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Dealing With It Today I found a link to a report on civilian casualties of America’s bombardment of Afghanistan. The author of the report attempts to determine how many civilians have died due to US bombing, and comes up with a number around 3,800. The report is well sourced, and is probably about as accurate as you can be analyzing the incomplete information that’s available from Afghanistan. The author makes no attempt to hide his political agenda – he’s as strongly opposed to America’s involvement in Afghanistan as one can possibly be. I, for one, strongly disagree with the author’s opposition to the war in Afghanistan and believe that we are fighting a just war there. I don’t have any desire to argue with the author of the paper, he’s entitled to his opinions whether I agree with them or not. ...

MEMRI has a translation of an Al Jazeera interview with Abu Hafs, one of the leaders of Al Qaeda, from mid-November. The Economist has some sensible suggestions on improving America’s energy policy. Dmitry Sklyarov, the Russian programmer who was arrested for violating the DMCA, is free to go back to Russia after cutting a deal with the feds. In return for testifying against his employer, the charges against him will be dropped. President Bush invoked executive privilege for the first time on Wednesday in response to Congressional requests for documents concerning a 30 year old case in which the FBI wrongfully prosecuted someone for murder and a Clinton administration campaign finance probe. The decision irritated both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, and certainly seems to fall in line with Bush’s other moves to avoid accountability to other branches of government. (Thanks to Rebecca for initially sending along a pointer to this.) ...

As expected, the US has pulled out of the 1972 ABM treaty, with nothing to replace it. Whether China and Russia are going to buy into our argument that it’s not designed to be used against them, but rather against “rogue states” and terrorists remains to be seen. The loathesome Dick Armey is retiring at the end of his current term, unfortunately leaving the loathesome Tom DeLay to pick up where he left off as House majority leader. Hopefully after next year’s elections, DeLay will be the House minority leader. The best article I’ve seen recapping Armey’s career and the events that led to his retirement is Jake Tapper’s at Salon. Unfortunately, it’s Premium only. ...

How is it that I always find out about things too late? There was a massive international piracy ring and I didn’t find out about them until they got busted. It looks like they had a website at drinkordie.com, so they probably weren’t too covert. Settlers: Claiming the ‘Promised Land’ is a BBC article on Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Despite the fact that the settlements contravene international law, the Israeli government subsidizes on home purchases in settlements. I don’t condone violence toward Israelis by Palestinian militants, but I don’t condone people moving into captured land that will put them in direct conflict with the people who reside there, either. One act is no less belligerent than the other. ...

I mentioned the MESA conference the other day, and pointed to a story about it in the American Prospect. The New Republic also has a dispatch from the conference that paints a different picture than the Prospect story. Salon Premium subscribers can read Scott Rosenberg’s response to conservatives blaming California liberalism for Johnny Jihadi running off to join the Taliban. You don’t have to be a statistician to know that a sample size of one is worthless, but that hasn’t stopped the professional axe grinders for screaming “I told you so” and blaming not only the kid’s parents, but pretty much everyone in California for the way he turned out. Kids go off the rails all the time (at least he didn’t blow away a bunch of students at his school) for all sorts of reasons, blaming a particular style of parenting is next to useless. That doesn’t excuse the flaky columnists who respond to Johnny’s Taliban adventure with a shrug and an “it’s all good,” of course, but that’s not I’m talking about. ...

Honoring Those Who Look Out for Human Rights Today is International Human Rights Day. This brings me to something I’ve been meaning to say. I’ve read a lot of complaints here and there about NGOs like Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and the UNHCR for their criticism of US bombing of Afghanistan, the bombing of the prison revolt at Qala Jangi, and the way we handled airdrops of aid into Afghanistan (among other things). ...

The New York Times reports that the Justice Department is seeking a ruling that will allow them to use secret evidence in Immigration Court cases. I can see how secret evidence might be necessary in a very small number of cases, but the idea of denying defendants in court cases the right to see (and thus perhaps refute) evidence against them is an anethema to me. Here’s why people make fun of California. ...

Robert Fisk was attacked by a mob of Afghan refugees in Pakistan and severely beaten.

One thing we know from the annals of human history is that secrecy is generally bad. Sure, it’s important to keep secrets from time to time, but lack of openness generally leads to a lack of accountability, and we know where a lack of accountability leads. This New York Times article on support for the Taliban in Pakistan’s intelligence agency provides yet another example of how government agencies operating in secret can run amok. Despite the fact that Pakistan agreed not long after September 11 to cut off all aid to the Taliban, the Pakistan ISI was still shipping truckloads of guns and ammo across the border in October. ...

Goings on at the New York Times: Our old friend Laili Helms, the Taliban apologist who lived in posh circumstances in the United States even as she defended their brutal regime, has an op-ed it today's Times. You'd think that she'd be thoroughly ignored by this point. In her piece, she argues that America needs to take responsibility for stabilizing the country. Yesterday's editorial said John Ashcroft misses the point. William Safire continued to fixate on the military tribunals in his latest piece, God love him.