Iraq war

While no other single public problem has occupied my thoughts as much in the last two years as the Iraq war and no single topic has been more talked about in my conversations, I have written almost nothing about it. The following are paragraphs that I would like to have written myself. You will likely have a hard time pinning down what exactly my view is. I plan to explain it within the next week. Careful, some chairs tip over when all of the weight of the occupier is on the edge.

Political Paradoxes

Whatever the outcome, however, it is likely to have paradoxical effects on American political sensibilities. For if the conservative-driven experiment in nation building in Iraq enjoys even modest success in the coming years, it will provide long-term nourishment for progressive ideas in America. And if it fails, as many progressive critics of Operation Iraqi Freedom think it is bound to,it will strengthen over the long haul conservative proclivities in America.

An Interview with Adam Michnik

This is not to say that Bush is always right. Of course not. But you must see the hierarchy of threats, of dangers. I asked my French and German friends, Are you afraid that tomorrow Bush will bomb Paris? And can you really be sure that terrorists and fundamentalists will not attack the Louvre? So which side are you on?

Bait and Switch

During the run-up to the war, it would have been inspiring to have heard from anyone of any political stripe who wanted to support an invasion whose aims were presented honestly, but who refused his or her support because of the deceptive rationale. Was there anyone who ascribed greater import to the damage to public discourse caused by the trumped up casus belli than to the alleged benefits of destroying Saddam Hussein? I may have missed something, but I cannot recall any such principled pronouncements.

No one seems be counting the costs that slippage imposes on our public life. Americans are growing inured to the premise that, by the time a policy has run its course, no one will any longer remember, or care about, its original rationale. The result threatens transformation of political debate into a sort of postmodern theater-or, more, a high-stakes liars' contest. Until severe consequences are imposed on those playing this game, bait and switch will continue to degrade our public life.