Due Apologies

A lot of people are apologizing about their judgments that led to the war in Iraq, not that it'll help now.

Christian Century Senior Editor Debra Bendis writes at Theolog, the Century's blog, a pointed response to two "apologizers," Peter Beinhart a former editor at conservative New Republic and Kenneth Pollack, a writer who in the days before the war, raised the specter of Iraq's dangers. Both now say they were wrong.

Bendis responds:

I know that all of us—academics, writers and publishers—may work with inadequate information and can make poor judgments. What angers me about public figures like Beinart and Pollock is that they underestimate the amount of power they wield. Their misguided opinions brought them fame and book royalties—and now a few sleepless nights. But an admission of mistakes is quickly presented and just as quickly becomes more archived literature. Meanwhile someone's kids are paying for the mistakes with their lives.

Indeed!!