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October 31, 2006

If You Doubted...

It's true, it's true. The good do die young.

Mandela, who Botha refused to free even after 27 years of imprisonment for plotting to overthrow white rule, was among the few visitors to his Wilderness sitting room -- although even those visits did not last long.

Since leaving office, Botha had lived a quiet life with his second wife Barbara in a lagoon-side home on the Western Cape coast for almost two decades, occasionally emerging to launch broadsides at the ANC and defend white rule.

Asked in a television interview what would have happened if the black majority took control in 1948 -- when Botha's National Party took power -- he remained unwavering.

"I think by this time we would have been in the drain already," he said.

The ANC, which under President Thabo Mbeki continues to lead the country, issued a brief statement on his death.

"The ANC wishes his family strength and comfort at this difficult time," the party said.

Ok, then I guess I'll leave it at that too. ...

Except to say it's incredibly sad to see the likes of him die without being tried. Here's wishing much health to Pinochet. At least may he live long enough to stand trial.

Posted by zeynep at 10:08 PM | Comments (1)

October 28, 2006

It's Always Their Fault. Always.

Imagine if they used this argument against us. We'd be aghast at their inhumanity and terrorism:

Dozens of civilians were killed in a NATO military strike against suspected Taliban insurgents, Afghan officials said Thursday. Villagers fled the southern region by car and donkey, and hundreds attended a funeral for about 20 people buried in a mass grave.

Mark Laity, a NATO spokesman, said: "With insurgents who regard the population as a form of human shield for themselves, it obviously makes life very difficult for us, but it does not stop us from making every effort to ensure that we minimize any problems."

It's always their fault. Always.

Posted by zeynep at 12:37 PM | Comments (2)

October 17, 2006

Numbers

I've been trying to wrap my head around some numbers all of last week, with the publishing of the Hopkins study.

2.5 percent of the population. 600,000 dead from violence. An increase in the number of deaths caused by the occupying forces to 31 percent.

We already had a strong sense of the scale of the violence in Iraq. Number counts from morgues, hospitals, news reports all indicated a dramatic spike in violence since the Samarra bombing last February.

Meanwhile, yesterday's big news story was that the U.S. population is now estimated to be 300 million. As I was rolling my eyes about the relative importance of a round number, I did a quick calculation. Hopkins researchers put the Iraq excess mortality due to violence at 2.5 percent of the population which would scale to 7.5 million for the United States. That's almost the total population of New York City.

To understand the horror of what's going on in Iraq, imagine every single person in New York city killed. Every last one of them. Imagine 2.5 million of them dying from the bombing and shooting from an occupying force. The rest killed in carbombs, shootings, executions, beheadings. In the space of a few years.

Now imagine that was called peace and freedom.

Posted by zeynep at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2006

Dishonor on the Discharger

Lt. Cmdr Charles Swift, who exemplified some of the best traditions of this country, has been all but pushed out of the Navy:

The Navy lawyer whose successful defense of Osama bin Laden's driver led to the Supreme Court's landmark Hamdan decision has been passed over for promotion.

Under the Navy's "up or out" promotion system, the decision forces Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift into early retirement. He learned of the decision about two weeks after this summer's ruling in Hamdan, which was a historic rebuke to the Bush Administration, and not long after the National Law Journal named Swift one of the top 100 lawyers in America.

Military promotion practices are notoriously byzantine and take into account many factors, but I think it's safe to say that this is a disgrace and a black-eye for the Navy.

If only he had tortured people instead of actually defending the constitution, along with Salim Ahmed Hamdan. He might have gotten a handsome promotion.

Posted by zeynep at 07:54 PM | Comments (1)