Notes on War and Complicity
There are many valuable criticisms and critiques of the Iran War out there, and at some point I hope to mention as many of them here as I can, but if you want one-stop shopping, the thing to read is Nathan Robinson’s “The Iran War Is Unfathomably Depraved” in the March 2026 issue of Current Affairs. I agree with literally everything in Robinson’s article except this one sentence:
We are all complicit.
No, we’re not. Continue reading
An Israeli security analyst on the supposed virtues of Israeli military strategy:
When you are the one initiating–not the one caught off guard–you can fight a war on two fronts more effectively,” said Sarit Zehavi, an Israeli analyst who studied Hezbollah for over 20 years, first as an Israeli intelligence officer, then as the head of Alma, an Israeli defense think tank focusing on Syria and Lebanon (“Israel’s plans in Lebanon, prepared well in advance, include the option of a deeper incursion, officials say,” The New York Times, March 3, 2026).
Something equally obvious: when “you are the one initiating,” you’re the one engaged in aggression, and you’re the one who forfeits any right of self-defense. So the advantage you gain in strategy is one you lose in morality, which translates to a loss of sympathy in a lot of people, including the ones you call “allies.” Continue reading
David French on the “legal and moral justifications for war” against Iran:
There is little question that we have many legal and moral justifications for war. When Trump spoke about Americans killed by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, that struck home for me. We lost men in my own unit to Iranian-backed militias using Iranian-supplied munitions. I knew those men, and I will never forget the terrible days when they fell.
In other words, twenty years ago, the United States initiated a war of aggression against Iraq premised on florid, systematic lies. The victims fought back, killing some of the aggressors. In answer to those acts of self-defense, we’re now obliged to initiate yet another war of aggression, this time against Iran, eliciting yet another round of defensive attacks by the successors of yesteryear’s victims. Continue reading
Wherever you go, you’ll find imperialist wars described, particularly by their self-styled liberal opponents, as “wars of choice.” Having described a given war as a “war of choice,” the critic will then go on to criticize it as ill-conceived and ill-executed while conceding the underlying reason for going to war. The unspoken implication is that the same war, conceived and executed more competently, would have been perfectly justified. It’s just that this particular iteration is not. Continue reading
There are many things to be said about Tucker Carlson’s remarkable interview with Mike Huckabee, too many to say all at once. So I’m going to take my time to say them, and say them in bite-sized portions.
There’s a distinction in ancient Greek philosophy that’s useful here, between virtue and skill. A virtue is a specifically moral disposition to thought and action, like honesty or justice. A skill is a pragmatically useful but morally neutral sort of know-how, like knowing how to play the guitar or ride a bike or swim. The possession of a skill is not the possession of virtue, and virtues in turn aren’t reducible to the possession of a skill or sets of skills. They’re just categorially different things. That said, both virtues and skills are objects of praise, just not the same kind of praise. They’re both achievements, just achievements of different kinds. Continue reading
Second Statement to West Orange Town Council on its Proposed Anti-Semitism Task Force
66 Main St
West Orange, New Jersey
February 10, 2026
Last time I was here, I criticized a proposal for an anti-Semitism task force. In response, some speakers suggested that I was being insensitive to the dangers faced by Jews in West Orange. I don’t agree, so I’m going to respond. Continue reading
Statement to Montgomery Township Committee
100 Community Dr
Skillman, New Jersey
February 5, 2026
Revised for presentation (to better fit the 3-minute time limit), February 5, 2026
On January 7th, Sadaf Jaffer, the former mayor of Montgomery and former head of its Democratic Organization, made public something that this Committee has known for a year. About a year ago, she said, Mayor Neena Singh and Deputy Mayor Vince Barragan demanded her resignation from the Democratic Organization because Montgomery Township was being denied state and county funds in retaliation for, her, Jaffer’s, criticisms of US and Israeli policy in Palestine. I have an audio file of Mr Barragan’s making this demand.
Continue reading
This is a statement given to West Orange Township Council, January 20, 2026. It’s the first of several I intend to give there on this topic. The comment of Sheila Lefkowitz from the November 12 meeting (mentioned below) appears at 1:33:33 of this video. My statement below appears around minute 49 of this video. I’ll discuss the responses to my statement in a later post. This article gives a good overview of the current state of discourse on this topic in New Jersey.
On November 12 last year, I spoke here on the matter of the Immigrant Trust Act. While I was here, a resident, Sheila Lefkowitz, rose to speak about the need for an anti-Semitism task force. I took strong exception to Ms Lefkowitz’s claims at the time, but haven’t had a chance to respond until now. Admittedly, three months have passed since then, but I think a response is in order, however belated.
Continue readingThis is a statement by Sadaf Jaffer, former Mayor of Montgomery Township, New Jersey, to the Montgomery Township Committee. I fully agree with her that “the public deserves clear answers and ethical leadership,” and urge others who agree to contact the Committee and make your views known. I’m pleased to say that Sadaf has agreed to be featured in a future edition of my Activist Interviews series, where I’m sure we’ll hear more about the backstory here. More soon.
Good evening. I am a former mayor of Montgomery Township, a former Assemblywoman, and a former chair of Montgomery’s Democratic Organization.
On multiple occasions over the past year, Mayor Neena Singh and Deputy Mayor Vince Barragan told me, and told others, that Montgomery Township was being denied county and state public funds because of my opposition to Israeli and U.S. policy in Gaza. Continue reading
This is the first in an ongoing series of interviews I’ll be doing with a variety of activists and practitioners I’ve worked with or met over the years. Emanuelle Sippy was the head of Princeton University’s Alliance of Jewish Progressives during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment of the spring 2024, and both a forceful and articulate presence throughout. My interview with her was conducted May 4, 2025 at Terrace Club, Princeton University.
Q: You were brought up Jewish, the daughter of a Reform rabbi in Kentucky. What was that like? How would you describe the Jewish part of your upbringing, including your education? Continue reading
