If Not Mongering, Then What?

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The Corner's Andy McCarthy writes that "At the Weekly Standard Kim Kagan's account demonstrates in detail that Iran's war against the U.S. in Iraq goes back some five years." Just yesterday, Jamie Kirchick scolded readers that "it's not 'warmongering' to simply state the fact that two rogue states are themselves complicit in unwarranted acts of warmongering against the United States and a nascent democracy in the Middle East."

I'm not sure if Kirchick is entirely clear on what the concept of "warmongering" means, but I'm pretty sure that this is, in fact, warmongering. But rather than quibble over semantics, the basic point is that these writers for America's top conservative publications would like to see the United States take military action against Iran (and possibly Syria) and to that end they're trying to convince the public that those countries are already at war with us. They started it, you see. I mean, arming and supporting Iraqi factions! What meddlers! Where do they get the nerve!

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Matthew Yglesias is a former writer and editor at The Atlantic.

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