Revolutionary Moderation

Yesterday's news today!



If Blogger hadn't gone oddly south on me yestrday, you would have read some news about the report presented by the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. Entitled "The Decision to go to War in Iraq", it makes for interesting PDF reading. Unfortunately, that also means that large excerpts here require transcribing, and I really don't feel like doing all of that a second time. Instead, let me boil it down.



My unique (I'd like to think) addition to the conversation is that the post-war debates in the UK and in the US have reconfirmed my faith in parliamentary democracy over Republicanism. I like having an executive branch that has to answer directly to the legislative branch, day-in and day-out. If GW Bush had to face that same sort of scrutiny on an ongoing basis, instead of only ever facing friendly crowds, I suspect the world would be a very different place.



Now, let me add from the perspective of today that CNN seems to have taken this particular bull somewhat gingerly by the horns. In particular, there's some talk around the African nuclear material referred to in January's State of the Union Address. So while GWB can avoid facing his accusers in a republic, the number of people he has to duck to do that may be beginning to grow.