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Editorials: Restore order in Iraq before adding troops The (Harrisburg, Pa.) Patriot-News Aug. 26 The Bush administration is under growing pressure to increase the number of troops in Iraq amid an upsurge in deadly terrorist attacks and general lawlessness. At the same time, a new Newsweek magazine poll found that 48 percent of Americans want U.S. troops brought home. The administration line continues to be that troop strengths are adequate, but it is lobbying hard for other countries to send troops and appears ready to push for a U.N. Security Council resolution to formalize that appeal. Clearly, the administration was ill-prepared for postwar demands in both Iraq and Afghanistan, assuming, as Vice President Dick Cheney put it, that U.S. troops "will be greeted as liberators." America should be pressing ahead to restore Iraqi political and police control. And it should redouble efforts to keep the United Nations engaged in Iraq and other countries, assisting the U.S. with security, humanitarian and economic needs. But until those efforts pay dividends in the form of boots on the ground, America will need additional forces to restore order before the situation spirals out of control in an ever-mounting cost of blood and treasure. System should punish state in bad convictions Chicago Tribune Aug. 22 The exhaustive report released Thursday detailing what went wrong in the notorious Ford Heights Four case provides a strong argument for why such an exercise should be routine after every proven wrongful conviction in Illinois. The report details numerous failings of individuals and the system, yet determines that no state or federal prosecution is warranted. It does seem galling that shoddy evidence and lazy law enforcement work is enough to send four poor black men to prison, but not nearly enough to get any law enforcement officer responsible so much as fired. Collectively, Dennis Williams, Willie Rainge, Kenneth Adams and Verneal Jimerson spent some 65 years in prison for a double murder they did not commit. Two of them faced execution. They were released in 1996 only after DNA technology finally advanced to the point that it could prove their innocence and implicate four others who actually did the crime. Much remains to be done to restore public trust in our justice system. A commission that does the same kind of work contained in the DiVito report would go a long way toward convincing the public that the system acts with great care before deciding to strip an individual of his precious freedom. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -