Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:

June 15

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky., on the constitutional rights of Guantanamo detainees:

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have a constitutional right to go before a federal judge and challenge their detention.

The decision, by a narrow 5-4 margin, upholds the principle of habeas corpus, a pillar of American justice. By denying its application to the Guantanamo detainees for more than six years, the Bush administration in effect has claimed the absolute right to hold people indefinitely and without charges or trials. This is a subversion of the rule of law and has shamed the United States in the world’s eyes.

Critics should shelve their usual braying about “permissive liberal judges.” Does American conservatism truly now embrace a doctrine of authoritarian executive power?

Justice Antonin Scalia, in a shrill and intemperate dissent, argued that the ruling “will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.”

The government must do all that it legally can to make sure that is not the case. But Justice Scalia’s argument could be used to sidestep constitutional safeguards whenever dangerous people are involved. ...

In any case, as Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority’s opinion, “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.”

Due process, fair trials and timely resolutions are American strengths, not weaknesses. The Court has wisely cleared the way for them to work.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/5v44yv

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June 16

The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Ill., on Tim Russert’s death:

When the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum opened three years ago, it sought to pull Lincoln’s presidency out of the history books and drop it into a modern context. Among the exhibits that does that in stellar fashion is “Campaign 1860,” which sets the four-way presidential campaign of 1860 in a modern media setting. Setting viewers straight on the views of candidates Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, John C. Breckinridge and John Bell is the familiar, authoritative presence of Tim Russert.

Russert was a natural choice for this role. Since taking the helm of “Meet the Press” in December 1991, Russert had earned respect across the political spectrum. If a generation was to understand the bitterly contested presidential contest of 1860, who better to explain it than the man who guided America through the bitterly contested presidential contest of 2000?

“Campaign 1860″ also appeared to have staying power. Russert, after all, was at the top of his game when the exhibit was unveiled. In fact, his participation was a tightly guarded secret prior to the museum’s opening. ...

His loss last week was a truly sad moment for anyone who followed national politics in America. It’s our hope that “Campaign 1860″ remains part of the presidential museum for many years to come. It’s a fitting tribute to one of this generation’s great journalists; a person millions will miss as the current presidential campaign unfolds.

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On the Net:

http://www.sj-r.com/opinions

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June 17

The Miami Herald, on protecting endangered animals:

Call it the “manatee wars,” a decade during which environmentalists clashed with boaters and developers over whether the slow-moving sea cow should be downgraded to “threatened” from its current listing as an “endangered” species. ...

How an animal is listed is crucial to its future, since an endangered listing warrants far more protective measures than, say, a listing of “vulnerable.” Boaters and developers say that the increase in the manatee population in recent years means the species is healthy enough to be down-listed. ...

Environmentalists point to increasing numbers of manatee deaths caused by boat propellers in a state with the nation’s highest boat ownership as evidence that the creatures are still at great risk. They also pointed out _ correctly _ that the annual count of the manatee population is conducted in a manner that is dubious, to say the least. Only manatees sighted by air and land on a single day are tallied.

Wearied by this battle and other criticisms over how it manages the state’s at-risk animals, the FWCC is considering scrapping its imperiled-species list and adopting the federal endangered-species list instead. The federal list includes the manatee, the Florida panther, the Key deer and 56 other species in Florida that are rated for various categories of risk. In addition to adopting the federal list, the FWCC would create a new list to protect animals not recognized by the feds, such as the threatened Florida black bear.

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On the Net:

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/story/572715.html

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June 16

Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, on the FBI and delays:

The FBI uses old technology and inadequately trained workers to perform security checks on people applying for citizenship and other immigration benefits, a government audit found.

Yawn. How about telling the American people something they haven’t heard before? ...

The old system has resulted in large backlogs for the security checks on names of immigrants working their way through legal channels to become naturalized citizens or legal residents, and it’s affecting U.S. businesses that rely on foreign workers.

In defense of the agency, some of the backlog, according to FBI Assistant Director John Miller, came as a result of a request from what was then the Immigration and Naturalization Service to re-screen 2.7 million names through a more in-depth process following the terrorist attacks of 9-11.

But that was nearly seven years ago. Although 86 percent of the name-check requests are completed within 60 days, the rest can take anywhere from several months to more than a year. ...

An effective and efficient name-check system is crucial to making that happen, and Congress controls the purse strings for allocating the funds needed for the personnel, training and technology upgrades.

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On the Net:

http://www.star-telegram.com

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June 14

The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo., on the Boy Scouts in Iowa:

It’s hard to imagine the pain facing love ones of the four Boy Scouts who were killed when a twister ripped through their camp in Iowa recently. Don’t forget them. They are: Aaron Eilerts, 14, Sam Thomsen, 13, Ben Petrzilka, 14, and Josh Fennen, 13.

This was the loss of four boys who were likely to become extraordinary men _ the kind who would become leaders in their communities and put others ahead of themselves. How would anyone know this? Because they were Scouts, meaning they were statistically likely to succeed. There’s no shortage of cadets, at the Air Force Academy as well as the other service academies, who were Boy Scouts. Many of them were Eagle Scouts, the pinnacle of Scouting’s ranks. ...

Moments after the tornado turned their camp to shreds, it was evident how the Iowa Scouts had been prepared to serve. They immediately began putting their training to work, digging through rubble to free and tend to their injured peers. While most children understandably would have panicked, the Boy Scouts went to work. Some broke into an equipment shed, grabbed tools and a chainsaw, and began clearing fallen trees from the road so parents and rescuers could get to the scene.

The boys who died can never be replaced. But their deaths should bring attention to the need for more Boy Scouts, in a culture that’s suffering from an abundance of weak men, barely prepared to care for themselves. More Boy Scouts, like the four who died, would make our future world a much better place.

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On the Net:

http://www.gazette.com

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June 15

The Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, on Sen. Barack Obama and fighting rumors:

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama learned an important lesson from the 2004 presidential campaign: Don’t be passive about false rumors.

When Democratic nominee and Vietnam War veteran John Kerry, who served with distinction in the U.S. Navy and won multiple Purple Hearts for wounds in battle, was attacked for a lack of patriotism, his campaign was slow to respond. Obama won’t be so passive. ...

But after the dustup last week over comments attributed to his wife, Michelle, the Obama campaign took to the Internet with a vengeance and a new Web site. Michelle Obama was accused of using a derogatory term for white people, which she and her husband roundly denied when it was reported and deny again on the Web site.

The name of the Web site, fightthesmears.com, says it all clearly and concisely. Obama’s camp will respond to smears instantly and forcefully. It will not be easily swiftboated, not be passive about rumors no matter how bizarre, not be caught unaware of the destructive potential of false statements.

It’s an unfortunate reality of modern politics that the most absurd charges assume a life of their own on the Internet. Anyone can post any nutty thing, and it spreads like a virus. This is the new gutter politics, and it can be effective. ...

But Democrats have learned from the swiftboating of Kerry that they can and must fight back. Fightthesmears.com is an excellent tool for turning lies and smears back on their perpetrators and revealing the truth.

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On the Net:

http://www.statesman.com

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June 13

The Lima (Ohio) News, on the world food crisis:

The United States, Europe, and some Latin American countries did not do themselves proud in the face of a very real world food crisis at the U.N. food summit meeting in Rome last week. Food commodity prices have doubled over the last couple of years and the World Bank says an additional 100 million people could go hungry this year as a result. Yet petty domestic politics trumped most of these concerns.

Governments cannot control conditions like drought in Australia or the too much rain we’re having in many parts of the heartland this spring, both of which have dampened and threaten to dampen food production. But mandates in the U.S. and Europe to use more food for fuel in the form of biofuel and ethanol mandates and subsidies have unquestionably contributed to the food crisis. ...

So the world political leaders talked and postured and produced mostly meaningless promises. The U.S. and Europe vowed to continue their destructive farm and biofuels policies. People are likely to starve as a result, but the biofuels industrial complex will thrive on subsidies. ...

Disgraceful.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/5gnrlg

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June 17

The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., on the consequences of low oil prices:

The Saudis have indicated that they’ll increase petroleum production by 200,000 barrels a day in July _ on top of an increase of 300,000 barrels a day this month _ a move that may moderate the rising price of gas. Mind you, no one is predicting gas prices falling back to $1 a gallon. ...

Drivers flock back to gas-guzzling big cars, trucks and SUVs. They move farther away from work, so commutes lengthen. Businesses and ordinary citizens don’t bother turning down the heat or dialing back the AC. The impetus for more mass transit disappears. Dependence on oil from the Mideast and other unfriendly places grows.

Worst of all, research into the alternative energy that could get us out of the oil mess evaporates. ...

Major efforts were made and significant progress was achieved (including a near-doubling of average gas mileage), but it all stalled, even reversed, when the price of a barrel of crude fell to the teens and stayed there for a decade.

The Saudis aren’t planning to increase production because they sympathize with the average American _ or any other oil consumers around the world, for that matter. They understand that oil at current levels will fuel an international economic slowdown. That’s bad for their business.

But Americans should remember that the Saudis and other oil producers also fear that record-high prices will refocus the U.S. and other nations on the need to cut petroleum use. That would be even worse for their business. It also would cause instability at home, where oil is the only thing fueling the economy as a source of jobs and revenue. ...

We cannot afford to lose focus again.

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On the Net:

http://www.nj.com

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June 18

The Guardian, London, on the rising cost of living:

The British are adjusting to a new, expensive era. They feel it when filling up their cars, or doing the weekly shop. Mortgage bills are soaring, while wage rises are nowhere near as forthcoming. This is the big squeeze, and we shall feel it for a long time to come.

So much was clear in the letters exchanged yesterday between Mervyn King, head of the Bank of England, and the chancellor, Alistair Darling. Mr. King has to write a memo every time inflation goes more than a percentage point wide of the set target of 2 percent, or remains astray for three months. Only one has been sent in the 11 years of Bank independence; but yesterday, as inflation hit its highest level since Norman Lamont was at No 11, both correspondents agreed there would be further letters to come. Already at 3.3 percent, inflation could easily top 4 percent by the end of the year, predicted Mr. King. He thought oil and food prices could keep rising over the next few months and noted that this was a global phenomenon. He is absolutely right: the cost of living is rising sharply in both rich countries and poor, for America and Asia. ...

The Bank of England would normally have jacked up rates to quell inflationary pressure, but it is rightly reluctant to do so as the economy slows down. On almost any indicator, from activity in the housing market to surveys of manufacturing sentiment, the economy appears to be sinking deep enough, fast enough to justify rates heading south. ...

... For years the typical homeowner has enjoyed a combination of easy debt, rising house prices and record-low inflation: all three have now vanished, and all three are unlikely to reappear any time soon. The big squeeze is set to be a long one.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/3o88r6

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June 18

Ha’aretz, Tel-Aviv, Israel, on a proposed amendment to the Basic Law:

The Basic Law on the Knesset is meant to be a law that is not touched, changed or suited to the spirit of the moment or the changing desires of Knesset members. It is the Basic Law that ensures the fundamental right to vote and to be elected.

But restraint is not a hallmark of the members of the present House, which is not overflowing with real parliamentarians. ...

The bill, which is to be presented to the legislature for its second and third readings in the coming days, would amend the Basic Law on the Knesset so that a person who has visited an enemy country would not be able to stand for election to the Knesset. Such a visit would be considered “supporting the armed struggle against the State of Israel.” The prohibition would be retroactive for seven years, starting from when the amendment is passed. The law refers to all citizens of Israel, but is intended to prevent Arab citizens from visiting Arab countries. The prohibition is a sweeping one; it does not matter what the purpose of the visit has been. ...

Clearly, the proposed change in the law does not add to the security of the country, but only to the public relations efforts of the lawmakers who initiated it. These trips have for some reason become like a red flag to other Knesset members who have never made a special effort at coexistence or breaking down the barriers of hatred between Israel and Arabs. ...

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On the Net:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/993737.html

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June 18

Berlingske Tidende, Copenhagen, Denmark, on France and NATO:

France is on its way back into the NATO military structure that it left in 1966 in a protest against American domination.

Or one might also say that NATO apparently is on its way back to France. At least that is what the French government says in explaining the new defense policy course to its domestic audience.

NATO needs Europe — read that France — which is why NATO needs to move closer to the European reality through a full French membership.

Although the new French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has reconsidered with parts of the previous French solitary line toward NATO and the United States, the bottom line in France is it wants the European Union to be a major power, hopefully in cooperation with the United States but without them if need be.

Sarkozy is not seriously on a collision course with the United States. Washington also wishes a stronger military Europe that can support the United States in military operations.

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On the Net:

http://www.berlingske.dk

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June 18

Daily Nation, Nairobi, Kenya, on protecting journalists:

The Kenya Union of Journalists is up in arms over alleged mistreatment of news reporters and photojournalists by over-zealous members of the presidential security unit. Journalists have enough reason to be worried when they are routinely manhandled by security personnel without anyone lifting a finger.

There is no question that during the last five years, democratic space has expanded tremendously, and journalists have not been left too far behind by the freedom train. But if the trend of harassing the media continues, this may no longer be the case.

During presidential functions, journalists have continued to be intimidated, their tools of trade confiscated, and their presence actively resented.

What happened on Budget Day when journalists were locked out of Parliament is a case in point. What happened on Jamhuri Day last December is another example. Yet the appeal by journalists for official protection has fallen on deaf ears. Aren’t they supposed to do duty, just like security personnel?

The Head of State is not just any ordinary mortal; he is the property of the Kenyan people. As such, he deserves extraordinary protection against anyone or anything that might harm him. But then, isn’t it defeatist for the media to be prevented from covering him? Who would hear what he has to say?

There has always been a symbiotic relationship between politicians and journalists. Let the presidential guards not erect a barrier between him and the people whose representatives at news events the media is. We all need each other.

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On the Net:

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgindex.asp