In his disavowal of the Iraq war, Mr. Derbyshire clearly remains an uncontrite fascist. The mailed fist indeed. He unabashedly says that he only disavows the war as it is. Had we used the mailed fist, he'd have been OK with that.

No, he doesn't regret attacking Iraq because it violates our treaty agreements as a member of the UN. Using the imminent threat ploy only works if there's an imminent threat. There were no nukes. And, even if he'd had nukes, he had no way to get them here - no blue water navy, no intercontinental air force, and no intercontinental missiles. And, for over 40 years (and probably still today) we had the concept of mutual assured destruction. And with Iraq, there would be no mutual about it. We could turn Iraq into the world's largest piece of plate glass; no es problemo. If it worked for the Russian's, why not the Iraqis?

Could it be because the Iraqis are just a bunch of crazy ragheads who wouldn't know rationality and reason if they came up and kicked him in the pants and sat on him? Or, could it be that, since we're the baddest dudes on the planet, we should just go and kick the ass of anybody that we're not happy with? I won't comment on the xenophobia of the first; but for the second I'll quote Will Rogers: "If you get to thinkin' that you can throw your weight around, be prepared to have somebody throw it around for you."

Mr. Derbyshire apparently doesn't regret the tens of thousands of completely innocent men, women, and children who have died in this war. Or, for that matter, the countless thousand of other ordinary Iraqis whose lives have been blasted apart through the loss of parents, grandparents, children, brothers, sisters et al. He only sees, in Jon Stewart's glorious phrase, the Mess o' Potamia. You're a great guy, Mr. Derbyshire. Just the sort of fella I want influencing people.

Apparently, Mr. Derbyshire could care less about the loss of America's honor, prestige, and respect that comes when you commit war crimes, torture prisoners, and perform "extreme renditions" more akin to Argentina than the United States I've loved and defended. It will serve us well in future times...

On the whole, I'd rather not have Mr. Derbyshire's partial and highly qualified disavowal. I'd rather he slept in the bed he made.

Shrub has said that Hezbolla has to disarm. I agree.

He hasn't said, Israel needs to stop stealing Palastinian lands and pull back to the '67 borders as called for in the UN resolution.