There's an interesting video at bloggingheads.tv with Christopher Hitchens debating Eric Alterman about the rightness of the Iraq invasion and the consequences of that invasion. (There's more, though Iraq is the main  issue).I admire Hitch, and I am in full agreement with him that invading Iraq was the right thing to do. What's interesting to me about the exchange is that Alterman is not a wild-eyed leftist. He honestly represents a more mainstream, modern Liberalism, and has some good points to make, though I think he's dead wrong on Iraq.Hitch is in the unenviable position of defending what to me seem to me some fairly indefensible positions, and Alterman lands more than a few telling blows.I think we will be seeing a lot more of this over the next few years and I hope we will all benefit from a rational discussion of the issues about Iraq, intervention, proper use of military force and the like without the shrill extremists on both sides muddying the waters of rational discourse.It's time we talked about these things calmly and rationally. We'll be dealing with the reality of Islamic radicalism, failed states and humanitarian interventions for decades, if not a century, to come. How best to deal with these extraordinarily difficult subjects should be at the forefront of our minds, even when the economy is going through a rough stretch.It's definitely worth watching, and here is the clip.