www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/w...
06.03.2026 01:15
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The restrictions Miller and Hegseth railed against were designed to prevent us from doing things like slaughtering children en masse.
“Democracy allows people the freedom to make stupid decisions, so long as they make them collectively. But a system that allows a country to be dragged into war at the whims of a single person is not much of a democracy at all.”
@qjurecic.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Why this war is illegal, and how the Constitution's checks on war powers broke down
“A lot of good people got killed, and for what?” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1990. “And when we left, we left with our tail between our legs.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/u...
Lastly, they are for the soul of your nation and your cause. Limits on war preserve humanity. Mercy transcends violence. After the fighting, there has to be something more. Rules of engagement and the laws of armed conflict protect you; abandoning them is dire.
I know that the people who need to read this aren’t here, but here goes:
Rules of engagement aren’t for the enemy. They’re for you. They’re for your soldiers when they’re captured or wounded. They’re for your civilians when they’re in range of the enemy. They’re for your allies, to reassure.
Last night, I spoke to former Army Pfc. Jeremy Watson who said this about Capt. Cody Khork: “[he] enjoyed being in the service…and was a great coach,” who taught him “Compassion, friendship, loyalty…[and] to always try to stay positive when you can.”
I think we learned to somehow do it even more irresponsibly
“Republican lawmakers blocked a measure Wednesday that would have limited President Trump’s power to continue waging war against Iran without congressional authorization, even as the conflict expanded into a wider international crisis”
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03...
January 31st, 2012. We called in A-10s. Killed four Taliban. I remember the bodies. Teenagers. Twisted wrecked flesh
Making killing a video game isn’t just obscene. It’s a lie. It papers over what violence is and what it does to the human body, and to our soul. Truth is always the first casualty.
Nice. I’m rereading it and my God, what a book.
“By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.”
—Moby Dick
Hegseth has offered more clarity on his war on the Boy Scouts than on the current war with Iran.
Hegseth has offered more clarity on his war on the Boy Scouts than on the current war with Iran.
Hegseth has offered more clarity on his war on the Boy Scouts than on the current war with Iran.
Ooooooh…I need to check that out
“Hard power alone can depose a regime, but it is notoriously incapable of cultivating a better successor.”
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
Ironic that one of the legacies of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is a presidency that can initiate wars on whim, without even the pretense of building a case to the American people first.
"Whatever happens, though, one thing is clear – that this use of force by the US and Israel is manifestly illegal. It is as plain a violation of the prohibition on the use of force in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter as one could possibly have."
@ejiltalk.bsky.social
www.ejiltalk.org/the-american...
Thanks!
Thank you, Kori!
What a great opportunity to learn from two of our best veteran writers! Best writers full stop, also.
Texas people! The great Matt Gallagher and I are headed your way next weekend to run a free day of writing workshops!
Come join us on Saturday, March 7, courtesy of the Fairfield University MFA in Creative Writing.
www.fairfield.edu/news/press-r...
Tonight in BK! Come to a chat where I’ll ask Chris Beha about God, atheism, Montaigne, and mysticism.
“If Russian troops ever return to Bucha, Katya doesn’t want to be scared. She intends to be ready.
The teacher asks for volunteers to try loading a rifle. Katya’s hand shoots up.”
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
Congrats to my wonderful colleague Carol Ann Davis whose extraordinary collection SONGBIRD is out today from Wesleyan University Press!
www.weslpress.org/978081950222...
I need to read that Lahiri
Think of the long trip home.
Should we have stayed at home and thought of here?
Where should we be today?
Is it right to be watching strangers in a play
in this strangest of theatres?