I am still figuring out exactly how I feel about the invasion of Iraq and the changing geopolitical landscape being created by the Bush administration. No matter how simple it may be for political pundits on both sides of the issue, there are no easy answers. I’ve been doing a lot of reading to help put the war of aggression into a larger context. Here are a few that I have found particularly enlightening:

  • “Metaphor and War, Again” by George Lakoff: deconstructs the “nation as a person” metaphor.
  • “Bringing the War Home” by Sarah Ferguson: examines the importance of social justice issues for anti-war movements.
  • “Practice to Deceive” by Joshua Micah Marshall: argues that Middle East instability is a goal, not a ‘nightmare scenario’, of the Bush administration.
  • “Whose Standards?” by Michael Albert: contextualizes the “public opinion as second superpower” thesis that has recently become en vogue.
  • “The War Is Not Over” by Milan Rai: discusses the post-war reconstruction process and the continuing impact of the invasion on ordinary Iraqi people.

For all that has been written about the war, very little has become clear about either the invasion itself or its broader context. There is a near-infinite supply of opinions, some more credible than others, and the job of people throughout the world is now to sort through the intellectual rubble and salvage something meaningful out of the chaos. Hopefully the above-mentioned articles will help you get started. Good luck… you’ll need it.