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... and how they were covered NEWS 5
What happened
Fears intensified that the standoff between
the U.S. and Iran could spiral out of con-
trol this week, after Iranian troops seized
a British-flagged oil tanker in the Persian
Gulf and Tehran announced that it had
busted a CIA spy ring. Masked members
of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps rappelled from a helicopter onto
the tanker and detained the crew, ignoring
warnings from a nearby British warship.
The move was widely viewed as retalia-
tion for Britain’s impounding of an Iranian
tanker in the Mediterranean earlier this month. That vessel was
believed to be shipping oil to Syria in violation of European Union
sanctions, but Tehran suspected Britain of enforcing the Trump
administration’s maximum-pressure policy on Iran. Following its
withdrawal from the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal last year, the
U.S. has hit the Islamic Republic with sweeping sanctions in a bid
to force it to negotiate a more restrictive pact.Days after taking the British tanker, Iran claimed to have arrested
17 citizens who were spying for the U.S.; some have been sentenced
to death. “Zero truth,” Trump tweeted about Iran’s claim. The
Pentagon said that while patrolling the Strait of Hormuz—a choke
point in the Gulf through which about one-fifth of the global oil
supply passes each year—the USS Boxer used signal jamming
to down two Iranian drones that came dangerously close to the
warship. Iranian officials called the report “a big lie.” Despite the
hostilities, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he is open to
talks with the White House—just not at the cost of “surrender.”What the columnists said
Iran’s leaders are acting “like the international
deviants the Trump administration has long
made them out to be,” said Mike Giglio in
TheAtlantic.com. Since the U.S. quit the nu-
clear deal—which eased sanctions in exchange
for curbs to Tehran’s atomic program—the
U.K., France, Germany, and other signatories
have painted “Iran as the victim of the Trump
administration’s increasing confrontational-
ism.” But Iran’s piratical behavior could now
push Europe closer to the U.S., leaving Tehran
even more isolated on the world stage.By lashing out, Tehran has admitted that the U.S. strategy is work-
ing, said NationalReview.com in an editorial. Trump’s oil embargo
and banking sanctions are “cratering the Iranian economy.” Iran’s
downing of a U.S. drone over the Strait of Hormuz last month and
its seizure of a British tanker are intended “to send a message to
the White House that its pressure campaign doesn’t come without
costs.” If those costs appear too grave, the mullahs believe, Trump
will cave and offer a favorable deal. The president must hold firm
“and ratchet up the pressure.”Trump should listen to his gut and negotiate with Iran, said The
New York Times. He has already wisely “jettisoned the diplomatic
protocol against direct talks with North Korea and the Taliban,”
so why not reach out to Tehran? The alternative is “a dangerous
strategy of brinkmanship,” forcing “crisis after crisis” until one
side buckles—or makes a mistake that sparks a regional conflict.
With the risks so high, a “grand overture” is worth a shot.An Iranian patrol boat circles the British tanker.Iran hits out against the U.S. and its allies
What happened
The Senate voted this week to rescue a depleted federal fund
aimed at helping emergency workers and other 9/11 survivors,
breaking a bitter impasse on Capitol Hill. The 97-2 vote comes
five months after the September 11th Victim Compensation
Fund’s administrator said that 20,000 new claims from 2016
to 2018 would force major cuts in awards. Some 32,000 first
responders have been diagnosed with respiratory and digestive
tract illnesses caused by toxic dust at Ground Zero; 9,000 have
developed cancer, and more than 1,000 have died of causes
linked to their 9/11 efforts. The legislation, which passed the
House last month, extends funding to 2092, providing $10.2 bil-
lion to pay claims in the next 10 years. Republican Sens. Rand
Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah dissented, citing spend-
ing concerns. President Trump is expected to sign the bill.The House and Senate votes rekindled a long-running partisan
fight ignited when the fund was reopened in 2011 and then re-
plenished in 2015. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) wore a fire-
fighter’s jacket for months to push for a House vote. When Paul
blocked the bill last week, comedian Jon Stewart, who has cham-
pioned the first responders’ fight for years on TV and, recently, in
congressional hearings, branded his actions an “abomination.”
Said retired NYPD Detective Luis Alvarez, before he died from
Ground Zero–related cancer last month at 53, “This fund is not
a ticket to paradise. It is there to provide for our families when
we can’t.”What the columnists said
Stewart has “gotten conspicuously angry in public twice,” said
Charles Pierce in Esquire.com. The first time, he got Crossfire
canceled. This time, “he got this bill passed.” But he had assis-
tance, not from the “typical group of professional lobbyists”
but from “sick and dying people asking for help.” It took their
relentless activism to get the Senate to act. If it had been up to
Paul, they would have been left to “choke on their own blood.”Paul is being reviled when he should be applauded, said Brad
Polumbo in WashingtonExaminer.com. “We’re now approach-
ing $1 trillion deficits during a boom economy.” It’s reasonable
for him to propose an amendment to offset the extra spending
with cuts elsewhere. But he’s become the target of “a vicious
smear” suggesting he’s single-handedly trying to deny our heroes
health care. Paul’s endgame was never killing this bill. But it’s
symbolic of Washington, D.C.’s profligacy that even asking the
question where the money will come from makes you a villain.The Senate stepped up, said the New York Daily News in an
editorial. Now only President Trump’s signature remains. He’ll
sign it because, as a New Yorker, the president “knows well the
price the heroes have paid” for their Ground Zero service. They
roamed in a cloud of pulverized computer equipment, steel, elec-
trical wiring, asbestos, glass, and concrete. Within months, “once
hearty men grew wizened and frail.” Many died. “It was their
last sacrifice for their city,” and America is right to repay it.Senate finally agrees to more help for 9/11 survivors