Jinn of Current Events

Oriana Fallaci (WSJ): I don't accept the principle, or should I say the slogan, that All wars are unjust, illegitimate. The war against Hitler and Mussolini and Hirohito was just, was legitimate. The Risorgimento wars that my ancestors fought against the invaders of Italy were just, were legitimate. And so was the war of independence that Americans fought against Britain. So are the wars (or revolutions) which happen to regain dignity, freedom. I do not believe in vile acquittals, phony appeasements, easy forgiveness. Even less, in the exploitation or the blackmail of the word Peace. When peace stands for surrender, fear, loss of dignity and freedom, it is no longer peace. It's suicide. Excellent essay by la Fallaci, as usual, even if one can and should disagree with some minor parts. Read it all. Then go get The Rage and The Pride if you haven't read it yet. 

Chris Patten, unelected bureaucrat who holds the position of EU commissioner for external relations, has aligned himself with Chirac and Schroeder, not with Great Britain and the 18 European states that support the liberation of Iraq. Patten warns that the EU will not help in the reconstruction of a liberated Iraq, and doesn't believe in the establishment of a free society there: As a general rule, are wars not more likely to recruit terrorists than to deter them? It is hard to build democracy at the barrel of a gun, when history suggests it is more usually the product of long internal development in a society.

Patten, whose major claim to fame is handing over the people of Hong Kong to totalitarian rule, should study past events to improve his understanding of history and freedom. The American Revolution will nicely do in both respects. Then he may want to look at what happened in Germany, Italy, and Japan once they had been defeated in WW II. 

William Safire (NYT): France, China and Syria all have a common reason for keeping American and British troops out of Iraq: the three nations may not want the world to discover that their nationals have been illicitly supplying Saddam Hussein with materials used in building long-range surface-to-surface missiles. Note: this is of course a direct violation of UN sanctions on trade with Iraq.