From the NY Times comments:

"As I never bought the argument that Saddam had nukes that had to be taken out, the decision to go to war stemmed, for me, from a different choice." -Tom Friedman, December 11, 2011

"The way you get that compliance out of a thug like Saddam is not by tripling the inspectors, but by tripling the threat that if he does not comply he will be faced with a U.N.-approved war." Tom Friedman, February 9, 2003

Link

Was Tom Friedman lying then or is he lying now?

Suck on this.

Speaking for me only

Tom Friedman now:

Iraq was always a war of choice. [. . .] seemed to me to be a legitimate strategic choice. But was it a wise choice? My answer is twofold: “No” and “Maybe, sort of, we’ll see.” I say “no” because whatever happens in Iraq, even if it becomes Switzerland, we overpaid for it.

Tom Friedman then:

Friedman writes "I have nothing but respect for the Americans, Brits and Iraqis who paid the price to make it possible." Speaking for me only, eff you Tom Friedman.

Seems like a dumb question I know, but remarkably, Jon Chait says no:

It would be nearly impossible to imagine the Republican Party nominating a candidate who spent years and years publishing a racist newsletter and has deep associations with the fringe far right. (Here he is speaking to the John Birch Society on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.)

I think that Chait has it backwards. It is impossible to imagine the GOP nominating a candidate who does NOT make race based appeals.

Consider Ronald Reagan - welfare queens in Cadillacs and "states rights" in Philadelphia,Mississippi, just for starters.

And today, the GOP's universal war on immigrants is racism uncovered. What in Gawd's name is Chait talking about? The more plausible argument from Chait? This:

It would be even more impossible to imagine the Party nominating a candidate who favors total withdrawal from world affairs and takes a Chomsky-ite line on American power.

It is true that Ron Paul is not eager to use American military power and speaks of restraining Executive power. And those views are anathema to the GOP. Of course, they are also anathema to Jon Chait, who would be, in many ways, a more plausible GOP candidate than Ron Paul. It's an interesting story.

Speaking for me only

Menorahs around the globe are lit tonight-- There were major ceremonies in New York and Washington .

Whatever day you begin celebrating, we wish you all a joyous holiday season.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I've got lots of work today, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

BTD - A belated "me too."

The Department of Justice has released its findings into the investigation of East Haven, CT police practices. A fuller version of the findings is here.

Based on our investigation, we find that the East Haven Police Department engages in discriminatory policing against Latinos including: targeting Latinos for discriminatory traffic enforcement; treating Latino drivers more harshly than non-Latino drivers after traffic stops; and intentionally and woefully failing to design and implement internal systems of control that would identify, track, and prevent such misconduct.

The pattern or practice of discriminatory policing that we observed is deeply rooted in the Police Department’s culture and substantially interferes with the ability of the Department to deliver services to the entire East Haven community.

Background is here and here.

After three days of bureaucratic wrangling, including being prevented at the airport from boarding a flight, Lori Berenson arrived in Newark, NJ this morning on a flight from Peru.

It is Lori's first time home since her arrest in 1995. She must return to Peru to finish her parole on January 11. Here's a timeline of events in her case.

It's snowing and icy here.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-il, who died this weekend, will be his successor. His son has been being groomed for the job since at least 2010 when he was made a four-star general:

Mr. Kim’s s youngest son, Kim Jong-un, was promoted on Sept. 28 to the rank of four-star general, a prerequisite for his ascendancy to power. The elder Mr. Kim, who is said to be in poor health after apparently suffering a stroke in 2008, has hurried the succession of his son in recent weeks.

Here is North Korea's official statement of Kim Jong-il's death. Reuters has this timeline of his rule.

The media is full of articles about Kim Jong-il and how he turned North Korea into a communist state. The BBC reports citizens of North Korea are mourning his death. [More...]

Heeeernaaaaandeeeeeezzzzz!!!!!(and brady)

Open Thread.

The last soldiers left Iraq last night. The price tag of the nine year war in human terms: 4,500 American lives and the lives of tens of thousands of Iraqis.

At the height of the war, more than 170,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq at more than 500 bases. By Saturday, there were fewer than 3,000 troops, and one base.

The death toll:

Since the US invasion in March 2003, at least 126,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the war, according to Boston University professor Neta Crawford. In addition, another 20,000 Iraqi soldiers and police were killed, along with more than 19,000 insurgents. British group IraqBodyCount.org puts the number of documented Iraqi civilian deaths from violence at 104,035 to 113,680.

The financial cost to the U.S. for operations from 2003 until now: $670 Billion to $1 Trillion.

Was it worth it?

Nicholas Pert is about to graduate from the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He's also been stopped, frisked and searched more than five time. He relates his account in a New York Times Op-Ed today. He's also going to be a witness for the Center of Constitutional Rights in its lawsuit seeking to prevent the NYPD from making racially motivated stops.

For young people in my neighborhood, getting stopped and frisked is a rite of passage. We expect the police to jump us at any moment. We know the rules: don’t run and don’t try to explain, because speaking up for yourself might get you arrested or worse. And we all feel the same way — degraded, harassed, violated and criminalized because we’re black or Latino. Have I been stopped more than the average young black person? I don’t know, but I look like a zillion other people on the street. And we’re all just trying to live our lives.

As to why he decided to testify: [More...]