Still Living Dangerously

In case you haven't noticed, the people running Al Qaeda are smart. Saturday's bombing in Bali, presumably carried out by a group connected to Al Qaeda, was monstrously evil. It was also, I'm sorry to say, very clever. And it reinforces the sinking feeling that our leaders, who seem determined to have themselves a conventional war, are playing right into the terrorists' hands. [read more]

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Saddam, the U.S. Agent

Terrorists once more fired at American troops here in Kuwait on Monday, although no one was injured this time. As with last week's attack, in which two Kuwaiti men shot one American marine to death and wounded another, we don't know whether the shooting was sponsored by Al Qaeda or was a purely home-grown affair.

But there's no doubt that even in Kuwait, where Yankees have the best possible claim on Arab gratitude, a significant minority of men and women regard us as worms. Some Kuwaitis are even hailing the terrorists who killed the American soldier as martyrs. [read more]

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Bush's Road to War on Iraq Leads to Rome's Empire, and Its Downfall

For the Bush administration, the road of public policy leads to Rome. That's nothing new in U.S. history. Americans of the 19th century often pointed to the Roman republic as the model for our own rights and freedoms.

But President Bush would have us emulate the Roman empire, creating world order by giving orders around the world. [read more]

thanks to Politics in the Zeros

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Now what do we do in Iraq?

Now that Congress has droned through a week of largely desultory debate to authorize the use of force against Iraq, how will it be exercised? That is properly a military secret, unknown even to members of Congress. More questionable, it is also unknown to senior military officers. [read more]

thanks to Politics in the Zeros