Narcissism and the pro-war left

Via Crooked Timber, a classic example of the smears and jibes resorted to by pro-war leftists, in the Financial Times by John Lloyd. As revealed in the current New Statesman (here’s the article, but it goes into pay-per-view after one access), the “authorities” in the southern part of Iraq in particular are not so much infiltrated by the Shi’ite militias as being run by them. The press has been full of articles attacking the Muslim Brotherhood background of many of the war opponents in the UK and casting aspersions on their “moderation”, but perhaps someone might ask why a moderate Islamist group might oppose an action which might open doors up for al-Qa’ida and Iranian-backed Shi’a fundamentalists?