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Cato Daily Dispatch for December 27, 2005

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(Links to outside sources were active as of the date of this dispatch; however, not all news sources maintain links to current stories indefinitely. Some links also may require registration.)

Handoff to Iraqi Troops on Hold
GAO Examines Katrina Purchases
'Why Fight Over Intelligent Design?'

Handoff to Iraqi Troops on Hold

"A dispute between the U.S. military and Iraq's Defense Ministry over who will command the Iraqi army unit assuming responsibility for some of Baghdad's most sensitive sites has led to the postponement of a formal handover scheduled for Tuesday," The Washington Post reports.

In "If U.S. Leaves, Al-Qaeda Will Not Inherit Iraq," Christopher Preble, director of Foreign Policy Studies, writes: "President George W. Bush seems convinced that Al-Qaeda could take over if U.S. troops are withdrawn from Iraq. ...[However,] the vast majority of Iraqis do not support Al-Qaeda's methods or objectives, and they would be even less likely to do so after the U.S. military left Iraq. As the president explained in his Naval Academy speech, Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists comprise the smallest of the three groups that make up the current insurgency. There is strong evidence that the other larger insurgent groups - Sunni Arab rejectionists, and pro-Saddam loyalists - would turn against the small number of foreign fighters currently waging the most deadly terrorist attacks. An Iraqi insurgent leader, Abu Qaqa al-Tamimi, recently told Time magazine: 'One day, when the Americans have gone, we will need to fight another war, against these jihadis.'"

GAO Examines Katrina Purchases

"Federal employees helping victims of Hurricane Katrina charged more than $39 million on government credit cards for disaster relief items -- and that has at least one senator a bit worried," the Associated Press reports. "Much of the merchandise, which included $60,639 worth of sleeping bags and four 27-inch televisions purchased for $713, was bought at retail rather than cheaper, volume prices after the Aug. 29 storm, according to federal records. The spending also included $150,000 worth of Jockey underwear, $3,200 for golf carts, and six nail clippers."

An article in the November/December 2005 edition of Cato Policy Report, entitled "Did Big Government Return with Katrina?" reports: "'The cash needed to support the armies of compassion is great,' President Bush told the American people in a televised speech on September 15, and government agencies have been taking full advantage of our compassion for the victims of Hurricane Katrina to start spending it. Cato Institute scholars are now asking why the federal government should be spending that cash, where it will come from, and how to ensure that it is spent wisely.

"President Bush has applauded the American people for their compassion, generosity, and strength of spirit in the wake of this year's devastating hurricane season. However, the government seems unwilling to trust that Americans will take care of one another in the absence of massive and inefficient government assistance. As Cato director of health and welfare studies Michael Tanner wrote in the Christian Science Monitor, we must decide 'what should be the role of government and what should be the responsibility of the incredibly generous American people.'"

'Why Fight Over Intelligent Design?'

"Backers of 'intelligent design' have been advising school boards to avoid lawsuits by encouraging criticism of evolution rather than mandating that students learn about intelligent design. But a judge's ruling last week has given ammunition to those fighting challenges to evolution in three states," USA Today reports. "Intelligent design, or ID, is the idea that some forms of life are so complex, they show the distinct hand of a designer. Federal Judge John Jones ruled last week that intelligent design is creationism with a new label and can't be taught in public school science classes."

Andrew J. Coulson, director of the Cato Institute Center for Educational Freedom, comments: "The Pennsylvania ruling will do nothing to end the battle over the teaching of human origins that has plagued public schools since the Scopes trial of 1925. It, and all the other cultural and religious 'school wars' that divide our nation, will rage on unless we do something about their root cause: our one-size-fits-all government school system."

In "Why Fight Over Intelligent Design?," Coulson writes: "Our founding fathers were prescient in calling for the separation of church and state, but failed to foresee the dire social consequences of entangling education and state. Those consequences are now all too apparent.

"Fortunately, there is a way to end the cycle of educational violence: parental choice. Why not reorganize our schools so that parents can easily get the sort of education they value for their own children without having to force it on their neighbors?"

Kristen A. Kestner, editor, kkestner@cato.org