Cato Daily Dispatch for December 21, 2004
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Bush Acknowledges Obstacles in IraqMedical Associations Criticize DEA over Prescription Guidelines
China's President Criticizes Hong Kong Chief Executive
Bush Acknowledges Obstacles in Iraq
"President George W. Bush on Monday acknowledged with unusual candour the obstacles to progress in Iraq, noting the toll that car bombs are taking on morale and the desertions from Iraqi security forces under fire," the Financial Times reports.
"But Bush insisted that 'the terrorists will fail, the elections will go forward and Iraq will be a democracy.'"
In the Cato Institute book Exiting Iraq: Why the U.S. Must End the Military Occupation and Renew the War against Al Qaeda, a special task force of 10 foreign policy experts charts a path for the expeditious withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq. An orderly withdrawal, with proper guarantees for the safety and security of U.S. military and civilian personnel leaving Iraq, could be completed by December 2005. Following a U.S. military withdrawal, a set of clear guidelines must govern relations between the United States and the new Iraqi government: Do not threaten the United States; do not harbor anti-American terrorists; and do not develop weapons of mass destruction.
Medical Associations Criticize DEA over Prescription Guidelines
"Three medical associations representing pain specialists have sent the Drug Enforcement Administration an unusual joint letter sharply critical of its recently revised guidelines on prescribing pain medicines," the Washington Post reports.
"Already concerned about what they saw as sometimes over-aggressive prosecutions of doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals who prescribe narcotic painkillers such as OxyContin, the specialists said the new DEA position threatens their ability to provide care to millions of patients."
In "A Painful Decision," Professor Ronald T. Libby, author of a forthcoming paper on the DEA and prescription painkillers for the Cato Institute, writes about the DEA crusade against doctors prescribing painkillers using the federal case against Virginia doctor William Hurwitz as an example.
"...The government has done a great disservice to millions of patients who suffer from intractable pain and to the physicians who treat them. As a consequence of the Hurwitz trial, doctors will now view every pain patient they see with suspicion and as a potential criminal or undercover government agent. Pain patients will now find it even more difficult to find a doctor willing to treat them and risk the fate of William Hurwitz."
China's President Criticizes Hong Kong Chief Executive
"President Hu Jintao of China publicly urged Hong Kong's leader on Monday to improve his management of the semiautonomous Chinese territory, a comment widely seen as a rebuke," the New York Times reports.
Hu said that "he believed that Hong Kong was 'moving in the right direction.' But he went on to warn Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's chief executive, that he should 'sum up experiences, identify shortcomings, sharpen administrative abilities and continue to raise the quality of governing.'"
In "What Beijing needs to learn from Hong Kong," Cato China expert James Dorn writes: "Hong Kong's demand for limiting the reach of the Chinese government...is a sign that Hong Kong's quest for political freedom may spread to the mainland. Although China's march towards market liberalism has been slow, it has been steady. Mindsets are changing as more people become exposed to western culture and commerce. The private sector is gaining ground and with it the demand for political reform and less state intervention."
Jonathan Block, editor, jblock@cato.org