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Sun. Jun 20, 2004

Missing News: Miscellaneous

Well, it’s only been two weeks, but even when the blogger stops, the news doesn’t. Therefore, I feel like I have a few loose ends to tidy up before we move on to new business (you’ll also find longer “Missing News” pieces on Reagan and on Al Qaeda and the murder of Paul Johnson).

First, I must acknowledge perhaps the most surprising event of the past two weeks, and offer congratulations to the fans of the Detroit Pistons. Not because their team devoured the Hollywood Lakers like a horde of thug cicadas. But because, for the first time in recent memory, the city of the team that won the championship did not erupt in “victory riots.” Maybe that perverse American tradition of celebrating sports success by overturning cars and smashing stuff has come to an end.

Nah. Just an aberration, I’m sure.

Oh, and Michele reports, “Dave Winer is Still a Dick.” Well, that’s not exactly “Missing News,” but more of a confirmation. Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

One person didn’t get the respect they deserved during the past two weeks: Ray Charles. Brother Ray was a massive musical talent, who influenced countless musicians over the many decades of his career. Like a host of black musicians who performed in the 50’s and 60’s, contractually, he never got what he was due. It’s sad a similar tenor carried over even to the week of his death. He deserved more, but unfortunately, in our media world each news cycle can only contain so much content. And Ronald Reagan got almost all of it.

And finally, a couple of pointers to articles related to Europe. Old and New. The first one echoes something I wrote over a year ago, “Remembered Distrust,” about the failure of the “European Approach. A staff editorial from The Washington Post offers more evidence.

NINE MONTHS AGO, as a confrontation loomed between Iran and the United Nations over Iran’s illicit nuclear programs, three European governments staged a preemptive operation. Flying to Tehran, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany struck a deal with Iran’s Islamic regime: The Europeans would block a referral of Iran’s violations to the U.N. Security Council and provide technical cooperation, and in exchange Iran would stop its work on uranium enrichment, fully disclose its nuclear programs and accept a new U.N. protocol giving inspectors greater access. The Bush administration was upstaged; some in Paris and Berlin smugly suggested that it had been given an object lesson by the Europeans in how “soft power” could be used to manage the rogue states in President Bush’s “axis of evil.”

This week, with the world’s attention focused on the troubled situation in Iraq, the European version of preemption is yielding its own bitter—if less bloody—result. Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency have reported that Iran never honored its agreement; it has stalled and stonewalled the inspectors while continuing to work on elements of a nuclear program that could soon allow it to produce weapons. The Europeans have responded by drafting for approval by the 35-member IAEA board a stern statement demanding Iranian cooperation; Tehran has replied with threats to restart uranium enrichment and suspend negotiations with the West.

Washington Post: “Failed Preemption“

And from “Old Europe” we move to “New Europe.” Vaclav Havel, the former president of the Czech Republic, says it’s Time to Act on N. Korea:

Kim Jong Il is able to blackmail the world with the help of his huge army, nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, and the export of weaponry and military technology to like-minded dictators around the world. He wants to be respected and feared abroad and to be recognized as one of the world’s most powerful leaders. He is willing to let his own people die of hunger, and he uses famine to liquidate those who show any sign of wavering loyalty to his rule. Through blackmail, he receives food and oil, which he distributes among those loyal to him (first in line being the army).

Shockingly, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights has criticized the North Korean regime for its gross violations of human rights only twice since the commission was founded. Less shocking, but also disturbing, is the fact that the North Korean government has yet to implement any of the commission’s recommendations.

Now is the time for the democratic countries of the world—the European Union, the United States, Japan, South Korea—to take a common position. They must make it clear that they will not offer concessions to a totalitarian dictator. They must state that respect for basic human rights is an integral part of any future discussions with Pyongyang. Decisiveness, perseverance and negotiations from a position of strength are the only things that Kim Jong Il and those like him understand.

Vaclav Havel: “Time to Act on N. Korea“

Of course, lots of others things occurred and were said in my absence. But that’s enough about the past, when there is so much fresh spleen to be vented!