CALIFORNIA YANKEE

5,500 U.S. Soldiers Desert

United Press International reports that 5,500 U.S. soldiers have deserted since the war in Iraq started. Following the example of Vietnam era deserters, some deserters seeking to avoid the Iraq war have fled to Canada.

According to The Globe and Mail, Jeremy Hinzman, a U.S. Army deserter seeking asylum in Canada, said he will face "social persecution" if he is sent back to the United States:

Jeffry House, Mr. Hinzman's lawyer, acknowledged that the refugee claim is a difficult one. He argued that to prosecute someone for refusing to participate in a war in which atrocities were committed is tantamount to persecution. "Mr. Hinzman had a right not to participate."

Mr. Hinzman's claim is considered a test case. There are three other refugee claims from U.S. Army deserters that will be heard after the decision has been issued in the Hinzman case, expected in February of 2005.

[. . .]

Canada has given refuge to army deserters from Iraq, , Turkey and other countries with conscription, but never to soldiers who volunteered.

At The Indepundit, Smash points out that Murky View's Chris Alemany posts:

To be brief, I don’t think Canada can let him in. He joined the Army voluntarily, he signed a contract for however long, and he is bound to that contract. He is only suffering now because of the direct actions he took as an individual, they were not brought upon him without his intent.

Citizen Smash has two additional posts about a sailor, Pablo Paredes, who refused to board his Navy ship Tuesday when it sailed for Iraq with thousands of Marines. In the "An Open Letter to Pablo Paredes" Smash explains the error of Paredes's refusal to deploy. In "How to Be a Conscientious Objector" Smash contrasts Paredes' refusal to deploy with Spc. Samuel W. Lynch's honorable service as a conscientious objector.

I find the deserters seeking refuge in Canada and Paredes' refusal to deploy to be shameful. If these individuals who are unwilling to follow their orders they should stand up and face the consequences of their actions. The actions of these people will only encourage are enemies to fight harder and longer.

Kerry To Visit Iraq

The Boston Globe reports that Senator Kerry will visit Iraq:

"He's going because he wants to thank the troops from Massachusetts," said Kerry spokeswoman April Boyd. ''While he's there, he'll also be meeting with military commanders, embassy officials, and Iraqi government leaders. The purpose will be to discuss the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism."

According to the Associated Press, Kerry is expected to visit several Middle East countries and meet with U.S. troops, including some from Massachusetts, to thank them for their service.

I'm not sure what to make of this. Why does Kerry have to make a solo trip? He could have accompanied Senators Biden, Chafee, Feinstein, and Hagel who visited Iraq last week.

If Kerry had visited Iraq during the presidential campaign perhaps he could have settled on a consistent position on Iraq.

While Kerry is thanking the troops, maybe the troops can thank Kerry for voting to authorize the war and then voting against funding support for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hubble Doomed

The Washington Post reports that a panel of experts concluded that NASA's plan to service the Hubble Space Telescope with a robot working from an unmanned spacecraft was unrealistic, posing technical challenges so complex that they will be "unlikely" to be resolved in time to prevent Hubble from shutting down.

Last January NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe canceled a scheduled shuttle mission to service the Hubble because of the risks to astronauts. O'Keefe's announcement, essentially condemned the telescope to death sometime around 2008. NASA subsequently decided to mount a robotic mission by the end of 2007 to replace Hubble's batteries and gyroscopes, add two new instruments and possibly replace a third.

Today's report, prepared for NASA by the independent National Research Council, a division of the National Academies of Science concluded that "the likelihood of successful development of the [Hubble] robotic servicing mission within the baseline 39-month . . . schedule is remote:"

Instead, today's report said, the panel agreed with a private Aerospace Corporation analysis prepared for NASA that suggested "that a successful mission of this level of complexity would require a nominal development time of the order of 65 months" -- in 2010.

The panel's report also sharply disagreed with O'Keefe's assessment that the space shuttle could not fly to Hubble and still be in compliance with the risk reduction recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, the independent panel convened after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated on reentry last year.

The report, "Assessment of Options for Extending the Life of the Hubble Space Telescope: Final Report" can be read here.

Yesterday the Associated Press reported that Aerospace Corp. estimated a robotic Hubble mission would cost $2 billion and would take at least five years to be ready for launch. By then there would be a less than 40 percent chance that Hubble still would be functioning.

According to the Associated Press, less than three years would be needed to launch a shuttle mission to Hubble, for no more money and with the usual medium risk of mission success.

NASA will review these reports for months and then announce a decision. Based on O'Keefe's January announcement I believe the Hubble is doomed.

As California Yankee posted last January What A Waste!

Iraq Progress Goes Unreported

New London Connecticut's The Day, reports on a speech The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby gave at Connecticut College Monday.

Jacoby said mainstream coverage of the war in Iraq has failed to document progress made in that country because a “left-of-center” media has failed to put the current problems and challenges into a larger context:

Iraq is moving into a modern world and slowly recuperating, but this is after decades of cruelty and neglect.

[. . .]

Jacoby said coverage in the “mainstream print media” has failed to highlight the incremental steps leading Iraq toward democracy. If it has been reported, he said it hadn't made adequate headlines. He listed a dozen examples culled from both major news sources and Internet discussion sites called “blogs.” Examples include stories of increased marriage licenses, a new Iraqi radio station and efforts to limit political corruption at the local level.

Jacoby said coverage is slanted because reporters work in “newsrooms with a left-of-center view” and are “skeptical” of the military. Quoting the maxim “if it bleeds, it leads,” he said negative images and news are more likely to appear on front pages.

[. . .]

Jacoby said Iraq's future is “uncertain” because of its ethnic, religious and political tensions. But he said the war had made the world safer because it moved Iraq toward democratically elected government and “democracies don't make war on each other.”

Karzai Sworn In As Afghan President

Wearing his trademark green robe and lambskin hat and with his right hand on a copy of Islam's holy book, the Quran, Karzai took the oath of office as Afghanistan's first popularly elected president.

The Associated Press reports that in his speech Karzai singled out America for particular thanks, while underlining the continued need for international support:

"Our fight against terrorism is not yet over," he said, warning of a deadly nexus between extremists and drug traffickers. "A decisive victory over terrorism requires serious and continuous cooperation at regional and international levels."

Vice President Cheney, representing the U.S. along with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld told a group of U.S. soldiers:

For the first time the people of this country are looking confident about the future of freedom and peace.

This is a huge victory in the War Against Terrorism. In just three years Afghanistan has moved from the most tyrannical Islamofacist state to a budding democracy with its first popularly elected leader. Well done. Much hard work remains to be done in Afghanistan, but the progress is astounding.

House Approves Intelligence Reforms

Voting 336-75 the House of Representatives approved legislation reforming intelligence today.

The Senate is expected to pass the bill on Wednesday.

Why don't I feel safer?

Floridians Want Rudy Versus Hillary

The Associated Press reports that a survey conducted by the Quinnipiac Polling Institute found that former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was the favorite among Republicans and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton were Floridians top choices for the 2008 presidential race.

The random telephone survey of 1,197 Florida residents included 1,039 registered voters and was conducted between November 30 and December 5.

Quinnipiac Polling Institute assistant director Clay Richards said:

We basically just tested the names of people who already have some name recognition.

In the survey Floridians were asked whether they wanted each of the following to run for president in 2008:

• 48 percent of voters, including 68 percent of Republicans, want Giuliani;
• 45 percent of voters, including 67 percent of Democrats, want Sen. Clinton;
• 44 percent of voters, including 44 percent of Republicans, want Sen. John McCain;
• 36 percent of voters, including 60 percent of Democrats, want John Edwards;
• 35 percent of voters, including 58 percent of Democrats, want Sen. John Kerry;
• 31 percent of voters, including 53 percent of Republicans, want Jeb Bush;
• 20 percent of voters, including 25 percent of Republicans, want Schwarzenegger, if the Constitution were amended to allow a foreign-born U.S. citizen to run

More on the survey is available here.

Happy Hannukah!

Hannukah began at sundown and continues for 8 days.

Paul Greenberg explains Hanukkah's heritage of hope. Writing in the Washington Times last December, Greenberg asks what does this eight-day celebration celebrate? His answer, Hanukkah isn’t about ancient military victories, Hanukkah celebrates miracles and hope.

The central metaphor of all religious belief — revealing light — now blots out all the imperial intrigues and internecine warfare. And that may be the greatest miracle of Hanukkah: the transformation of that oldest and darkest of human activities, war, into a feast of illumination.

The historical message changes from age to age. The past we choose to remember may be the best reflection of any present.

But if there is one constant message associated with this holiday, it can be found in the weekly portion of the Prophets chosen to be read on the Jewish Sabbath. And over the centuries, the scripture for the Sabbath of Hanukkah has remained unchanged: Zechariah 4:1-7, with its penultimate verse:

"Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."

Happy Hannukah!

Remember The Day Of Infamy

Early on a quiet Sunday morning on December 7, 1941, aircraft of the Empire of Japan, without provocation or warning, attacked the United States forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The Japanese attack left 2400 Americans dead, and 1347 wounded. Twenty one U.S. vessels, including eight battleships, were sunk or badly damaged, and 188 U.S. planes also destroyed or damaged.

In the dramatic message that President Franklin Roosevelt delivered to Congress on Dec. 8, 1941, he told Americans:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

President Roosevelt then asked Congress to declare war on Japan, a request that was approved by lawmakers, with only one "nay" vote.

Don’t forget!

You can read President Bush’s National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2004 proclamation here. I think its peculiar that, like last year's proclamation, it doesn’t even mention Japan.

One of the things I remember most about my visit to the USS Arizona Memorial is that most of the visitors were Japanese. That still puzzles me.

John Young Retiring

Space.com reports that John Young, who walked on the moon and commanded the first space shuttle mission, is retiring from NASA this month at 74 years old.

Young's first space flight was in 1965 on a Gemini mission with the late Gus Grissom. He visited the moon twice, landing on Apollo 16 in April, 1972 the next to last Apollo mission. Young also flew on Apollo 10, which didn't land. Apollo 10 tested the lunar lander module getting within 8.4 nautical miles of the lunar surface. Almost a decade later, Young and pilot Bob Crippen flew Shuttle Columbia on its maiden voyage.

After the moon mission, Young became chief of NASA's astronaut corps, a job he kept until 1987. Young's final space flight was the ninth shuttle flight, also aboard Columbia, in 1983.

In 1987, after speaking out about safety problems in the wake of the Challenger disaster, Young was re-assigned to a job as a special assistant at NASA's Johnson Space Center where he specialized in shuttle safety issues.

Young became an associate director at JSC responsible for technical and safety oversight of all programs assigned to that center. Throughout that time frame, he was still an astronaut and could have been assigned another shuttle flight.

America is truly blessed to have such men.