The Dish

Scott Horton reflects on Frederick Douglass, Edward Covey and … Donald Rumsfeld.

"If you ask me what should have been done in the villages in Lebanon during this war, I think Israel wasn’t harsh enough. Now, I’m not right-wing, I’m not…I just think that if we are in a war…it’s like, if you play with fire, people get burned. There’s nothing you can do about it. These whole villages, they were empty, just filled with Hezbollah terrorists. They should have been totally wiped off the map. Except Israel left them standing. Many of our soldiers were killed because of that, so Israel wouldn’t be blamed after the war for war crimes and destroying civilian houses," – an Israeli soldier interviewed by Michael Totten about his actions in last year’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

I have no idea what Mickey Kaus believes about the Iraq war (never have, actually). It is not a subject he is much concerned with. He is much more interested in weightier topics such as yours truly. His latest swipe is about this post, where I show a British Channel 4 video showing Shiite soldiers beating Sunnis on a joint patrol with U.S. forces. I describe the victims as "civilians," which gives Mickey an opening to ignore the point I was making and accuse me of inaccuracy. Hey, it gets him up in the afternoon. I referred to them as civilians because they are residents of the neighborhood, not in uniform, and unarmed, as compared with the soliders in Iraqi army uniform. Mickey protests because the video clearly shows the beaten men had mortars in their car. So they’re not civilians, right? That depends on who is or is not a civilian in a messy civil war like the one we’re now policing. The insurgents are civilians in as much as they are not in the Iraqi army, not in uniform, and often residents of a neighborhood. But they are not civilians in as much as they are engaged in a violent insurgency – actively or passively.

The whole point of the video and the posting, however, was that it illustrated how almost exclusively Shiite forces are beating Sunni residents, and clearing Sunni neighborhoods, with tacit U.S. support. The point of the narrative is precisely to show how in the current war, Plus Up inevitably requires support of a Shiite government against Sunni insurgents. Sadr City is to be left untouched under Plus Up; elsewhere, Shiite militias will be allowed to melt away; while the U.S. does Maliki’s work for him. This dynamic is central to the case that the current strategy will not only fail, but could also make the U.S. far more viulnerable to sectarian terrorism, and enrage both sides of the Muslim divide against us. Were they "beaten to near-death"? Well, one was repeatedly beaten in the face and body, had a rifle butt pounded onto the top of his spine, and was thrown head-first into an airless car trunk. Maybe my imagination got the better of me. But, in today’s Baghdad, are you going to bet on the safety and security of those captured? Is Mickey?

Toby Keith says he was never for the Iraq war.

More heartburn on campaign finance reform. The good senator just doesn’t have much support from his own party. Which is why, in part, I still like him, for all his recent equivocation.

New York City, New York, 7.45 am.

Canada’s Tories recognize a grave injustice, issue a public apology, and give Arar $8 million in recompense for the torture he endured in Syria, because of a U.S. rendition policy. Bush Republicans cannot admit they were wrong. The word that keeps coming into my mind regarding the policies and attitude of Bush and Gonzales. These are indecent men, leading an indecent administration.

A childhood friend of Scooter Libby reflects on what has happened to America through the prism of his friendship. Money quote:

Today, my old friend is under indictment for obstructing justice by lying about his knowledge of the Valerie Plame affair. Unless his lawyers manage to engineer a miracle, he will be tried in court early in 2007. There he will face the distinct possibility of public disgrace and a career-terminating jail sentence. So what should I hope for, I ask myself: my old friend’s acquittal or his conviction?

It’s an engrossing piece of reflection – not just about friendship but about the great themes of our time: liberal doubt, fundamentalist certainty, and a war without end.

Brownback just got a little happier.

This report from CBS News’ Lara Logan wasn’t broadcast on television. Watch it, and you’ll see why. It’s a reality-check against the notion that the war for Baghdad is winnable, given the resources and tactics we are planning to confront it with.