Christopher Hitchens’ articulates in “A War to Be Proud Of”, a clear articulation of reasons to support action in Iraq - “Abdul Rahman Yasin, who mixed the chemicals for the World Trade Center attack in 1993, subsequently sought and found refuge in Baghdad; that Dr. Mahdi Obeidi, Saddam’s senior physicist, was able to lead American soldiers to nuclear centrifuge parts and a blueprint for a complete centrifuge (the crown jewel of nuclear physics) buried on the orders of Qusay Hussein; that Saddam’s agents were in Damascus as late as February 2003, negotiating to purchase missiles off the shelf from North Korea; or that Rolf Ekeus, the great Swedish socialist who founded the inspection process in Iraq after 1991, has told me for the record that he was offered a $2 million bribe in a face-to-face meeting with Tariq Aziz. And these eye-catching examples would by no means exhaust my repertoire, or empty my quiver. Yes, it must be admitted that Bush and Blair made a hash of a good case, largely because they preferred to scare people rather than enlighten them or reason with them. Still, the only real strategy of deception has come from those who believe, or pretend, that Saddam Hussein was no problem.

I have a ready answer to those who accuse me of being an agent and tool of the Bush-Cheney administration (which is the nicest thing that my enemies can find to say). Attempting a little levity, I respond that I could stay at home if the authorities could bother to make their own case, but that I meanwhile am a prisoner of what I actually do know about the permanent hell, and the permanent threat, of the Saddam regime. However, having debated almost all of the spokespeople for the antiwar faction, both the sane and the deranged, I was recently asked a question that I was temporarily unable to answer. “If what you claim is true,” the honest citizen at this meeting politely asked me, “how come the White House hasn’t told us?”

Interesting article on reintroduction of legislation to monitor the rising cost of higher education.  A clear identification of those colleges and universities where costs in education are continuously on the rise is a step in the right direction.

The provision calling for an affordability index is included in H.R.609 - College Access and Opportunity Act of 2005. Section 108 of the bill. Consumer Information And Public Accountability In Higher Education proposes to amend Section 131 of the HEA to add accountability measures to the Act for Colleges and Universities. To continue to be competitive, the US needs to have a more clear understanding of where the rising costs in education are occuring, and subsequently understand why, to better allocate the resources of our grant and loan programs.