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Monday, January 26, 2004

War in Iraq: Not a Humanitarian Intervention - Human Rights Watch. In sum, the invasion of Iraq failed to meet the test for a humanitarian intervention. Most important, the killing in Iraq at the time was not of the exceptional nature that would justify such intervention. In addition, intervention was not the last reasonable option to stop Iraqi atrocities. Intervention was not motivated primarily by humanitarian concerns. It was not conducted in a way that maximized compliance with international humanitarian law. It was not approved by the Security Council. And while at the time it was launched it was reasonable to believe that the Iraqi people would be better off, it was not designed or carried out with the needs of Iraqis foremost in mind. War in Iraq: Not a Humanitarian Intervention Human Rights Watch finds the post fact rationale for the invasion wanting. It comes from their World Report 2004 - Human Rights and Armed Conflict, where other essays therefrom include: Losing The Peace In Afghanistan, Sidelined: Human Rights In Post-War Iraq and "Glad to be Deceived": the International Community and Chechnya, to name but a few. [MetaFilter] 4:32:20 PM  Permalink  comment []

Was George W. Bush a Deserter? No. Just AWOL. Now that Peter Jennings has asked the question, I am curious: Was George W. Bush a deserter? The answer appears to be, "Clearly, no." He just lost interest in flying planes for the Air National Guard in early 1972, went AWOL for extraordinarily long lengths of time, and bet (correctly) that the Pentagon would not come after the son of a prominent Texas Republican politician. There are also overtones in the files that the Texas Air National Guard was very glad to see the back of George W. Bush. uggabugga: ...27 May '68: Sworn in. After 6 weeks of basic airman training, received a commission as a second lieutenant by means of a 'special appointment' by the commanding officer of his squadron, with the approval of a panel of three senior officers. (Normally required eight full semesters of college ROTC courses or eighteen months of military service or completion of Air Force officer training school. Texas National Guard historian said that he "never heard of that" except for flight surgeons.) Assigned to flight school. (Normally reserved to pilots graduating from ROTC training or Air Force officer training.) 'Fast tracked' into the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, a standby runway alert component... [Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal (2004)] He was "only" AWOL. Of course, if this were, say Bill Clinton, who had disappeared from duty for long stretches, we'd be hearing "deserter" and "traitor." But since he is, as De Long says, the son of a prominent Republican politician, I guess it's OK. And the Wall St. Journal has an editorial this morning saying sthat Kerry isn't as worthy as George Bush because he protested the war, after serving honorably for years. 4:29:34 PM  Permalink  comment []

Bob Dylan Page-ish. Welcome to the ``I Don't Have Time to Create a Bob Dylan Page'' Page. I also don't have time to run the next Bob Dylan Convention. ... [Google Alert results for: "bob dylan"] John Lattanzio has finally put up his own Dylan page, though getting to it is problematic now. The original biggest fan himself! 3:07:50 PM  Permalink  comment []

Dawkins on the Mac. Richard Dawkins, the pipe-hitting defender of evolutionary biology, praises the Macintosh on its 20t [More Like This WebLog] 3:02:09 PM  Permalink  comment []

Buying of the President 2004. The Buying of the President. A look at the special interests who are bankrolling Bush and his Democratic rivals. [MetaFilter] 1:39:02 PM  Permalink  comment []

Lenny Bruce in Reverse. [MetaFilter] 11:23:40 AM  Permalink  comment []

© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.