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April 27, 2004
Vol. 7 No. 17

In this issue:

1. Chalabi Overplays his Hand
2. Hot Air on Global Warming
3. Train in Vain
4. Quick Hits
5. New at Reason Online - Playing to the Totalitarian Left
6. Reason's print edition
7. News and Events

1. Chalabi Overplays his Hand

Appearances can be quite deceiving in the Iraqi conflict, but it certainly looks like Ahmed Chalabi's days of influence are coming to an end. The fact that Chalabi denies this change of fortune bolsters the impression that he is, in fact, being set aside, and for several good reasons.

First is the Coalition's desire to reverse its previous decision to exclude former members of Saddam's ruling party from meaningful positions in the new regime's civil and military affairs. Chalabi was steadfastly opposed to such a reversal, but he evidently angered his Washington patrons by comparing the possible policy shift to allowing Nazis to run the country. The Bush administration might be many things, but filled with Nazi collaborators is not one of them.

Second, the Bush administration pretty much has to let the UN select its own interim leaders as the price for getting the UN politically involved in Iraq. The UN seems to think that anyone like Chalabi who heads a political party needs to get out of power and begin to make a case for being voted into it once elections are held.

And third -- and least positive from the administration's point of view -- is the fact that Chalabi has proved to be of little use as a bridge to the Shiite community. With militias in the streets and a still-tense situation around Najaf, the Coalition might figure it's time to try to work the Sunni side of the equation for awhile by bringing vetted Ba'athists back into the fold.

At this point the effort has to be made, and it might even improve matters. But many months of political infighting remain likely for Baghdad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3659705.stm

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=2801

2.Hot Air on Global Warming

Pat Michaels has been poking holes in climate-scare stories for years, but the latest one has him really hot. It appears that questionable science has invaded the pages of the magazine Nature, long a refuge for hard science that stayed above the calamity-of-the-day business.

Michaels notes that Nature jumped on the climate-change bandwagon with a piece predicting the loss of the Greenland ice cap in the next millennium due to human activity?namely, filling the atmosphere with various sorts of emissions. The prediction is based on regional climate models that, Michaels says, Nature itself has found to be prone to error. What gives?

Every few years, it seems, a new climate-change scare is publicized in order to keep the parade of emissions regulations rolling along. The scare is eventually debunked, but the debunking is never as widely disseminated as the original tale of woe. The end result is an erroneous public perception that, much like Saddam's supposed connection to 9/11, drives public policy toward a particular outcome, no matter what the real science suggests.

http://www.cato.org/dailys/04-20-04.html

3. Train in Vain

The fear of running afoul of the EPA's emission standards, and hence losing federal road money, is part of what drives cities like Houston to build light-rail systems. Mass confusion appears to be another factor.

But either Houston's system is poorly designed or Houston drivers really hate the idea of giving up their cars, because they keep driving their cars into the trains. The system sustained its 25th accident of the year last week, putting it on a pace for almost 17 wrecks per 100,000 miles traveled, or 25 times the national average. That would seem to be pace that would give most people pause. Not mass-transit boosters. Such wreckage is just part of the transition cost to a more perfect world.

Make no mistake: Cultural change is what light rail's advocates demand. They chalk the accidents up to the "learning curve" the city must experience.

"The citizens of Houston need to familiarize themselves with safety related to both motorist and pedestrian interfaces with the rail system," one mass transit flack explains.

And they should try not to leave a big mess when they do interface with the trains.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2522354

4. Quick Hits

Quote of the Week

"The Marines never marched into Red Square. McDonald's did." -- columnist Justin Raimondo in a speech to the Libertarian Party of New York.

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/

In a Muzzle Mood

Pat Boone says censorship is good for the country, but has gotten a bad rap.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040420-114829-2076r.htm

Brief History of a Covert War

So how did we go from the Soviets to the Taliban in Afghanistan? The CIA knows, but has to kill anyone it tells.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/ae/books/reviews/2524310

Fire Away

Marine snipers are blamed for firing on anything that moves in Fallujah. Marines counter that everything that moves in Fallujah shoots at them first.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3653223.stm

5. New at Reason Online

6. The Print Edition

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7. News and Events

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