Apparently Christopher Hitchens cannot understand that attacking supposed rationalizations for X may be de facto rationalizing for Y, as in his "Against Rationalization" (The Nation, Oct. 8). Thus, his furious attack on Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, and their alleged leftist apologists, in this article, and his even more frenzied assault on these same villains in his Nation web page piece "Of Sin, the Left, and Islamic Fascism" (Sept. 24, but in response to criticisms of his Oct. 8 article), were a key part of his own arsenal of rationalizations for support of U.S. action to rid the world of these devils. In fact, in a remarkable new line of thought, Hitchens instructs the left that it should be regularly supporting U.S. and NATO cleansing actions when they are rectifying matters they screwed up in the past--if "we" did wrong earlier "does this not double or triple our responsibility to remove them from power?...Do 'our' past crimes and sins make it impossible to expiate the offense by determined action?" What leftist would express this faith in the imperial powers to straighten things out by violence? What person in command of common sense would suggest that those who have regularly committed crimes for self-interested motives are likely now to serve as proper instruments of humanitarian ends? But this tells us, along with other features of these latest effusions, that Hitchens has abandoned the left and is rushing toward the vital center, maybe further to the right, with termination point still to be determined.