The Iraq war has raised questions about war atrocities, the Geneva Convention and urban warfare. It has brought into question the ability and training of our soldiers and their ability to fight isolated insurgents in urban environments, which many say is the new battlefield. No longer will lumbering tanks lined in rows face off against their Soviet counterparts.

These are all issues that have been brought to the front of the news, brought to the people who can solve problems. But there is one issue that has been pushed aside: Iraq has become a training ground for terrorists to hone their skills. The main exports of Iraq will not be oil; it will be trained terrorists. [Read article]

For the last five years, Democrats have taken a beating at the hands of their partisan opponents.

The game goes like this: A prominent Republican commits a crime and covers it up, and then he smears his accuser, changes the subject and lies to the press. Democrats, angry but scared by Republican bully tactics, crawl into hiding.

This week, things were different.

Democrats finally realized that they had to stick up for themselves in this masculinized world of politics. And their first attempt to stick it to Republicans showed promise. After seeing the positive results from this week, Democrats should learn that they can outmaneuver the dirty Republican style with a new brand of intelligent hardball politics. [Read article]

A farewell to arms

While it's certainly true that wild house parties are a mainstay of the college lifestyle, some sketchy individuals seem to have chosen to add something quite different to the normal mix of booze-fueled bacchanalia: gunfire. That's right, one student was shot in the leg on Sept. 16 after a late-night fraternity party fracas, and just on Monday, a handful of gentlemen apparently thought that it would be appropriate to pack some heat on Halloween. Just as showing up with a 24-pack of Keystone is typically frowned upon, one would hope that bringing your .24-caliber would also be deemed unacceptable; it's hard enough to find your shirt and stumble home without having to worry about crossfire. These pistol-packing punks most definitely get a Fail. [Read article]

Baseless criticism of Bush regime doesn't offer solutions

Matt Stone's editorial "Shame of a nation" was an elegant counterpoint to the advertisement on the final page of Monday's Arizona Daily Wildcat. Both marshal rhetoric with the subtlety of battle-ax. Both harness the emotions of the faithful toward preordained destinations. And both contribute less than nothing to any sort of civilized debate. [Read article]