It's hard to work up much more anger at Reuters, these days, but this might do it. It's the caption to a picure of the WTC-less work site in downtown Manhattan. Note the scare quotes on "war on terror":

Recovery and debris removal work continues at the site of the World Trade Center known as "ground zero" in New York, March 25, 2002. Human rights around the world have been a casualty of the U.S. "war on terror" since September 11.

Yes, right. That should always be the lead of any story about the horrendous attack on American soil almost a year ago. That human rights around the world are deteriorating as a result of our response to it.

You know, like the right to slash a flight attendant's throat, and fly her airplane into the side of a skyscraper. Or the right to strap high explosives to your midriff and scatter Jewish baby parts all over with it. Our fundamental rights are under attack.

Let's see if the blogosphere has any power. Maybe if we generate enough outrage, they'll reconsider it, and change it.

[Thanks to "JMiller" via email]

Even taking into account Ashcroft's various bad
moves, any measure of human rights integrated over all the areas affected by US policy since 9/11/01 will show improvement. The liberation of Afghanistan from the most backward and repressive regime in living memory was a huge step forward for human rights. Somebody at Reuters has been smoking belly-button lint.

In these dark times, when the Middle East explodes with violence and a new iron curtain of anti-semitism and anti-Americanism is descending on Europe, it helps to remember the old cliche that history is written by the winners.

That will be us, not these Reuters losers.