- NYT, Stuttaford call for prison reform. (New York Times, National Review) Andrew Stuttaford joins the New York Times in calling for reform in American prisons.
- Ali: a conversation about AG. (Iraq the Model) Ali recently spoke with another Iraqi doctor about the revelations from Abu Ghraib. The usually apolitical friend responded with surprising fervor. Ali recalls the conversation, and also echoes the theme stressed in this site, that the American investigation must serve as a model for Iraqis when they gain control of their own affairs.
- VDH on America’s war. (National Review) Victor Davis Hanson reflects on the enemy’s tactics: “their modus operandi is to push us all the way up to war”, wearing us down rather than facing us on a traditional battlefield. VDH concludes that we must not stand down, and that we need “more democracy in the Middle East, not less”. Above all, he says, we must “return to an audacious and entirely unpredictable combat mode” in order to finally secure this “weird peace” in Iraq.
- Crowd attacks regime speakers in Tehran. (SMCCDI/Daneshjoo). Following a protest from families of victims of Islamic regime violence, SMCCDI reports that Iranian citizens attacked officials and clashed with security forces at an event in Tehran. The latest incident comes as an increasingly nervous regime anticipates unrest on the anniversary of last year’s uprisings, and a possible American or Israeli response to its nuclear program.
- Pride in Rhea County. (AP) Friday’s anti-gay demonstrations in Rhea County, Tennessee were answered by a rally of more than 400 gay people and their allies on Saturday, AP reports. Rhea County gained notoriety in March for having adopted a resolution that would have banned gay people from the county; the resolution was overturned two days later.
- Oregon connection in Madrid bombing. (The Oregonian) The May 8 print edition of The Oregonian reports that a fingerprint has linked former US Army officer Brandon Mayfield to the March 11 bombing attacks in Madrid, Spain. Mayfield, a 37-year-old resident of Aloha, Oregon, is thought to be linked to other Portland-area residents who have not yet been charged.
