Thanks for this article, Mike. The author makes an interesting point
which is relevant to one of our lunch topics: "The distinguishing
characteristic of libertarianism is that it applies to the state the
same ethical rules that apply to everyone else." That was essentially
my basis for agreeing with Stephen that the U.S. owes reparations to
Iraq: The U.S. government is the agent which has imposed (catastrophic)
costs on Iraq, therefore the U.S. government owes restitution. It's
true, as most of the others were arguing, that (true) libertarians did
not and would not support the war. Perhaps it could be argued that we
bear some responsibility for having failed to stop it. But I'm
uncomfortable with the implication that governments bear no
responsibility for their actions.