How to Criticize

Mac Owens has some thoughts. Money lines:

There is nothing wrong with criticizing the war. As the situation with my friend and others indicates, it is possible to criticize in a responsible, constructive way. But too many critics have lost all perspective, all too often acting as if it is in the nature of war for everything always to go as planned, and if something goes awry, if people die, it is the fault of those who launched the war in the first place, or the planners who failed to foresee every eventuality.

Those who take this approach do a disservice to rational debate in the context of the war. They imply that there is a way to fight wars cleanly. More troubling yet are the critics who seem to hope for the sort of disaster that will vindicate their opinions. I am guardedly optimistic about the outcome in Iraq. I may be wrong, of course, but I hope I'm not. And I hope that even the critics will hope that I'm not wrong.