There’s only one reasonable reaction to the capture of Saddam Hussein: a damned good thing, and about time, too. Both Wes Clark and Howard Dean said roughly that, and they were right to do so, both substantively and politically.
And no, this is not the right time to be talking about the coziness of Reagan and Bush I officials with Saddam Hussein back when he was invading Iran. That time, politically, will be never. Looking as if you’re other than perfectly happy about the capture of a national enemy is not only tasteless but just plain dumb.
[It is, however, permissible to ask when we’re finally going to catch Osama bin Laden. But not now, dammit!]
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
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