We certainly owe the Iraqis the wherewithal to build a first-class university system and other cultural institutions to replace those looted and destroyed due to the invasion so beloved by Hitchens and his ilk. But before we start sending books, let's first work to end this terrible, pointless U.S. occupation and thus give the Iraqis the political space to create their own country on their own terms. They'll never be able to reconstruct their national identity with 150,000 foreign soldiers (and who knows how many foreign-controlled mercenaries) breathing down their necks, no matter how many books we send them now.