Staying Power

MSNBC published an article today with a rather alarmist title: Crumbling Coalition
The implication seems to be that our allies are somehow fleeing a sinking ship. As the article continues, it becomes apparent that the picture drawn by the doomsayers at AP is flawed and incomplete.

Some of the allies who have contributed to this effort are indeed beginning to call their troops home. In fact, some of the United States' own soldiers are returning home as well, reducing its committment from 155,000 to about 138,000.

With this bit of information in hand, the reader has to question the upsetting picture the AP is painting early in the article. In fact, the Associated Press has done the reader the favor of providing all the information he or she needs to dispell the illusion in its entirety. We have been provided the actual numbers.
In all, approximately 10,000 non-US coalition soldiers will have been pulled out of Iraq by the end of the year. This will leave approximately 22,000 non-US coalition troops in the country, a little over 2/3 of the peak number. Comparing this with US troop numbers completely demolishes the idea that there is some sort of bail-out going on. At peak, the US had committed around 300,000 troops to the action. At present, there are around 150,000 US soldiers remaining, with plans to reduce that number even further as the Iraqis take over responsibility for their own policing and security.

Wasn't that the plan all along?

We Appreciate Your Sacrifice (as long as your views don't differ from ours)

That's the message that the UAW is putting forth these days. For some time now, the UAW has been allowing US Marines free parking at its Solidarity House in Detroit. Recently however, some Marines are being turned away. . .

A spokesman for the UAW released a statement to Action News which reads:

"While reservists certainly have the right to drive non-union made vehicles and display bumper stickers touting the most anti-worker, anti-union president since the 1920s, that doesn’t mean they have the right to park in a lot owned by members of the UAW."

I guess that in the eyes of the UAW, their military service bears no more or less weight than their political affiliation or car brand choice. This sort of infantile behavior is counterproductive.

Proof Positive

One may argue the merits of American and coalition involvement in the countries of Iraq and Afghanistan, quibble over the motivation of the nations involved and so forth. One cannot argue with success. The BBC published information from a UN report on asylum seekers today:

The number of Afghans seeking asylum has dropped by 83% since 2001 while Iraqi asylum applications have fallen by 80% since 2002. These falls have coincided with regime changes in both countries.

This information will undoubtedly come as a surprise to most people who take their news from traditional sources. The journalism giants have painted a picture of an Iraq made worse by the actions of the United States, and the coalition. Yet there don't seem to be as many people who want to leave those countries now.

Getting the Word Out

The Committee to Protect Bloggers has called for those of us who are so disposed to dedicate today to Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad, who are in prison in Iran for disemminating their views. BBC has the story:
Free Mojtaba and Arash Day

Oddly enough, the BBC story talks quite a bit about 'blogs in general, but very little is said about the two imprisoned web-loggers.

A Counter-productive Idea

Legislators in California have been considering legislation to tax drivers by-the-mile, a replacement for at the pump taxation of gasoline. Apparently the states considering this idea believe that as more hybrid automobiles hit the road, tax revenues generated by gasoline sales will fall.

The whens and hows of this issue are not yet determined. A method of tracking the miles travelled by each individual automobile would have to be installed in each automobile. GPS systems broadcasting mileage has been mentioned as a possibility. However, a solution of that sort could be easily disabled by a tech savvy auto owner, so it's likely to be difficult (and perhaps impossible, and certainly costly) to put this program in place on a state-wide basis.

There are a couple of problems with the whole idea in the first place. First of all, under the existing system of taxing gasoline at the pump, those who use the most gasoline pay the most taxation. This includes SUV's, light trucks, and so forth. It makes sense, as these vehicles inflict greater wear and tear on the roads, and create an inordinate ammount of air pollution. Replace gas taxation with this new system, it seems that a portion of the load carried by the owners of these vehicles must be transferred to those drivers who choose gas-efficient, 'greener' autos. For a state that prides itself on encouraging environmentalism, this plan actually removes part of the incentive to purchase a more environmentally friendly car.

More on this as it developes.

First Post

This is the first in what will likely be a long series of posts on this web log. Some will likely relate to my life, some will likely relate to my chief interests (history, literature, music), and more than a few will probably be political in nature.