RAZE FALLUJAH: I won't lie to you, nor will I apologize for this: I saw a crazed Iraqi on the cover of this morning's New York Times joyfully displaying the boots of an American serviceman. They were apparently snatched from the soldier after his convoy was bombed. And I immediately thought, Raze Fallujah. Full steam war, no polite occupation and roadblocks, but full-on bombs and disaster, shock and awe all over again. Look, I'm not proud of myself, but I bet those images are doing more to bolster Bush than to hurt him. I was reminded of the section in Tom Friedman's FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM where talks about (if memory serves) "Hama Rules," that unwritten code of leadership in the Middle East that the only way to rein in fundamentalist zealots is to unleash broad and brutal measures, like what Syrian president Hafez al-Assad did when he literally leveled the city of Hama. Nice, via Google: A link to a Friedman column on same.

And meanwhile, how to reconcile my recent and zealous pro-military stance with my expanding Buddhist reading and practice? If I am containing multitudes then I think those multitudes themselves are at war...or maybe just balancing one another.