“Primum non nocere.” Doctors know the ancient rule, “First, do no harm,” and that ought to be the moral foundation for interventions in other states and societies. The American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq was an unnecessary procedure, ill considered and ill conceived, with disastrous results. One problem, Saddam Hussein, was eliminated. Countless new and dangerous afflictions were created.

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Without quite naming names, Mitt Romney stood before the press and public in Texas yesterday and harked back “almost 50 years ago” to a time when “another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for president, not a Catholic running for president. Like him, I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion.”

Romney was talking about John F. Kennedy, of course. But let me say, having just read that speech given almost half a century ago, Mitt Romney you are no Jack Kennedy.

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If American politicians thought they could get away with calling their critics blasphemers and dispatching them to burn in hellfire, I’m sure there are some that would. There have been times in the last 20 years when not a few senators and congressmen had that look in their eye, and not one of them was a Muslim. Fortunately the Constitution and the common sense of our diverse society have kept them in check. Afghanistan is not so lucky. What we’ve seen there in the last couple of weeks looks like a classic case of politicians using religion, in this case Islam, as a cover for their own cynical self-interest.

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