With the daily drama of battles and combat casualties, it's important to keep in mind a few things that have retreated from the front pages:
The "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq were never found. This was the main justification for the war in the US, and the main fear that drove public and Congressional support. In Britain, it was essentially the only justification. There was some combination of lies and pathetically bad intelligence responsible for this. The publics of both America and Britain deserve a real accounting for what happened.
Those who exposed CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity in a serious violation of the law have not been brought to justice. This crime grew out of the lies used to justify the war. Her husband had publicly criticized the Administration's misuse of intelligence in the runup to war. This was retaliation for his criticism. A reckless retaliation that could endanger the lives and freedom of agents with whom she worked in other countries.
Our zealous Attorney General John Ashcroft has yet to crack the anthrax case from 2001. From the reporting on the case, it was almost certainly someone who was part of the US weapons research program. There are only a limited number of suspects. When is Ashcroft going to deliver?
What is really going on in Guantanamo? Now we're releasing dozens more prisoners there who were apparently kept for nearly two years with no evidence against them. If there's actual evidence against the people that are still there, why doesn't the Administration try them in accord with American and international law? The legal netherworld in Guantanamo is a disgrace. It doesn't protect Americans. It just shows the authoritarian bent of the current Republican Administration.
And speaking of zealots, what's up with General Boykin the Christian Soldier?
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