Syria says it wants to help lessen the violence in Iraq. Of course, they also want the U.S. to set a timetable for withdrawal. As I have said before, the Iranians and Syrians are only interested in negotiations with us about Iraq if they are limited to the terms of our surrender.

Arthur Herman lays out a scenario for military action against Iran.

Seymour Hersh has a lengthy piece on the machinations going on inside the Administration concerning the possibility of military action against Iran. My own view is that, unless the Iranians directly attack us or threaten to close down the Straits of Hormuz (and, thus, cut off our oil supply), we should not engage in any pre-emptive military actions. I have learned my lesson on that score by watching the debacle in Iraq. While I realize that a pre-emptive or preventative war may be less costly, both in terms of blood and treasure, it is clearly not something the American people are willing to support for any significant period of time. We need to wait until we are directly attacked, or our allies are directly attacked, by a specific nation (like Iran) before we can unleash our full military power on them with the complete backing of the American people. Of course, such a policy will pose a greater risk of defeat, and certainly a greater risk of a much costlier, bloodier war, but that seems to be the lesson of Iraq (and Vietnam, and Korea).

Victor Davis Hanson wonders if the West will stumble in the global war against Islamofascism.

According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon is considering three options for the war in Iraq, that wags inside the ring have dubbed "Go Big, Go Long, or Go Home".

Congressman Charlie Rangel has resumed his call for a re-instatement of the Draft. Now, as a committee chairman of the majority party, he will at least get the chance to hold hearings on such a bill, if not get it to the floor for a vote.

In Iraq, a culture of vengeance is driving much of the violence. I do not have a clue as to how that problem can be solved without the application of a far more massive amount of force than even the hawks are talking about.