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Editorial Roundup: Excerpts From Recent Editorials

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By The Associated Press

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:

July 8

The Denver Post on federal government's lawsuit against Arizona over immigration law:

The federal government sued the state of Arizona over its controversial immigration law, arguing that enforcing immigration laws is a federal responsibility.

And the laughter from Arizona is still echoing across the land.

Of course it's the federal government's responsibility to enforce immigration laws. The argument, which we acknowledge may prevail in court, is a laugher in the court of public opinion because it's undercut by the historic failure of federal lawmakers and successive administrations to enforce immigration laws.

Recently, President Barack Obama gave a speech in which he said it was essential to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform, yet he only rehashed old ideas without offering a solid plan or timeline.

As we've said before, if you're going to fight to defend your authority, you had better be willing to use it. A lack of faith in the federal government was the foundation for the Arizona law, and other states will follow suit. Politicians in Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah are pushing for tougher immigration laws when their legislatures return early next year, according to a Washington Post report.

We also found it surprising that the federal government would assert in its lawsuit that the Arizona law would harm people's civil rights and lead to police harassment of U.S. citizens and foreigners. Given the last-minute changes made to the law, the Obama administration's claim looks like mere pandering to Latino voters.

While we were initially critical of the law, and would prefer to see comprehensive reform passed on a nation level, Arizona legislators watered it down in the final moments of the legislation process. With the changes, we don't see it as the civil rights threat that it once was. ...

Online:

http://www.denverpost.com

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July 9

The Dothan (Ala.) Eagle on the Defense Department's new media policy:

The U.S. Department of Defense should certainly be embarrassed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal's career-ending derisive remarks about the administration in a controversial Rolling Stone story.

However, Defense Secretary Robert Gates' new media policy will have a far more negative impact than McChrystal's display of arrogance.

Gates issued a directive requiring Pentagon clearance for any interviews or other dealings with reporters, which effectively mandates that hundreds of thousands of officers worldwide run interview requests through an office in the Pentagon.

One of Gates' assistants said no "Iron Curtain" would fall between the media and the military.

That's simply double-talk. Creating such a cumbersome process will effectively shut down communication between the military's officers outside of Washington and the American public, which is the ultimate consumer of the media's product.

While the Department of Defense maintains that the policy was in the works long before McChrystal's controversial story, Gates' timing seemsfar more than coincidental.

The scandal is simply the exposure of one four-star general's stunningly poor judgment. Stemming the flow of information to the public is not the best way to prevent future embarrassment.

Online:

http://www2.dothaneagle.com

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July 11

Miami Herald on Cuba's political prisoners release:

Cuba's promise to free 52 political prisoners in the coming weeks and months should be greeted, without qualification, as a positive development. Opening the cell doors for prisoners of conscience in Cuba's wretched jails is, and must remain, a cardinal objective of U.S. policy toward that country and of everyone who wishes freedom for its people. Cuba's Catholic Church deserves credit for negotiating the release. Church leaders must continue to champion political prisoners and their families, which they've been reluctant to do in the past.

There is little reason to believe, however, that this decision signals a significant change in the nature of the Cuban government. For Fidel and Raul Castro, political prisoners are no more than flesh-and-blood political pawns, useful bargaining chips in the game of international relations. This gesture does not appear to be anything more than that.

It cannot be a coincidence that the promised prisoner release comes just as economic pressures are fomenting discontent within Cuba and moves are afoot in both the U.S. Congress and the European Union to ease sanctions that contribute to the pressure.

Online:

http://www.miamiherald.com

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July 12

Herald-Star, Steubenville, Ohio, on the U.S. Postal Service:

The groundwork is set for elimination of a six-day postal delivery rate, and, if the U.S. Postal Service statistics are accurate, it's no longer a matter of making rate increases that Congress can stomach.

The postal service is requesting an increase to a 46-cent stamp, effective in January, along with other rate increase proposals. The stamp raise represents a 2-cent increase and it's a drop in the bucket compared with the deficit the postal service faces.

Estimates are the increase would generate about $2.5 billion, while the postal service faces deficits of $7.5 billion projected for each of the next two years. ...

The postal service, as a private business, knows the decisions it faces, but it must have its major policies, such as closures and service cuts, approved by Congress. Congress has shown an inability to make tough decisions about service cuts ...

... Unless the postal service is permitted to make changes in its basic services to reflect the needs of the nation today, the time will come when this former federal agency won't be able to pay its bills and another federal bailout will be looming, a bailout the government cannot afford on the heels of the bailouts it already couldn't afford.

The time has come to cut and change postal services.

Online:

http://www.hsconnect.com

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July 10

The Kingston (N.Y.) Daily Freeman on the Russian spy arrests:

The recent arrests of 11 alleged Russian agents in the United States is a puzzlement.

Living in deep cover as average, suburban Americans, the alleged spies were an unexpected throwback to the Cold War era. Unexpected because the Soviet Union has been gone for a couple of decades and because today's intelligence needs have less to do with military secrets and much more with economic and technological developments.

Longtime neighbors were astounded, of course. ...

As for the rest of us, well, color us confused about just what the Russian secret service was thinking.

A spy living as an average citizen in a closed society might well be able to glean something of use about an international enemy. For instance, almost any information about wages or food or medical supplies might give the U.S. some valuable real-time intelligence about North Korea.

But from the United States? Fighting out our policy issues in full throat on 24-hour cable news? In the Internet age?

The problem for Russian analysts can't be too little information about the U.S. economy, but, rather, too much. What an average citizen - or a dozen, or 100, or 1,000 - could add to that can't be much more than throwing a thimble full of water into the ocean. ...

The FBI should take a good, close look for any remaining sleeper cells in Frostbite Falls, Minn.

Online:

http://www.dailyfreeman.com

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July 12

Dallas Morning News on consumer deficit spending:

While it's popular to criticize Washington for spending insanely and refusing to live within a budget, the reality is that too many Americans aren't walking the tough talk in our own households.

According to a new FICO Inc. report, 25.5 percent of all consumers - nearly 43.4 million people - have credit scores of 599 or below, meaning they are bad lending risks and unlikely to get credit cards, car loans or mortgages. That number is up 2.4 million in the past two years as the economy has shed jobs and spawned foreclosures.

No wonder the country's financial recovery seems stuck in neutral. Consumers who can't borrow money can't buy houses and cars, make substantial home improvements, purchase big durable goods or, in some instances, even find affordable auto insurance. Big-dollar purchases like these fuel economic growth and give businesses reasons to hire workers and ramp up production. Record-low mortgage rates or interest-free car loans are enticing but useless if too few Americans have the credit scores to qualify.

These numbers provide a sobering backdrop to the nation's economic travails. If they continue, more Americans will not qualify for - or be able to afford - interest payments on goods or services they were able to buy a few years ago. And that will have a negative domino effect on the economy and thus on those with excellent or moderate scores. ...

Like it or not, this is the flip side of years of economic self-delusion. Consumer spending based on credit fueled the U.S. economic boom beyond what sensible financial planning would have dictated. ...

Credit scores aren't going to get better until two things happen - the economy improves and Americans change the spending habits that helped create now-toppling sand castles of false prosperity. Yes, Washington must get the nation's financial house in order, but the rest of us also must walk the talk.

Online:

http://www.dallasnews.com

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July 14

San Francisco Chronicle on Obama's AIDS strategy:

This country has a better record on fighting AIDS overseas than it does at home. In 2003, Washington launched a $15 billion overseas effort to stem the outbreak in 15 hard-hit countries, but it neglected to focus on the plague here.

President Barack Obama wants to change this disparity with his own domestic AIDS plan. It keys on testing, sending federal money where it's needed most, and setting a goal to cut infection rates by 25 percent.

It's gotten mixed reviews. Several AIDS groups, bothered that the epidemic has dropped from public view, are grateful for the White House emphasis. Others are angry that plan isn't calling for more spending.

On balance, the strategy is thrifty and targeted. Washington politics won't welcome another big-ticket health care item, worthy as this one may be. The Obama plan intends to work within the $19 billion worth of AIDS spending already on the books.

The package aspires to make a significant dent in the troubling fact that AIDS cases haven't dropped in years. About 56,000 - chiefly gay males, Latinos and African Americans - are infected each year by the virus that causes AIDS. ...

The plan sticks with the basics - testing and access to care - and avoids a divisive battle over new money. Those are the right ingredients for the next phase in the AIDS fight.

Online:

http://www.sfgate.com

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July 14

Hartford (Conn.) Courant on the lose of New York Yankees icons:

It won't seem like the New York Yankees without them.

Bob Sheppard, whose resonant baritone became as closely identified with Yankee Stadium "as an organ in church," in the words of former outfielder Paul O'Neill, died July 11 at 99. Sheppard's dignified, precise enunciation made him seem much more than a public address announcer - some described him as "the voice of God." So it seemed.

Then George M. Steinbrenner III, principal owner of the team since 1973, died of a heart attack on July 13 at age 80. What you thought of Steinbrenner depended on the hat you wore to the game. Red Sox fans saw him as the loutish leader of the Evil Empire, who assembled the best teams money could buy.

Yankees fans beg to differ. "The Boss" was the hard-charging, brilliant, larger-than-life executive who rescued the once-proud Yankee franchise and made it a winner again. He may have had a lot of managers, but he also had a lot of pennants and World Series trophies, and that was his single-minded goal. ...

It is somehow fitting that Sheppard and Steinbrenner leave the Yankees in first place at the All-Star break.

Online:

http://www.courant.com

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July 13

The Montreal Gazette on international pressure against Iran stoning:

Iran seems determined to execute Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, mother of two, and variously described by Iranian authorities as an adulterer, inside and outside marriage, and the murderer of her husband.

Iranian officials insist that the postponement of her death by stoning is not the result of the recent outcry from the international community, but it is difficult to see what else it could be. At each step of the way, officials seem to feel they have to justify Iran's legal system. They have added new charges when Western critics condemn the previous process. And Iranian officials have stepped up their campaign of vilification against Ashtiani. The Tabriz resident has not been heard from since she was arrested in 2005.

It could be seen as a positive sign that Iran is behaving as though it has to justify, if not in law, then in the court of international opinion, its barbaric treatment of a woman who retracted her confession to adultery, saying it was given under duress. ...

Iran today is a country of frightening extremes. It is willing to apply medieval punishments such as stoning while working to develop the technological sophistication for nuclear weapons.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Iran is "moving closer" to having the potential to build nuclear weapons. In June, the United Nations Security Council endorsed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran, in what increasingly looks like a futile effort to stop Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal.

Iran's anger over being criticized by what it calls "Western media propaganda" is a signit cares about its standing in the world. One way it could improve that standing is to retry Ashtiani in open court under clear rules or just let her go.

Online:

http://www.montrealgazette.com

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July 9

The Jerusalem Post on a new IDF strategy:

The Israel Defense Forces recently declassified sensitive intelligence information on Hezbollah's rearmament campaign in south Lebanon. Detailed aerial photos, videos and maps show how the terrorist organization is again ruthlessly preparing to use Lebanese civilians as human shields, as exemplified by its deployment in one Shi'ite village - el-Khiam - located just 4 kilometers from the Israeli border. There, Hezbollah has embedded its weapon caches, bunkers, command-and-control centers and missile stockpiles - and stationed its armed personnel - in and alongside hospitals, mosques, schools and homes.

By making this sensitive information public, Israel runs the risk of revealing its intelligence-gathering procedures and giving Hezbollah the opportunity to adapt. Nevertheless, that risk was taken, as part of a laudable new IDF strategy geared toward confronting Israel's rapidly changing military challenges. ...

With the UN dominated by states that are both hypercritical of Israel and unwilling or unable to make moral distinctions between democracies and dictatorships, it is highly unlikely that any significant public acknowledgment of Hezbollah's moral abuses will be forthcoming.

But the IDF is right to make the effort. Indeed, it needs to broaden its outreach, and ensure that this information is made available as widely as possible - to the media, no matter how unenthusiastic the reception, and in smaller briefings for key politicians and officials.

Many of the same moral dilemmas faced by Israel in Gaza and in Lebanon are being faced by the U.S., Canada, Italy, Germany and other NATO armies in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Western armies should compare and share their counterinsurgency doctrines in an attempt to develop both strategies and a military ethics code to deal with the new ruthlessness they face. ...

Online:

http://www.jpost.com

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July 13

China Daily, Beijing, on pending U.S. and South Korea joint naval exercises:

The pending joint naval exercise by the United States and the Republic of Korea on the Yellow Sea is gradually drawing widespread public ire in China.

The drill is a threat to China's security and risks escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

The joint military exercise is reportedly intended to deter the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the wake of the Cheonan incident. The ROK's military made this point again July 6 when it announced that the drill, originally scheduled for June, would be postponed after likely UN action against the DPRK over its alleged sinking of the warship March 26.

A presidential statement released by the UN Security Council on June 9 called for peaceful settlement of the dispute and the resumption of direct dialogue and negotiation between the DPRK and the ROK. Instead of resorting to any drastic moves, concerned parties must exercise restraint and calm in light of the UN statement.

The public outcry in China will turn stronger if the U.S. decides that its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington is to participate in the exercise. The vessel's likely presence, whose combat radius can reach the nation's eastern coast, is nothing but a provocative action aimed at China's doorstep.

Washington's persistent reconnaissance and surveillance on China's mainland have long brewed indignation among the Chinese. Its joint naval exercise with the ROK would onlyfan more antagonistic sentiment against Uncle Sam. Admittedly, even Washington would not like to see such an outcome. ...

Online:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn

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July 12

The Telegraph, London, on bomb attacks in Uganda:

The two coincident and brutal bomb attacks in Uganda that have left at least 64 people dead are a sobering reminder of the need to fight the ideologies of radical Islam wherever they occur. The diabolical iniquity of blowing up scores of peaceful football fans watching the World Cup final might be thought to be self-evident to all who share this planet, but seemingly not.

Al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based radical group, has already made its ridiculous dislike of football well known, forcing some Somalis to watch with the volume down and one eye on the window. The group has not yet been confirmed as the perpetrator of what would be its first cross-border atrocity, but one of its leaders has already confirmed his delight: "I am not sure who is responsible, but it is my pleasure to hear such a story." ...

But although al-Shabaab is not thought to have much capability to mount an attack in the West, it is influential in an anarchic country. The main worry is the spread of ideas rather than of actual men and materiel, not least because of the large Somali population in Britain. It is estimated that there are dozens of British Somalis currently active in the insurgency within Somalia and Somalia's president said he was worried by the growing number of foreigners joining the fighting. Some of those already radicalized will, upon return to Britain, doubtless try to spread their dangerous ideas and later pose us a more deadly threat.

Online:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

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