alda: I agree that wars are never motivated by the motivations we usually ascribe them to, and that the left is on the right track in resisting the conservative rule that, since life is complex, wars must be thought of as the result of a myriad of causes, and instead push on with the singular argument that wars are simply about one simple and awful human motivation -- greed. Still, the idea that wars are primarily about stealing oil and other resources is the left's current way -- their only way -- of understanding war, and I do have some complaints with it. One, the idea that there are evil, greedy people out there sounds quite Christian, antique; I like that the 20th-century breathed life to so many ways of looking at human motivations that allowed us to see pathology, rather than evil, in human beings. Two, if we set up our opponents as villains, so that we are right to exult when and if they endure humiliating defeats, do we also blind ourselves to how much we enjoy it wh...