It's always fascinating reading a column on Iraq by this Hitchens guy. Not for the substance of anything he says, but simply to marvel at the fact that he can carry such a childishly simplistic narrative of the conflicts in the Middle East and central Asia around in his head, write about them, and still get taken seriously enough to retain a position at a magazine full of thoughtful writers like Slate. Does he really believe this stuff, or is it a big joke that everyone is in on for the sake of generating controversy and therefore readership? Damned if I can tell.