Published: May 11, 2008 07:55 pm            

Weekly wrap - Monday, May 12, 2008

On ‘Mission Accomplished’:>

Thursday [May 1] marked five years since President Bush landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, declaring, under the banner “Mission Accomplished”: “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” On that day, the toll of American dead in Iraq stood at 140. Today, the count exceeds 4,000. That moment, the president so full of himself, has become representative of a White House arrogant, unknowing and ill-prepared.

More, the scene has become emblematic of an attitude of loose optimism. Capture Saddam Hussein, and the tide would turn. Or hold elections. Or craft a constitution. Or launch the “surge,” which for all the “breathing space” achieved has yet to yield the necessary political reconciliation among Iraqis.

The strategy still amounts to waiting for Iraqis to do their part. What the Bush team failed to understand is how difficult that would prove in such a fractured country. Count the days, 1,874 since the president’s carrier declaration, and you revisit the concern: What has the Iraq mission accomplished overall, with Iran emboldened, American influence diminished — and most telling, al-Qaida and the Taliban regrouping in what has become a haven in western Pakistan, along the border with Afghanistan? ...

– Akron Beacon Journal

On the children of Zion Ranch:<b>

It’s the largest custody case in U.S. history. With almost 500 children separated from their parents, members of a religious sect in West Texas, the challenge for the state courts and child welfare officials will be to strike a critical balance between ensuring each parent and child’s right to due process under the law and protecting vulnerable children from immediate danger. ...

Separated from their parents, the children might be more willing to talk about whether they’ve been hurt. However, authorities also must ensure that lawyers appointed to represent the children have appropriate access to their young clients. Barring that, state officials might exert their own undue influence on these vulnerable youngsters, perhaps subtly encouraging them to provide questionable testimony to support the controversial decision to separate parents and offspring. ...

State officials must not shift the too-stingy resources allocated to protect those already in state care to this huge new group of children, but instead must bring new funding to bear. And the public should demand that every allegation of harm to a child receive the same urgent attention and care that have been given to the unfortunate children of the Yearning for Zion Ranch.

– Houston Chronicle

On weapons in parks:

The right to bear arms, as provided in our Constitution, gets as much emotional and spirited debate as does the issue of church and state. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne says he’ll soon review the rule that bans loaded weapons in national parks.

The fact 51 U.S. senators, including Tennessee’s Bob Corker, support lifting the ban might have something to do with his thinking. But the fact seven former directors of the National Park Service, plus the Association of National Park Rangers and other advocacy groups oppose lifting the ban should say something, too.

It’s one place where people can hike, fish, drive and climb in relative peace. Bringing loaded weapons into a largely undeveloped park — especially one that draws 9 million people a year like the Smokies — is asking for trouble where little trouble now exists. ...

The right to bear arms was never intended to be an unrestricted, absolute right beyond the grasp of reasonable laws, any more than Freedom of Speech was meant to allow you to say anything you want at any time. The Bill of Rights is a wonderful document whose freedoms must be fought for, but there must be places in our society where loaded guns are not allowed. ...

– The Mountain Press, Sevierville, Tenn.

        

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