In a speech to the AEI, Dick Cheney argued that ignoring Iraq would have been irresponsible. He also compared the war on terrorism to the struggles against fascism and communism in the past century, which made me think of this fascinating article by Louis Menand, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America. The article is sort of tough reading, but worth it, as it raises some important questions about the Vice-President's comparison. Here's a sample:

Communism is an oppressive ideology. Fascism is a sickness in the soul. The implication is that you can liberate the subjects of a Communist regime, but the subjects of a Fascist regime are incurable.
* * *
[But, then,] who is the United States “liberating” when it deposes the ruling cliques in Afghanistan and Iraq? People who obeyed out of fear, or people who obeyed out of conviction, or out of partial conviction, or out of hatred for the alternative?

- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 3:44 PM