Keith Burgess-Jackson

To the Editor:

The Vietnam comparison is appropriate. But limiting the comparison to the potential pullout and its ramifications is disingenuous.

President Bush can blame the United States’ withdrawal for the Southeast Asian genocide that followed, but the more appropriate comparison, and one that many Americans are making, is of the flawed policies that led us to these battles in the first place.

Bill Salzmann
Kingston, N.Y., Aug. 23, 2007

Note from KBJ: Suppose I make a promise at time t to perform at time t+1. There are two moral issues, not just one. The first is whether I should have made the promise at t, given that promises are to be kept. The second is whether, having made the promise, I should keep it at t+1. These are separate questions. It can be the case that I shouldn’t have made the promise, but should keep it; and it can be the case that I should have made the promise, but shouldn’t keep it. Similarly, it’s one thing to inquire whether President Bush should have invaded Iraq; it’s another to inquire whether, having done so, he should stay the course. President Bush’s critics seem unable or unwilling to distinguish these two questions. Instead of addressing the question of what should be done, now, they focus on whether the invasion was proper. Why do you suppose this is? Do the critics think that if they support President Bush’s “stay the course” policy, they will be admitting that the invasion was proper? If so, then they’re stupid, for that doesn’t follow.

Here.

The Boston Red Sox won a doubleheader yesterday, while the New York Yankees lost. Boston’s magic number to eliminate New York is down to 28.

Addendum: Both the Red Sox and the Yankees won today, so Boston’s magic number to eliminate New York is down to 27. Yankee fans need to shift their attention to Seattle. Boston is running away with the East Division title.