News opinion 2008-05-04 Andanh.com

Court right to uphold voter ID law Fri, 2 May 2008 20:23:20 -0500
It should not be that much of a hassle for someone wanting to vote to show a poll worker his or her government-issued photo identification to ensure elections are free of fraud. Because of the importance of fair elections, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Monday that states can require voters to show ID before casting ballots was welcome. The case involved a Indiana law that required voters to do this. Critics argued that the law creates an unnecessary barrier for older and poor people. But the law doesn’t place a significant burden on voters, because they can get a state-issued ID at no charge. The Indiana law, upheld by a 6-3 majority, was considered the strictest in the nation. This means that similar laws in about half the states, including Kentucky, should pass legal muster as well. In Kentucky, no identification is required provided poll workers know the voter. Otherwise, some form of identification such as a driver’s license, credit card or utility bill is necessary. In the Indiana case, Justice John Paul Stevens, one of the court’s more liberal members, wrote that the limited burden the ID requirement imposes is outweighed by the public interest in elections free of fraud. While weighing this balancing act between competing objectives, the court came to the only reasonable conclusion it could. Americans will accept the outcome of elections as long as they are convinced the process is free and fair. It is difficult to understand the reaction of the Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who sees voter identification laws as a sinister effort to strip people of their right to vote. Dean is wrong. These laws simply safeguard the integrity of the vote.

The good fight Fri, 2 May 2008 20:22:51 -0500
The biggest security challenge to the United States comes from a place you may never have heard of. It’s called the FATA. That’s the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, where al-Qaida and other jihadi groups have established safe havens along the Afghan border. So far, no one’s figured out how to deal with the problem. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf failed to dislodge the jihadis by force; he limited U.S. attacks to remotely piloted Predator aircraft. Now, Pakistan’s new civilian leaders have come up with a new formula that downplays military strikes in favor of negotiations with militants. Administration officials fear this will backfire. Yet Pakistan’s strategy looks remarkably similar to the formula that helped rid Iraq’s Anbar province of al-Qaida: Help tribal leaders help themselves. Call it the Anbar model: aiding tribal elders who want to push out violent intruders by giving them political and economic incentives, along with military aid. Of course, Pakistani officials would never publicly compare the FATA problem with Anbar, and there are innumerable differences between the two areas. After the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, many Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida leaders took refuge in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Pakistani jihadis migrated there, too. In a region that had been woefully neglected and lacks jobs, and is only informally governed by Islamabad, tribesmen could be wooed to join the jihadis. A lack of law and order made it easy for militants to intimidate tribal leaders. Attacks by the Pakistani army, whose troops are mostly ethnic Punjabis, further alienated FATA’s Pushtun tribes. Strikes by U.S. missiles caused collateral damage among civilians. Many Pakistanis came to view military attacks on FATA as a war waged on America’s behalf. Although jihadis have been blowing up Pakistani civilians and killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the fight against Islamist militants was seen as “America’s war.” This is the outlook that Pakistan’s newly elected government wants to change. “We have to win the people on our side. We don’t want Pakistanis to think we are unfair to our own people,” I was told by Husain Haqqani, who will become Pakistan’s new ambassador to the United States next month. The risky part of this strategy is negotiations with militant tribes along in the Afghan border area. This includes tribes led by a man accused of organizing suicide bombs and Bhutto’s murder - Baitullah Mehsud. “The deal is not with Mehsud but with the people around him,” Haqqani insists. He says the deal would require tribal members to lay down their arms, and to pledge they won’t harbor militants or let their area be used as a base for attacks against other countries - like Afghanistan, or Western nations. After a test period, tribes that won’t turn over terrorists would face military action. “It’s not an either/or,” Haqqani said. “We can speak softly and carry a big stick.” The key to the strategy will be a Pakistani government effort to aid tribes that are fed up with being pushed around by hard-core militants - as U.S. commanders aided Iraqi tribal leaders in Anbar. If sufficiently encouraged, tribal elders could rally their own militias as did tribal chiefs in Anbar. The government would also put money and effort into upgrading the Frontier Constabulary, made up of tribesmen who protect the border. A crucial part of the plan would be to funnel large amounts of development aid into the FATA and to strengthen political ties to the tribal areas. U.S. aid money would be important. After years of relying only on Pakistan’s military to deal with the FATA problem, the Bush administration has now allotted $186.7 million in fiscal 2007 to help build schools and hospitals in the tribal areas. Yes, the strategy is risky. Hard-core militants may use a cease-fire to reorganize and rearm. Critics point out that Musharraf engineered a cease-fire with militants two years ago that quickly collapsed. Haqqani says the agreement Musharraf signed was “with the Pakistani Taliban. We’re signing with the tribes. There is a distinction between tribals and terrorists.” That is the hope. The virtue of the government’s plan is that it aims to enlist Pakistanis themselves in the effort to stabilize the tribal areas. By offering the tribes an alternative to war, it exposes and isolates the militants who prefer violence. If militants reject the truce, it would give the government a solid argument for using force. “Pakistan must fight terrorism for Pakistan’s sake,” the country’s new prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, wrote in the Washington Post. If his strategy can convince the Pakistani public that the struggle against jihadis is their fight, too, it has a chance to succeed.

Local tip sheet Fri, 02 May 2008 21:54:00 EST
Louisville, perhaps best known as the home of the Kentucky Derby, has had a hodge-podge of influences over time, some still very much in evidence today.

It's official, sort of Fri, 02 May 2008 21:54:00 EST
Finally, Zimbabwe's election commission has released the "official" results of the March 29 election.

Forum Flashes: Good moves, bad moves Fri, 02 May 2008 21:53:00 EST

The Derby: beauty vs. wasteful extravagance Fri, 02 May 2008 21:55:00 EST
April showers bring May roses and lilies. On a day that is dreamed of by all of the boys and the fillies, the first weekend in May is one that brings an anxious feeling to the strongest of heart.

Lincoln eloquent Fri, 02 May 2008 21:47:00 EST
I was in general agreement with the April 29 letter "Nation, world better because Union won" expressing dismay as to the affection bestowed upon the Confederacy given that it advanced no higher purpose and both this country and the world are much the better because it was defeated. Near its conclusion, however, the writer provides that the North prevailed "in spite of … a backwater hayseed lawyer (Lincoln) in his first executive job."

Web-exclusive reader letters Fri, 02 May 2008 21:59:00 EST

Derby Gouging Fri, 02 May 2008 21:58:00 EST

READERS' VIEWS Sat, 03 May 2008 02:03 EDT
IN-STATE EDUCATION SHOULD BE FREE FOR KY. GRADUATES

I applaud the April 20 editorial, "Priced out of the running."

Higher education makes an important contribution to economic progress through the creation of human capital. For example, in an economic-impact study for Eastern Kentucky University, I calculated that EKU's instructional programs in 2005 added $629 million to the state's stock of human capital.

Even if one-third did not remain in Kentucky (EKU's historical record), the addition would be $418 million, equal to six dollars of capital formation for every dollar of state appropriation to EKU in 2005.

Capital formation is fundamental to growth and development in any economy. Increasing the ratio of capital to labor is the superhighway to higher income and economic well-being.

A Canuck in Kantuck: Simple acts of kindness
This issue marks my three-year anniversary at The Sentinel-Echo and over the years I have come to expect to be inspired — by people’s kindness, by people’s dedication, by people’s plain and simple effort.

Baffle your guests with history
Okay, you’ve got out-of-state Derby guests who are nursing hangovers and asking you to explain Kentucky government and politics. Good luck.

Our habits effect gas usage
Only the public can force the big oil companies to reduce their prices. The only way we can force them to reduce prices is to lessen our demand by using less gasoline.

Chinese Dir