While there are many short-term questions about war with Iraq that still beg for answers, there are some over-arching questions about how to bring an end to a war or terror. Jacob Sullum raises similar issues that Dahlia Lithwick raises.
The real issue is not whether we’re at war but whether terrorism is so different from other crimes that special rules should apply. If terrorism is different, it’s because of the damage it does, not because it’s carried out by foreign belligerents. Homegrown terrorists like Timothy McVeigh pose the same sort of threat, although the president would be hard-pressed to put them in a brig as enemy combatants.