Through the back door:

Socialized Medicine through the back door:
Doug Ross explains SCHIP for Dummies and Self-Employed Woodworkers.

Mark Steyn knocks on the woodworker part of the story.

And here's the punchline:

"And in order to get enough money to pay for this, it would require 22 million new smokers."

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Terrorist memorial through the back door:
At the crescent of death, Why only 38 Memorial Groves?
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One more push towards the Fairness Doctrine, through the back door:
Republicans rule radio but Democrats fight back
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Another U.N. Power Grab through the back door:
What would Reagan do? On the Law of the Sea Treaty, we know the answer

Such developments only serve to reinforce the concerns President Reagan rightly had about the central, and abiding, defect of the Law of the Sea Treaty: its effort to promote global government at the expense of sovereign nation states--and most especially the United States. One of the prime movers behind LOST, the late Elisabeth Mann Borgese of the World Federalist Association (which now calls itself Citizens for Global Solutions), captured what is at stake when she cited an ancient aphorism: "He who rules the sea, rules the land." A U.N. publication lauding her work noted that Borgese saw LOST as a "possible test-bed for ideas she had developed concerning a common global constitution."

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Charlie Gibson might be shown the back door if he keeps it up:

CHARLES GIBSON, ABC ANCHOR: The U.S. military reports the fourth straight month of decline in troop deaths, 66 American troops died in September, each a terrible tragedy for a family, but the number far less than those who died in August. And the Iraqi government says civilian deaths across Iraq fell by half last month.

As War Dragged On, Coverage Tone Weighed Heavily on Anchors:

By training their powerful spotlight on the chaos gripping Iraq, the anchors were arguably contributing to the political downfall of a president who had seemed to be riding high when he won his second term.

But not to worry: Howard Kurtz has been told:

To Kurtz's obvious frustration, his guests - Robin Wright of the Washington Post and Barbara Starr of CNN - both supported the press burying this extremely positive announcement.

Watch:

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Al Jazeera through the YouTube back door:
YouTube Deepens Commercial Relationship With Al Jazeera
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Sharia law through the Med School Back door:
Muslim medical students refuse to learn about alcohol or sexual diseases:

Some Muslim students claim studying sex and alcohol related diseases is 'offensive'.
...
Professor Peter Rubin, chairman of the GMC's education committee, said: 'Examples have included a refusal to see patients who are affected by diseases caused by alcohol or sexual activity, or a refusal to examine patients of a particular gender.'

Spare them their feelings and kick them out of med school, then.
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Special thanks to Larwyn for the links.


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Lawrence Wright on "Al-Qaeda: Past, Present and Future"

Yesterday afternoon TigerHawk and I attended Lawrence Wright's lecture on "Al-Qaeda: Past, Present and Future." These are my notes:

Mr. Wright started his lecture by asking what drew the 9/11 attackers to al-Qaeda? They were college educated Saudis, not the products of religious schools, with no obvious mental disorders, not religious. What draws these young men to al-Q?

Social factors:
In the 70s: Most al-Qaeda recruits came from rural areas of Egypt – displacement was the most common element among them; they joined the jihad in countries away from home.
Another factor is feeling marginal in the culture you're in. The recent plots in UK by second- and third-generation Brits but whose feelings of marginality persisted through 3 generations. There's not a clash of civilizations, but aa clash of identities within a civilization. For instance, in Belgium the most common babies' name is Mohammed. For that Mohammed, not surprisingly, Mohammed becomes more than a religion, but an identity.

We're more blessed in America with a Muslim community that's part of our society. The average American Muslim makes a higher wage than the average American.

Displacement doesn't explan everything: there are nihilists and idealists in al-Qaeda.
There are economic reasons: 1/5 world's population lives in Muslim countries but those countries account for 1/2 of the world's poor. If you take the oil out of those economies, 300 million Arabs produce less than Nokia corporation.
1.3billion Muslims mostly living in the 57 countries of Organization of Islamic Countries produce less than the German GDP.

Another factor is the lack of civil society: no movies, no plays, no dating, no political life, no museums, few parks, no unions. Nothing between the government and the mosque except shopping. No wonder that a study on depression showed that 65% boys, 72% of college age girls in college were depressed.

The separation of the sexes takes a toll on women. Saudi woman can't drive, need permission of men to travel; can't check into a hotel. One of his reporters when he worked in Saudi Arabia, Najia, slept on carpet of mosque at the airport in order to be able to attend a press conference she wanted to report on.
It also takes a toll on men, who are deprived of the solace of women's companionship. The guys didn't spend adolescence molding their behavior trying to please girls. Women are referred to as BMOs - Black Moving Objects.

The element of humiliation:
Many Muslims are personally humiliated, for instance, in Egypt's prisions. But Mr. Wright saw video of Bin Laden talking at a mosque in the 1970s - on the theme of humiliation: Why did this rich young charismatic man feel humiliated? P

There's a profound sense of cultural humiliation: on 9/11/1683 at the Gates of Vienna marked the end of Islamic superpower. This sense of humiliation is linked to a desire to strike back. Mr. Wright quoted Bernard Lewis on the movement from "how did this happen" to "who did this" to us.
The sense of injustice is reinforced by images of Muslims under siege in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan.
Fox News and al-Jazeera show images of the continuing humiliation of the Arabs. CNN showed a pair of US Marines ignoring "quivering lips of little girls" (LW's phase), and a family kneeling in front of Marines; this image was repeated endlessly.

The sense of humiliation is expanded by fact that nearly everything you own is made elsewhere. Measurements for excellence, such as Nobel Prizes, are practically absent from the Muslim world at large.

Al-Qaeda:
Bin-Laden wanted the US to replicate the errors of Soviets. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan the USSR dissolved. Bin-Laden miscalculated. 80% of al-Qaeda's membership was captured or killed, and was repudiated all over the world. The WOT was essentially dead; then, Iraq sparked the flames.

A-Qaeda had planned for day when a country's leadership would be smashed.
The old al_Qaeda was run from the top-down. The new is a network of small groups. In a way, it follows the model of street gangs: flat-horizontal groups tied together by internet. Al-Qaeda makes tremendous use of internet, leaving a legacy for future jihadists. Training's a vital element in al-Qaeda.

Now al-Qaeda has training camps in Mali, Iraq, Pak, Somalia, Afghanistan, and roots in many different countries. How has it been able to reconstitute?
Al-Qaeda believes in the management of savagery: through savage acts, and taking advantage of danger opportunity, such as attacking oil fields so the government neglects other areas. Once the government falls, people look to other sources for safety.

Mr. Wright mentioned how Al-Zarqawi came to the fore: he cut off the head of a hostage, and began bombing Shiite mosques, thus creating a civil war.

In 2005 Fuad Hussein outlined al-Qaeda's master plan in Zarqawi's biography, as a 20-year plan:

9/11: The Awakening. This first stage ended in 2003 when US entered Bagdhad.
2d stage, up to 2006: recruiting
3rd stage: Syria Turkey, Israel
4th stage: 2013 al-Qaeda overthrowing Arab governements as US power continues to decline
5th stage: Caliphate. Israel won't be able to defend itself
2016 total confrontation: Caliphate Islamic army on the attack
2020 definitive victory, which is defined as, "falsehood will come to an end. Islamic state w/lead mankind to shore of safety ...and happiness".

A failure of the US in Iraq will embolden al-Qaeda.

Measures we can take to defeat radicalism:
1. Fix our intelligence, and emphasize understanding, penetrating, disrupting AQ. FBI agent Ali Safan came close to stopping 9/11, but there are fewer Arabic speakers now than in 9/11. The head of FBI doesn't know the difference between Suni & Shiite. [SEE NOTE BELOW] We need native speakers. Instead, there's a new tier of bureaucracy: the Dept. of Homeland Security. We need skilled people on the ground. There are only 6 fluent Arabic speakers in the Iraq embassy. Spurned Arabs & Muslims can’t get a job in security after serving 4 yrs in the Army.
2. Need allies in this effort. "Antiamericanism seemed to have vanished from the lexicon after 9/11". Many countries have a stake in Iraq, for instance Sweden, and the countries harbroing millions of refugees in Iraq's neighbors.
3. We're in pregnant moment in Israeli-Palestinian crisis. It's difficult to make people make peace but it's clear that the Arabs are suing for peace and want peace. This offers a great opportunity to restore our reputation and focus in the settlements. If we want Israel to survive, need to create prosperous successful Palestine. We need to succed in Israel and Palestine as this will reduce the flow of recruits and inflammation.

3 reasons why al-Qaeda won't win:
1. Everyone is its enemy: Shiites, Israel, USA, Westeners, NATO, Russia, China, and "atheists, pagans and hypocrites", too.
2. Most of a-Qaeda's victims are Muslims: for instance, in Casablanca, Instanbul, Algiers, Bali.
3. Al-Qaeda offers nothing to the people that follow it. Bin-Laden never thought in terms of politics because al-Qaeda doesn't believe in the future. Al-Qaeda offers one thing: death. For instance, death, not victory, over the Soviets. Al-Qaeda is a suicide machine.

Questions and anwers:
Q: Humiliation issue; Why do the Turks, Albanians and Bosnians why feel less humiliated?
LW: There are no Turks that he knows of in a-Q, and very few Bosnians. A young Turk has the opportunity to affect his society, prosper, marry and date – no reason to look to old stories of former greatness. Al-Qaeda has used Spain's Caliphate beauty, tolerance, learning, poetry, history selectively to inflame their followers.

Q. What's the best way to extricate ourselves from Iraq?
LW: I'm ppposed to getting out. We have the moral burden to do as well as we can to the Iraqi people to try to create a space of calm so the Iraqis can organize themselves.
Al-Qaeda's happy if US stays because the civil war's prospering like crazy; a-Q's happy if the US withdraws and leaves a likely genocide, spreading to other countries. We should not fool ourselves with thinking there are easy paths out.

Q. aQ offers people something to do – could you address other sources of humiliation in that part of the world?
LW. Al-Qaeda's like an engine that runs on the river of despair in the Muslim world. We need to fight despair w/hope: jobs, greater sense of justice, but there's a limit on what we can do.
Egypt has the roots for democracy, but its future is 1. the Mubarak regime perpetuates itself, or 2. the Muslim Brotherhood comes to power through democratic means. It won't be pretty. The Muslim Brotherhood's a shallow political organization, with the jihad, and now people are beginning to look at democracy in a different way; if they come to power through democracy it'd be better [than through other means].

Q; In the West we do not look forward to death, but they look forward to death through religious teachings. Why does [LW] say he say it's not a cultural religious war, then?
LW: Jim Jones had an organization drawn people, even when knowing it celebrated death. Death has attraction not exclusive to al-Qaeda.
Qatar's more open & tolerant, profoundly different from Saudi Arabia; the rotten political systems are stifling & humiliating the ambitions of so many young people.

Q. The person commented on the concept of humiliation in American foreign policy: Attempt to humiliate Lebanon, Abu graib, "Bring them on", the US's unwavering support of Israelis, & therefusal to recognize Pal elections.
LW. Wishes for a humble foreing policy, and a far more modest role in foreign relations.

Q. On the culture of death – culture of an alternative to life; what comes after death?
LW. It's remarkable that the Muslims commit suicide – Mohammed said that suicides spend all of eternity repeating the act of killing himself w/ same instrument.
The suicide killings are justified because (using a suicide killing in Egypt) first there are no innocents because everyone in Egypt were perceived as supporting the advance of Islam. Suicidal choice is made because of those who die for the greater glory of god are not considered suicides but martyrs.
LW asked, why doesn't everyone see through this sophistry – because there's awillfulness to believe in this philosophy.

Q. General Petreus said there's no diplomatic solution - only through diplomacy [NOTE: see my prior post on this statement]
LW. Only the military can provide some kind of protection to the Iraqi people because the diplomats aren't going to do that. LW's not an expert on subject. He worries about staying or pulling out. Anyone who advocates one or the other has to acknowledge the dangers of either course.

Q. The West Bank had been in the hands of Jordan; Gaza was held by Egypt. Is the sense of humiliation misplaced because a state could have been created by the Arab world and it wasn't?
LW. No one who cares for Arabs can't help but feel anger by missed opportunities to make pace. There's an opportunity and we have to seize it.

Q. (This was a very wordy statement on the commenter's study of Palestinian suicide bombers: honor students; the whole society is disaffected. Gangs in US, Colombine, etc., all are disaffected by socty around them.)
LW. Agreed

Q. What are the Islamic intellectuals doing to counter this lack of civil society?
LW. In the Arab world there are different things going on in different places. Entrenched autocrats have an investment in staying in power. We face a chove: they help us on terrorism or we democratize (for instance, in Egypt). The US has helped train people for democracy in Yemen. There are no rapid chgs in the Middle East.
There's only a certain amt of chg people can take. For instance, the Editor of his paper (where LW worked in Saudi Arabia) had been a young shepherd, and graduated at the U of Texas, but lived an entire industrial revolution in his lifetime. The whole flood of change has been so instant there's a kind of reluctance for more. Saudi Arabia's so stuck: frustration, hopelessness, anger. What force is greater? Fear is that force. Fear not of the government (which is not as cruel as Egypt's), but fear of change. Change does not equal progress in the Middle East.

Q. What lies ahead for Europe?
LW. Europe's very exposed to attack. There are many radical Muslims in the UK; tis'a much different situation than here. LW was at a mosque when someone asked for more beheadings and he watched the nodding heads of community approval. There's a real problem in England right now. All over Europe, France Spain, Germany, the jihadi vets returning & joining new cells with the network now created in Iraq. The future in Europe's not very attractive.

NOTE On the matter of the head of the FBI not knowing the difference between the Sunni and the Shiia, I was wondering if Mr. Wright had in mind Democrat Silvestre Reyes, head of the House Intelligence Committe instead. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to ask a question.

Other links:
Hugh Hewitt interviewed Lawrence Wright on Tuesday
Lawrence Wright's Official Website
Lawrence Wright is the author of

Israel in the foreign media: JP's Gil Hoffman at Princeton University

UPDATE: I completed the post and the lecture is now posted in full
Gil Hoffman, chief political correspondent and analyst for the Jerusalem Post, was on campus yesterday afternoon and the subject of his lecture was Israel in the eyes of the foreign media.

The lecture, which coincided with Hans Blix's, was not promoted heavily and I wasn't the only person in the audience to learn about it at the last minute. Unlike the al-Jazeera lecture of April 13, 2005, this one was sparsely attended, with an audience of only 40 or so. He's a most interesting guy, and I decided to post nearly all my notes on the lecture.

Hoffman's main contact at his job is giving interviews with foreign media, such as CNN, BBC. Of them, mostly al-Jazeera is tremendously interested in what's going on in the country. When the Prime Minister gave a 45-minute long press conference regarding rape accusations, the local TV stations stopped after the first 20 minutes, but al-Jazeera carried the whole press conference. Having the al-Jazeera coverage not only in the conflict but in cultural and social events in the country shows the Arab world that Israel has more to offer than the conflict.

During the Barak years there was no foreign media spokesman, and the only on who spoke English detested Barak.

The Israeli military studied what happened in Jenin - where the fighting was reported as a massacre against the Palestinians, something that couldn't have been further from the truth. In fact, the troops had gone house-to-house to minimize casualties while trying to find terrorists. As there was no foreign media to do the reporting, the Palestinians got out a blood libel. From then on, the Israeli mililitary have made very effort possible to make sure the media go everywhere they go. No doubt this has improved how Israel comes across in the foreign media.

In contrast, last Summer there was a lot of media based in Jerusalem - and the media understood that it was Israel's international border that was being defended.

Israel faces four major threats:

Iran
Syria/Lebanon
Palestinians
Internal rifts inside Isr society that threaten to tear from within: Divides between rich poor, Askenazi/Spahardic, Right/Left, all thses issues divide israelis.

The most scary? Iran.
Nuclear weapons: having them at all because if Iran has them the entire country of Israel would be the way Northern Israel was last country within range last Summer: The whole country would have to go down south or underground. Who would want to live in such a country? Iran is also developing longer range missiles to reach Europe; the US has established an antimissile base in Poland. Additionally, Iran supports Chavez; Iran then talks about the Jewish state from Israel and in Florida.

However, Hoffman genuinely thinks things will be alright, as the issue's being handled discreetly at the highest levels. Olmert has been helping the country by networking with foreign powers ever since he was mayor of Jerusalem, and continues to this day, travelling to Russia China, Egypt London, US, and France, returning more optimistic after each visit.

A second reason for optimism: what is going on in American politcs. A lame duck President has to worry only about his place in history; if he saves the wold from nuclear destruction that will certainly earn him a place. The Democrat oposition now they alreay have the blue states and a way to gain red states is to prove they are tough. There's a stream of Dem candidates visiting Israel, plus they want the Republicans to deal with Iran before they go the White House.
Additionally, the previous UN Secretary General never understood the fundamentalism threat. Now Ban Ki-moon's trying to prevent North Korea from developing atomic weapons, but Iran is also a top priority.
Politics inside Iran: Ahmadinejad is losing the support of his people and there's anger against him. As mayor, he improved the conditions of Tehran but has now brought the world against Iran. The Iranians need outside assistance to feed their people. Israel is hopeful that sanctions will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

What matters most is the politics in Israel. Used to be that generals were in charge, now Olmert is in charge but Israelis trust generals more. Hoffman said that in 62 days, Peretz (Minister of Defense) will be replaced, and the 2 leading candidates are miliary men. Israel needs a ough guy as Min of Def, as Nassralla head of Hizbollah, said last Summer that he wanted to test the weak leadership.

Ofense and defense
Defense: Israel has the Arrow Missile Defense System, which was tested again yesterday.
Ofense: Israel won't be acting alone but with the countries that Olmert visited this last year acting together. When an Israeli general said last year, "Sometimes the last resort is the only resort", it was the first time anyone had hinted at military option. In Iran they are scared of Israel, and the enemies are still scared of the Jewish state.

I'll continue on this post later today. Continuing:
The threat from Syria and Lebanon:
Hoffman went to the north during the bombing last Summer. Dodging missiles and living in shelters was terrible for Israel to endure. However, the media didn’t get to see any of the damage because Iraelis don't dwell in their victimhood. After suicide bombings they clean up immediately, and everything had been rebuilt immediately after the bombings from Lebanon. Israelis have resilience and morbid sense of humor.
They have to prepare for another war next Summer: those 4000 missiles that Hezbollah shot at Israel last year have already been replenished by Assad/Syria. Everybody in the military's been recalled for retraining. There will be pressure on Olmert to quit after results of investigation on what went wrong comes out.

Assad has three pictures in his office: his father's, Ahmadinejad's, and Nassarallah's.

The other threat are the Palestinians:
In the 14 months since they elected Hamas, Irsael had elected the government most willing to make accommodations that could have ended the conflict. Israel gave them two conditions: disarmament, and accepting the existence of Israel. Not a country in the world was supporting the Hamas government until last week, when Norway broke the boycott to spite Europe. At that time a suicide bomber was caught and a sniper attacked; Hamas claimed credit for that sniper, signaling that it’s not very smart to join Norway.

The Q&A Session:
My question was, what is being done with reporters like Charles Enderlin, who uses stringers that make up reports out of whole cloth?
Israel has a problem with foreign reporters having to rely on stringers. While Israelis speak freely in a divided kind of way, on the Palestenian street people won't say anything out of fear from their lives. An organization in Israel has offered Arabic speakers to translate in the Palestinian areas.

2. How about the BBC's fairness?
BBC sometimes is not very fair to Israel.
Al-Jazeera has never interviewed him three-against-one, the Israeli against the Arab, the Palestinian and the Lebanese.
When they interviewed him in London, the first question was "is this a land-grab?", after the withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel is not given the benefit of the doubt. He tells them that the people of Israel want peace.

3. How important is the issue of recognition?
For Israel, it's very important that its enemies allow it to exist. "Don't kill us."

4. What is the difference between al-Jazeera, al-Arabiya, and the new all-Arabic BBC?
By allowing Israel's Arab-language spokespeople on Arab media, it is good for Israel because they see more Israelis as people and not enemies. As far as actual news, foreigneers and rich Arabs tend to watch al-Jazeera, but al-Arabiya's on TV screens throughtot arab world.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Update, Wednesday March 28
On a related subject, BBC pays £200,000 to 'cover up report on anti-Israel bias'

The BBC has been accused of "shameful hypocrisy" over its decision to spend £200,000 blocking a freedom of information request about its reporting in the Middle East.
...
The corporation is fighting a landmark High Court action, which starts next week, in a bid to prevent the public finding out what is in the review, which is believed to be critical of the BBC's coverage in the region.

BBC bosses have faced repeated claims that is coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict has been skewed by a pro-Palestianian bias.

The corporation famously came under fire after middle-east correspondent Barbara Plett revealed that she had cried at the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004.

The BBC's decision to carry on pursuing the case, despite the fact than the Information Tribunal said it should make the report public, has sparked fury as it flies in the face of claims by BBC chiefs that it is trying to make the corporation more open and transparent.

Politicians have branded the BBC's decision to carry on spending money, hiring the one of the country's top public law barrister in the process, as "absolutely indefensible".

They claim its publication is clearly in the public interest.

The BBC's determination to bury the report has led to speculation that the report was damning in its assessment of the BBC's coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict that the BBC wants to keep it under wraps at all costs.

h/t The Anchoress

Following up on the Mohammed cartoons, the lawsuit

As I mentioned last year French tabloid Charlie Hebdo was the only newspaper in France to publish the Mohammed cartoons. Back then they not only published the original cartoons but also added one on the cover that said, "It's hard to be loved by so many idiots",


As expected, a lawsuit is in the works, claiming racism (emphasis added): French magazine sued over cartoons

The editors of a French magazine which re-published the Danish cartoons of Islam's prophet Muhammad will begin defending their right to free speech in a French court this week.

The satirical magazine, the Charlie Hebdo, is being sued by French Muslim organisation in the trial that opens in Paris on Wednesday.

The Grand Mosque of Paris and the Union of French Islamic Organisations accuse Charlie Hebdo of inciting racial hatred by reprinting the caricatures that sparked violence in the Muslim world last year.

Philippe Val, publisher of the magazine, has depicted the trial as a defence of free speech.

Politicians, intellectuals, secular Muslims and left-wing pressure groups have lined up behind Charlie Hebdo, arguing that Muslim groups have no right to call for limits on free speech.
...
In an act of solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, French newspaper Liberation printed the contested cartoons once more on Wednesday.

If convicted, the charge carries a possible six-month prison sentence and a fine of up to $28,530.

EU Referendum believes that "the case may well be one of the seminal ones in French legal history."

Charlie-Hebdo's cover comments on the lawsuit, this time in a more ecumenical theme:

Charlie Hebdo must be veiled!

This is not the first lawsuit in Europe, or in France, on the cartoons: Last year I posted that a French judge rejected the CFCM complaint over a technicality. Additionally, the BBC reports that

In October, a Danish court rejected a libel case brought by several Muslim groups against the Jyllands-Posten.

The court in Aarhus said there was not enough reason to believe the cartoons were meant to be insulting or harmful.

In London last week

A British Muslim man has been found guilty of soliciting murder during a London rally against cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.
Umran Javed, 27, of Birmingham, was also convicted of stirring up racial hatred by a jury at the Old Bailey.

Across the Atlantic, al-Jazeera gets punked - with a Mohammed cartoon (h/t Larwyn). Will the mobs attack al-Jazeera? Or will they sue instead?

Update You might want to read Neo-neocon's impressions upon encountering the Palais de Justice last year.


Technorati tags Danish cartoons, Jyllands-Posten

Saddam to hang at 10PM EST

A top Iraqi official said Saddam will be executed before 10 p.m. EST Friday.

I certainly hope al-Jazeera carries the execution. This is why:
Earlier this year when I went to listen to Dan Senor, one of the main points he made was that

Arab Muslims are voting and holding their governments accountable; al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya have broadcast this around the regions... This is very powerful and very important.

Specifically, on Saddam's trial, he stated,

The trial sends a message to almost every ruler who identifies with Saddam. The only thing that never happened is the governments to be held accountable - until now. The trial's being aired by al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya. Senor spent half a day with one of Saddam's attorneys and was told that other area rulers are terrified, and particularly mentioned Al-Assad.

One dramatic development in the trial in recent days was Saddam's admission that he was responsible for the 1981 assassination of a small Sunni town where 150 people killed and the town was razed.

It is important for Iraq to close this 3-decade chapter [in its history].

Let's not underestimate the power the image of Saddam's execution will carry across the Middle East.

Update Round-up at Right Voices

Iraq The Model has the latest.

Update, Saturday December 30 While CNN spouts off how Saddam - whose own official documents suggest that a staggering 5 million executions were made during Baath era alone - was a"champion of the Arab cause", Gateway Pundit points out that Saddam was hanged inside one of his former torture centres. As I said above, area rulers are watching.
The Anchoress, who's a much better woman than I, grapples with the issues of morality. Me, I'm glad the SOB's dead. So is Pamela.

And now for The Very Briefest of Neocon Retrospectives. More from Claudia Rosett.

Another update: Again, we can be proud that the United States of America brought him down. And that no dictator can ever feel entirely safe again.

Hat tips: Larwyn

Later update, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred and Dr Sanity examine the reaction from the Left.