Opinion: In today’s pages: Congo, Kuwait, court, quench
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Iraq still owes $24 billion in reparations to Kuwait for Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion and attempted conquest, but now Iraq has problems of its own. Should it still pay? The Times editorial page says Kuwait should consider reducing reparations in the name of stability in that part of the world:
Plenty of bankers would give their eye teeth for 50 cents on a dollar owed, and Kuwait already has received that. Iraq’s political and economic development is in the interest of its neighbors, as well as of the United States. Kuwait should consider reducing reparations, and its proposal to reinvest some of the remaining debt in Iraq would benefit both countries.
The page also gives props to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of Florida for his vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor -- and for trying to keep the high court from being just another panel for political appointments:
During the Alito hearings, Graham reminded Democrats that ‘elections matter.’ He was true to his word Tuesday in supporting Sotomayor. ‘I didn’t feel good about the election, but we lost,’ Graham said. Then he offered his colleagues a lesson in political science: ‘What I’m trying to do with my vote is to recognize that [during the Bush administration] we came perilously close to damaging an institution, the judiciary, that has held this country together in difficult times.’
And we round out the page with more props, this time for L.A. residents and their response to the drought:
Let’s consider the very real possibility that Los Angeles residents saved water because they take the drought seriously. They have a high degree of environmental awareness. They want to conserve -- even if that means their lawns may turn brown.
On the Op-Ed page, we offer a collection of punditry from around the nation on the state budget. Also, author Helen Winternitz calls on the U.S. and other western nations to support Congo -- the former Zaire -- in part by accepting China as the nation’s primary creditor.
And Kathy J. Sackman, president of United Nurses Assns. of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, takes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to task for undermining oversight of nurses. Sackman says more oversight of her union’s members is better:
The board should implement a better tracking system so that comprehensive records of allegations against individual nurses are maintained (both in-state and out-of-state) and compared against any new claims. And finally, the board should recruit enforcement monitors to guarantee that action recommended by the board against individual nurses is completed and that any required oversight during a probationary period is fulfilled.