The Washington Post - USA (2020-12-02)

A22 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2 , 2020

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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S

WEDEN’S INITIAL response to

the coronavirus pandemic was

mild, keeping younger schoolchil-

dren in class, allowing businesses

and restaurants to stay open with dis-

tancing, limiting public gatherings to

50 people or fewer and hoping the popu-

lation would develop immunity to a

sufficient level that tighter restrictions

would not be needed. Now, Sweden is

caught up in a surge of infections and

rising deaths, and a needed reconsidera-

tion is underway. There are important

lessons, including: Don’t try this if you

want to save lives.

The response last spring, at the urging

of state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell,

seemed attractive while the United States

and others struggled with lockdowns.

Many people wondered whether the

Swedish experiment might offer an easier

alternative, avoiding the severe economic

and social costs of closure. President

Trump, after a few weeks of lockdown,

essentially embraced it, urging states to

reopen. More recently, his former adviser

Scott Atlas championed the ideas that

stricter shutdowns can cause damage to

education and economic well-being and

are not necessary for public health. On

Oct. 22, the Swedish public health agency

announced some relaxations for nursing

homes and elderly people, and permitted

gatherings of up to 300 people for cultur-

al and sporting events as long as they

were properly distanced.

But Sweden is now caught in a wave of

pandemic pain — and reversing course.

Sweden has 48.9 new confirmed cases

per 100,000 population, compared with

21.7 in Denmark, 8.2 in Norway and 7.7 in

Finland. Sweden is averaging about

42.6 deaths per day, compared with

6.9 in Denmark, 3 in Norway and 2.1 in

Finland. Sweden’s total 6,798 deaths,

predominantly among the elderly, dwarf

the toll in the other Nordic nations

combined.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven declared

Nov. 16 that Swedes were not following

restrictions as closely as they did in the

spring, so gatherings during the next

four weeks would be limited to eight

people. “This is the new norm for the

entire society,” he said. “Don’t go to gyms,

don’t go to libraries, don’t host dinners.

Cancel.” Mr. Lofven gave a nationally

televised speech on Sunday reiterating

that people should “call it off, cancel,

postpone.”

In Sweden, people are inclined to

follow crisis instructions voluntarily and

the public health agency has a great deal

of independence; the government had

delegated the early pandemic response to

Dr. Tegnell. But it appears the promised

immunity was not reached. “The issue of

herd immunity is difficult,” Dr. Tegnell

said at a briefing in Stockholm on

Nov. 24. “We see no signs of immunity in

the population that are slowing down the

infection right now.” Polls show that

Swedish public confidence in the author-

ities has sagged.

Sweden probably was right to keep

classrooms open. But in other respects,

the experiment flopped. There are no

magic wands. Until a vaccine is ready, the

virus will leap from person to person in

close contact, and the most effective way

to stop it is to avoid that contact.

The pandemic experiment that flopped

In Sweden, the prime minister urges, ‘Call it off, cancel, postpone.’

months; the accord had pushed that

timeline back beyond one year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-

tanyahu, who campaigned against the

2015 agreement, remains wedded to the

strategy of pressure despite its manifest

lack of strategic success. After Mr. Trump

was defeated in last month’s election by

Joe Biden, Mr. Netanyahu declared that

“there must be no return to the previous

nuclear agreement,” even though that is

Mr. Biden’s announced plan. The Israeli

leader may be hoping that the killing of

Mr. Fakhrizadeh may make any resump-

tion of the accord more difficult; if Iran

retaliates, it could provide Mr. Trump

with the pretext to carry out military

strikes against Iran — an option he

reportedly raised with advisers last

month.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani,

whose government negotiated the nu-

clear deal, reportedly is seeking to re-

strain any retaliation for the assassina-

tion pending Mr. Biden’s inauguration.

That would benefit both sides. The

p resident-elect will hardly be a pushover

for Tehran — he has linked a return to the

accord to follow-on agreements on issues

such as Iran’s development of long-range

missiles and exports of weapons around

the region. But he offers the prospect of a

return to a diplomacy-focused Middle

East strategy that, unlike the hard line of

Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu, has a

record of positive results.

O

VER THE past two decades, the

United States and its allies have

tried two very different strate-

gies for containing Iran’s nuclear

program. One has been to apply crushing

sanctions to the regime, launch covert

operations to disable key facilities or kill

scientists, and threaten overt military

action. The other has been to negotiate

deals with Tehran that freeze key activi-

ties, such as uranium enrichment, and

provide for international inspections. It

is now apparent which works better.

Two and a half years ago, President

Trump repudiated the diplomatic accord

negotiated by the Obama administration

and applied what he called “maximum

pressure.” The 2015 nuclear accord,

though flawed, had succeeded in rolling

back and freezing Iran’s uranium enrich-

ment. It all but eliminated, at least until

the mid-2020s, the threat that Iran

would race to build a bomb. In contrast,

sanctions and sabotage, even when suc-

cessful, have failed to stop Iran from

advancing toward nuclear weapons pro-

duction — much less toppled its Islamist

regime.

That record won’t be altered by the

assassination last week, reportedly by

Israel, of the Iranian nuclear scientist

who headed its work on a bomb before

the project was suspended in 2003. The

operation that killed Mohsen Fakhriza-

deh was a dazzling piece of covert work

by the standards of that shadow world —

as was the mysterious explosion in July

that wrecked a production facility for

centrifuges. U.S. sanctions, which contin-

ue to mount, have badly damaged the

Iranian economy.

Yet, since May 2018, when Mr. Trump

withdrew the United States from the

multilateral nuclear accord, Iran has

increased its stockpile of enriched urani-

um to 12 times the total it was limited to

under the accord, according to U.N. in-

spectors. It has resumed enriching urani-

um at an underground facility that is

believed to be invulnerable to air attack,

and it has begun operating a new genera-

tion of more advanced centrifuges. Some

experts believe it could produce the

material for a bomb in a matter of

Diplomacy is the better way with Iran

Sanctions, sabotage and killing scientists have failed to halt Tehran’s race to build a bomb.

The implementation of online learn-

ing in Fairfax County remains an ongoing

challenge. The Nov. 25 front-page article

“Failing grades spike in Fairfax” reported

that students with disabilities and mem-

bers of low-income or non-English-

speaking households are disproportion-

ately affected by the online learning

environment. Without in-person interac-

tion with teachers, students have to find

new ways to stay engaged in learning.

Numerous studies have shown a

strong correlation between attendance

and academic achievement. In an online

environment, it is possible to “attend”

class without being mentally present.

Students can easily divert their attention

to another task without facing normal

consequences that arise from direct

teacher oversight. Additional support

from teachers tasked with increasing

student engagement should be required

for the most vulnerable students. Though

it is not feasible for teachers to monitor

each student continuously, a platform

that encourages camera use and class

discussions that require student partici-

pation would be beneficial.

The pandemic has made learning

more difficult for everyone, but we must

take every effort to prevent disadvan-

taged students from falling into the trap

of incomplete attendance.

Lauren Spehlmann, Vienna

Online learning is failing

The suggestion by former representa-

tive John K. Delaney (D-Md.) in his

Nov. 24 op-ed to pay Americans $1,500 to

take a coronavirus vaccine was absurd.

This is precisely the problem with policy-

makers, especially those from the Demo-

cratic side of the aisle. Paying people to do

something they should be doing anyway

because it is in their best interest and the

best interest of the county is nothing but

bribery.

Contrary to the popular belief of many

politicians, money is not the sole motivat-

ing factor for most people when making

important life decisions. Mr. Delaney

should give his fellow Americans more

credit, trust them to make an informed

decision on whether to get vaccinated

and abandon his plan of financial coer-

cion. Millions of dollars have already

been spent to develop vaccines and con-

duct the associated clinical trials, and the

federal government will spend a signifi-

cant amount of taxpayer money to carry

out the approval process.

I would like a $1,500 handout just as

much as the next person, but adding

$383 billion to the already $27 trillion

national debt is not the answer. The true

incentive for getting vaccinated is the

increased immunity to the virus and the

overall health of our nation.

Jeffrey Schneider, Owings

An absurd suggestion

Marc A. Thiessen’s Nov. 26 op-ed, “My

mother’s fight for freedom,” was an im-

portant reminder that it can happen

here. His three points — we should never

take for granted our peace and freedom;

refugees are a blessing and not a burden;

and America is a nation built on the idea

of human liberty — are important guide-

lines.

What I can’t square is how he supports

a president who spits in the face of these

very things he proclaimed vital. A presi-

dent who actively and ruthlessly encour-

ages violence against those who disagree

with him; a president who turns his back

on refugees seeking a haven in the United

States and swings shut the door to the

freedoms we enjoy; a president who

actively encourages alt-right supporters

of “blood and soil,” white supremacy and

crazy conspiracy theories.

Debra Sternberg, Washington

I enjoyed Marc A. Thiessen’s inspir-

ing story of his mother’s bravery in

resisting Nazi occupation in Warsaw,

surviving a prison camp in Germany,

earning her medical degree in Ireland

and working until her recent 90th birth-

day in New York City.

But I have to disagree with his state-

ment that “America’s greatness lies in the

fact that it is the only country in human

history built not on blood or soil but on

an idea — the idea of human liberty.”

What about the devastation of our Indig-

enous population through war and dis-

ease, the millions of enslaved people who

gave up their liberty and often gave up

their lives so that others could thrive in

the country? Recent news accounts show

that people of color are still suffering

unjustly in many of our cities.

America may be (or may not be) a great

country, but our achievements have been

gained at a huge cost to human life.

Joanne Doyle, Salisbury

Bravery and tragedy

The Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of

religious organizations rather than the

interests of the public at large is a real

travesty [“Trump’s mark on court sets in,”

front page, Nov. 27]. The last time I went

into a bicycle store and hardware store, I

did not sit shoulder to shoulder with

fellow shoppers for hours at a time. And I

don’t see shoppers in liquor stores sitting

for hours at a time. In fact, I don’t see a

single chair in a liquor store. Yet the

Supreme Court failed miserably to ac-

knowledge this reality when striking

down New York’s restrictions on gather-

ings in churches.

Ignoring the danger of the pandemic

by citing religious freedom is a clear sign

that the majority is more interested in

upholding conservative “values” than

the public’s interest in safety. We know

that there is no absolute right to freedom

of speech or religious practices. The

court missed an opportunity to show

that it is nonpartisan and political, just

one more step toward its evolving lack of

credibility.

Ron Glaser, Haymarket

Putting ‘values’ before safety

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FREDERICK J. RYAN JR., Publisher and Chief Executive Officer

T

HE POLITICAL season has

moved into overtime, for rea-

sons both understandable (the

need for twin Georgia Senate

runoffs) and unfathomable (President

Trump’s destabilizing and dishonest re-

fusal to concede his defeat). Meanwhile,

the country needs governing. Most ur-

gently, it needs federal legislation to

support the troubled U.S. economy,

badly damaged by the initial wave of the

coronavirus and clouded by the neces-

sary public health responses to a re-

newed surge of infections. Helping busi-

nesses and workers suffering through no

fault of their own was a bipartisan cause

when the pandemic broke out nine

months ago, and it must be again — but

in recent months, election-year discord

has reigned.

Until now, perhaps. The ray of hope

came Tuesday in the form of a $908 bil-

lion proposal from a bipartisan group of

nine senators and representatives, in-

cluding Virginia’s Sen. Mark R. Warner

(D). The package would address crucial

areas, including a four-month extension

of $300-per-week unemployment ben-

efits (total cost: $180 billion); another

round of aid to small businesses

($288 billion); funds for state, local and

tribal governments ($160 billion);

schools ($82 billion); health care and

vaccines ($51 billion combined). One

can quibble about the total amount of

the bill, which seems calculated to

placate Republicans averse to exceeding

the $1 trillion mark, even if a higher

figure would probably do more good, as

Democrats have maintained.

The plan also consists not of entirely

new money but would repurpose un-

spent resources previously authorized

in the initial Cares Act enacted last

March, a key demand of Senate Majority

Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Some

$455 billion came available when Treas-

ury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — un-

wisely in our view — ended Cares

Act-backed Federal Reserve credit-

s upport programs. Still, that is a fait

accompli in which the Fed has acqui-

esced, so there’s little point relitigating

that matter if it stands in the way of a

bill. Congress may as well put that cash

to good use, and in the short run

directing aid to businesses and individu-

als may stimulate the economy more

than backstopping financial markets

that are functioning well for now.

Probably the most controversial as-

pect of the proposal is its omission of

another round of direct payments to

households, though this is defensible

given its inclusion of $26 billion in

additional nutritional aid for low-

i ncome families. The main point is for

Congress to be generous with what aid it

does give and to target it where it’s most

needed. Imperfect as it is, the bipartisan

proposal merits support both in sub-

stantive terms and political ones. Sub-

stantively, it is better — much better —

than nothing, which is what the 10 mil-

lion who remain jobless, and the 26 mil-

lion facing food insecurity, are getting

now. Politically, it shows the way to yes

for the negotiators, Mr. Mnuchin and

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.),

and puts pressure on them to get there.

Things might have been easier if

Ms. Pelosi had shown more flexibility

before the election; they’d be easier now

if Mr. McConnell would budge from his

maximum of $500 billion and if

Mr. Trump would press for legislation

instead of ranting about vote fraud.

Cooler heads must prevail lest eight

months of hard-won economic progress

be allowed to unravel.

A ray of hope in the Senate

Additional coronavirus relief is long overdue. Congress can build on this proposal.

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chains are nothing more than networks

of public and private infrastructures ar-

rayed to deliver everything from raw

materials to finished products to demand

points along the chain.

During extreme natural events such as

hurricanes or earthquakes, links in the

supply chain usually break down because

of damage to supporting civil infrastruc-

ture such as power, water or transporta-

tion or because of direct damage to

processing or production facilities. Dur-

ing the coronavirus pandemic, however,

ensuring that enough workers, the “hu-

man infrastructure,” would be available

to keep these systems running was the

challenge. This must not be forgotten

once the crisis is behind us.

We should have learned that the peo-

ple who produce and deliver our food and

other necessities play a vital role in

maintaining our quality of life. We need

to take action now to ensure that they are

protected and compensated commensu-

rate with the value of the services they

provide. This will not be the last pandem-

ic we face.

Richard G. Little, Williamsburg

Megan McArdle’s praise of supply

chains in her Nov. 25 op-ed, “Be thankful

for our supply chains,” was well-founded

and particularly so during the ongoing

pandemic. At the most basic level, supply

The ‘human infrastructure’

DRAWING BOARD JOHN DARKOW

B Y JOHN DARKOW FOR THE COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN