From a reader:
Dear Jonah,
The claim that Bush is a Gladstonian liberal does make the animosity to Bush’s foreign policy among liberals all the more interesting. I think this aspect of Iraq is quite interesting and has been one of the more underplayed stories in the press. It seems to be entirely consistent for an ardent leftist like Christopher Hitchens to be supporting this war, so why is he so alone? What is the point of organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch when if you aren’t going to be fully behind actually doing something?
Couldn’t agree more about circumstances changing. The reason I never cared that much about the WMD aspect was because I’ve thought that 9/11 showed us that we could no longer allow the middle east to be the mess it has been for so long. We wouldn’t let Mexico or Canada slide into that state without doing something because they’re neighboring countries. 9/11 made clear, that alas, the middle east is in effect a neighboring country as well.