Saturday, January 06, 2007

Capitol punishment

Not a misspelling--I just wanted to see if you were awake. Actually, in a previous post I declared my opposition to capital punishment in all cases. But if I were to be persuaded to allow and exception, here it is.

A Whistleblower's tale

The soldier who revealed the Abu Ghraib photos tells his story here. Now I know why there are so few revelations about military atrocities from inside. Only one My Lai? C'mon.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Danger Zone

The latest CBS poll has Bush's approval rating at 30%, the lowest ever for any poll. Now I agree that CBS's numbers are usually lower than others', but at some point the concensus may hit 27% or so, and it may become time for a coup.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Hearts and minds re-redux

What a teriffic way to start the new year.

"Baghdad – U.S. forces killed the coach of Iraq's basketball team for the disabled in front of his house in the area of al-Mansour, western Baghdad, according to an official in Iraq's Paralympics Committee."

The coach of the disabled basketball team? Are you kidding me?

Reported here: http://www.aswataliraq.info/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=34306&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Direct, articulate, smart

Plus a bunch of similar adjectives describe the Army lieutenant who's refused to serve in Iraq because of his belief that our invasion and occupation were illegal and unconstitutional. Quite a soldier, this young man. Read his words and/or listen here.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Hanging Saddam Hussein

Of course I am opposed to--am disgusted by, actually--the execution of this dictator, as I am by the execution of any human being (any animal, for that matter), and I continue to wonder why we humans still do it. I'm also not that crazy about "life in prison without possibility of parole," but at least that has the supporting rationale of being necessary to avoid harm to society by removing established recidivist offenders from our midst (without, however, the demeaning feature of deliberate killing).

It is said that "justice" is served by execution, that there's some curative effect of establishing a societal balance by killing a killer. I say that's hooey. Primitive poppycock. It's windowdressing, merely, for retribution--which is itself something so senseless that no animal except the basest human can conceive of it. Are there any animals other than us who engage in retribution? I thought not.