Opinion: In today’s pages: Hillary Clinton healthcare, Blackwater breakdown
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The editorial board responds to the Blackwater USA investigation in Iraq:
The accusation that the Blackwater security guards mistakenly opened fire on Iraqi civilians is devastating. But no matter what misdeeds Blackwater personnel may have committed in the past, the guards must be considered innocent unless proved guilty in a court of law. According to the State Department, the contractors operate under the same rules of engagement as the department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security personnel. These rules are more defensive and circumscribed than those that govern U.S. military operations in Iraq, but they still permit the use of deadly force. It is possible that the Blackwater personnel erred, yet still acted legally within rules of engagement that are in need of an overhaul.
The board also argues that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts were a smart move even if they sent mixed signals. Finally, the board encourages the Los Angeles school district to learn some lessons from its award-winning southern neighbor.
George Mason University law professor David E. Bernstein says that even if Erwin Chemerinsky is back at U.C. Irvine, academic freedom remains elusive in the face of the far left. Columnist Ronald Brownstein compares Hillary Clinton’s latest healthcare plan to her failed 1993 initiative. New America Foundation fellow Douglas McGray writes in support of the DREAM act, which would grant conditional citizenship to young illegal immigrants. And writer Erika Schickel thinks parents could use a ditch day.
Readers respond to columnist Niall Ferguson’s claim that Rudy Giuliani is a risky choice for president. Irvine’s Amy Smith says, ‘The one issue on which Rudy Giuliani is staking his campaign is 9/11. He ties everything to that event, no matter how absurd....’