"Making the Case"

As expected, Virginia Postrel understands:

All intelligent discussion of the pros and cons of war is, in fact, about weighing risks. I recently had a conversation with a former Marine who said he supports war with Iraq not because he likes war but because he’s seen the museum at Hiroshima and doesn’t want his children to face nuclear terrorism. He suggested that “those bleeding hearts” might think differently if they’d seen what he has. But, of course, “those bleeding hearts” draw the opposite conclusion from the same evidence, concluding that since war it terrible it must be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately for that argument, avoiding war today may bring more terrible war tomorrow.

Read the whole thing.