Update on the ‘liberal hawks’ ‘ ‘reconsideration’ of the invasion of Iraq. Christopher Hitchens remains incredibly misguided, arguing that we have no choice but to pursue foreign policy by the ‘presumption of guilt’; excusing the flow of body bags home to the US with a brief nod to ‘utilitarianism’ (dismissing concerns about the fiscal cost of bogging down in the morass in the same breath), lulling himself with the conviction that bin Laden is already dead and arguing inanely that “you could have genuine inspections only by way of regime change”, a quote out of context by which he dishonors the persecuted whistleblower weapons expert Dr. David Kelly. He says the Kenneth Pollack’s candid reappraisal of his support for the war, the only really thoughtful reassessment in this Slate dialogue, does not ‘affect the essential case’ in the least, poor soul.

Meanwhile, Paul Berman reiterates with the fervor of the zealot how he is the only one who sees the broader and deeper picture.