The Long Haul (Paul Krugman) and Real Battles and Empty Metaphors (Susan Sontag) - Sontag’s column is a crisp and clear discussion of what “war” means in our current situation. I felt the defensive paragraph (“And not for a moment do I question the obligation of the American government to protect the lives of its citizens…”) was due to the heat she took last year for writing a response to the reaction to events last September. (The reactions to her piece still amaze me.) Krugman’s piece also talks about what war means, but in governance terms rather than rhetorical.