Objective Journalism

Article in the "News - Top Stories" section of the Reuters website:

U.S. double standard to hamper Rice Mideast drive
Thu Jun 16, 2005 06:00 PM ET
By Saul Hudson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration's different standards for its friends and foes could hurt the credibility of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's push for democracy in the Middle East on a trip that starts on Saturday.

President Bush pledged this year to make democracy and human rights a central plank in relations worldwide, and particularly in the Middle East where Washington has traditionally tolerated allies' repression and abuses.

Critics and supporters of the campaign say it has so far delivered little, because Washington has tempered its criticism of nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia for fear of losing support on policies ranging from the war on terrorism to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to oil supply.

To much of the Arab world, the Bush administration appears hypocritical as it hammers longtime foe Iran over its flawed presidential election set for Friday but refuses to call Egyptian election reform the sham most political analysts say it is.

"U.S. contradictions on democracy aren't new, but rarely has an administration been so self-righteous in its rhetoric -- and that only exposes for the world its double standards," said Stephen Zunes, a politics professor at the University of San Francisco.

Analysts also say the U.S. diplomatic campaign is hamstrung because: Washington has lost credibility due to U.S. abuse of detainees; it is reluctant to back real reform that could bring anti-American forces to power; and it has exaggerated the role of elections in establishing democracy to the neglect of other key elements such as the rule of law. ...

From the Reuters News FAQ:

Do Reuters journalists voice their own opinions?

Question
Do Reuters journalists voice their own opinions?

Answer
No, never. News stories are sourced very clearly and precisely to enable readers and viewers to form their own judgment. Our correspondents do not use unconfirmed reports as the basis of a story, nor do they offer subjective opinion.

Hat tip (Reuters "article"):
Little Green Footballs

Condoleezza Rice on Iran

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denounced Iran's so-called "elections" orchestrated by the regime in this AP news item:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran was choking off political freedom just as other Middle East countries were exploring greater openness.

Thousands of would-be candidates, and all women, were arbitrarily barred from running, Rice said at a news conference.

"I can't see how one considers that, quote, a legitimate election," Rice said.

Read the full article at the link.

President Bush in Persian

From Radio Farda, a Farsi-language translation of President Bush's statement to the Iranian people can be found here:
President Bush to the people of Iran

English-speaking readers, please pass this on to your Persian-speaking friends.

Clashes Rock Tehran

Via Free Iran:

Clashes rock several areas of Iranian Capital
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Jun 16, 2005, 07:51

Violent clashes rocked, yesterday evening, several areas of the Iranian Capital as demonstrators were attacked by Islamic regime forces.

Several areas, such as, "Enghelab" and Tehran University, "Vali e Asr", Rey, Zafar and the nearby Park e Mellat, Eslamshahr, Haft Hose, Rassol and Tajrish were affected.

Several demonstrators and also members of the regime forces were seriously injured. Rumors of two deaths have been reported from clashes which happened at Vali e Asr.

Slogans against the Islamic regime and its leadership were shouted by demonstrators who retaliated to the regime's use of clubs and tear gas by throwing pieces of stone and incendiary devices.

Public materials and several security patrol cars were damaged by the crowd. Many of regime's electoral propaganda were destroyed again or set on fire.

The situation in Tehran and several main provincial cities is very tense at few hours before the sham elections. Security forces have been deployed in an unprecedented manner and electronic jamming of abroad based opposition radio and TV programs has been increased.

The Movement's Coordinator, Aryo B. Pirouznia, hosted, via phone, by the popular Radio Israel (Persian service), called for massive boycott of sham elections and increase of protest actions against the regime. During this special program which was broadcasted yesterday evening (20:00 IR Local time), the SMCCDI Public Statement was read for the auditors.

Pirouznia is back to Los Angeles from where he's calling for massive boycott of sham elections and protest actions against the Islamic regime. Special live panels have been set at NITV and Pars TV for this purpose.
Source: SMCCDI

President Bush to Iranians: "The People of America Stand With You"

Just in from the Washington Post (hat tip: Free Iran):

President Bush, addressing the Iranian people on the eve of their presidential election, today denounced Iran's electoral system as undemocratic and vowed that America would stand with those seeking "freedom" in the Islamic Republic.

In a statement distributed by the White House, Bush charged, "Today, Iran is ruled by men who suppress liberty at home and spread terror across the world. Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy."

He added, "The June 17th presidential elections are sadly consistent with this oppressive record."

The statement amounted to a repudiation of the elections and the seven candidates for president, three of whom have campaigned as reformists and are considered relative moderates by local standards. This group includes the front-runner, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 70, a Shiite Muslim cleric who has served two previous presidential terms. Although he was formerly known as a hard-liner, Rafsanjani now bills himself as a reformer who intends to improve relations with the West, including the United States, and liberalize the economy.

... "Across the Middle East, hopeful change is taking place," Bush said, citing elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. "People are claiming their liberty. And as a tide of freedom sweeps this region, it will also come eventually to Iran."

... "Today, the Iranian regime denies all these rights," Bush said. "It shuts down independent newspapers and Web sites and jails those who dare to challenge the corrupt system. It brutalizes its people and denies them their liberty."

Bush concluded: "America believes in the independence and territorial integrity of Iran. America believes in the right of the Iranian people to make their own decisions and determine their own future. America believes that freedom is the birthright and deep desire of every human soul. And to the Iranian people, I say: As you stand for your own liberty, the people of America stand with you."

Earlier, I questioned the gloomy assessment of the Israeli-based analysis site Debka. Debka's analysts interpreted Bush's backing of el-Baradei for a fifth term at IAEA as a "dramatic reversal" that could only mean Washington had given up on stopping the regime's nuclear program. Debka concluded that "For Israel, Washington’s quiet retreat from its campaign against an Iranian bomb spells disaster, the collapse of yet another vital strategic asset intrinsic to the Sharon government’s defense posture."

But it is more likely that it is el-Baradei, not Bush, who has reversed course. A Reuters article quoted at Regime Change Iran flatly states:

The United States lost the battle to depose ElBaradei, but it has not given up its fight against Iran's nuclear program, which Washington says is a front to develop nuclear weapons.

The Reuters sources contend the appointment is more of a face-saving compromise for the UN than a surrender by the US:

"The U.S. has taken the most graceful way out of this situation," a Western diplomat said before the IAEA board meeting. "It has decided to back ElBaradei in exchange for what it hopes will be a tougher stance on Iran," the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

Also, as I argued previously, it is quite likely that Bush neither desires nor expects the current regime to be sitting in Tehran for very much longer. He may regard both the UN and the IRI as equally irrelevant. In this case, it does not much matter now whom Bush endorses or opposes for the IAEA. In fact, it is quite possible that the Bush Administration has already conducted some kind of negotiations with the future government of Iran.

It would be foolish for the President to consistently commit himself to this hardline anti-regime position unless he believed he had some assurance of being vindicated in the end. Debka - which lately has been sounding a lot like the New York Times - foresees Bush limping through the remainder of his second term, trying to cut his losses, and waiting for the next administration to take on the mess. I believe this assessment is out of character for Bush, and it is not a realistic view of the President's position. The Chief is putting his credibility on the line with Iran - it's only reasonable to assume that he has the means to back it up.

Let's blogroll!

GayPatriot - the original GayPatriot - is back! Go to the post at the link to learn everything you always wanted to know about GP ... and don't forget to visit the main page for current posts.

A Jayhawk in Longhorn Country has a few choice words for message boards. Jayhorn speaks my thoughts on Free Republic, and on longwinded message threads in general.

"Chernobyl is Open." When Michael J. Totten begins a post with these words, you know it won't be long until you read the words "I have to go there." Go to the link to find out why Portland's intrepid travel writer wants to put Chernobyl on his itinerary (which recently included Lebanon and Libya).

Beth is on blogging vacation and enjoying the Southern summer. But don't let that stop you from visiting My VRWC and reading Jody's guest post on Terri Schiavo and Merri's guest post on teen abortion.

Homecomings are the subject of this post at Neo-Neocon. A reflection on some of the ways we've changed since Vietnam ... and some ways we haven't. Read the comments for some words from a Vietnamese Iraq vet.

Shavu'ot fell, appropriately enough, on 6/13 this year; Judith at Kesher Talk posts on Jews by choice - people who choose the Torah.

Update

I'll try to get a Morning Report posted some time before noon (Pacific). I expect to post one more installment of Morning Report this Sunday, after which MR will be going on extended leave. In general I am going to take a break from posting at Dreams Into Lightning starting next week, but I will definitely be back.

This Sunday will be a special day in several respects: it's Juneteenth; it's also the day of a number of Gay Pride celebrations, including the one here in Portland (the historical anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots is June 27); and, of most immediate importance, this weekend will mark the beginning of the Iranian people's campaign to take back their country. May G-d grand them success. All freedom-loving people should support the Iranians in their struggle.

A year ago I posted this Morning Report.

Thanks to all who have visited, commented, and linked here. Stay tuned.

Morning Report: June 15, 2005

Good news from Iraq. Winds of Change has the latest news: 'Samir al-Saboon, the Sunni head of Iraq's National Security Agency, has recently shared the results of latest opinion research in Iraq, taken in May: 'Recent polling data shows that fully two-thirds of Iraqis believe their country is headed in the right direction, Saboon said. While a poll in January showed only 11 percent of Sunni Muslims in Iraq shared that view, that percentage has since grown to 40, he said... ' Hutwa bi hutwa. Read the full post at the link. (Winds of Change)

Australian hostage Douglas Wood released. The Belmont Club reports: 'Australian hostage Douglas Wood, has been released in Iraq, not through the payment of ransom, but apparently through military action.' Read the post at the link for full details, and for Wretchard's understanding of the likely chain of events. (Belmont Club)

US troops train in Africa. Stratfor (subscription service) reports: 'U.S. troops arrived in Mali June 15 to begin joint military exercises with Nigeria and eight other West and North African Countries. 1,000 U.S. troops, representing all four branches of the U.S. military, are stationed in Africa for the two-week exercise in Mali, Algeria, Chad, Niger and Mauritania. The operations focus on counterterrorism in the border regions of the trans-Sahara. The exercise is scheduled to continue through June 26 and will consist of orienteering, marksmanship, and field communications among other tactics. 3,000 African troops are participating.' (Stratfor)

Iranian activists announce plans. The following announcements have been posted at Free Iran:

Wednesday, June 15 New!
In Tehran, Iran a demonstration calling for the release of political prisoners . Location: in front of the infamous Evin Prison from 11am-1PM. The demonstration has held. I am told it was smaller (100 in some estimates) due to security forces blocking access to Evin Prison. Two women and a man were arrested. More on this soon.

Thursday June 16

The Hakha Movement, associated with Ahura Yazdi has called for people to go into the street at 10AM. They claim the regime will fall on this date.
In Palo Alto, California USA, Supporters of the Iranian freedom movement will attend a protest Location: The intersection of University Avenue and Emerson Street at 6:30 - 8:30PM.

Friday June 17 - Presidential Election Day

The Iran of Tomorrow Movement is calling for pro-democracy forces to stay in their homes and boycott the election. They are also asking Iranians, under the cover of dark, at 5:30AM to burn tires in the streets and alleys of their homes as a sign they are boycotting the election.

Anjomane Padeshahi, associated with Fouladvand has called for people to burn buses, flatten tires, place barbed wire in streets to show displeasure for the election. In the past, the regime has taken busloads of "voters" with false id's around to various polling stations to show the international media a steady stream of "voters." This appears to target these buses. This group is one of the few groups advocating a violent overthrow of the regime.

In Washington D.C. USA, Iranian opposition groups will hold a demonstration asking Iranians to boycott the elections. Location: the Islamic Republic of Iran's Interest Section 2209 Wisconsin Ave, NW. at 5:30-73PM.

All Apologies

LaShawn Barber cuts loose with such a good rant about the Senate's formal apology over lynching, that I can't resist linking to it again.

In light of the serious problems we face in the world and our own country, I think this apology is one of the dumbest, emptiest, most politically correct pile of rubbish I’ve heard in a long time.
We’ve got fanatics trying to kill us all in the name of their god and hiding among us. We’re being taxed to death taking care of deadbeats and criminals, while President Bush is sending even more of our money to brutal dictators in Africa. And the Senate apologizes for failing to pass anti-lynching laws 100 years ago? ...

It just gets better; go read it all. Meanwhile, Helen at CaribPundit, who's always worth a visit, passes on some grateful words of appreciation for the Democratic Party:

An Open Letter to the Democratic Party
By Frances Rice

(This was originally posted on Free Republic on 6/4/2004, almost one year ago, but it is worthy of reposting here for the benefit of Caribbeanites who are fond of the Democrats.)

We, African American citizens of the United States, declare and assert:

Whereas in the early 1600’s 20 African men and women were landed in Virginia from a Dutch ship as slaves and from that tiny seed grew the poisoned fruit of plantation slavery which shaped the course of American development,

Whereas reconciliation and healing always begin with an apology and an effort to repay those who have been wronged,

Whereas the Democratic Party has never apologized for their horrific atrocities and racist practices committed against African Americans during the past two hundred years, nor for the residual impact that those atrocities and practices and current soft bigotry of low expectations are having on us today,

Whereas the Democratic Party fought to expand slavery and, after the Civil War, established Jim Crow Laws, Black Codes and other repressive legislation that were designed to disenfranchise African Americans,

Whereas the Ku Klux Klan was the terrorist arm of the Democratic Party, and their primary goal was to intimidate and terrorize African American voters, Republicans who moved South to protect African Americans and any other whites who supported them ...

There's a lot more whereases until you get to the end. An apology and WHAT? (Can you say "reparations"?)

Thanks to LaShawn and Helen for these thought-provoking posts. What else should I write?

Science and Space

How to make nanotubes. Microscopic carbon tubes - or nanotubes - were manufactured in a novel way be researchers in China. Nanotubes just one micron long and under 50 nm. in diameter were made by heating plant materials at 250 degrees Celsius (just above the burning point of paper, which is 234 Celsius, or, famously, 451 Fahrenheit) and then heating the resulting residue at some 600 Celsius. The procedure is repeated up to 50 times. The process was developed by Enbo Wang of Northeast Normal University in Changchun, China. Wang used field grass, trees, and a certain wild herb in the experiment. This development is interesting enough by itself, but PhysicsWeb wins the award for best science headline of the day.

Spitzer telescope catches reflected light from supernova. Cassiopeia A, the youngest known supernova remnant in our galaxy, exploded 325 years ago. New data from the Spitzer Space Telescope indicate that Cas A let out one last blast of radiation, just 50 years ago. Photographs that appeared to show dust moving out from Cas A at the speed of light (which we all know is impossible) turned out to reveal an expanding circle of infrared light emitted by the star. Full story at Scientific American.

Mars rovers hit 1,000-sol mark. The planetary rovers Spirit and Opportunity continue to explore Mars more than 1,000 sols (Martian days) into their mission, according to Space.com.

Larger, Earth-type planet discovered. The smallest extrasolar planet yet detected was announced today, reports Space.com: 'Astronomers announced today the discovery of the smallest planet so far found outside of our solar system. About seven-and-a-half times as massive as Earth, and about twice as wide, this new extrasolar planet may be the first rocky world ever found orbiting a star similar to our own. "This is the smallest extrasolar planet yet detected and the first of a new class of rocky terrestrial planets," said team member Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. "It's like Earth's bigger cousin." Currently around 150 extrasolar planets are known, and the number continues to grow. But most of these far-off worlds are large gas giants like Jupiter. Only recently have astronomers started detecting smaller massed objects ...' Full article at the link.

Update

I'll have to tell you another time about my conversion from Safari to Firefox and back to Safari. I think for PC users, especially those using MS Explorer, Firefox is a great idea - and it does have a couple of nice features that Safari doesn't. But overall I like Safari better. I'll bore you with the geeky details later.

Various factors related to work and bills and so on will probably force me to cut back on blogging beginning next week. Morning Report expects to be on duty through this Friday, but will take an indefinite leave of absence thereafter. Occasional posting will continue, well ... occasionally.

Favorite Google search, bar none, was the user who found Dreams Into Lightning with the search terms gay males from outer space. How does that saying go? "We are everywhere." I wonder what those space boiz look like ... Are they bears? Leather daddies? I'm betting they look like this guy.

Is there a whole race of them out there somewhere? But then, how do they reproduce ... ?

And what about lesbians from outer space? Hmmmm. Now there's a concept. Maybe there's a story in that. But I digress.

"I want to live in Niamey, be a doctor and be an important woman."

These words were spoken by Anafghat Ayoub, a brave young woman in Niger, following an unimaginably painful ordeal. Read the post at Neo-Neocon. I've also linked it at Africa Report.