Novelist Tom Clancy has come out as a skeptic of the war in Iraq. The co-author with General Anthony Zinni of a new nonfiction book, Battle Ready, also revealed that he nearly threw down with neoconservative hawk Richard Perle.

"He was saying how (Secretary of State) Colin Powell was being a wuss because he was overly concerned with the lives of the troops," maintained the author of The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and other bestsellers. "And I said, 'Look ..., he's supposed to think that way!' And Perle didn't agree with me on that. People like that worry me."

They worry me too.

Given Perle's extensive track record of treasonous activities (see Wikipedia for a summary) his willingness to risk American lives is perfectly logical, albeit, Trotskyite.