish voice” on campus will break ranks with the fear exploiters (e.g., the Madison Jewish Community Council, Bush, Sharon) and join the many Jews who are supporting the Rafah project.