Some libertarians I respect enormously oppose the war in Iraq. It was

only a matter of time, I suppose, that I might be criticized by them for

supporting it. The delay comes from the fact that I have not published

anything in support of the war, but have confined myself in print to

posting links on “The Volokh Conspiracy

to articles by those who have. The latest was a link to <a

href=”http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson080103.asp””>Hoping We

Fail, by Victor Davis Hanson, whose writings I have come to admire

over the past several months. Hanson can defend himself against the

criticisms made on Liberty and Power (<a

href=”http://hnn.us/articles/1621.html#09030303″>here and <a

href=”http://hnn.us/articles/1621.html#09010302″>here) and this

morning on NRO he offers another insightful essay that can serve as a

response: <a

href=”http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson090503.asp”>Are We at

War or Peace? Judging the Reconstruction in Iraq. Hanson writes,

“To summarize, we are in a war with the latest face of an age-old enemy

of civilization who hates the freedom of the individual, tolerance of

diverse thoughts and practices, human rights, democracy, and modernism

itself.” I am a libertarian and Hanson is a conservative so we do not

agree about everything. But unlike some libertarians, many on the Left,

some Republicans and many Democrats, I do think we are in a defensive

war and have been since we were attacked on 9/11. I further think that

the battle for Iraq is a legitimate part of that overall war, though it

and the war can still be lost. This, I believe, is the essence of our

disagreement.