Must Watch: Lara Logan on The Daily Show

I have become a member of the cult of Lara Logan, after this interview on The Daily Show earlier this week. Watch the whole thing, it's fantastic.

"If I were to watch the news that you're hearing here in the United States, I'd just blow my brains out, because it would just drive me nuts."

"You get in a Humvee with soldiers, they're all on their best behavior, they've been told not to swear about you, and you say, 'Yo, what's up, motherfuckers?' and then it's all done."

"You know, I was asked once, 'do you feel responsible for the American people having a bad view -— a negative view -— of the war in Iraq?' and I looked at the reporter, and I said, 'Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier. What does that look like? Who in America knows what that looks like? 'Cause I know what that looks like, and I feel responsible for the fact that no one else does.'"

Candor from a MSM correspondent, anger, and a desire to get the real story out to the American people, with a feeling that if she doesn't she's failing us. Pretty damned impressive. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention her hottness.

According to Wikipedia, Logan has been in Iraq and Afghanistan ever since she essentially snuck in via Russia in November of 2001. Also, she pissed off Michelle Malkin, which is always a good thing. She's now Chief Foreign Correspondent for CBS News and her reports appear regularly on 60 Minutes, a show I will definitely need to start watching again.

Five Years Gone

5 Years Of War Vigil
Front & Market Streets
7:00 PM tonight (Wed 3/19/08)

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"I believe in this beautiful country. I have studied its roots and gloried in the wisdom of its magnificent Constitution. I have marveled at the wisdom of its founders and framers. Generation after generation of Americans has understood the lofty ideals that underlie our great Republic. I have been inspired by the story of their sacrifice and their strength.

But, today I weep for my country. I have watched the events of recent months with a

heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. The image of America has changed. Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.

Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination. Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have isolated ourselves. We proclaim a new doctrine of preemption which is understood by few and feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its firepower on any corner of the globe which might be suspect in the war on terrorism. We assert that right without the sanction of any international body. As a result, the world has become a much more dangerous place.

We flaunt our superpower status with arrogance. We treat UN Security Council members

like ingrates who offend our princely dignity by lifting their heads from the carpet. Valuable alliances are split. After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America's image around the globe.

The case this Administration tries to make to justify its fixation with war is tainted by charges of falsified documents and circumstantial evidence. We cannot convince the world of the necessity of this war for one simple reason. This is a war of choice.

There is no credible information to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11. The twin towers

fell because a world-wide terrorist group, Al Qaeda, with cells in over 60 nations, struck at our wealth and our influence by turning our own planes into missiles, one of which would likely have slammed into the dome of this beautiful Capitol except for the brave sacrifice of the passengers on board.

The brutality seen on September 11th and in other terrorist attacks we have witnessed around the globe are the violent and desperate efforts by extremists to stop the daily encroachment of western values upon their cultures. That is what we fight. It is a force not confined to borders. It is a shadowy entity with many faces, many names, and many addresses.

But, this Administration has directed all of the anger, fear, and grief which emerged from the ashes of the twin towers and the twisted metal of the Pentagon towards a tangible villain, one we can see and hate and attack. And villain he is. But, he is the wrong villain. And this is the wrong war. If we attack Saddam Hussein, we will probably drive him from power. But, the zeal of our friends to assist our global war on terrorism may have already taken flight.

The general unease surrounding this war is not just due to "orange alert." There is a

pervasive sense of rush and risk and too many questions unanswered. How long will we be in Iraq? What will be the cost? What is the ultimate mission? How great is the danger at home? A pall has fallen over the Senate Chamber. We avoid our solemn duty to debate the one topic on the minds of all Americans, even while scores of thousands of our sons and daughters faithfully do their duty in Iraq.

What is happening to this country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk undermining international order by adopting a radical and doctrinaire approach to using our awesome military might? How can we abandon diplomatic efforts when the turmoil in the world cries out for diplomacy?

Why can this President not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire?

War appears inevitable. But, I continue to hope that the cloud will lift. Perhaps Saddam will yet turn tail and run. Perhaps reason will somehow still prevail. I along with millions of Americans will pray for the safety of our troops, for the innocent civilians in Iraq, and for the security of our homeland. May God continue to bless the United States of America in the troubled days ahead, and may we somehow recapture the vision which for the present eludes us."

-- Senator Robert Byrd, "The Arrogance of Power," March 19, 2003

I Heartily Concur: Daniel Radosh

Daniel Radosh becomes the first two-time recipient of the "I Heartily Concur" tag, thanks to his post yesterday about the next round of Iraq-withdrawal debate. He's talking about the possibility, voiced by the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and the Iraqi Foreign Minister, and mentioned in the New York Times, that "the departure of American troops could lead to sharply increased violence, the deaths of thousands and a regional conflict that could draw in Iraq’s neighbors":

Let's be clear: to the extent that this is true, and I think it's quite likely, it's the invasion and occupation that will have caused it, not the withdrawal. The war has made these disastrous results virtually inevitable. We tried to warn you four and a half years ago. Yes, the continued presence of the U.S. military has forestalled the worst of it, but if bad shit is going to happen, it's going to happen regardless of whether America withdraws now or in five years or 10 or 25 — or simply stays until its resources are so degraded that it is no longer an effective deterrent. Nothing this or any conceivable U.S. administration has done or could possibly do in the future is likely to bring about a different outcome.

I think this is a critically important point that is being totally overlooked (which is of course why I'm blogging about it, so that those of you who read this will be able to help re-frame the debate. Since there are only about 20 of you, though, it'll have to happen Breck-style: they told two friends, and so on, and so on...) -- it's not our leaving Iraq that's going to cause the country to collapse; it's our arriving and sticking around for the last four years. The die has been cast, the horse is out of the barn, the ship has sailed; it's gonna happen whether we cut and run, stay the course, or do anything in between.

So that leads to the question, why continue to throw American dollars and lives at a situation which is a lost cause? Maybe it's our mess and we have a moral responsibility to clean it up -- that's an argument that I'm not sure that I agree with, but is at least worth thinking about (of course you'll never hear anything like that from the current administration because that would require acknowledgment of a mistake made). But if that's the case, and we need to help fix things, then we need to come up with a different way to do it. The current way isn't doing anything except pissing people off, and the people getting pissed off are the kind of people who like to blow other people up.

I Can't Believe I'm Still Protesting This War

D Jo got an email from MoveOn.org yesterday, announcing a rally to protest President Bush's veto of the war funding bill. It was pretty short notice, but I headed out of work a little bit early, and she and the girls and I walked down to Front & Walnut Streets to take part.

We marched in San Diego in 2003 to protest the beginning of this war, and it's amazingly depressing to think that, four years later, we're still protesting it. At least now a larger percentage of the American public agrees with us; when we marched back in '02, drunk 23-year-olds wandered out of the Hooters in the Gaslamp District to flip us off. This time, with a few minor exceptions, anyone who favored an open-ended occupation didn't see fit to let us know.

The rally was pretty well-attended for something that had been organized on such short notice. At its peak I counted 38 attendees, and organizers put the final estimate at between 40-50 total:



We flanked both sides of Front Street:



Most people had noisemakers and signs and were encouraging drivers to honk to show their support:



The response from drivers was almost uniformly positive. Every second or third car honked and/or waved, and I only saw two cars react negatively: one was a pickup truck with a couple of guys who yelled something unintelligible as they drove away, and another was a guy in an SUV who dropped his car into neutral and gunned his engine, which I tool to be conspicuous consumption of gasoline and pretty stupid as far as anti-anti-war statements go.

A camera crew from WHP news was there, and the reporter asked me to say a few words about why I was here. The news piece led the 11 o'clock news and included a brief clip of me in which they even spelled my name correctly.