February 5, 2007
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Today’s Papers
Backfiring
By M.J. Smith
Posted Sunday, Feb. 4, 2007, at 6:14 AM E.T.The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times lead with yesterday’s massive truck bomb explosion at a market in Baghdad that killed more than 100 people and destroyed apartment buildings. The blast targeted Shiites and is among the deadliest since the U.S. invasion, the papers say. The New York Times puts the bomb attack above the fold, but leads with a look at the federal government’s increasing reliance on contractors. The companies that perform the work aren’t held to the same standards as government agencies even though that’s essentially what they’ve become.
The NYT and LAT say the death toll from the truck bomb was at least 130, while the WP says at least 125. Sunni insurgents are believed to be responsible. The dump truck that blew up was “carrying land mines, ammunition, rockets, mortars and other explosives,” the LAT reports. The NYT says about one ton of explosives was involved.
The LAT has some of the most vivid descriptions, saying the bomb “left a ghastly landscape of human remains, food, shattered goods and animal meat that was sent hurtling from butchers’ stalls.” The story also channels the thoughts of the attackers and concludes the bomb “was designed to inflict a massive physical as well as psychological toll.” Seems the paper could have done away with the mind reading on this one and simply let the facts speak for themselves.
It was the latest in a string of attacks against Shiites in recent weeks, and the NYT says U.S. efforts to clamp down on Shiite militias may be partly to blame. One result, Shiite community leaders tell the paper, is that there has been less protection for their neighborhoods.
The NYT‘s lead says spending on federal contracts has nearly doubled since 2000. At the same time, the number of contracts open to competition has greatly decreased. The situation has become almost absurd: The government recently hired contractors to process cases of fraud by federal contractors.
The potential conflicts and problems with these arrangements seem neverending. The companies, of course, spend huge amounts on lobbying, and they are not forced to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. There’s plenty of blame to go around. While the Bush administration gets its share of criticism in the article, the NYT points out that the “recent contracting boom had its origins in the ‘reinventing government’ effort of the Clinton administration.”
The WP fronts a feature on an Iraq-related subject that’s gotten relatively little attention so far: refugees. The paper concludes that a “massive migration” is underway, relaying U.N. figures that say about 8 percent of the pre-war population has sought to move elsewhere. Many head for Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Up to 50,000 Iraqis flee their homes every month, the story notes.
Jordan had long been open to refugees, but its attitude changed following hotel bombings that occurred in 2005, the paper says. Iraqis say they are now being turned away at the Jordanian border, and many of those who have made it into Jordan are unclear on their status and their future.
The NYT takes a look at how the Sunni-Shiite conflict is playing out in the United States on its front page. Mosques and businesses popular with Shiites have been vandalized recently in Dearborn, Mich., while disputes between the Sunni and Shiite communities at universities have also erupted. While the story says the incidents could be considered a spillover of what’s occurred in the Middle East, the fact that the Muslim population in the United States has grown so quickly could also be a cause. Previously, Shiites and Sunnis had no choice but to get along because they shared the same mosques and went to the same schools. That’s now changed, the paper says.
The WP fronts, and the other papers stuff, a report from yesterday’s meeting between House Democrats and President Bush, where Bush pretended to be a comedian and Democrats went along with the joke—at least in public. After Bush gave a speech with reporters present in the room, the doors were closed for a question-and-answer session.
Shockingly, details leaked out, and the WP has the best roundup, saying Democrats quizzed the president on Iraq, global warming, and immigration. When asked about omitting Hurricane Katrina and veterans’ issues from his State of the Union address, Bush said doing so didn’t mean he doesn’t care. The WP says: “As an example, Bush said he cares about maintaining national parks, even though the subject did not come up in the State of the Union.” Unclear if he meant that as one of his jokes.
The LAT is alone in fronting news that NBC Universal is set to name Jeff Zucker as its chief executive this week. The paper says GE, which owns NBC Universal, wants to better compete with new media such as Google and MySpace, and Zucker is their guy. Zucker is known in part for his work on the Today show, where he became executive producer at the age of 26.
There’s apparently some kind of football game being played today, and the WP marks the occasion with a Michael Wilbon column on Page One looking at a story line that is, by now, well known: It’s the first time Super Bowl teams have black head coaches. Unlike most other Super Bowl stories (ad hype, etc.), this one’s actually important. The NYT fronts a feature about what happens to Super Bowl champion hats and T-shirts destined for the team that eventually loses. Answer: They are given to a relief organization, which distributes them in poor countries.
And finally, the LAT catches up on a feature out of the Seattle area, where coffeehouses are trying to get an edge over the competition by having their servers wear outfits more commonly associated with strip clubs. Turns out the women make a fair amount of money off tips.
M.J. Smith is a writer based in Paris.Today’s Papers
Longing for Militias
By Daniel Politi
Posted Monday, Feb. 5, 2007, at 5:28 AM E.T.The New York Times leads with word that “a growing number of Iraqis” are blaming the United States for creating an insecure environment that allowed Saturday’s suicide bombing in Baghdad, which killed at least 135 people, to take place. The Washington Post leads with what can only be described as a no-duh headline: “Iraq Vote Could Resonate in 2008.” But the story turns out to be a good look at the challenge facing 20 Senate Republicans who are up for re-election in 2008 and must decide how they will cast their votes on the nonbinding resolution. The Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide newsbox with the $2.9 trillion spending request President Bush will be sending to Congress today.
USA Today leads with word that apartment rents are set to rise by 5 percent this year, marking the third straight year of increases. The discrepancy between the rise in apartment rentals and wages means workers will have to devote even more of their paychecks to housing. The Los Angeles Times leads with a local story that could have national implications by revealing that the number of Los Angeles County jail inmates identified as illegal immigrants almost doubled last year. The sheriff’s department started investigating the legal status of inmates last year over the opposition of some who worry the program could lead to illegal immigrants becoming more hesitant to report crimes to local police.
At first glance, the NYT‘s lead doesn’t even seem like news. After all, it’s hardly surprising that Iraqis would blame the United States for violence. Yet these complaints take on new dimensions when considered against President Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq. One of the main objectives of the “surge” is to help rid Baghdad of the Shiite militia groups, namely the Mahdi Army. But many Iraqis say the bombing was able to take place precisely because the militias have been keeping a low profile in recent weeks, and Shiites say this leaves them particularly vulnerable. Now there’s a persistent risk that those who initially supported the plan will conclude they were foolish to even give it a chance and merely return to their old routine. Apparent retaliatory attacks by Shiites killed at least 15 people in Baghdad yesterday.
Senators are quick to dismiss any claims that their votes will take into account political considerations. But how several of these Republican senators who are up for re-election will vote is one of the big unanswered questions, as there are fears that whatever they say in the upcoming days will come back to haunt them one way or another. If attempts to block the beginning of debate on the nonbinding resolution aren’t successful, expect a lot of debate back and forth on what should be included. The Post says Republicans will attempt to make Democratic lawmakers sweat a bit with an amendment calling for an immediate withdrawal of all troops.
The LAT tries to put a little perspective on the Senate debate by saying that “the nonbinding resolution would have no more force of law than the one approved Thursday commending the Miss America Organization for its commitment to ‘the character of women in the United States.’ ” At the same time, though, the symbolism of the measure shouldn’t be discounted, as it could turn out to be the first “formal rebuke” of the administration’s war strategy.
The LAT fronts a look at the massive defense budget the Bush administration is expected to include in its spending request and says that, if military leaders get their way, this could be just the beginning. The chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force are preparing a strategy to convince lawmakers and the public that more money should be devoted to defense spending every year.
The WSJ goes inside with a look at how the spending request will highlight the administration’s attempts to ease rush-hour traffic by awarding millions in grants to cities and states. According to officials, these attempts will mainly focus on experimenting with a toll system that will charge people for traveling in and out of big cities during peak times.
The Post fronts word that the new U.S. commander in Iraq is putting together a group of advisers composed of military officers who have Ph.D.s. Although highly educated officers have frequently served as advisers, this group looks like it will be larger and more influential than in any other war effort.
The NYT fronts word that the Justice Department is finalizing a plan to collect the DNA of anyone arrested or detained by federal authorities. Officials say they want to make DNA collection as routine as taking fingerprints. This was USAT‘s lead story on Jan. 19.
Everybody fronts the Super Bowl, where the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears 29-17. But how about the ads? The NYT sees hints of the war in Iraq in many of the ads that “celebrated violence in an exaggerated, cartoonlike vein that was intended to be humorous, but often came across as cruel or callous.” The LAT was simply unimpressed and says the spots showed how the advertising industry has run out of ideas. And what about all those amateur ads? “The best things that could be said about [them] was that you couldn’t tell them from the professional ones.” The WSJ says “this year’s Super Bowl ads overall didn’t live up to the hype surrounding them.” (Do they ever?) Among the “ad executives and consumers” the WSJ talked to, several Anheuser-Busch ads stood out, and they particularly liked the one where men slap each other. USAT‘s panel also liked Budweiser’s spots, but they preferred the one with the crabs.
Daniel Politi writes “Today’s Papers” for Slate. He can be reached at todayspapers@slate.com.
