Editor's Page

We have no articles in this issue about the Lebanon war. Nobody in his or her right mind would venture to do a piece now (end of August) to be read in mid-October—when there might be a stable cease-fire or another war or a diplomatic initiative or, most likely, when we will still be waiting for the UN. When we finally do write about the war, there will be a lot to criticize: the familiar pattern of UN inaction that allowed the buildup of Hezbollah's arsenal, the conduct of the war by both Hezbollah and Israel, the media coverage of the war around the world, and an outcome that could too easily produce a renewal of the fighting. But there is another issue that should be central for the Western left: the need for moral clarity about the politics of radical Islam, represented in this case by the president of Iran and the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.