Airstrip One

A wonderfully barking article from Mark Steyn. Some little gems:

The ‘axis of evil’ is actually a pretty sophisticated construct.

That's not really the problem is it? The problem is that in response to one problem - an international terrorist network - you produce a different enemy. One (Iraq) has less connection with Al Qaeda than, ooh, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia; another (North Korea) is an atheist state with no tradition of Islam; and the third (Iran) had been on the opposite side of a proxy war with Al Qaeda within Afghanistan since before George Bush had learned the name of the president of Pakistan.

The problem with the axis of evil is that it is too sophisticated. Overly simplistic suggestions like "get Bin Laden and get out" would actually be a bit more popular.

I find it slightly perplexing to have my colleague Matthew Parris characterising my support for America’s war as in some way unBritish.

Well of course it could be portrayed as traditionally British in the sense of Charles II in relation to Louis XIV. When you have such a long history you have so many role models to choose from. But patriotic? No.