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November 30, 2004
Vol. 7 No. 48
In this
issue:
1. Houses of Munitions
2. High-Stakes Chicken Kiev
3. The Gay Question
4. Quick Hits
5. New at Reason Online -
Song for Dan Rather
6. News and
Events
Reason Express is made possible by a grant from The DBT Group, manufacturers of affordable, high-performance mainframe systems and productivity software.
Whatever else military operations in Fallujah and areas south of Baghdad have or have not accomplished, they established beyond dispute that insurgents have used mosques as weapons caches and bases of operations. If the U.S can manage to show relative restraint in raiding such hiding places, using Iraqi forces to actually seize the mosques themselves, for example, it could significantly marginalize clerics who rail against the interim Iraqi government while cooperating with the insurgents.
U.S. forces reported finding weapons in every one of the 77 mosques they searched in Fallujah. Of particular note is the discovery of a car bomb factory inside the Al Yassen mosque south of Baghdad. Iraqi civilians have been cut down by the dozens by such car bombs; to show definitively where they come from is an important part of demystifying the sources of terror in Iraq.
The flip-side of those positive developments was the raid on the Abu Hanifa mosque in Azamiyah, which was evidently based on bad intelligence, quite possibly from a source with personal scores to settle variety. Three Iraqis were reported killed in that little misstep, which underscores just how crucial good information remains to the American war effort in Iraq.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/10292058.htm?1c
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20041128&hn=14232
One often-overlooked tool for deciphering the current electoral imbroglio in Ukraine is as vital as it is simple: a map. A quick look at a map can explain why the stakes are so high and why some sort of peaceful resolution to the election turmoil there is imperative.
Rightly or wrongly, significant elements within Russia feel they are being surrounded. NATO has expanded eastward and gobbled up former Warsaw Pact captive nations, and U.S forces enjoy significant presences in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan as part of the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan. Afghanistan, of course, is another region of long-term interest to Russia.
A pro-Western, pro-NATO government in Kiev is therefore a frightening prospect for many Russians, but if that is the honest preference of most Ukrainians, then Russia will have to learn to live with it. Conversely, if large chunks of the Ukraine, particularly the east and the south, desire close relations with Moscow, the U.S. and EU will have to learn to live with that. Otherwise, partition along the Dnieper River becomes an ugly possibility.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/up.html
It is difficult to tell exactly what message the U.S. Supreme Court sent by rejecting, without comment, a conservative challenge to the Massachusetts same-sex marriage experiment. Does the court want a better, clearer case to address the issue? Do the justices really want the states to hash it out amongst themselves? Do they need more action on the issue from Congress? Or is the Court simply stalling for time until a new chief justice is appointed?
There is little doubt that Chief Justice William Rehnquist is gravely ill with cancer, so the last theory may be the easiest one to swallow, at least at first. But the complaint itself was rather odd, essentially asking the Supreme Court to "save" Massachusetts residents from the Massachusetts high court.
With a possible state referendum on gay marriage a key topic for debate among Massachusetts state legislators, the Court may have concluded that Massachusetts was well on its way to saving itself.
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=56339
Quote of the Week
"This is already a miracle for me. I never dreamed of getting to my feet again." - - Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, paralyzed for 20 years following an accident, on her first halting steps after receiving stem-cell therapy in South Korea.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/041128/1/3ovex.html#unbelievable
Visa: It's Everywhere You Want to Be
Congress bumped the H-1B visa total for 2005 from 65,000 to 85,000 before running out of town, prompting the usual round of complaints from American IT workers that foreigners will use the program to take jobs away from Americans.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1732572,00.asp
From the "This Can't Be True" Department
A Paris court rules that Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles (A Very Long Engagement) is not eligible for French film awards because Warner Brothers financed it.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=493&e=3&u=/ap/film_not_french_enough
Advantage HD DVD?
Toshiba has lined up studio support for its HD DVD format, which is in competition with Sony's Blu-Ray technology to become the next generation of nifty things on a shiny disc.
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