So first, The Economist:
YOU are fighting against international terrorists in a battle that both they and you describe as being one about values. You fight a war against Saddam Hussein at your initiative, not his, and you say that it is a war about law, democracy, freedom and honesty. A big metaphorical banner hangs above both wars proclaiming that your aim is to bring freedom, human rights and democracy to the Arab world. All of that sets admirably high standards for the conduct of your forces as well as of your government itself. Now, however, some of your own armed forces are shown to have fallen well below those standards. What do you do?
That’s for the gentleman at Dana Street, who I overhead making the “Saddam was more evil, so why are people upset” excuse.
And Teresa Nielsen Hayden deflates the whole of the Tom Clancy/Splinter Cell/You-Can’t-Handle-The-Truth crowd:
We delude ourselves when we give permission to commit evil acts to what we tell ourselves is a limited group of specialists.
I spent part of the weekend with the love of my life in a big old house by the Coast, not thinking too much about Iraq, or work. Get away whenever you can. I recommend it.
