On The Third Hand

Warblog Archives

Saturday, 01 Dec 2001

" Returning jihadis tell Afghan ordeal "

"A groundswell of resentment has emerged in Pakistani tribal territories against a fundamentalist leader who took thousands to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban and left them stranded, residents said yesterday." Same story... different group.

And I quote: "When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?" -- Pete Seeger

Thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link (darnit).

Friday, 30 Nov 2001

Seems the United Front in Kabul have tossed out the Taleban law and reinstated "judicial system and laws developed during the 1970s under former President Mohammad Daud Khan". These guys do seem to be making a serious attempt to be a "good government". I think with a lot of public encouragement, and a few under-the-table bribes, they may actually manage to work things out (in North Afghanistan anyway).

Thanks to Fred Pruitt for the link (if you don't read him, you should).

Back on November 9th I wrote a short piece entitled "But he's right..." on Michael Kinsley's article about media objectivity. I was a bit surprised to find myself agreeing with him. Well, he's done another I like and agree with. He's just written a lovely piece on Bush's support (or at least non-protest) of in vitro fertilisation, versus his objection to cloning stem cells because "We should not as a society grow life to destroy it." I may even pick up on Michael's term "embryophile". I like it.

I'm still not related to Michael Kinsley--but if he keeps this up, I may stop mentioning that!

This is for anyone who regrets the suspension of "Operation Dear Abby" which encouraged US citizens to send holiday greetings to those stationed overseas. This was suspended due to concerns about mail.

The military has come up with a way to send greetings on the Internet. LIke the regular mail, this goes to "any service member", though you can pick the service (Navy, Army, Marines, Coast Guard, or Air Force). You are required to give a name and US state. You may also give a city and e-mail address, but these are optional. They do warn that the information is viewable by the public, so I'd advise getting yourself a web-based e-mail if you want to put in an e-mail (many servicemen/women do like to write back). So...write already!

We didn't let Amnesty International representatives into the Qalai Janghi fortress.

I wonder if these people think it is possible to wave a magic wand that will disarm fanatics. When you are dealing with people who will surrender just to blow themselves up along with their enemies, it is a bit difficult to follow normal methods of disarming them. I'd suggest that from now on, the people accepting surrender should require that the people surrendering strip completely. Unfortunately, I doubt their culture would allow them to even make the demand.

George Harrison "died on Thursday at a friend's Los Angeles home, at 1330 local time, according to his longtime friend Gavin De Becker."

Requiescat In Pace

Thursday, 29 Nov 2001

"PESHAWAR, Pakistan - President Pervez Musharraf is about to crack down on Pakistan's religious schools, known as hotbeds of anti-American sentiment." Now all we need to do is get the rest of the governments with problems to do the same.

Wednesday, 28 Nov 2001

Todays Pundit watch, by Will Vehrs (half of QuasiPundit) is great reading -- as always.

However happy I may be about those Aid workers being rescued, I was a bit disgusted by President Bush's treating them as heroines. No matter how we may feel about the laws of the Taleban, they did break those laws. Dayna Curry said: "Eighty percent of the charges against us were false.'' Doesn't that mean that twenty percent were true? Further, they intend to go back and do it again. Heather Mercer said: "I think who we are as Christians, as people who love Jesus, is just naturally in the overflow of our lives - that comes out. So I don't imagine that when we have a chance to go back, we'll change who we are."

What bothers me most about this is that I suspect they would not have been feted by President Bush had they been arrested for teaching Buddhism or Hinduism. We might have rescued them, but they would have gotten a well-deserved lecture about breaking laws of countries they were in.

Tuesday, 27 Nov 2001

I'm presently a web site designer by trade, and I find this blog sometimes annoying, and cannot resist trying to improve it. So I am going to be doing some experimenting in the next few days (starting late tomorrow).

You probably won't see much change in the look, since I'll be playing with the "guts" of the program. I'm just apologising in advance in case you find it down or totally messed up! If I mess it up, please forgive me and come back in an hour or two.

The prison uprising -- covered by all the major news agencies, provides an interesting study in spin by reporters. For just two examples:

• BBC title is 'No survivors' as Taleban revolt ends (quotes theirs), and makes sure to mention in their last paragraph: Foreign fighters, who are locally regarded as destabilising elements in the country, have often been beaten or killed when territory has fallen to the Northern Alliance in the course of the current conflict.
• Fox News title is:Northern Alliance Says Fortress Uprising Quashed and their last paragraph is: Alliance officers said about 40 of their troops had died in the uprising along with hundreds of resisters. They also mention (read the article) villagers kicking dead bodies.

Then there is CNN, MSNBC, Reuters, AP--all of which have their own slants. It's interesting to just go read through all of them.

Seems that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) are targeting Osama for running tanneries and testing nerve gas on dogs at his training camp. Maybe we could get some of our own home-grown terrorists to go after him too.

From the Dallas Morning News"SAIDU SHARIF, Pakistan -- Mohammad Shoaib went to Afghanistan looking for holy war. He came limping home last week with a left arm shredded by shrapnel, one ear scorched and deaf, a brother among the missing, his wallet 8,000 rupees lighter, and a sad tale of abuse at the hands of Afghans." . There are many similar stories being told by the "volunteers". Used as cannon fodder by the Taleban, and deserted when they became useless, robbed and abused by their allies -- if we are all lucky, perhaps these people may think twice before deciding to get into other jihads.

Monday, 26 Nov 2001

According to Bush, cloning is "morally wrong". The Pope agrees with him. I think perhaps we need to keep in mind that some things also considered morally wrong in the past were: dissection of cadavers, use of anesthetic for women in childbirth, transplants and in-vitro fertilization. All of these things have happened anyway, and society has benefited from them.

While there may be some ethical considerations to cloning human beings, we are a long way from that. Despite "moral" claims to the contrary, six stem cells are not a human being.

There are some interesting issues about "property" that do need to be looked at carefully, before we get there. Tony Adragna, in his "From Left Field" points out that we should be careful not to allow any patents on unaltered genes or undifferentiated stem cells. He says:

"This is the slippery slope that leads toward clones being classed as "property", and I don't trust some future Supreme Court to uphold constitutional rights for clones after the tradition has already developed. We can strike a balance between science and ethics that doesn't involve a ban on cloning, but it requires not allowing any notion of "proprietary rights" to develop into doctrine in this context, and we should start now."

He does have a good point, there might be people who will someday consider a human being produced by cloning to be "unnatural" and "not really human". Probably some of the same ones who are presently calling the cloning of six cells "immoral". That we do need to forestall.

I'm listening to the briefing right now, and wondering when the reporters will give up asking questions they know won't be answered. I think Rumsfeld is much more patient than I would ever be. Maybe the reporters should all be given a handout of the daily briefing which says in large letters at the top: "No we are not going to discuss our battle plans with you. Quit asking!"

Sunday, 25 Nov 2001

I'm sure everyone has heard that a company has announced that it has successfully cloned human embryo cells. I've got a few reservations about the idea of making "clone babies", mainly because so many of the people who would like one have motives I worry about--people who want to clone a child who died, a parent who died or themselves. I suspect none of these are very good ideas. Having the same genes will not give the same personality, and I suspect any clones made by people with these motives would live a pretty hellish life (no, I have no proof... it's just my instinct).

I would; however, like to right now declare my complete opposition to those who are trying to ban any experimentation. Stem cells are not embryos, no matter how much spin you put on them. I would recommend reading everything Reason Online has just put up, and doing a lot of thinking , before you make your decision on this issue. It is not as simple as it may be made to seem by the media (nothing is).

I know this is supposed to be a war blog... but I am not that one-sided. Other issues do occasionally get my attention.

"Hundreds of captured fighters dead in prison riot" says Ananova. Seems the prisoners who surrendered didn't really mean it. MSNBC (television) says they have reports of many being killed, on both sides. I'm sure that by tomorrow, some pundit will claim the prisoners were "massacred".

Good news from the television, the United Front (Northern Alliance) is reporting that all of Kunduz is now under their control. That leaves just Kandahar for the cities, and I believe it will also fall soon. I'm sure we'll start hearing about "quagmires" again as the Alliance begins targeting holdouts and bandits in the countryside.