Cron problem

[Ludwig]

This only started a week or two ago: I've been getting emails from the
cron daemon indicating a problem with /etc/crontab or cron itself. I've
tried using crontab to regenerate /etc/crontab, and purging and
reinstalling cron, and but am still getting the following:

From: Cron Daemon <ro...@suspectdevice.dyndns.org>
To: lud...@suspectdevice.dynpurging and reinstalling, and dns.org
Subject: Cron <ludwig@suspectdevice> root test -e
/usr/sbin/anacron || run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily
X-Cron-Env: <SHELL=/bin/sh>
X-Cron-Env:
<PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin>
X-Cron-Env: <HOME=/home/ludwig>
X-Cron-Env: <LOGNAME=ludwig>
[...]
/bin/sh: line 1: root: command not found
/etc/cron.daily/5snort:
find: /var/log/snort: Permission denied
/etc/cron.daily/acct:
savelog: directory /var/account is not writable
[etc, other failures due to permission denied]

/etc/crontab, which AFAICT is the default one that's been here all
along, reads as follows:

# /etc/crontab: system-wide crontab
# Unlike any other crontab you don't have to run the `crontab'
# command to install the new version when you edit this file.
# This file also has a username field, that none of the other crontabs
do.

SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

# m h dom mon dow user command
25 6 * * * root test -e /usr/sbin/anacron || run-parts --report
/etc/cron.daily
47 6 * * 7 root test -e /usr/sbin/anacron || run-parts --report
/etc/cron.weekly
52 6 1 * * root test -e /usr/sbin/anacron || run-parts --report
/etc/cron.monthly

Why is cron suddenly taking the "root" argument as a command instead of
the username to run the following commands as? I can't think of
anything I've installed or changed recently that might have sparked this
problem.

--
Public key -- http://superdeluxe.com/~ludwig/publickey

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