re: #670 Political Atheist

Look - I think we should put pressure on Russia over the Ukraine situation in whatever way we can. I also agree with you that the point on whether we have any kind of moral credibility is, in fact, tangential to this specific situation.

Where we appear to disagree is on the lack of parallels between the two situations. I think the best explanation for *why* we went to war in Iraq is that it served our long-term strategic interests to do so (at least, in the “minds” of our then-leaders). For me, this brings it straight in line with what Putin is doing. But, if you disagree, please tell me why.

I would also say that, *if* indeed we erred over Iraq, there is something very simple we could do to partially atone for this: admit that we made a mistake and apologize. Why wouldn’t we do that?