This is one heck of an endorsement. I must say that to be considered more worth reading than Oliver Kamm is a huge compliment, particularly given the quality of this post. Two matters arise from Damian's post.
Firstly, the comments thread that follows on from it is very good. It sets the standard for reasoned disagreement (despite Squander Two's opening comment...). If all blog threads were on that level I'd open my comments box.
Damian makes the case for war on simple humanitarian grounds, saying that the WMD arguments used by Oliver are superfluous. I have mixed feelings. Saddam would have deserved overthrow if he'd never used anything more chemically toxic than aftershave. On the other hand, his form on WMDs made him a particular subject of concern to any serious person (that lets Jacques Chirac out, then - oops, sorry). That was why if we're going to get serious about Mid-Eastern democracy promotion, Iraq was the logical place to start. It's what business consultants (the type who have management theory as a substitute religion) would call a synergy. I didn't end up favouring the war for any single reason: it was the combination of tyranny, terrorism, WMDs and aggression that made Saddam unique. In fact last year I heard both Richard Perle and Colin Powell making the case in precisely those terms.
Far too much of the debate has been conducted with an implicit background assumption at work, namely, that there must be one and only one reason for the war. Who thinks that way in ordinary life? If I buy a friend (let's call him A.) a drink, do I do it because I'm generous? Because I want A. to like me? Because it's only just to repay A. for standing the last round? Because I'm drunk? Any or all of those, of course, and no-one but me can say which reason weighed most heavily, and maybe not even me.
Furthermore, if A. then cross-examined me for an hour to determine my real motives, I'd think he'd taken leave of his senses.
I mean to put up a long post on the Iraq War at some point, but this is not the place. Rest assured when I do Damian and Oliver's arguments are likely to feature significantly.