Opinion: In today’s pages: Blindspots in Obama’s strategy, healthcare and salmon fisheries
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On the Op-Ed page today, Paul VanDevelder, author of ‘Savages and Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America’s Road to Empire Through Indian Territory,’ discusses an impending ruling by U.S. District Judge James Redden in Oregon that may determine the fate of salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers. VanDevelder argues that dam removal is the best option for the salmon’s survival, but it’s also the most politically turbulent:
The Columbia-Snake corridor is the salmon’s only option for survival, and Redden is probably their last hope. He is the one person in this entire drama who is legally obligated to use science and the law to protect the fish from extinction and from the whims of politicians. If the law and science are unable to trump politics to save this fishery -- a fishery that was the most productive in the world just two generations ago -- how will we ever meet the towering challenges posed by global climate change?
Meanwhile, Boston University Professor Andrew J. Bacevich accuses President Obama of having a strategic blindspot in Iraq and Afghanistan, a result of the new administration’s preoccupation with tactics and operations. Bacevich compares the situation to that of Britain during and after World War I, when its leaders got caught up in seeing the war through instead of ending it quickly.
As President Obama shifts the main U.S. military effort from Iraq to Afghanistan, and as his commanders embrace counterinsurgency as the new American way of war, the big questions go not only unanswered but unasked. Does perpetuating the Long War make political or strategic sense? As we prepare to enter that war’s ninth year, are there no alternatives?
He also sets out a list of principles to bring about a quicker end to the war, as well as prevent the United States from miring itself in a failed democracy-promoting venture once again. As the eighth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Barack Obama could do well from learning from past mistakes and founding a list of values on which to base foreign policy decisions.
Finally, columnist Gregory Rodriguez ponders the use of the word ‘evil’ in American culture and society, and our aversion to its use, specifically referring to Judge Chin’s use of the word toward disgraced financier Bernard Madoff and his actions. Rodriguez argues that by not calling people or their actions as we see it, that we are inadvertently making ourselves unable to deal with such evil.
On the Editorial side of the fold, healthcare reform dominates again, this time honing in on the benefits of covering those who are uninsured as well as exploring various options for universal coverage:
Most important, the large and growing number of uninsured Americans make it well-nigh impossible to overhaul the healthcare system to improve quality and control cost. Bringing those people in from the fringes is crucial to changing the system’s incentives, shifting from a model that relies on sickness to one that promotes prevention and wellness, increases the supply of primary care and improves coordination among its many elements.
The editorial board says a public plan modeled after the L.A. Care Health Plan could help boost competition among policies and providers. It also backs a requirement that adults carry health insurance (with subsidies for those who can’t afford coverage) and a limited ‘play or pay’ mandate on employers.