House leaders seek to water down eavesdropping bill

The House Judiciary Committee today will consider its version of a warrantless wiretapping bill. But if GOP leaders have their way, it will be so watered down as to be a pile of dreck.

The main bill already has minimal teeth. It would give the government five days instead of three to seek a FISA warrant following the start of emergency surveillance. Nonemergency warrantless surveillance would require Congressional approval within 60 days. It would also require more consultation with Congress.

A competing measure is better, clearly asserting that the FISA law is the operative law with regard to surveillance issues.

House leaders, though, want to replace all that with a meaningless provision, allowing but not requiring the administration to submit the program to the secret FISA court for a ruling on its legality.

Pathetic.

At least there are some voices being raised in opposition to this rubber stamping of administration actions. Voices from both sides of the aisle, in both the House and the Senate. So there remains a chance that the GOP leadership's kow-towing will be defeated and Congress will in fact assert its proper Constitutional role instead of abetting the steady expansion of executive power.

But now would be a good time to call your representative.

FISA, wiretapping, NSA, terrorism, politics, midtopia

Movement in Palestine

Yesterday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas reached a deal with Hamas for a unity government, in which the Hamas government would resign and be replaced by a mixture of Hamas and Fatah representatives, as well as representatives from various splinter groups.

Most important from the Palestinian viewpoint was the prospect that such a move would mean a resumption of the aid it relies on to pay its bills, aid that was suspended following Hamas' ascent to power. That hope appears to have been fulfilled, as the EU said it would consider resuming aid.

More important to the rest of us, however, is that as part of the agreement Hamas gave Abbas full authority to resume peace negotiations with Israel.

It remains to be seen whether all this talk will result in actual change on the ground. "Peace negotiations" are not the same thing as "peace agreement", and it's an open question whether the more militant Palestinian groups -- or even the military wing of Hamas -- will accept and abide by any such deal. Expect at least a couple of attacks aimed at disrupting the talks if they appear likely to bear fruit.

But Hamas sanctioning negotiations with Israel is a pretty big step. It appears that in this case the economic embargo worked, forcing Hamas to choose between militant purity and seeing to the needs of the Palestinian people. To their credit, they have (at least for now) chosen the latter.

Abbas, Hamas, Israel, Palestine, politics, midtopia

One and oh, baby!

I run a fantasy football league in my copious spare time -- 10 mostly longtime owners, a fairly normal performance-based scoring system. 14-man rosters, and you have to start 8: QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, TE, K, DEF.

I traded away the #3 overall pick in the draft in order to stockpile picks in rounds 2-5. Which gave me a somewhat odd roster:

QB: Donovan McNabb, Aaron Brooks
RB: Warrick Dunn, Chester Taylor, Julius Jones, Dominick Rhodes, Jerrius Norwood, Cedric Benson
WR: Torry Holt, Lavaranues Coles, Eddie Kennison
TE: Antonio Gates
K: Jason Elam
DEF: Chicago Bears

I was really worried about my running game and who my #2 receiver would be. But for Week 1, at least, everything worked out. I won handily even without my two Monday night players (Taylor and Gates), and it looks like I might have the high score for the week.

Super Bowl, here I come!


football, fantasy, midtopia

The lost province?

This is what playing whack-a-mole will get you.

The chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq recently filed an unusual secret report concluding that the prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there, said several military officers and intelligence officials familiar with its contents.

The officials described Col. Pete Devlin's classified assessment of the dire state of Anbar as the first time that a senior U.S. military officer has filed so negative a report from Iraq.

One Army officer summarized it as arguing that in Anbar province, "We haven't been defeated militarily but we have been defeated politically -- and that's where wars are won and lost."

It's one man's opinion, of course; but that one man is a very senior intelligence officer whose job is to make assessments like this.

And how did this happen, in Col. Devlin's opinion? No surprise:

Devlin offers a series of reasons for the situation, including a lack of U.S. and Iraqi troops, a problem that has dogged commanders since the fall of Baghdad more than three years ago, said people who have read it. These people said he reported that not only are military operations facing a stalemate, unable to extend and sustain security beyond the perimeters of their bases, but also local governments in the province have collapsed and the weak central government has almost no presence.

I'm stunned. Really. Not enough troops? Who would have thunk it?

A caveat: the Post did not see the report, and is relying on anonymous sources to describe it. But nobody is disputing the nature of the report, not even people who disagree with its conclusions. So it strikes me as genuine.

Anbar, Devlin, Iraq, politics, midtopia

Iraq roundup

A few worthwhile links in the ongoing furor over the planning and execution of the Iraq invasion:

Vice President Dick Cheney defended his hard-line role in the White House, amid reports that his influence within the administration is waning and reminders of how wrong he has been on several fronts -- from his now-infamous "last throes" reference to the Iraqi resistance to his belief that toppling Saddam would weaken the forces of jihad. Instead, it has strengthened them and weakened us.

Then there's his unrelenting defense of everything the administration has ever done, indicating an unwillingness or inability to learn from experience. For instance, he said Sunday that if he had to do it all over again he would still invade Iraq. And his ability to dismiss videotapes of him making assertions that have since been proven false. And his continued use of discredited "evidence" to try to tie Iraq to al-Qaeda.

This is a man in denial. A denial almost as deep as that of Donald Rumsfeld, who besides claiming credit for the success of tactics he opposed, has again been fingered as the man who made sure that the post-war occupation would be a stupendous failure.

Months before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forbade military strategists from developing plans for securing a post-war Iraq, the retiring commander of the Army Transportation Corps said Thursday.

In fact, said Brig. Gen. Mark Scheid, Rumsfeld said "he would fire the next person" who talked about the need for a post-war plan.

WHY DO THESE PEOPLE STILL HAVE JOBS?

Rumsfeld, Cheney, Iraq, politics, midtopia

9/11, five years later

A moment of silence. There will be lots of discussion, analysis and blatant politicizing of this. But for now, let's just remember the 3,000 who died, the heroic efforts of first responders, the just and well-executed toppling of the Taliban, and the last time we were unified as a country. May we someday recapture that moment and make it last.

politics, midtopia

Holding a grudge

In a satirical example of how all politics are personal, I give you this.

In which a diehard Redskins fan takes aim at former Redskins QB Heath Shuler, who is running for Congress in North Carolina. His campaign -- complete with hilarious attack ads -- is supposedly intended to prevent Shuler from bringing his aura of defeat back to Washington.

Heath Shuler, politics, midtopia

Another NSA lawsuit proceeds

An Oregon judge is allowing another suit challenging the NSA eavesdropping program to go through.

U.S. District Judge Garr King said he believes there may be a way for the lawsuit, filed by a now-defunct Islamic charity, to proceed without releasing information that could harm national security.

The lawsuit was filed by the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, which had a chapter in Ashland that went out of business after the U.S. government labeled it a terrorist organization.

The foundation charged that two of its lawyers and at least one official were under electronic surveillance in March and April 2004. The foundation asked King to rule the surveillance a violation of a federal law that requires a special court to approve intelligence-related wiretapping.

This is different from the ACLU suit in Detroit, which led to a judge ordering the program shut down -- a ruling that has been suspended pending appeal.

What makes this case interesting is that the plaintiffs seem to have a very good chance of showing proper standing for the suit, as well as the ability to argue that a trial would not compromise national security. Here's why:

The Portland case turns on what King called the "Sealed Document," information that government lawyers accidentally gave Al-Haramain lawyers in 2004 before demanding it back. King said the document is now in a secure room at the FBI's Portland office.

Al-Haramain's attorneys want to use the document to make their case, but the government says any use of it will compromise state secrets.

King said the document remains classified, despite its disclosure to the plaintiffs and to a reporter from the Washington Post.

This would seem to indicate that there is proof the charity was monitored, essentially proving they have standing; and it would seem to obviate much of the security argument, because the information is already out of the bag.

We shall see.

NSA, terrorism, politics, midtopia

Caught on Tape II

A couple of months ago, Condoleeza Rice was caught on tape speaking frankly about Iraq. Now it's the Terminator's turn.

In the sanctuary of his Capitol office with an audio recorder rolling, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger describes Republican legislators as the "wild bunch" and, referring to a Latina lawmaker, casually says that "black blood" mixed with "Latino blood" equals "hot" — a fiery personality....

They also freely discuss other state legislators and the political process.

It's not particularly startling stuff. And it doesn't impress the listener the way Condi's overheard discussion does. The racial remarks, quoted above, will draw fire from people who say it's racist. But the comments were not said maliciously -- Schwarzenegger actually admires the lawmaker in question. And they aren't all that different from me attributing my penny-pinching ways to my Scottish ancestry.

I just include it here as a glimpse into Arnie's style and personality.

You can listen to an MP3 of the recording here.

Schwarzenegger, California, politics, midtopia

More good news from Lebanon

Yesterday Israel lifted its air blockade of Lebanon. Today, it lifted its naval blockade.

Israel turned over monitoring of Lebanon's coast to Italian naval vessels, who "will continue to enforce the international embargo against the supply of armaments to Hezbollah," Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.

It also announced it would withdraw completely from Lebanon within two weeks. And Israel signaled it would be willing to leave ownership of the dispute Chebaa Farms area up to the UN, and cede it to Lebanon if the UN says so.

That territorial dispute is the main obstacle to a permanent peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon, so Olmert's suggestion has fairly large implications.

On the downside, the last time the UN looked into the matter it said the Farms didn't belong to Lebanon -- a ruling Lebanon rejected (it doesn't belong to Israel, either; the UN decision was based on the conclusion that it was originally part of Syria, same as the rest of the adjacent Golan Heights). Both sides would have to agree to abide by the UN's decision for this to work.

More pragmatically, Israel might just cede the territory and be done with it. It's militarily useful territory -- the high ground looks down on Israel on one side and Syria/Lebanon on the other. But it's uninhabited, and a few square kilometers are not worth more than a permanent peace.

All of this leaves one major item unresolved -- the fate of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked the recent fighting. Look for Israel to grudgingly agree to swap prisoners, like it did earlier with Hamas.

After that, we can get down to watching how the Lebanese Army, backed by UN peacekeepers, deal with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, politics, midtopia

Surprise, surprise

The promised Senate report is out, and the main conclusion shouldn't surprise anyone who hasn't shared the White House's isolation chamber for the last five years.

There's no evidence
Saddam Hussein had ties with al-Qaida, according to a Senate report on prewar intelligence that Democrats say undercuts President Bush's justification for invading Iraq.

Bush administration officials have insisted on a link between the Iraqi regime and terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Intelligence agencies, however, concluded there was none.

Republicans counter this is "old news." I'd agree with them.... if the administration didn't continue to insist that Iraq had terror connections, and that the invasion was justified. For it to be "old news", war supporters actually have to accept it as true.

And as I noted yesterday, we're still waiting for the real report: What, if anything, the administration did to manipulate or shade the intelligence it received. We won't know until the report comes out, but allow me a purely speculative question: why would Congressional Republicans tie that particular report up in knots unless there actually was something to hide?

Let us hope the truth comes out sooner rather than later.

Bush, terrorism, Bush, Iraq, politics, midtopia

Whatever happened to Phase 2?

That would be the second part of the Congressional probe of U.S. intelligence failures in Iraq -- the part that's supposed to examine how the administration used the intelligence it had. The part that was postponed until after the 2004 elections so as not to, I don't know, influence them or something.

Phase 2 is still -- surprise, surprise -- tied up in partisan bickering. But at least there's this:

A Senate panel on Thursday voted to release two newly declassified reports on prewar Iraq intelligence, including one examining the role of an Iraqi exile group that spread allegations, later proved false, about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction....

A second report compares U.S. prewar intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism with findings made by military and intelligence officials after the March 2003 invasion.

Look for them on Friday at the committee's Web site.

intelligence, Iraq, politics, midtopia

Pollster admits making up data

And the victims include several well-known politicians.

The owner of DataUSA Inc., a company that conducted political polls for the campaigns of President Bush, Sen. Joe Lieberman and other candidates, pleaded guilty to fraud for making up survey and poll results.

Tracy Costin pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Costin, 46, faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when she is sentenced Nov. 30.

I assume the data was fabricated to tell the candidates what they wanted to hear, which could have led to poor choices as far as campaign rhetoric, spending, scheduling and the like.

This is just one pollster, and one I've never heard of at that. I would not use this case to draw conclusions about the ethics and legality of the profession as a whole. But it does highlight the enormous amount of trust people put in pollsters -- not just to be honest, but also to conduct their polls in a professional and statistically valid manner. Usually this is fine, especially when the pollsters publish their methodology and detailed results. But it reinforces the fact that polls should be taken with large grains of salt -- one reason you'll rarely see them quoted here.

Costin, polls, politics, midtopia

A day of revelations

I didn't capitalize the "R" in the title, but perhaps I should have. Let's start at the top.

The Pentagon finally released its new interrogation field manual, and it is a Good Thing.

Forced nudity, hooding, using dogs, conducting mock executions or simulated drownings were among eight abusive interrogation practices banned under new rules unveiled by the U.S. military on Wednesday....

The manual explicitly prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. But it keeps 16 long-standing interrogation techniques and adds three new ones, said Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, Army deputy chief of staff for intelligence.

We'll get to those in a minute. What is most heartening is this acknowledgement:

"No good intelligence is going to come from abusive practices," he said. Intelligence obtained under duress, he added, would have "questionable credibility" and do more harm than good when the abuse inevitably became public.

This is good. But as we'll see below, the administration does not actually believe that.

So what is allowed?

Practices still permitted include rewarding detainees for cooperation, flattery and instilling fear. Two of the new techniques were the use of a good-cop, bad-cop approach and allowing interrogators to portray themselves as someone other than a U.S. interrogator.

A third new technique, called "separation," can be used only on detainees deemed "enemy combatants" to keep them away from one another, and only with high-level military approval.

No real issues there. Although the FBI has complained in the past about interrogators posing as FBI agents. And posing as lawyers or journalists can cause other problems.

Nonetheless, I am well pleased. It may have taken years of mounting criticism and a Supreme Court ruling to make it happen, but it has happened. Now perhaps the stain of torture can be removed from the military's reputation.

The downside is that these rules don't apply to the CIA. And that's particularly relevant, because President Bush acknowledged today that the spy agency does, indeed, operate a network of secret prisons for "high-value" detainees -- the final 14 of whom have now been transferred to Gitmo for trial.

The Washington Post has a nice breakdown of the detainees here.

I admit to being torn on this one. Don't get me wrong; we shouldn't be routinely torturing people or operating prisons outside the reach of the law. But my main objection to mistreating prisoners stems from the fact that we did so before proving that the detainee was, in fact, a terrorist, and that we were denying basic rights to a wide swath of people.

But in the case of known high-ranking terrorists, different rules may apply. If we were to capture bin Laden, I would not object to harshly interrogating him to learn of associates and active plots.

So I'm okay in principle with the idea of establishing a different set of rules for a very, very, VERY small number of high-value prisoners. But those rules should be clearly established by Congress, in play for a limited time and conducted under close scrutiny and oversight from higher officials. They should not occur in secret prisons beyond the reach of public accountability.

Speaking of public accountability, Bush also asked Congress to approve his plan for military tribunals. It contains no serious concessions to the recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down his previous plan; he's asking Congress to rubber-stamp the plan he came up with. This includes using secret evidence that defendants cannot see, as well as evidence obtained through coercive interrogations.

That's a bad idea. Try and convict them in a fair trial, or not at all. If they're a terrorist, throw away the key. But prove it first.

tribunals, Gitmo, CIA, terrorism, Bush, politics, midtopia

Lebanon improves

So far, so good.

Turkey pledges peacekeepers to Lebanon, and the Lebanese Army takes over five villages from Israel. Meanwhile, a deal is being discussed to lift the Israeli blockade of Lebanese ports -- a blockade intended to keep Hezbollah from rearming as long as Israeli troops are in Lebanon. And the UN is mediating prisoner-swap talks between Israel and Hezbollah.

Separately, it appears an Israeli soldier being held by Hamas will be swapped for as many as 800 Israeli prisoners -- to be followed by a meeting between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas.

politics, midtopia

What are we standing up?

I came across this a few days ago and thought it was interesting. It's just one Marine's observations, but it rings true to this ex-tanker.

After discussing what appears to be ingrained Iraqi military culture (officers beating up subordinates, officers stealing supplies, rations and money), this Marine trainer sums it up with:

So after 6 months we've:

- taught them techniques for planning operations...they won't do it.
- shown them how to conduct weapons sustainment ranges...they won't do it.
- we've shown them how to conduct convoys...they won't do it.
- we've taught them moral and ethical behavior required of soldiers...they won't do it.
- we've taught them how to manage logistics...they won't do it.
- we've taught them personnel and administrative management...they won't do it.
- we've taught them how to operate tactically...they won't do it.
- we've taught them how to sustain the life support systems on the camp...they won't do it.

Basically we have taught them how to be a self sufficient battalion, but unless the Marines do it for them, they won't do anything. They ALWAYS revert back to the "Iraqi way" when we are not around and that involves DESTROYING and WASTING everything they get their hands on.

Though repugnant to us, there's nothing inherently destructive about officers striking troops. The South Korean military is one of the best in the world, and is known for doing exactly that -- officers beating the snot out of sergeants, sergeants beating the snot out of privates. It can work if it fits with local culture.

But what the rest implies is that by Western standards the Iraqi Army will never be ready to tackle things on its own.

Of course, under Saddam the Iraqis were rather good at squelching uprisings, so we know that they can get the job done in that respect. But that involved minority Sunnis beating down majority Shiites, so they had incentive to do a good job and there was a limit to how far they could go. And it was brutal. If the new Iraqi Army -- which is mostly Shiite -- begins doing the same to minority Sunnis, it could turn into a minor genocide. Even if it doesn't, their approach is likely to be far messier, brutal and corrosive to democracy than anything we could possibly condone.

Add this to the list of questions that need to be answered as we "stay the course": What can we expect from the new Iraqi Army? At what point do we say, "we've done all we can"?

terrorism, Iraq, politics, midtopia

Lebanese ceasefire firms up

As Israel races to destroy Hezbollah arms caches, a thousand Italian peacekeepers arrive in Lebanon. On the other side of the Middle East, Kofi Annan is asking Iran to end military support for Hezbollah and compromise on its nuclear program.

I'm not holding my breath on the last two, but they can't hurt.

Annan, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, politics, midtopia

Self-inflicted stupidity

I'm not a big fan of Mike Hatch. But if Matt Entenza hadn't already dropped out of the race for attorney general, I'd be suggesting he do so after this latest revelation.

This summer, when the allegation resurfaced, Entenza said he paid only a "couple of hundred dollars" for his research on Hatch. He said some research the firm conducted, including an investigation of a Hatch parking ticket, went beyond anything he authorized.

On Friday, Entenza filed an amended campaign finance report, disclosing that he paid the $40,000 to Gragert Research, the Chicago company that conducted the research.

In a four-paragraph statement, Entenza apologized to Minnesotans for not being forthcoming.

"I made a mistake in the handling and the release of information to the public regarding the research," he said, "and I apologize for that mistake and take full responsibility. … Once the research became public, I should have been more forthcoming and open about it. For that, I am very sorry."

I actually kind of like Entenza, but he's pulled some boneheaded stuff this year.

Entenza, Minnesota, politics, midtopia

The situation in Iraq

I don't even know what to say about this sort of thing anymore. It's all been said.

Sectarian violence is spreading in
Iraq and the security problems have become more complex than at any time since the U.S. invasion in 2003, a Pentagon report said Friday.

In a notably gloomy report to Congress, the Pentagon reported that illegal militias have become more entrenched, especially in Baghdad neighborhoods where they are seen as providers of both security and basic social services.

The administration says it's doing fine. But Harry Reid is right when he says that Bush et al are "increasingly disconnected from the facts on the ground." And I still can't get over the bizarre sight of Donald Rumsfeld arguing that more troops mean more security -- after three years of saying and doing the opposite.

The Labor Day weekend couldn't have arrived at a better time.

Pentagon, security, Iraq, politics, midtopia

Syria promises to stop weapon shipments

I wouldn't take their word on this, but if they follow through it would be a positive development.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that Syria has pledged to step up border patrols and work with the Lebanese army to stop the flow of weapons to Hezbollah.

Annan also said that he had asked Syrian President Bashar Assad to use his nation's influence to help win the release of three Israeli soldiers held by Lebanese and Palestinian militants allied with Damascus.

According to Annan, Assad said at a meeting in Damascus that Syria will boost the number of its guards along the Lebanon-Syria border and establish joint patrols with the Lebanese army "where possible."

The impetus for this agreement was Israel's insistence that the UN patrol the border with Syria in order to stop weapons from crossing -- something Syria saw as insulting.

Whether this is just words to stave off a UN presence, or a serious commitment by Syria, only time will tell.

Annan, Israel, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria, politics, midtopia