Did that play of mine send out / Certain men the English shot?

I was getting a little peeved at being accused of lying to someone I like and respect.  But then I read Christopher Hitchens’ heartbreaking piece about a 23 year old soldier who was inspired to enlist by reading Hitchens and was killed in action in Iraq.  The soldier, Mark Daily, was a UCLA graduate, registered Democrat, an agnostic, had early doubts about the war and even was once a vegetarian.  I try not to read about the young men and women getting killed in Iraq, many of them are just a few years older than me or, like Daily, the same age as one of my older brothers.  Hitchens’ storytelling was simply too compelling to stop reading.

Despite my deep disagreements with Hitchens over Iraq, he is a decent, sensitive man and a genuinely good writer. If you can, read it.