Newsweek's Baghdad bureau chief, Ron Norland, is leaving Iraq after two years. Some of his parting thoughts from Good Intentions Gone Bad :

Two years ago I went to Iraq as an unabashed believer in toppling Saddam Hussein. I knew his regime well from previous visits; WMDs or no, ridding the world of Saddam would surely be for the best, and America's good intentions would carry the day. What went wrong? A lot, but the biggest turning point was the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Since April 2004 the liberation of Iraq has become a desperate exercise in damage control. The abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib alienated a broad swath of the Iraqi public. On top of that, it didn't work. There is no evidence that all the mistreatment and humiliation saved a single American life or led to the capture of any major terrorist, despite claims by the military that the prison produced "actionable intelligence."

The most shocking thing about Abu Ghraib was not the behavior of U.S. troops, but the incompetence of their leaders.

[link via Atrios, who has his own thoughts on Iraq here.]

Bump: Monday is the last chance to weigh in.

I've been working on making TalkLeft more readable. Mike Ditto has been helping.

If you go here, you will see what the new site would look like.

What do you think?

Update: The justified text is now gone, by acclamation of commenters. The issue now is the size of the center column and whether it should be fixed or adjustable. I've already made the color changes to the block quotes. Thanks for your comments and keep them coming.

Democrats need to remember that the enemy is not in here with us, it is outside the room. Dissing the Chair of the DNC is not the way for Dems to unify and take back the country.

Joe Biden today:

Dean “doesn't speak for me with that kind of rhetoric and I don't think he speaks for the majority of Democrats.”

What Howard Dean said:

While discussing the hardship of working Americans standing in long lines to vote, Dean said Thursday, “Republicans, I guess, can do that because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives.” Dean said later his comments did not refer to hard-working Americans, but rather to the failure of Republican leadership to address working-class concerns.

John Edwards on Dean:

Dean “is not the spokesman for the party.”

60 Minutes tonight featured a segment with Ed Bradley on the Guantanamo military tribunals. The defense lawyers, all active military members in uniform, blasted the procedures. A White House lawyer, Bradford Berenson, who helped write the President's order authorizing the tribunals, defended them vigorously. A military prosecutor seemed less sure, but toed the party line, and said we should wait and see how they play out.

Only four of the more than 550 detainees have had criminal charges brought against them. What will happen to them if they are acquitted? They will go back to their cell, until the end of the war on terror, which could be decades.

So why give them a trial at all then? The military defense lawyers said it's a show trial, meaningless. Berenson, the White House lawyer, answered:

"If you’re acquitted by a military commission proceeding, it may mean that you are not a war criminal," says Berenson. "It doesn’t mean that you’re not an enemy combatant who can be held by our forces until the end of hostilities."

Some highlights:

by TChris

A professor who has been under contract since 2000 to study traffic stop data in Riverside, California has never concluded that Riverside police engage in racial profiling. Some question his methodology, which he admits to be flawed, and others find evidence of racial profiling in data about vehicle searches.

One area that is easier to study, [Prof. David] Harris said, is vehicle searches. "It's a very good measure of how police officers decide to use their discretion," he said. If the search data show hit rates that are low for blacks and high for whites, he explained, that could mean that racial profiling is happening. The "hit rate" refers to the percentage of searches that uncover illegal activity. Gaines' report shows a 10.8 percent hit rate for whites and a 7.9 percent hit rate for blacks.

Whether or not the data signifies racial profiling, it's revealing to learn that 9 out of 10 times the Riverside police invade a motorist's privacy by searching a vehicle, they find nothing to support their suspicion of criminal behavior.

Senator Joe Biden this morning said the U.S. should close Guantanamo.

"This has become the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world. And it is unnecessary to be in that position," said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.

Time Magazine today asks, What's going on at Gitmo?

by TChris

The administration's case against Murat Kurnaz boils down to guilt by association, and demonstrates why the administration's Combatant Status Review Tribunals are an inadequate substitute for judicial review of "enemy combatant" detentions. Kurnaz -- a German-born Turkish citizen -- was arrested in Pakistan and turned over to the U.S. military, which transferred him to Afghanistan for interrogation before sending him to Guantanamo. He's been imprisoned there for three years as an enemy combatant.

But an investigation of Mr. Kurnaz's case reveals no evidence that he ever fought against the United States or planned to.

The administration initially believed that Kurnaz was an associate of Mohamed Atta, who likely piloted a plane into the World Trade Center. Lacking evidence to support that suspicion, the administration now relies on evidence that Kurnaz received food and lodging from Tablighi Jamaat while he traveled in Pakistan. The administration contends that Tablighi Jamaat supports terrorism against the United States, a proposition disputed by some terrorism experts. In any event, basing a three year imprisonment on guilt by association is unconscionable.

Bump and Update: Armando at Daily Kos notices there's a lot more news lately about Saddam, and wonders why. I think it's because his trial is supposed to begin in two months. It is curious, as Armando notes, that the quote about Saddam's spirits comes from a judge. Judges don't pay house calls to inmates, even in Baghdad. So who leaked this information? Is it part of an orchestrated campaign that began with the undie photos?

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Original Post

This is just laughable. The Judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein says his spirits have sagged in recent months as reality sets in.

"The ousted president has suffered a collapse in his morale because he understands the extent of the charges against him and because he's certain that he will stand trial before an impartial court," [Judge Raid] Juhi was quoted as saying.

What self-serving propoganda. Does anyone really think Saddam believes his trial will be impartial? His lawyer, by the way, says his spirits are high.

Robert Dunn, a criminal defense lawyer in Manhattan, has died, three days short of his 50th birthday. I knew Robert from television, we were often paired as defense lawyers on shows like Rivera Live and Internight during the Clinton years. Fox News anchor John Gibson, who used to guest host Rivera Live before moving to Fox, writes a moving tribute to him, and includes something I never knew: for the last 7 years, Robert had been living with a transplanted heart. The other day, after fainting in court, Robert was taken to the hospital where it just gave out.

Robert's most recent high profile case was that of Abdullah Higazy, the Egyptian student who made a false confession about a radio found in his hotel room at the Millenium, next to the WTC, right after 9/11. 60 Minutes featured the case, describing the techniques used by the FBI to get the false confession, and how it all was exposed when a commercial airline pilot came forward to claim the radio. In fact, Higazy had been set up. The Judge in the case said he felt misled by the Government. Robert filed a $20 million lawsuit against the FBI polygraph examiner afterwards.

Robert Dunn was a dedicated and spirited champion of liberty and the rights of the accused.

R.I.P.

Medium Lobster at Fafblog answers questions about torture in American prisons. [hat tip Suburban Guerilla]

Avedon Carol at Sideshow has a round-up of the urine-spraying articles. You can leave comments there now too.

Crooks and Liars highlights AfterDowningStreet.org. ADS is a coalition of veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups, which has launched a campaign to urge Congress to begin a formal investigation into whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. To join the alliance of bloggers supporting the campaign, go here.

TBogg explains why Iraq is like Vietnam and what's going to happen.

I almost threw up my lunch when I saw this.

Not a dime today, not a dollar tomorrow. We'll be boycotting Bali until the Indonesian courts set Schapelle Corby free.

TChris wrote earlier this morning about religious intolerance in the military, and particularly at the Air Force Academy. The Academy's Superintendent finally has come out and confirmed that the intolerance "permeates" the Academy. Speaking to the Anti-Defamation League in Denver yesterday,

The superintendent of the Air Force Academy acknowledged to leaders of a national Jewish group Friday that religious intolerance permeates the military school. "As a commander, I know I have problems in my cadet wing," Lt. Gen. John Rosa said at a meeting of the Anti-Defamation League's executive committee. "I have issues in my staff, and I have issues in my faculty — and that's my whole organization."