I FORGOT TO LINK to this Sheep-Free Zone follow-up post on torture. I agree that defining torture is the hard part, but disagree that kidnapping kids is even remotely close to a gray area–that stuff is definitely out of bounds. Regardless, these are thoughtful comments and I’m sorry I didn’t blog them before. Read more

POST A NOTE to someone serving overseas. Read more

MORE ON IRAQ AND LIBERALIZATION: Yet more randomness from me. First, Oxblog collected their excellent series on the prospects for liberalization in the Islamic world. A must-read. Second, thanks to Body and Soul, but I should clarify: I don’t by any means believe that warless regime change, or internal resistance movements, are lost causes. I just think they are a lot harder than most of the discussion I’ve read from the anti-war movement suggests, and they require the willingness to... Read more

YES, THIS IS UBERCOOL. Read more

POLITICAL WAR PROFITEERS. My Jewish World Review column, on how different interest groups are using the war on terror to push their terror-unrelated agendas. Bonus Nietzsche quote at the end. Read more

WARLINKS: Well, the fog of war has thickened to Victorian London proportions, so I am not sure how much use linking to any news reports could be. However, here are some bits and pieces I’ve found, from differing perspectives, that might be worth your time: Chemical weapons (or their lack) watch: here, here, here, here Articles on difficulties getting aid into Iraq. Via Body and Soul. I should note that it’s easy to forget that we’ve only been at war... Read more

“This is the antinomy: Insofar as we believe in morality we pass sentence on existence.” —The Will to Power A decent chunk of my senior essay was given over to arguing that you could also replace the word “morality” in this sentence with “love.” Read more

FINAL PAINE THOUGHT: The Rights of Man definitely brought home Julian Sanchez’s point that left-liberals and libertarians share a common intellectual tradition. Paine at times sounds a redistributionist note (eased, of course, by his naivete about the sterling character of republican governments…), at times a property-rights note; there’s even a proto-school vouchers moment! Read more

VERY SCATTERED WAR THOUGHTS: First, of course, I’m thrilled that things seem to be going so well thus far. Unqualified Offerings points out something to worry about, and notes that the real hurdles come later, but for the moment, I’m just glad to see news of surrenders, rebellions against commanding officers, posters of Saddam Hussein torn down, and the rest. In the ensuing weeks, months, and years, we need to keep the pressure on, since politicians usually do only what... Read more

BURKE = PAINE? Sort of. I just finished reading The Rights of Man, and this fairly uninformed thought struck me: Both Paine and Edmund Burke (in Reflections on the Revolution in France–I’ve read very little of his other writing, because I’m lame) are both so a) caught up in contemporary political disputes and b) modern, that they come off as much too sunshiney. Both are optimistic in their starkly different ways. They don’t quite see how bad either of their... Read more