Iraq, etc

Saddam is to hang: well I can't say I am surprised and I can't say I am too pleased either. It is politically stupid and will serve no interest other than the insurgency's. Apart from that I am still not sure about executing war criminals. Watching the BBC's Nuremburg series the other day I wondered if I would have been happy to see Himmler hang; the answer, probably, is yes. And I felt only relief when I first read of the execution of Rudolf Hoss, commandant of Auschwitz. Despite this I generally say I am against the death penalty. It's not consistent; but then I am large and contain multitudes.

I try to avoid commenting on Iraq, mainly because I don't know that much about it, but also because like a lot of people I am compromised by ambivalence about the original mission and horror at what has unfolded, or what seems to have unfolded.

Over at Nourishing Obscurity there's a huge and very thorough roundup of the blogosphere's views, including my own somewhat intemperate comment about John Kerry. I must have just got back from the pub.