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The news and editorial items posted on the Dean's Bulletin Board do not necessarily reflect my own views. They are sometimes intended as a springboard to discussion rather than as a "conclusive" statement. If I am commending a particular opinion or interpretation to you, I will say so.
Your,
PZ
After Defeat, Journey to Uncertain Fate
By Dexter Filkins
"800 Taliban prisoners bound for an uncertain fate..." "Until Monday, the Taliban soldiers had been hunkered down in the northern city of Kunduz, and when the Northern Alliance laid siege to the place for the last two weeks, the Taliban troops faced the choice of surrendering or fighting to the death. First they retreated, then they gave up."
"Flies swarmed around men with matted hair, and fights broke out in the tangle of bodies for the tiny corners of space."
"Some of the prisoners, the still unbroken ones, were bound, and some were bound to each other, lest they jump from the trucks."
"As these Taliban were foreigners, mostly illiterate young men from Pakistan, they were not being allowed to return to their homes -- unlike the Taliban from Afghanistan. The future of the foreign prisoners murky, with Northern Alliance commanders bickering over whether they should be tried and executed or turned over to the United Nations."
"Recent Afghan history is not encouraging when it comes to the fate of such large numbers of prisoners."
"With Kunduz now under its control, the Northern Alliance appeared to be giving these prisoners all the consideration it might afford a pile of spent bullets."
"Water!"
"When the guards walked away, the men in the trucks quietly sent word that they had not eaten or drunk since they had surrendered."
"After some haggling, the guards agreed to allow one prisoner to speak. Mr. Tadamia said he was living in Karachi, the Pakistani port city about 800 miles away, when he has inspired by a call from an Islamic leader, a man he recalled as "Mullah Brother," to go north to fight in the jihad against nonbelievers." "The American bombing had been terrifying, he said, and he figured that that had something to do with it." "I WILL NEVER FIGHT IN THE NAME OF JIHAD AGAIN."
The New York Times
Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Search the archives on the New York Times website.
Alliance Declares Revolt Is Crushed
5 G.I.'s Injured by Stray Bomb Flown to German Hospital
"Qala Jangi, Afghanistan, Nov. 27 -- Northern Alliance soldiers, backed by American and British Special Operations forces, said today that they had crushed a revolt by Taliban prisoners inside a 19th-century fortress, and described a deadly final battle in which they drove the rebels from their last stronghold by pouring oil into a basement, setting it alight and opening fire with their lone Soviet T-55 tank."
"The Northern Alliance said most of the estimated 400 Taliban prisoners were killed by American air strikes rather than in two days of gun battles."
"The American air strikes continued through the night Monday and into the morning today. One apparently hit the armory commandeered by the prisoners at the start of their revolt Sunday.
"They can fight with every kind of weapon, one alliance soldier," who gave his name only as Shafig, said of the Taliban rebels. 'If we shouted at them, they would not listen. They said, "You are Americans, and we will not surrender to you.'"
"They just think that if they are killed they will go to heaven."
"Northern Alliance soldiers emerging from the compound around 4 p.m. told of bodies of Taliban prisoners-many of them said to be foreign and including Pakistanis, Chechens and Arabs-strewn on the ground."
"The prisoners inside the fort here had come from the besieged town of Kunduz. They had surrendered their weapons to the Northern Alliance and been taken into custody on Saturday. While they were being processed and questioned on Sunday, several of them attacked their guards and seized their weapons."
"Soldiers interviewed today confirmed that the prisoners feared that they were about to be executed and were angered by the presence of American interviewing the prisoners."
"After the American air strikes on Monday night, the surviving Taliban prisoners made at least two attempts to escape from the fort, the Northern Alliance soldiers said."
"Surrounded and pounded by repeated air strikes that destroyed many of the buildings they had occupied, the prisoners retreated to the enclosed inner section of the fort that housed stables and the armory and was surrounded by its own high walls."
"We cannot take them alive." "We have to kill them."
"The Northern Alliance forces managed to pour oil into the basement of the building and set fire to it, literally smoking the Taliban out of their hiding place and forcing them to move upstairs..."
"Driving over dead bodies in its path, the tank moved to within20 yards of the house where the last Taliban rebels were located. It opened fire from the range."
Sporadic shooting continued during the day, but it was only Northern Alliance soldiers firing. "They are all dead; it's over,"...
"The process of retrieving bodies will begin Wednesday...Red Cross officials are hoping to have access to the bodies to try to get a more exact picture of what happened."
"Makes you proud to be an American...(/)(Not)" Dean Zahl
The New York Times
Wednesday, November 28, 2001
By Carlotta Gall
Search the archives on the New York Times website.
Muslims and Christians
Khatami's View
The refreshing voice of moderate Islam
"Above the roar of war, quieter voices must struggle to make themselves heard. The comments made last week by Muhammad Khatami, the president of Iran, have not been much noticed. They deserve to be, for Mr. Khatami is widely read in western philosophy as well as in the teachings of Islam. Here are extracts from his speech, delivered to American religious leaders in New York."
"Nihilism as a mere philosophical indulgence may prove socially quite harmless. But what we are witnessing in the world today is an active form of Nihilism in social and political realms that threatens the very fabric of human existence (It) assumes various names, and it is tragic and unfortunate and some of those names bear a resemblance to religiosity and some proclaim spirituality..."
"Vicious terrorists who concoet weapons of of religion are superficial literalists clinging to simplistic ideas. They are utterly incapable of understanding that, perhaps inadvertently, they are turning religion into the handmaiden of the most decandent ideologies. While terrorists purport to be serving the cause of religion and accause all those who disagree with them of hersey and sacrilege, they are serving the very ideologies they condemn..."
"The role of religious scholars has now become even more crucial, and their responsibility ever more significant. Christian thinkers in the 19th century put forward vehicle for social solidarity...Now that the world in on the edge of chaos...the notion of Christian solidarity should prove helpful in calling for peace and security. In the holy Koran, human beings are invited to join their efforts in ta'awon, and ta'awon and ta'awoon means solidarity, which can be translated into co-operation to do good. We should all co-operate in the because of doing good."
The Economist November 24th, 2001
Prayer At The President's Installation
O God, from whom all blessings flow, by whom our founders were inspired and preserved, and with whom we start upon this great adventure: make us a grateful posterity, and cause us to remember, and not forget, thy mercies which have been ever of old. In this moment of high endeavor and great expectation, fix thou our steps that we stagger not at the uneven motions of this world. Give grave to the living; rest to the dead; courage to the anxious; patience to the weary. To this Foundation, dedicated to Truth and nourished by a steadfast providence, grant us the blessing of a useful, hopeful future where there is no greatness without goodness, no vision without virtue, and where scholarship is made perfect in service. Now, Lord of all good beginnings, let us depart in peace. AMEN.
This prayer was offered by The Reverend Peter J. Gomes, D.D., Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in The Memorial Church at the installation of Lawrence H. Summers as twenty-seventh president of Harvard University Friday, October 12, 2001.
A Murder Mystery With Aspirations
"Released in 1973 - the same year as "The Exorcist" - the equally chilling "Wicker Man" was initially ignored. Eventually, it became a cult sensation. But as indicated in the documentary that accompanies the current Anchor Bay "Special Edition" DVD release, "The Wicker Man' was in horror-movie no man's land at first: nobody knew what to make of it."
"Although "The Wicker Man" is a dazzlingly effective occult thriller--silly implausibilities and all--it is also much more, as the documentary. "The Wicker Man' Enigma," makes clear. The director , Robin Hardy, the the screenwriter, the late Anthony Shaffer, wanted their movie to authentically depict this deeply religious, Druid-like society: Mr. Hardy and the composer Paul Giovanni researched ancient English ballads because, as Mr. Hardy explains, "All religions rely heavily on music, especially the old religions." The several bizarre song interludes become a large and important part of the movie."
"Unlike some of Anchor Bay's more risible gore fests, "The Wicker Man" hold up --after nearly three decades --as a disturbingly realistic depiction of modern-day murder masquerading as rational behavior.
The New York Times
Sunday, November 25, 2001
By Keven Filipski
Search the archives on the New York Times website.
Closure: Coming to Grips With a Popular Cure-All
An Elusive Concept Has No Guarantees for Grief
"Virtually everyone, it seems, is looking for closure."
"In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the term has gone from a buzzword to a commonplace, used as frequently by families and fire fighters as by politicians and newscasters."
"Closure?"
"Despite its ring of authority, closure, in the popular sense of the word, is generally not to be found in psychology textbooks. And not only is it not a clinical term, mental health professionals say, it represents a flawed concept whose overuse could do more harm than good."
"in a time of war, terrorist alerts, anthrax scares and plane crashes, grief specialists and counselors worry that the notion of closure, which implies that notions of closure, which implies that emotions conform to a preordained agenda, it premature. It is, they say, symptomatic of a society that believes in getting on with things al all costs."
"It's associated with another phrase...'Put it behind us,'..."
"Maybe we put a contested election behind us. But we no not put death behind us. We do no put disaster --or call it trauma--behind us. We put either behind us at our own peril."
"Dr. Neal L. Cohen, the city's commisioner of health, who called the term closure simplistic, said that fewer families than expected have taken the proffered, streamlined route to closure. His office said only about 2,000 death certificates have been requested."
"The word closure implies an ending...."
"Those who are looking so desperately for it, or who think they've fount it, are just trying to anesthetize themselves to what's going on..."
"When we put things behind us and don't learn from them--don't change our lives because now we know that's --that's not healthy."
"For companies dealing with a traumatized work force, there are economic reasons to encourage moving on. "Closure is a euphemism for "We've lost a hell of a lot of money, we can't lose any more, so if you value your job, get back on that computer screen..."
"For those closest to the tragedy...closure means on thing: finding their loved ones' remains."
"I got closure because I got his body..." "Is that the truest sense of the word? "I don't know."
New York Report
The New York Times
Sunday, November, 25, 2001
By Shaila K. Dewan
Search the archives on the New York Times website.
Nathan Pusey
Nathan Marsh Pusey, a leader of Harvard, died on November 14th, age 94.
"Nathan Pusey had enjoyed an outstandingly successful career as president of Harvard University." "As well as being a skilful raiser of money, Mr. Pusey was a reformer. He took the view that privately educated students did not have a monopoly of brains, and the majority at Harvard were now from less privileged backgrounds." "Nathan Pusey was the first non-New Englander to be made head of America's oldest college (founded 1636)."
"His uncompromising upbringing may have marked his life. He was a devout Episcopalian (Anglican) and liked to remind his staff, many of whom were non-church-goers, that Harvard had been founded by a religious group. He deplored the "almost idolatrous" secular society. Politics, he said, should not intrude into university life. When Joe McCarthy, an influential senator, accused Harvard in the 1950s of being a "sanctuary" for communists, Mr. Pusey sniffly replied that his students were "above that sort of thing." It was brave at that time to stand up to the populist red baiter, but the sentiment may have seemed naive."
"In making money for Harvard Mr. Pusey demonstrated to all universities that they need not be paupers."
"Nathan Pusey, for all his financial skills, was at heart a scholar. He said that one of the happiest times of his life was spent at the American School of Classical Study in Athens in the 1930s. Greece of the fifth century was his special interest, and the subject of many of his essays and speeches. He gained a doctorate with a dissertation on Athenian democracy. He would probably prefer to be remembered for that."
The Economist
Obituary
November 24th, 2001
"He was a light!" PZ
Mick Jagger Is Off And Rolling Again
"Goddess in the Doorway", the fourth solo album by Mr. Jagger, the notorious lead singer of the Rolling Stones...This song's different," Mr. Jagger said. "Every song on the album provides a different element."
"Mr. Jagger was in town on this occasion to perform with his fellow Rolling Stone Keith Richards at the Concert for New York City, a benefit for the victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center." "Mr. Jagger instinctively resist earnestness of any kind. So his initial response to a question about what the Concert for New York City might hope to achieve was blithe. "I was harangued into it and finally gave in...." "It just seems like a good time to me. What the point of it is, I don't know. I wasn't one of the organizers. I just showed up."
"Still, as if aware of how callous he might sound, he went on to recount how struck he was by the changed mood in New York."
"It's also an odd moment for Mr. Jagger to be promoting a new album. On one hand, the more sober-minded cultural atmosphere after Sept. 11 has brought renewed attention to older artists like Paul McCartney, the Who, Elton John and Sting, who have stepped forward to play reassuring roles in a time that offers few certainties. But the calming gestures of an elder statesman hardly suit Mr. Jagger. Despite his stature as one of the giants of rock 'n' roll his obvious intelligence and sophistication, a personal wealth estimated a half a billion dollars and seven children...Mr. Jagger, at 58 still styles himself as a bad boy...Mr. Jagger hardly presents the comforting image these times seem to require."
"Goddess," meanwhile, is a mature record that explores themes of romantic disenchantment, erotic longing and the inexorable passage of time."
"Lenny Kravitz produced and wrote "God Gave Me Everything" with Mr. Jagger. It is the song most reminiscent of the Rolling Stones on "Goddess," a sonic overlap that Mr. Jagger typically has tried to avoid in his solo work."
"The Rolling Stones are, of course, among the staunchest survivors of then to be active now. It has been widely reported that the band will be touring again next year..."
The New York Times
Sunday, November 25, 2001
By Anthony DeCurtis
Search the archives on the New York Times website.
Charity Doesn't Have To Mean Bureaucracy
"The American Red Cross ran up a white flag last week, surrendering to critics who had accused it of bait-and-switch fund-raising by planning to hold back over half of the $543 million it had raised for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials pledged that just about all of the money (minus $49 million for overhead) would go to the victims for whom it had been given. Red Cross President Bernadine Healy had already resigned from her $450,010 position..."
"Red Cross officials put up a reasonable defense: They had protected their organization's ability to help in the future by placing $200 million of the donations in a reserve fund and by planning to use millions more to improve the charity's infrastructure. What the $2.5 billion organization had forgotten, thought , was American charity's "just-in-time" tradition: Keep a very low inventory; go with all the resources you have right now; when the next emergency hits, call upon the American people once again."
"...By the time of San Francisco's 1989 earthquake, though, much of American charity had become bureaucratic, and San Franciso Mayor Art Agnos complained that the Red Cross, after raising $50 million, was passing along only $10 million and banking the rest for use in future disasters and organizational expansion. After several weeks of complaints by contributors, the Red Cross relented. Critics have also protested Red Cross holdbacks following the Oklahoma City bombing in 11995, Red River flooding in 1997, and a San Diego wildfire early this year."
"The pattern indicates a Red Cross perspective that is logical but tin-eared. Red Cross officials emphasize long-term planning rather than short-term reacting."
"The response of public opinion: Charities are different. They are expected to be bold and courageous, risking all like New York City firemen running into buildings when everyone else is rushing out."
"Nor is this an impractical reaction. The evidence shows you don't have to be as heavily bureaucratized as the Red Cross (or the United Way, which has also been scandal-ridden) to be effective in the crunch. The $2.1 billion Salvation Army USA shows a different way to help. Peter Drucker has called the Army the "most effective organization in the United States. No one even come close to it with respect to clarity of mission, ability to innovate, measurable results, dedication, and putting money to maximum use."
"The Salvation Army's response on Sept. 11 was impressive. Army officers and volunteers by the hundreds headed to New York City without even being asked. The Army quickly set up 21 mobile feeding stations in Manhattan that served 3000,000 meals during the 72 hours after the disaster."
"While the Red Cross practiced organizational damage control over the past month, several reporters noted that the Salvation Army pays its top executive, John-Busby, $13,000 a year, plus frugal room, board and transportation expenses."
"Mr. Busby offers interviewers: "I don't miss anything you can buy with money. I'm in the will of God, doing what he wants me to do. There's no higher purpose than that."
"There's the catch: Salvationists believe in salvation, and they pass out Bibles along with hot meals. Their zeal is reflected in the organization's mission statement: "The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church...Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination."
"Religions initiatives like the Salvation Army are growing these days, in part because they offer a striking alternative to bureaucracy-based hesitancy. The Red Cross can respond quickly to emergencies, but mayors and many others have criticized its understandable unwillingness to be the farm bet the farm every time out. Other charities, however, have a higher purpose than organizational survival. They, like others, need good management, but what gets them moving fast is faith in God."
By Marvin Olasky
Editor In Chief
World Magazine
and
Senior Fellow of the Acton Institute.
As Attacks' Impact Recedes, A Return To Religion As Usual
"On the first Sunday after the terrorist attacks, people filled the pews at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Louisville, Ky., seeking solace in a sermon about grief and joining to together to sing "America the Beautiful." That day, the church drew 200 people, significantly more than the average Sunday attendance of 150, and for the next two Sundays the crowds kept coming."
But by yesterday, attendance was back to normal at St. Andrew's an average-size American church, as it has been in recent weeks at houses of worship across the country. Americans, who after the attacks turned to religion in an outpouring that some religious leaders hailed as a spiritual "great awakening," have now mostly returned to their former habits."
"I just don't see much indication that there has been a great awakening or a profound change in American's religious practices," said Frank M. Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Poll. "It looks like people were treating this like a bereavement, a shorter-term funeral kind of thing, where they went to church or synagogue to grieve. But once past that, their normal churchgoing behavior passed back to where it was."
"The result, said Robert Wuthnow, director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, is that the terrorist attacks have not undermined the nation's basic religious equilibrium: one-quarter of the population devout, one-quarter secular and one-half mildly interested."
"We are in some ways a very religious country, especially compared to Western Europe." Mr. Wuthnow said. "But we're of two minds, and the other mind is that we really are pretty secular. We are very much a country of consumers and shoppers, and we're quite materialistic. And as long as we can kind of paste together a sense of control through our ordinary work and our ordinary purchases, we're pretty happy to do that."
The New York Times
Monday, November 26, 2001
By Laurie Goodstein