At the risk of

At the risk of shameless self-promotion, let me recommend a very special issue of The New Republic. As you can see on the left-hand side of the page, TNR has put together a series of reflections by (mostly) liberal hawks about their support for the Iraq war. It’s not just an attempt to answer the question “Were We Wrong?” though the pieces certainly grapple with it. It’s an attempt to understand what the Iraq war and postwar mean for the idea that U.S. national security is tethered to the promotion of American values, particularly after 9/11–the idea that gives the phrase “liberal hawk” a meaning beyond merely denoting a liberal who happens to favor a particular intervention. There’s a lot contained in the issue’s 12 essays, and even when certain pieces come to similar conclusions, they often do so for different reasons, so there’s a lot I think you’ll find worth considering–no matter where you stood on the war, and why. I hope you’ll check it out.